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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

A Barn, Dear Friends, and a Beautiful Evening

This was a wish come true for me!  I always, always wanted to give a barn party, but there was a small problem.......I didn't have a barn.......and I didn't have an occasion to give such a party.  Enter my friend, Brenda.  She invited the lay leadership of our church to a party in her beautiful barn!  When she asked me if I would help, I jumped at the chance.  Would I ever!!!

Look at this beautiful land!

This is the way the barn looked two days before the party.  Can you imagine getting a BARN with animals living in it ready for a party?  I can hardly get my home ready!  Plus, it is so dry here, that the dirt and dust from the arena is blowing like crazy, which means we set up the tables early, but couldn't add tablecloths, dishes, or centerpieces until the last minute.

Here's the outside.  Doesn't it look like a good time is about to happen?

This is what greeted guests down by the road.  These pumpkins were commandeered from my front door and have now been returned!  Don't you just love this old wooden wheelbarrow?

Folks entered at this end of the barn and this was found on both sides of the door.

This old church pew sits here all of the time.  I know this photo is blurry, but I wanted you to see this grand piece of history.

Brenda snitched these three pillows from her front porch for the evening.

I thought you might like to see the tack room.

This hand tooled saddle has the badge that reads "Charmaine James".  She was a famous barrel racer and Brenda's husband bought her this beauty.

You can see the party area through the door.

We put the desserts in the wash bay.

We were going for high style and low budget and by using tin foil pans, we made it happen.  

This other bay held drinks in self-help coolers, just inside the door.

This guy graced a very popular table....... 

the one that held the peanuts!

It was so delightful to see all those adults walking around with a bag of peanuts.  (And, because it is 2016, you can see the obligatory bottle of Purell!)

I just love those old burlap bags over the hay bales that hold up the coolers.

This is the buffet table waiting for the barbeque and beans.  More tin pans here.

Each horse had a basket of carrots outside of it's stall, and, again, I was tickled to see all of those grown ups getting so into feeding horses!

Here's what tables for nearly 100 looks like.

Here's the dinner plate.  Yep!  It's a foil pie pan.  No renting (or washing) dishes for us.

A colorful paper lined the plate, and the plastic flatware was tied with a bit of raffia.  You can see the red gingham plastic tablecloth which was over white linen cloths.  A strip of butcher's paper ran down the middle.

Three mason jars made up the centerpiece.  One held corn, one black beans and the little one held just the burlap covered votive.  

Ok, now.  The stalls are ready.....

the tables are ready......

and it is time for the stars of the evening.  This is Brenda's husband, Ken, bringing in his big horse, Dakota.  He's 16 1/2 hands!  No wonder his nickname is "Big D".  A huge thanks go to Ken, as well, for his incredible generosity.

He's ready to party.  Three more beauties were brought in and they each showed their own personality.  They seemed to really love the attention.  

Time for guests!

I very seldom post photos of my friends or guests, but I just had to use this one.  This is Brenda, a woman I am so proud to call my friend.  This entire event was her vision and I was simply an extra pair of hands to help.  She designed, she cleaned, she schlepped, she organized and she was the sweetest leader.  And thus, I got to give a barn party!!!!! 

P.S.  Brenda owned Balthus von Tassel, the beautiful heirloom turkey who was featured in this post.  Please take a look at this handsome devil.


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Sunday, November 6, 2016

Yummy Choices!


I am presently working with some of the loveliest clients.  I've been lucky to make a connection with most everyone I've worked with and I feel that most of them have very good taste.  Sometimes it's about encouraging them to trust their taste.  This client not only has good taste, but she has made some choices that I would love to put in my own house.

Now that her children are older, she wanted to jump onto the neutral wagon, but she loves chinoiserie. She couldn't quite figure out how to do both.  When I showed her this linen fabric, I knew by her reaction that we were on to something.

An all neutral room is not too exciting, so I urged her to add another color, and we chose a soft, soft, almost turquoise blue.  This leopard pattern is the thriller of the group.

Then I found some solids with texture and some wonderful trims.

There's even a stripe that we are considering.

And grasscloth!  It's back in full force in the design world.  
None of these fabrics are expensive, but the look they give when combined is elegant and rich.  We'll be working hard on this living room after the holidays.  Then on to the dining room, I hope!

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Thursday, November 3, 2016

Back to Gold!


Gold!!!!  It's been in, it's been out, and for sure.....it's back!!!!  Suddenly, it has a contemporary vibe and I particularly like it used with more rustic items.  These beautiful napkin rings from Art of the Table were a gift from a beautiful bride, and I stuck in a feather to bridge the luxe and the informal.

I started gathering up some gold items to make a simple fall table.  Nothing is new, just used in a different way.  

Years ago, when Martha Stewart first made gilding pumpkins popular, I found these canvas placemats with gold leaves.  I was pretty proud of the way my gilded vegetables looked with these linens.

Then I pulled out my trusty gold chargers and used them with these brown,  mottled dinner plates.  The pattern is called "Leopard".

I played with several different sets of flatware and settled on this French cream set.  I have never cared for gold flatware.  Even the contemporary gold that I am seeing now just doesn't float my boat!

I have seen these glasses for sale several different places.  This summer, my close friend in Charleston had them on her dinner table when she entertained us, and I had great glass envy!  By the next weekend, I owned some of my own!  


Phil the Pheasant made his seasonal debut.  This resin bird shows up often on the table, and is always part of our decor.  
Two of my favorite tables I ever posted had him as a centerpiece.  Look here and here.

Isn't he a handsome devil?

He is nestled in this wreath made up of natural, gold, and copper leaves.  

The old wood barley twist candlesticks that I started with were not very exciting, so I replaced them with these gilded ones.  They are heftier and the gold sort of lifts the look up a bit.

I also used gold embossed place cards.

I thought this horn salt and pepper was a good choice for this table.

I'm loving the gold!  It is certainly on trend, but remains too classic to be considered trendy.


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