snapshot...

owl feathers...

(found in the forest)

what all the cool birds are "wearing" this winter!

the farmhouse floor plan

I was in my late teens when I first started tearing out and saving the floor plans from the back of my mother's Southern Living magazines!   I have no idea what I was saving them for, but each month I would place them in a folder to study and keep.  So, when Andrea D. wrote and asked if the floor plan from the Renovation Style magazine feature was anywhere on the blog I totally understood her desire to see it to make sense of how all the rooms relate to one another. 

the farmhouse floor plan

It was in my late teens that I started to save floor plans, but I was obviously studying them years before as I drew this floor plan when I was 11 or 12!  It is entitled "My House at Stable."  I loved horses and was fantasizing about living at the stable.  So much of this floor plan makes me laugh:  that there was a chair and table on the front porch, a pillow on the bed, and especially that I had included a "walk-in closet" and a "store room," which I assume was a storage/tack room.  I even had a pretty good work-triangle in the kitchen!

This was the stable where I was fantasizing living!  My cousin, Lizzie, and I built this stable from pieces of 2 x 4's that we found at house construction sites in her new neighborhood. The "roof" on the stable is even made from asphalt shingles!  You can see the scale from the wire edging in the photo.
 We built the stable for our beloved Breyer horses in a corner of her backyard (Thank you Aunt Cappy!)  My two horses are on the left; that's Pocahontas on the far-left :)  (I must admit that clicking the Breyer link and seeing all the accessories they make for Breyer horses now made my 12-year-old heart skip a beat!) 

Please note (or try,  as the photograph is so blurry;) that the stable was even "landscaped" with plastic greenery and flowers, with rocks as stone edging.  I even included a decorative wicker chair!

The flood of love and memories I get upon seeing this photograph makes my heart happy!

Me and Cherokee! 

Cherokee belonged to the stable where I took riding lessons (English) and we had just won First!

I only recently stumbled upon my old "stable" floor plan and photos, so I thought they were fitting for this post!   Thank you for allowing me my stroll down memory lane!
xojoan



Post Script:
My sweet brother-in-law, Doug- who is married to my "much older sister Susan", whom I have known since I was eight-years-old;), just sent me this photograph of me riding "Val" at his family's farm that was close to Brenham, Texas. 
Thank you Doug!  Sweet memories!

 

the North guest bedroom: details

Thank you so much for your compliments on the guest bedroom!

As I describe each photo I will attempt to answer your questions, but please let me know if I miss anything. 

This North guest bedroom is also known as the "red" room, or "Kristen's" room;)  I adore red in interiors, and, in fact, had a red study in Dallas.  A red room didn't work for the farmhouse, but as I designed this guest room I found that red accents worked well in the space, and my "red' found a home!

Since I always share my sources with you I realized after looking through the photographs that I should start this post off with a disclaimer straightaway...  the only source I can give you is for the curtains. 

This brings up a topic that I've never discussed outright, but one that I should address.  I'm not one of those decorators who changes their interiors regularly.
(What will we talk about after I show you all my rooms???!) 
My goal in designing spaces is that they will be classic and stand the test of time, or trend-  meaning that I do have things that are considered trendy, but usually I've had them before they were mass-produced trends and will have them after they are no longer "In" since I purchased them because they appealed to my personal design aesthetic.  That being said, I tend to keep things for a very long period of time.  I buy things that I really love, and then love and use them for many years. 

I guess in a way this is my apology for only being able to source the curtains!  Everything else has been with me for years/decades. 
Lesson:  have in your home only things that you absolutely love- it's good for your heart, and your pocketbook! 

All paint is  Benjamin Moore. 
The walls are Overcast (OC-43), which is a muted green/gray/putty in Eggshell finish. 
The trim is White Dove in Latex Satin Impervo. 
The ceiling is White Dove in Pearl finish.



The bedroom as seen from the upstairs hallway.
The floors are original to the house; they are random-width Eastern white pine and are face nailed.

The antique rug was found at the Scott Antique Market in Atlanta.  I adore this rug and its vivid red- which is very worn in some places.  The vintage crystal chandelier is one of a pair that I found in a nearby antique shop; the other chandelier is in the second guest room.
The 100% linen curtains are from Ikea.  They are Aina - "unbleached." The thin, black metal curtain rods are also from Ikea.  I didn't like the finials that came on the rods, so I found simple wooden balls and painted them black to match the rods.  I hung the curtains so that they would just barely puddle on the floor.
 The basket on the floor holds magazines and was purchased years ago (I believe it was from Garden Ridge, Brooke ;)  The thin crown molding is original to the whole house.

The sheer cotton gauze bed skirt is from Ballard Designs... some 15 years ago.  The white, scalloped matelasse coverlet was purchased around the same time.   I brought home six or seven different quilts for the end of the bed trying to match the beautiful, but elusive, gray/green/blue in the rug and in the religious painting in the corner of the room. Every time I thought "this one is perfect" I got it home and it clashed.  I finally (after months) found the perfect hue.   It is actually the same quilt that is on the bed in the master bedroom, just a different color/size (unfortunately, it is discontinued from DKNY.)

The large pillow made from an antique kilim rug (it is very similar in style and color to the rug on the floor) was purchased from the same rug dealer at the Scott show.  It sits in front of a pair of shams that match the blue/green/gray quilt.  I made the extra large linen pillow that spans the bed using a gorgeous red velvet antique bell pull.  The intricate handwork on the pull is stunning, and I bought it not really knowing what I was going to use it for, just because I loved it.  Then, one day, it clicked as to how perfect it would work as a pillow in this room!  It was a big hunt to find a pillow that was large enough for the length of the bell bull.  The pillow form is one of those huge "body pillows" from Bed Bath and Beyond- it spans the entire full-sized bed!

Ahhhhh, the bed frame! 
This antique English iron bed frame was my very first antique. My mother bought it for me right after college.  It was from lying in this bed and pondering where the bed had come from/ who had owned it before me/ what the rooms and the houses looked like that it had resided in over the hundred years before I owned it - that my love for antiques began in my early twenties.  The bed frame is what is referred to as a "three-quarters" size, as it is not quite a full.  To be able to use a full size mattress, my father made a wood platform that the mattress sits on, instead of using a box spring.  In Dallas the bed frame wasn't used and was stored in the garage for many years.  I'm so grateful for my late father's meticulous details and directions written on the wood platform, so that Dan and I could figure out how it all went back together.  Even though I wasn't using it in Dallas I could never sell it.  I always envisioned it being perfectly at home in an antique farmhouse, and all these years later, it is!

This photograph makes the bed frame look a bit more blue than it actually is.  It is painted with Rustoleum Texture spray paint in Dark Pewter.  I didn't set out to use the texture paint, but that was the color of gray (there are a lot of grays on the market;) that I liked for the room.  The mat texture actually adds a nice authentic "iron" look and feel to the bed.

The religious oil painting is our earliest, dating to the 1600's.  It is painted on hand-woven canvas known as tabby cloth and is from a  much larger work of religious art.  The painting depicts what appears to be a marriage as there is an exchange of a beautiful ring.  The painting has gorgeous detail... the pearl earrings the woman is wearing are stunning.

The antique pine chair was found (sans the cane seat) at an estate sale in Dallas.  I had the seat re-caned and used to use the chair every day at my vanity in Dallas to put on makeup.  (fyi - dry cane causes breakage...   a simple trick to keep cane from drying out and therefore keeping it strong and pliable, is to occasionally wet a washcloth, lightly wring it out  and place it on the cane overnight.)
Antique wire basket found in France holds a collection of white coral.

This guest bedroom is the smaller of the two guest rooms, so I was very pleased to be able to incorporate the antique French desk that we found at the Paris flea market.  The antique hand-painted egg prints were found at the Scott Antiques Market.  I framed them in a pair of antique gilt frames with the original wavy glass still intact, that I found at an antique shop in McKinney, Texas.  A vintage red leather ottoman sits under the desk with extra throws.

The vintage Louis XV style chair is one of a pair; its mate can be found in the reading room.  I purchased the chairs about 20 years ago, and I hand-applied gold leaf (the real kind, not the paint) to the frames. You can see a hint of the gilt on the chair back.   Twenty year ago I had this fabric upholstered on them using the reverse side of the shiny damask fabric that was so popular at the time.  This side looked like a patterned linen.  I remember the upholster thought I was crazy, and I had never seen it done before, but it felt like the right decision.  It has proven to be a good one, as I have used and loved them for 20 years!   About six years ago I applied a grey wash over the gilt chair frames, and tea stained the fabric (while on the chair;) to soften them a bit.
We purchased the vintage watercolor at estate sale in Dallas many years ago. At the time the painting hung in our hall in Dallas and I didn't want to invest the money to reframe and re-mat the piece, so I spray painted both the frame and the mat!

  

The unsigned oil painting was found in this frame at an antique shop in Austin, Texas years ago.   We almost didn't buy it as it as it was out of our budget.  We left the store and sat in the car discussing if we could/should buy it and then I ran back in to purchase it!   Thank goodness!

The antique iron and marble topped table was found in an antiques shop in Natchitoches, Louisiana.  It was from Rosemont Plantation.

The wood baluster lamp is a favorite that I have had for 20 years.  Don't be surprised when you see another one just like it (different shade) in the South guest bedroom... I have a "thing" for balusters, evident by the number of them I have around the house!  (fyi- I see the term misused often at antique shops, so to clarify- a "baluster" is a single piece while a 'balustrade" is the entire railing made up of individual balusters.)   We purchased about 25 of these at one of the first estate sales we ever went to in Dallas.  It was a fabulous old Highland Park house (for those of you who know Dallas) and we bought every single baluster knowing that they would make great lamps.  They were a very popular seller in my early years as an antiques dealer.   The are solid wood, so Dan had to drill a shaft through the baluster for the wire to go to the base.

Small antique iron urn holds an African violet and shares the table with a silver hotel tray, an antique oil painting of sheep that was recently framed by having an antique frame cut down to fit, a piece of white coral and a black oval framed antique chalkware carving of a boy that we found in France.

So, when shall I be expecting you?!!! ;)

the North guest bedroom

click HERE to read the "details" post on this room

the winter front porch

In Texas we could grow pansies throughout the entire winter; here pansies are spring and early summer flowers!  Since nothing grows outside in the winter months it becomes a fun challenge to find filling for the antique urn at the front door.  The last couple of years I have left the Christmas boughs in the urn, but this year I felt the need for an all-white arrangement, probably due to the fact that until this past week we haven't had any snow, to speak of, on the ground since that unusual Halloween snow storm. 



 I filled the urn with white birch branches that we found on the forest floor!

(these photos were taken before the snow arrived)

A large basketball-size Japanese fishing float keeps the urn company, along with a collection
 of "white" conks. 

Please note the large conk attached to the branch.

The day after I made the above arrangement of all-white at the front door I found this....

a "white" conk at the base of the mailbox!

 A gift !
I assume it is from our handyman/painter, but perhaps it is a gift from the conk fairy?!

my twenty-year-old topiary

After the last post I was asked how I have kept a topiary alive for twenty years, and the honest answer is...  I have no idea!

But, I might have a clue...

Twenty years ago you couldn't just walk into your neighborhood grocery store or Lowe's or Home Depot and buy an ivy topiary like you can today. Twenty years ago the dearly departed Smith and Hawkin had yet to even set up a storefront in Dallas. I saw topiaries in magazines and coveted them. Since I had no known sources I knew I would have to grow my own. I found the "ball" topiary form in the Smith and Hawkin catalog (remember, this was back in the day before computers;), but at $12 plus shipping it was too rich for my very frugal blood at the time! I was very happy when I found an old ball topiary form at an estate sale in Dallas, even though I thought the $5 price tag was overpriced!

I then went to the local Wolfe nursery and bought a small-leaf ivy. I haven't a clue as to what type of ivy I bought and apparently it was the wrong kind. To say it was a slow grower is an understatement... it took about two years for the first single tendril to even reach the topiary form!! I was patient, and by the fifth year the ivy finally (sparsely) covered the ball!

When we moved from Dallas the only plant I brought with me (I had tons of plants that I gave away) was this one ivy. I almost lost it in the move to New Hampshire as we moved in January, and although it had a very special spot in the car it apparently became frost bitten when carried into the hotel each night.

The first week in New Hampshire it lost all of its leaves, and I thought it was dead. I was sad, but kept watering it and within several weeks tiny little green leaves started to appear. It survived! Then, a year later in the midst of the farmhouse renovation I was distracted and didn't water it for a period of time, and again I thought I had lost it.  It revived and, thankfully, is as happy as ever.

I think the answer to its longevity "might" be that I purchased a very slow growing ivy.   My guess is that the ivies that are mass-grown are fast growing and always want/need to be re-potted.  This is purely conjecture on my part, so if there are any ivy aficionados out there, please feel free to weigh in!

I have re-potted mine maybe twice in the twenty years, and I very rarely use fertilizer.  I water it every 7 to 10 days, letting it dry out fairly well between each watering.  When I water it I water it several times- meaning, I water it and let it soak in, then water it again to ensure that the soil is completely soaked.  The dirt is covered with sheet moss to retain moisture.
Occasionally the topiary will get spider mites  (though I must say this happened more often in Texas than it does here for some reason) and when it does I use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint liquid soap.  It has to be the peppermint to work mites or aphids.  I use a mixture of 1 teaspoon of soap per quart of water, and then spray it on the plant leaves.

As you can see in the photograph I am letting several tendrils grow and they are about half way up the stem; I think they've been growing for about a year now. 
In another year they just might reach the ball!

the winter mantel

   I wanted to add some warmth and color to the living room mantel for the cold winter months...

Antique French confit pots share the mantel with a trio of antique brass church candlesticks, a large tree fungus "conk", a sculptural piece of a tree root from our property, a bee hive, my 20-year-old topiary, and an antique French horn letter opener.

 

Antique earthenware confit pots were utilitarian pieces used primarily in the South of France (Provence) for the preservation of meats such as duck or goose. The bottom halves of the pots were unglazed, as the pots would be half buried in the ground to keep the contents cool and fresh.  Since these pots were utilitarian pieces chips and imperfections help authenticate the true antiques from the many reproductions on the market. 

I love old repairs on pottery... the wire on the neck of the small pot was an attempt by someone many years ago to contain a crack in the pot.

A copper tray from India commands the coffee table.