Divine Decoupage

Finds
August 13, 2014

John Derian, the king of decoupage makes switchplates! I am quite upset that I didn’t know about these lovelies sooner. I have been a big fan of John Derian for a very long time, as many of you remember from my search for a sofa, but these? They are divine. Now while I don’t plan on getting rid of my Forbes & Lomax switchplates and replacing them with these decoupage beauties, I will keep them in mind for other projects, and purposefully attempt to have locations where there are single switches so that these might be incorporated. I have always been a big proponent of replacing switchplates to dress up a room, but using one of these switchplates is like hanging a small piece of art. How chic. This is just a sampling of some of my favorites, visit John Derian’s website to see more!

Wilmette Hardware for the Win!

Architecture
August 12, 2014

Does your dog bark at the mailman? Hamish has developed a real problem when it comes to being vocal towards the mailman. And our poor mailman would have to come through our privacy door on the street onto the piazza where he would often encounter a less than pleased Hamish in order to put mail through the slot on our front door. For more information on Privacy Doors click here. Typically a privacy door has a mail slot, and thus this problem is typically avoided. However, I didn’t want just any old mail slot. I wanted the perfect mail slot. Enter Wilmette Hardware . Located in Wilmette, IL, they are the creators and purveyors of the perfect mail slot. Flush with the door, un-lacquered brass – the most attractive mail slot I had ever seen. And trust me, I had looked at a lot of mail slots in the search for the perfect slot. When it arrived I couldn’t have been more excited for the install. And the finished product. I couldn’t be more pleased with the scale, design, and craftsmanship of this mail slot. Here is Hamish posing with the new mail slot. Thanks to Wilmette Hardware I know that our mail man is going to be much happier visiting our house. Wilmette Hardware manufactures some absolutely beautiful hardware – look out for a post on doorknobs coming soon. And in the meantime, follow one of their accomplished craftsmen, Micah Eastvold on Instagram at www.instagram.com/micah6eight

Attempting the Adriatic

Paint
August 11, 2014

We have been having some particularly wet, gray and rainy weather here in Charleston, and I have been looking back at my photos of the trip to Croatia we took in June and fantasizing about going back. I love this picture and all its colors, and so this morning I thought I would pull a couple of the colors out in Benjamin Moore paints. It is important to remember that paint swatches look very different on a computer screen than they look in a swatch book, and furthermore that they look very different on your walls than they do in a swatch book.
Razzle Dazzle BM 1348

The bougainvillea. I just fell in love with all the beautiful blossoms in Croatia. My husband has planted some in our garden, and I am hoping that I will be seeing some of these blossoms soon. Dark Royal Blue BM 2064-20

It would be impossible to give the Adriatic just one color, but in this photo it has a dark solid tone to it. In the hundreds of photos I took on the trip, the Adriatic is a different color in every photo.
Grenada Green BM 432

Again with the foliage on this hill, there must be hundreds of different green tones. With Grenada Green I was pulling out some of the lighter tones towards the end of the point where the foliage intersects with the rock.

Stonington Gray HC-170

And the rocks that act as a perch for that beautiful Villa. Wouldn’t you like to call that villa home?