Day 585's lovely, local home

Apologies if you have already seen this on Design*Sponge or A Life's Design, but I came across these images again today and couldn't resist. This home belongs to Alan Henderson of Night Owl Paper Goods and Lindsay Bierman, the new editor-in-chief of Coastal Living magazine (both are based here in Birmingham).

I've had a school-girl crush on Lindsay since his kitchen was featured in Cottage Living (you can see a video tour here), so I nearly fell out of my chair at the chance to peek into the rest of his house. It has that mix of modern and sleek and vintage and slightly crusty that I find totally irresistible.


I love the use of shapes and textures in the living room. The square tape on the pillows echoes the pair of coffee tables, and the circles on the ends of the bolsters is repeated by the round table.


Lindsay was kind enough to reply back to the comments on Design*Sponge (hello, crush growing!) and let us in on the source behind these big, beautiful botanicals: They're from AllPosters.com! Can you believe it? Genius.


A collection of amber glass on a bookshelf (that's one of a pair) from Lindsay's college days. I love symmetry and pairs, and think they used just the right amount of both. Books grouped by color keep the shelf from looked cluttered.


Atlanta designer Phoebe Howard added the striped wallpaper and wool curtains to their dining room. Alan called it their first "grown-up" dining room. Love that.


The giant map of Paris was put together and aged by Montgomery artist David Braly and the black-and-white photos are by Birmingham-based photographer Melissa Springer.


Here's the kitchen that started it all. You probably know that my taste tends to run a little more traditional than this, but I love the way quirky things (like the driftwood lamps and plaid banquette) stand out against a sleek background.


The office is quite sophisticated, but still comfortable. Amber glass appears again, this time on lamps made from bottles. I've been on an orange kick lately and that chair is fabulous! I love the way they trimmed the room with paint, too. Alan said it's a nod to David Hicks, and I've seen Stephen Gambrel do it a few times, too.


Again, with the mix! The Lucite desk totally disappears, which is probably nice in an office where things can get a little crowded. Our laptops are currently vying for space on Wes' desk, which looks lovely, as you can imagine.


The bedroom is -- supposedly -- "not done." But personally, a Neirmann Weeks bed would be all I'd need to call it day. Thanks for sharing, D*S and Megan!

Day 584's fun finds

While visiting my sisters in Auburn this weekend, I convinced them to drive out to Angel's Antique and Flea Mall -- it doesn't take much to convince a college not to study. I'd been out there a couple of times while I was in school, but it had been a while. The place was totally packed, both with shoppers and wonderful goodies! You don't often find a good mix of sort of junky booths and more high-end booths, but Angel's has both. Here are a couple of things I'm wishing I came home with.


I love these mirrors, but really don't have a place for one at the moment. Who am I kidding? I could totally find a place for this beauty! The finish (which looks fine in the photo) was kind of gross, so it could probably use a coat of paint on the "bamboo." But at just $70, I think I could splurge on some paint.


The tag on this piece says that it is a document holder that was probably used in a courthouse. The dealer found it in a general store.


I loved the ribbon detail on the backs of these chairs. There were only two, so I would probably paint them and use them to flank a piece of furniture.


This blue club chair was also part of a pair, and each chair had a matching ottoman. The chairs were $25 each and the ottomans $19. You could spend a small fortune on fabric and labor to have them recovered and still come out on ahead, which meant that my Mom had to practically drag me away from them.


I have a thing for serving platters, and this pale blue one by Johnson Brothers was quite lovely. It was just $12, but I behaved myself and left it alone (though if someone were to get it for my birthday I wouldn't be disappointed!)


There was lots of pretty Fire King Jadeite. I thought the citrus juicers were especially cute and useful.


I loved this pierced blanc de chine-looking lamp. With a pretty gray shade, I bet it would look great in our soon-to-be worked on guest bedroom.


And this chandelier was beautiful too! Really, really loved it. A lot. It was $450. Which really isn't much, in the grand scheme of chandeliers.


It has such graceful lines, and could work in a formal or more casual room, I think.

We had so much fun browsing (all of) the aisles that we completely, totally lost track of time. We honestly spent more than three hours walking around debating about the value of watercolor paintings and pressed glass. A fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon, I think!

Day 583's new month

Photo by Keith Scott Mortan for Country Living

I barely own a stitch of pink, but something about February makes me want hearts and chocolate and everything pink. This month, we'll celebrate my birthday, a year of homeownership, and my one-year anniversary at a job I love.

Valentine's Cookies by Martha Stewart

I plan to commemorate February 2009 with lots of baking and fun, and definitely some cheesy heart-covered Valentines' things. Happy February!

Also, several of you commented on my desk calendar the other day. I love it, too! As long as Paper-Source will make it, Wes is guaranteed an easy stocking stuffer that will make me squeal with delight. You can find it here.

Day 580's pretty

Interior by James Michael Howard

I'm very excited to be headed to my college town to celebrate my little sister's 21st birthday. We plan to toast marshmallows over a bonfire tonight, eat in all of the cute places that are too crowded to hit during football season (Big Blue Bagel and Amsterdam Cafe, of course!), and maybe make a trip out to a big flea market/antique mall that never disappoints.

Happy Weekend!

Day 579's inspiring house

After hearing yesterday's news, one of my first thoughts (after the now-standard "what am I going to read?!") was to check in on my Deco File on Domino's web site. I was reminded how much I liked Katie Lee and Billy Joel's New York home.


Filled more texture than pattern, it's both restful and sophisticated. I imagine that it's the kind of space that reveals itself the more you look at it -- especially in person.


Another beautiful kitchen. I love the wall colors she uses, and will have to get my hands on a June-July 2008 issue to see if they are named.


This is what I think I want to go for in our guest room. Pale greenish-gray on the walls, a simple, upholstered headboard (which I'm going to attempt to make!) and white linens on the bed.

UPDATE: This wall color is Cliffside Gray by Benjamin Moore.


And maybe a little bit of orange, just to keep it interesting.

Day 578's pretty things

The other day, Layla at The Lettered Cottage wrote a wonderful post on the impact of fresh flowers on a person's mood. After reading it, I couldn't help but pick up some pretty pink tulips while on a quick grocery run.

I love flowers and bring them home from the grocery store fairly often (well, less often lately). But I usually put them in the living where -- supposedly -- the can be enjoyed by more people. This time, on advice from Layla, I put them in the kitchen, which is where I honestly spend a lot of my time when I'm at home. And you know what? I did perk me up, even on a rainy day.

On that note, I also updated the wall of my cubicle with a photo from February's Domino. Even though it's just a picture, those big, bright peonies are much nicer to look at than my to-do list (and yes, that is a Burger King crown on my desk -- another story for another blog!).

Did you hear the news? Guess I'm going to have to pick up the Domino Book of Decorating before it becomes a collector's item ...

Day 576

Photo by Roger Davies for Cottage Living (found here)

As you may have noticed, I've been thinking a lot about the finishing touches in our house. In the living room, dining room, bedroom and office, we've pretty much got the furniture taken care of. But I've still got a little ways to go in terms of getting things on the walls and satisfying my desire for pretty displays of the fun things we've picked up along the way. And I'm finding that walls of art and table vignettes are catching my eye more often now, than say, a color combination. With that in mind, I did a simple little makeover in our living room.



Between our two wonderful rocking chairs is a walnut drop-leaf table that my mother gave to us. It was one of the first pieces of furniture that my parents bought after they were married, and I think I can place it in every house I remember us living in. In other words, I love this silly little table. Besides its sentimental value, it's a great surface for display.

This is how it looked during the holidays. Well, during the last part of the holidays, as I had our nativity set here until Maddie ate baby Jesus (yes, you read that correctly!). Mary and Joseph looked kind of silly staring down at nothing, so I swapped them out for some sparkly trees. In front is an oval platter with Christmas cards on it.


I've really been loving big stacks of books lately, so I gathered all of the big, pretty books we have, and stacked them up (can you guess which are mine and which belong to Wes?). Then I added a blue-and-white porcelain box that I picked up at a flea market and topped the other with a candle and a metallic shell (my souvenir from Pieces). Then I took the little oil painting we bought on our Charleston honeymoon and hung it under the mirror (which I moved up a couple of inches). We're getting there!

Day 573's weekend plans

Interior by Michael Smith

Spring is coming a little early at our house. Not spring weather necessarily, but spring cleaning. Wes got a wild hair earlier in the week and decided that he was ready to put some floor down in the attic so we can make some storage space up there. And when he is ready to do something, I've learned to go with the flow! This will, enevitably, lead to some serious and much-needed closet cleaning, which I am both excited about and dreading. But, it is the first step in completing one of my goals for 2009: to make the third bedroom an actual guest room.

In other news, my mom tells me that our favorite antiques auction is happening tonight! I won't be making it (I'm still on a shopping high from Scott's), but I thought some of you might be interested. Click here to see some of the loot that will be auctioned tonight. You should go -- you'll be amazed at the deals!

David Tims Auction
2007 Cogswell Avenue
Pell City, Alabama 35125

Happy Weekend!

Day 572's trip recap

I wish I could show you some pictures of kitchy little Helen, Georgia, but all I have to show for our trip are some photos taken in an antique store. You're not surprised, are you? One afternoon we browsed a few shops in Nacoochee Village, a neat little area just a half mile from Helen. All of the buildings are old houses with lots of charm. The antique store -- Nacoochee Antiques -- was in a huge old farmhouse that had at least 15 fireplaces.




There were several pretty dressers that just oozed farmhouse style. And probably more milk glass than I've ever seen in one place. I bought a gorgeous jadeite cake stand that I love (it looks like this).


After browsing, we had a fantastic dinner at Nacoochee Grill. I love this little place! It was a little too dark inside to take any pictures of it, so check out what's on the Web site. Most of the food and wine is local (except the seafood, obviously), and everything we had was delicious -- you should try the Crab Stuffed Portabella.

So, that and the aforementioned fire-burning pretty much sums up the trip! A great long weekend was had by all.

Day 571

We're back from a weekend in a little cabin in the woods. The trip began a little stragely -- we arrived to find frozen water pipes and had to relocate -- but was lovely in the end. I think we spent half of our vacation budget on firewood. Well, firewood and food, of course. We'll tell you all about soon!

Photo by Tom Leighton for Homes & Gardens