Aha! Again and Again, Thanks House Beautiful

Aha!  
I seem to be having a lot of those

 "aha moments" lately.
Or maybe I am just noticing them more
since I began my design blog.

In my so far short, but nevertheless exciting,  enlightening, and very enriching design blogging career, I have been having

 "aha moment" after "aha moment".

I just returned from Blogfest 2012 sponsored by Kravet in New York City.  Blogfest was chock full of  "aha moments", but first just a bit of my design blogging history.

I love stories and sharing.

About a year ago, 
after closing my retail store,
 I decided I wanted to start a design blog. 

A vignette in my retail design studio including my custom leafed and marbleized console and
 my custom match boxes.
Oh, and of course BIRDS!

Fabulous architectural fragments like this
 glazed concrete one always give me an "aha moment".

 I researched and planned. 

 I hired a talented graphic designer

 to design my blog template.

 I made copious lists of blog

 topics and ideas.

I scheduled and publicized my launch date.

Only one thing remained . . .

I had to find my voice.

I tried a little of this, and a little of that, but I wasn't happy with what I was writing until . . .

the September 2011 issue of House Beautiful 
arrived in my mailbox and just in time!

AHA! 

I knew how and why and what 
I was going to write.


It all became crystal clear.

I love Barry Dixon's work, I love birds, and I love pink.  The ideas and the words flowed for my inaugural blog post
Birds of a Feather: Barry, Birds, AND Pink. 

A selection of Barry Dixon's fabrics and trims in peaches and PINKS for Vervain

Not only was that House Beautiful cover an  epiphany for the voice, tone, and content of my first blog, it started me on my path of seemingly unending "aha moments".

As a result of my design blogging,
 I have found new clients.

An outdoor room I designed for Gardens of Madison County.
Lots of custom work was included and the homeowner became a client.

I love designing tabletops and partyscapes as well.

The outdoor room included custom cushions and pillows,
custom sconces, a custom mantle, and a custom piece made of salvage over the mantle, as well as custom florals throughout.

I have renewed old and inspirational friendships.

Me with my lifelong friend the uber talented furniture and furnishings
designer John Lyle of John Lyle Design.

John's studio in New York.

John Lyle console and fireplace screen used as an objet
 in the Kips Bay kitchen.

I have travelled to fun and "aha" filled places.

CA'D'ZAN in Sarasota, Florida
The wonderful Venetian Gothic home of John and Mable Ringling
Blog post coming soon!

 I have met wonderful new people. 

Me with my fellow Mississippi Deltan,
 the charming and debonair editor of House Beautiful Newell Turner

I have broadened and enriched my own knowledge 

Gilded view from my friend and fabric designer
Lucy Rose Singh's New York apartment

I completed my first outdoor gilding project.

and my own designs.

I am using more neutrals and blues,
inspired by my friend interior and furniture and objets
designer Nancy Price

A shell encrusted bust from Nancy Price's line for Design Legacy

I look forward to sharing more of my "aha" filled trip to Blogfest 2012 here in the next few weeks, but here is just a peak . . .


AHA!  
I love this decoupage look 
made of antique lady images in
 Alexa Hampton's bedroom at Kips Bay.
This is something I can easily create for clients from antique prints in my collection. 

Alexa Hampton Bedroom at Kip's Bay Showhouse.

AHA!
 I loved Kravet's design studio tour. 
I really want to design fabric.

This hand blocked print from Lee Jofa
 is indeed gorgeous and a true fabric inspiration.

AHA!
I love MINTY green and
 I want to use it in a project soon.

Katie Leede's minty fresh bedroom at the Modern Life Concept House
 sponsored by Elle Decor.
I use green often, but want to incorporate this minty hue soon.

And thank you for that biggest "AHA" of all, House Beautiful, 
the AHA that got me started!

I am thrilled that House Beautiful is now Pinterest enabled.  AHA!

Are you taking time to notice your 
"aha moments"?


I hope you will.

photos: Marilyn Storey with exception of House Beautiful covers

Sam's Mural, Paper or Paint?, Part II

It is funny how one thing always leads to another, isn't it?

Connectivity NEVER ceases to amaze me.

Early the morning after I first photographed Don Jacobs on a ladder painting a chinoiserie mural at one client's home, another client PGW and I left Jackson heading for Oxford and her antique club meeting and luncheon, no cute suitcases this time, just a day trip!

Mural artist Don Jacobs in my client's foyer outside Jackson

Our precise destination was "Magnolia Hill", 

a stately Georgian Colonial Revival 

situated on twenty beautiful 

acres right in the heart of Oxford, Mississippi,

and the home of 

Sam and Mary Donnelly Haskell. 

Sam and Mary have recently returned to Mississippi from Los Angeles where Sam rose from the mail room to Vice President and Worldwide Head of Television for 

the William Morris Agency.

(You may have read Sam's recent 

and highly acclaimed book

Promises I Made My Mother.
If not, I highly recommend it!)

When we arrived at "Magnolia Hill" 

and walked through the front door,

we were welcomed by Sam 

Oil portrait of Sam over the mantle in his study.
There are photos of his friends and former clients all over the house.

and a soaring and beautiful 

sepia toned mural in the foyer. 

Sam greeted us with the warmest of Mississippi hospitality (indeed his mother taught him well and would be very proud) and a lovely tray of mimosas, and he began telling us his enthralling stories and how his home incorporates those stories in both big and small ways.

The vast and unbelievably 

detailed mural combines

meaningful locations from the Haskells' lives including Amory where Sam grew up and 

Pride Station, Alabama, from where Mary's family hails, along with buildings at Ole Miss and trees and scenery from the 
piney woods of Mississippi.

This part of the mural features Sam's hometown of Amory, MS, including the movie theater where Sam honed his early knowledge of movie stars.
The recess in this wall was especially designed for the ballroom pier mirror, one of the few pieces rescued from a fire at Mary's grandmother's home. 

Mary's grandmother's home in Pride Station, AL, with its adjoining cotton fields,
 is depicted going up the stairwell. 

  And guess who painted Sam's special mural?  Why none other than my friend and artist
 Don Jacobs whom I had left behind 

working on a mural in Jackson!


Don worked on this masterpiece at
 "Magnolia Hill" for four months, ten hours a day, with artist's brushes.

As I mentioned in my last post, I first met Don when he painted a powder room mural for a designer showhouse that we were both working on quite a few years ago.  

Another designer who was working at the Mississippi Governor's Mansion saw Don's powder room mural at the showhouse and recommended Don to then

 Governor Hailey Barbour
for a project at the Governor's Mansion. 


It's funny how one thing always leads
to another, isn't it?

Mississippi Governor's Mansion, one of the oldest in the country

Don painted a wonderful sepia toned, room sized mural, featuring scenes and foliage from all areas of the state, covering all the walls in a meeting room at the Governor's mansion.

He worked on it seven hours a day, 

for four months with artists brushes.

Then in a meeting with then

 Governor Hailey Barbour, Sam Haskell mentioned that he wanted a special mural painted by a Mississippi artist in the foyer of "Magnolia Hill."

And of course Don Jacobs was the recommended artist!

It's funny how one thing always leads

to another, isn't it?

A view of Pride Station, AL, from the second floor of "Magnolia Hill"

After a tour and many wonderful stories, we were treated to beautiful and delicious buffet luncheon on the back terrace.

A view of the back of the property from the terrace

I adore the inclusion of the fresh okra in the luncheon tablescape.

Thank you, Sam and Mary, for your wonderful Mississippi hospitality, 

and you PGW for a lovely day.

Sam signed copies of Promises I made My Mother for us.
Here my friend Cathy White!

It is funny how one thing always leads to another and how everything is connected,
 isn't it?


Speaking of that, stay tuned for Part III of
"Paper or Paint" and where the road does lead!


What do you think of the painted murals?


Do you like the monochromatic sepia toned murals or more colorful ones?


To see more of Don Jacobs' 
fabulous artwork, murals, 
and decorative finishes
CLICK HERE or contact me for 
more information.

Don Jacobs
Artist, Muralist, Decorative Painter, and MORE!
Thanks, Don!

photo credits:  Labougle, Marilyn Storey, Don Jacobs

Thank You So, Portico!, Welcome to My Home

Welcome to My Home!

Please come in . . .

This table in my foyer and the sofa table under the stairs
 both belonged to my grandmother Nanny.
I designed the Gothic chairs for a showhouse.  

I recently had the great pleasure of welcoming

Amelia Patterson of

Studio Milly Jean Weakleg *

who was photographing for

 Portico jackson Magazine 

into my living room for 

a photo shoot for the magazine.

Let me show you around just a bit.

In my Gothic chair, the small pillow needlepoint crown pillow is an English antique
WITH a touch of eclectic leopard of course!
The Goofus Glass bowls on the table are from the early 20th century
 and part of my collection.  The colors of the Goofus Glass are perfect in the house.

My home is an extension of my studio, a place where I experiment and try out new ideas and combinations.

The house has two staircases, here the front stairs.
My mother's collection of mostly antique walking canes is in an antique Turkish vessel.
The European nude oil painting, framed in a hand made and custom gilded frame,
 is one of my favorites and
 contains the entire color palette of the house.
The antique chandelier, one of four identical ones in the halls, 
was rescued from a bank in Clarksdale.

Of course lots of things, 

in fact most of them, are old, vintage or antique, and some are a bit worn, but to me REAL, kind of like the Velveteen Rabbit.

Excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
 "Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter. "
I could not resist putting this in!  I cry every time I read it.

I am not sure I ever thought about it before, 

but REAL kind of sums 

up my design philosophy in one word.

Lots of REAL here:  More Goofus Glass, an antique plaster medallion, framed antique lace, antique Shakespeare books, antique green corbels,
and one of a pair of antique French tassels.

I tend to move things in and out, 

and often have overflow from my storage temporarily in the house, like this 

Scottish Courting Chair from a designer showhouse that I did.

I do love the Scottish Courting chair, also from a show house, in kind of a grasscloth fabric which is temporarily in my living room.  The bird pillow is an antique needlepoint.
The oriental rug was also Nanny's, as was the French coffee table.
  I love to use touches of shell like the box, also Victorian.
The preserved Mississippi Magnolia has lasted for nearly 40 years.

My color scheme throughout the house is a take off on Victorian colors.  I started with true Victorian colors since my house was built late in that era, completed ca. 1904, although the style of the house is Greek Revival.

But of course, I tweaked the colors to my own taste, brightening them a bit . . .

,

Of course I couldn't resist putting kumquats and long stemmed, 
spring Louisiana strawberries, in my colors of course,
 on an antique plate with metallic copper lustre trim.

I have been a collector my whole life and I love to use my collections in my design,

 like my Goofus Glass which is also late Victorian.

More goofus glass on my glass topped Chinese Chippendale oversized coffee table.
  I will save its story for another day.
I am planning to gild it soon.
And of course, I MUST have a few feathers tucked in!

Sorry about the lighting in some of these!
I was having camera issues.  I, unlike Amelia, am NOT a professional photographer.
Did you notice I elected not to put drapes in the living room?
I love to sit in here and just relax and enjoy the light in the afternoon,
 having a cup of tea or a glass of wine.
The house faces east, so the light is lovely and not too bright then, 
just warm and soothing.

This coal burning fireplace, now with gas logs,
in the living room is one of seven in the house.
I added the marble surround.

I love a velvet sofa.  This camelback one is in bottle green velvet that my father chose.
The urn pillows are vintage Fortuny. The center pillow is made from a rug.
I designed the others.  I love the linen scalloped ones.
The piece behind the center pillow is a full sample yard of vintage Fortuny, marked 1962.

The orange Fortuny is perfect in my living room where the walls
are a custom blended color which combines
terra cotta and melon.

More Goofus Glass!
And one of a pair of Nanny's lamps, one of a set of antique tiles,
and my (another!) collection of Limoges boxes, some displayed in  a gilded
  antique clock case.

I showed Amelia around just a bit, 

and we HAD to eat a few of those long stemmed, luscious Louisiana strawberries.

Then she and her cute, young, male assistant got to work making pictures.

Amelia Patterson, photographer for Portico jackson Magazine,
and her precious baby boy Keller

It didn't take Amelia long to make her photographs for Portico.

AND NOW . . .

I am so thrilled to be included in the Perspectives section of the new April issue. 

My good friend and designer Nancy Price's house was used for the color block fashion shoot in the same issue of
 Portico jackson Magazine where I was featured in the Perspectives section.

And the cross I recently gilded for the new Chapel at St. Dominic's made the cover of the March issue of the magazine,

The beautiful new Chapel at St. Dominic's will be dedicated next month.
I am so proud to have gilded the orb and cross on the top.

and is shown up close in the featured article.

Click HERE  to read about my gilding project for this orb and cross.

Thank you so, Portico!

Thank you Karen Gilder.

Thank you, Richelle Putnam.

Thank you, Amelia Patterson.

What do you decorate with that is REAL?

* Amelia explains the interesting name

 of her business

 Studio Milly Jean Weakleg:

"My family and friends from home (Memphis) call me Milly and my husband tacked on the Jean just being silly. And my maiden name is Armstrong so hence the Weakleg. And I refer to the business as Studio MJW and those just happen to be my grandmother's initials."

photo credits: Marilyn Storey, The Velveteen Rabbit, Portico Magazine, Amelia Patterson, Warren Husband