Back from Star Bright Farm

We're home from a fun weekend at my friend & photographer Helen Norman's farm- Star Bright Farm- where we photographed my new line of fabrics.   Saturday afternoon, we loaded up the car with fabrics, props and luggage and headed for the farm:

{Ashby checked out the goods before we left}

When we got there we planned out our shot possibilities and even got a few photos in that evening before the rain storm.  Helen & her husband Mark made us THE MOST AMAZING PASTA EVER for dinner.  {Chard from their farm sauteed with peppers, garlic & bacon over pasta --- mmm mmmm goodness!!  I had it again for breakfast on Sunday and I made it when I got home last night (they sent us home with a bunch of fresh veggies from the farm) and just had it again for breakfast}  We stayed in Helen & Mark's AMAZING guest house and I just couldn't get over all of the beautiful details in their homes.  Everything is so authentic & solid and "real."  It's truly incredible.  Their house was recently featured in Country French Magazine.  (with photos by Helen) Here's a pic of their living room with one of my Madhatter chairs in white linen:

{please excuse the bad scans}

Here's a photo from Country French Magazine of her potting room:

{loooove this soapstone sink}

We had a crazy loooong day of shooting (up at 4:30 AM) with Helen & F.J. (her assistant) and our whole family and the photos turned out so well.  My goal with this photo shoot was to use the fabrics in settings that portrayed a feeling & a mood.  The fabrics and colorways are all so different from each other (55 in all) so it was so much fun to use them in varied settings for completely different vibes.   

As soon as I have pics, I'll let you know.  The online store with the fabrics is almost up!!

Thanks so much to Helen & her amazing family-  we had so much fuuun!!!!!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Fern Window Boxes

This past weekend we added window boxes on a whim.  I've always wanted them and they were on sale at the garden center so we went for it.  I loooove quick projects and this one was simple.  (Especially for me watching while Dave was up on the ladder ;) ;)

So far, I've been caring for them through the windows and I went with ferns because they do so well with the moisture from that air.  I'm completely blanking out on the other plant I chose but I loved it's almost flourescent color & white blooms.

The plants are so pretty from the inside too.  You can see them from the window and it feels like they're in the room with you.  We recently switched the boys' rooms so now they're sharing a bedroom and the second bedroom is a playroom.  (Over the summer when we stayed with my dad they got used to sharing a bedroom and wanted to keep it that way when we got home.   I love seeing them so excited to be together.)  Christian's "job" is watering the plants because he knows mommy runs a plant hospice.

Over the next few months we taking down a closet in the boys room to make room for a big boy bed for Justin.  I'm planning on doing duvet covers out of one of my fabrics, "Filigree Chevron" and I can't wait to see how they turn out!

We're going to my friend & photogapher Helen Norman's farm this weekend to shoot my new line of fabrics.  The crazy amount of rain we've had has but a bit of a {literal} damper on our original plans which included lots of field shots, but Helen's property has so many beautiful spots I'm not worried.  My  first textile collection is completed and I have 14 different designs with multiple colorways in each pattern for a total of about 60 different fabrics.  I plan on adding a few new designs seasonally.  I've pulled a ton of inspiration images and can't wait!!  love the idea of stacking the fabrics inside a piece of furniture like this one:

{image from theselby.com}

Enjoy your day!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Oh My... Must Try

This weekend was a good cooking weekend.  With a bit of Fall in the air this past week, I craved soup.  I love {attempting when there's time} to make weekly soups during the colder months so I pretended it wasn't going to be 95 degrees on Sunday.  I broke out an old cookbook I bought in college full of yuuumy simple recipes.  (It's called "Quick & Easy.")  I tried out the Lemon & Chicken Soup and it is Heaven...

{Seriously Heaven....  I try really hard to take pretty food pics but I just don't know how people do it.  I promise it's waaaay better than it looks.  }

The kids loved it too.

I also must really love you because I'm literally typing out the whole recipe here.   ;)  

It's that good. 

 (I made a few teeny changes)

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter

8 shallots, thinly sliced

2 carrots, thinly sliced

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups precooked chicken.. ( I used some grilled drumsticks we'd just made)

3 lemons

2 quarts chicken stock

Angel hair nests (you can do angel hair if can't find the pasta nests.)

2/3 cup heavy cream  (I'm sure you could substitute this if you were trying to be healthier but it is good.)

salt & pepper

Fresh Parsley & Lemon Slices to garnish

Directions:

1. Cook the shallots, carrots & celery in the butter in a big pot.

2. Thinly pare the lemons & boil the lemon peels in water for 3 mins.  Squeeze the lemon juice in a bowl.

3.  Add the lemon peel, (Ok this is so new to me!  Yes, you can eat lemon peels once they're blanched!)  lemon juice and chicken stock to the veggies in the pot.  Bring it all to a boil on low heat and simmer for 40 mins, stirring every once in a while.

4.  Add the pasta and let it cook (this is why I like the nests... they take 3 mins) Add salt & pepper to taste and add the heavy cream.  (mm mmm mmm)  Heat through but don't boil once you've added the cream or it'll curdle.  

5.  Pour into bowls, add the parsely & Eat!

Seriously, I love this soup.   

ps- I found this cookbook at the grocery store in college and it's full of the easiest & tastiest meals.  (So many soups & pastas, which I love.)  It's called "Practical Cooking: Quick & Easy" by Parragon Publishing.

Peeks from Yesterday's Installation

Yesterday we installed "phase 1" of one of our clients' homes.  The day started out like this...

...With a truckload of furniture for the house.  Our clients completely and completely renovated their home so it could better suit their family's needs without increasing its footprint at all.  They were able to remove an unneeded living room to increase their kitchen & dining rooms and the family room is now their main living room.  They moved out for the summer while the renovation took place and have just now moved back in.

My client looooooves color and wouldn't you know her favorite is also my favorite:

{This is an old coffee table that our client's mother turned into an ottoman a while back.}

{The original piece}

We had our workroom -Paul David Design- create a new beautiful mitered top out of an indoor-outdoor fabric for the family room.

She loves green & was looking for a comfortable, happy and FUN vibe in her home.  Her husband is more traditional while she leans a little more towards the modern/colorful end of the spectrum so we ended up with  a sort of "funky" Traditional that's perfect for the family.  Our clients fell in love with their home because of its large big-treed yard, so we really wanted to bring all of that green inside and kick it up a notch.

Here's the living room palette:

The furniture is a mix of new upholstery and casegoods mixed in with family antiques & vintage pieces. 

We had lots of fun taking risks and I looove their apple green front door:

We did a massive pair of botanicals for high-impact in the dining room:

I hung family photos in a gallery wall and Paul & Nancy (of Paul David Design) handled the larger items like the mirrors and botanicals.  Meghan (my assistant) ran around like a madwoman (in a good way :) helping to get it all done in time.  Our client was out of the house for most of the day and at 5:00 we toured it with the family for the big reveal.  It was so much fun!! 

In the end we were all thrilled with  how the house turned out.  I'm insanely lucky to have the all of the wonderful clients I have and this family is really incredibly special.  The kids were already breaking in the chess table we found for them. 

...And Lizzy was breaking in the chairs:

{I can't handle her}

When we're completely finished & Helen takes photos, I'll be sure to share "after" pictures.  Hope you had a great day & thanks so much to everyone for all of the great childcare advice.  We're in the process of finding a nanny now so I'll keep you posted!!

And also thank you so much to my clients!!  (You are amazing.)

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.