Happy Monday! I hope all of my readers had a fabulous weekend! I had family in for the weekend and actually took Friday off to go watch my cousin Whitney’s son play soccer. I rarely get to see Whitney who is my Uncle Jack’s oldest~~ she lives in Birmingham, Alabama so logistics make it hard. I cannot believe I did not take ONE picture all weekend! My Uncle Jack and Aunt Judy happened to be passing through town on Friday on their way to Steamboat, Colorado for the next 5 months~~~ So I had major bonus on Friday night having Jack, Judy, Whitney , her husband Shawn and their son Chase for a steak diner at my house. Riley could not be there but Harrison was and was our master griller. I bought steaks from The Meat Board here in Fort Worth~~~~ anyone who has never tried this butcher MUST give them a visit. The meat is out of this world wonderful!!! And they will ship!!!! The soccer game was a bummer…Chase’s team lost big….but it was so much fun to be with my wonderful family. Saturday night we had a pizza party with Whitney, Shawn, Riley, Harrison, and my cousins Garrett & Renee who live in Dallas. Garrett & Renee brought their 15 week old puppy Chef with them~~~ and I am PROUD to say that Tutu met the first dog she got along with immediately!!!!!! It was precious watching them play!!!! I think I was so delighted to get to be with Whitney and family that I just lost my head not taking pictures!!!! Bad Kay!!!! We had the BEST time!!
The new landscape man did round 4 of trimming my yard back a week and a half ago….and once again there were treasures uncovered in my yard. I did not know that I had a beautiful Francis of Assisi statue in my backyard! It was totally covered up with an overgrown bush. A section of the stone retaining wall that he opened up to view has fern growing out of it. He also uncovered more oriental lantern lights that I and dying to see if an electrician can get working again as well as more boulders in the beds. I have not lived in this house full time since I was 18 until I returned to live with mother at age 55. I truly do not remember all of the elements of the landscaping. It is heart warming to me to find all of these new treasures!
While May was SSSSOOOO busy June has been a bit slower pace as my clients travel and are getting kids in and out of camps. I did get to install a client’s house the first week of June after her much delayed closing. It was just round one….with much more to come but still thrilling to see it start to take shape! We have much more to go with wallpaper installations and more furniture arriving….but it is livable now!!! We were even able to hang art on the install day which makes all the difference in the world! I love going to bed at night after an install and staring at the pictures !
We have had an unusual summer for Texas so far…..a lot of rain and not many days above 95 degrees. I am sure our normal heatwave will hit us some time soon….. but I am relishing the days we have had in the 80s!!!!!!!
Here is to a super second half of June. I love summer with the slower pace…..it is a chance to catch your breath before fall hits. I hope everyone is having a delightful summer so far. Take care and I will write again soon!
My Saint Francis of Assisi statue that was uncovered in my backyard. It was completely under this bush! It even has it’s own concrete platform. This THRILLS me! One of the oriental lanterns is right next to it. This is one of 4 that we have found. Now one of the BIG tricks will be finding out which switch in the house controls them. Whoever designed the electrical for this house was loopy!!! There is no rhyme or reason for which switch contols which light~~~ and of course when I found the plans for the house the electrical page was gone:(
I have discovered a new thing to keep adding to my garden….hosta and hydrangeas. They love the area by my retaining wall and bamboo. There are underground springs back here that fortunately and unfortunately keep it moist a lot of the time. This is my 4th year to keep adding to them…and they come back on their own and get bigger every year. It is like magic!!
The fern I found growing in the stone wall. This is a variety of fern that mother had in 3 places. This amazed me!!! I am hoping it will keep going. Truly I tell you that I never knew I would get so much pleasure from gardening. I HATE to get dirty~~~ always have. But this is like my new living room to design outside:)
Tutu playing with Chef. So darling!!!!
A preview of my install the first week of June. The HAPPY pink sectional is from Kravet. So beautiful and shipped in 6 weeks!!! My how times ahve changed since the long waits of Covid!!! The stunning rug is from Abrash. I just placed that chair there for the moment….we are ordering another small loveseat to go there,
One of the first jobs I did after I found out that AAA Draperies was closing down was a quilted beadspread. That is not an every day request…I had to do some searching. OF COURSE it would have been NO problem for AAA~~~ they did everything. I held my breath when I went to pick up and deliver this spread and bolster pillow….and I am happy to report that the new company did a beautiful job. The Morris & Co fabric quilted in a stunning way!!!
I had two of my great-grandmother’s chairs reupholstered in this whimsical Clarence House fabric to go with Riley’s sofa ( you can see it against the wall) for her next apartment. I fell in love with this print the first time I saw it! If these 100 year old chairs could talk I bet they would have some great stories! The last area in my office I have furniture that I am storing for Riley and Harrison for “someday.” I ADORE that large oil painting but I do not have a wall for it in my house.
I had a picture of this room in my last blog….but you can see the details so much better at this time of day with the lights on. I love how this room turned out!!!!!
One of my clients saw this chandelier in Venice last summer. I am working with the artist to make one for his enrty hall on a smaller scale and with his colors. I mailed pictures of the rugs and fabric samples to him in Venice last week…they are supposed to get there today. I will start emailing him tomorrow about all of the details. This is the same client that I had the bookcase with the secret hidden door for the closet designed for his office. He really pushes me outside of the box!!! So much fun!!!
One of my new clients wants to create her guest house in the back to look like it is from Costwold. One of my longest term clients and dear friend went there a few weeks ago!! She was happy to send me all sorts of pictures of architectural elements to choose from. This is the same client that I jumped out of a cab in the middle of the street in Paris to take a picture of some iron railings that I wanted to recreate for her home we were building. The cab driver ( and mother!) thought I was crazy!!! I did use that picture to create her iron railing on her upstairs balcony. The things I do for my clients!!!!!! Look at this ceiling!! WOW!!!!
She took so many pictures of wallpaper on the ceiling. We will definitely be doing this in her guest house!