Saturday Night: dinner in the orchard

~kelley~

Succulents in vintage pottery

Vintage art pottery is such a great collectable but much of it can"t be used for serving food.   I love this old Mexican hand painted stuff and it is perfect for succulents.  I use a cactus mix and add a bit more sand and poke the little cuttings in with a spoon handle.

For what ever reason the look of this pottery mimics the landscape this time of year.  The lavenders and grasses and the whole feel of summer.

Touches of orange in the day-lilies and the blue agave spikes.

These are so fun in the house and on the porch and much prettier than a plain 

terra cotta pot

Hope you had a great weekend!

~kelley~

Lavender

This coming Saturday, June 26th is the Ojai Lavender Festival.  If you want to know, see, smell, taste and enjoy everything lavender this is the spot for you!

In my garden I have 3 varieties of lavender growing, which all bloom at various times throughout the summer.  

The Lavendua Stoechas "spanish lavender" is the first to pop up and I love it in arrangements.  It really isn't all that fragrant but it is a stunner in the perennial beds.

My favorite for drying is the Lavandula Intermedia "grosso" and Lavandula Angustifolia "hidcote".  Both have long spiky flower stems and really pretty traditional lavender flowers.  Grosso is the most widely used for oils and apothecary purposes and it dries beautifully.  

I have this stuff hanging all over the place...  on the front porch, in the garage and on the garden gate.  

It dries really quickly and then I trim up the stems and wrap each little bundle in raffia.  I like to put it in the linen closet and in drawers.  It is such a fun little gift to give a friend and so easy to do!

The Ojai Valley Inn and Spa has beautiful lavender beds below.  This is a wonderful place to stay for a weekend if you are in the area.  With over 220 acres it has a substantial impact on the area and a really interesting history, more about that later!

Our local Farmers market has a great Lavender provider, Rivendell Aromatics.  They have acres of lavenders and also sell haas avocados and other interesting fruit.

This farm is up the road from us on the way to Santa Barbara.  She sells lotions, soap, oils and dried lavenders that are just wonderful.  She will be at the festival this weekend and they are featuring lavender lemonade

Or better yet, how about  a lavender margarita?

Yum

Here's to the start of summer...cheers!

~kelley~

Anna French: Romance for your walls

I am working with a client on a small powder room and we are using wallpaper as part of the design.  

I met with my rep to get the order placed from Thibaut, 

and when we were done and just chatting she showed me these Anna French wall papers.

I was so crazy in love I couldn't put the book down.

These are just amazing, over the top, vintage romantic florals!

The colors are so strong and wonderful and very English.

The pattern below reminds me of my favorite ripped up washed out jeans and a crisp white Brooks Brothers button down.

  

Relaxed, modern, romantic & playful.

What really makes these papers current, is the use of metallics and foil, mixed in with the vintage design and rather washed looking prints.  

The patterns are all oversized and exploded and almost abstract in some ways.  The pattern below mixed with metallic is really amazing and even prettier close up.

How perfect with romantic roses

Above is a matte salmon and below a similar pattern in a silver metallic.

Ok....... lets just kick off the Jimmy Choo's and sip some bubbly

This velvet jacquard is just....no words....

Below from the Glamour collection, a fabric called "lavinia" which she does in a matching  wall paper as well

This pattern in these strong colors has a somewhat "craftsman" style feel.

Another color-way below, more tone on tone, but it looks completely different.  

I would use this with grey glass tiles in a bathroom or with Calcutta  marble maybe.

Below is pattern "Ash" in a celedon color

This is Anna.  

You can read her entire story here.  

Suffice it to say she is an enormous talent and Thibaut is the perfect platform to showcase her designs.  

Thibaut is the oldest manufacturer of wallpapers in the United States and I really love their papers as well...but that's another story

The perfect county home blue below,  called "bird in the bush"

The same fabric/paper in a more neutral color way.  

I might mix this one with vintage ticking and grain sacks.  

Maybe some raffia chairs or on an old black wicker chaise.

She does a few toile's, a bit more playful than what we normally see.

How fun is this pink for a little girls room called "girl on a see saw"

Her line of children's papers was such a huge success.  

The green below is called "walkies"

As if we don't have enough romance from Anna, she also does lace panels which are absolutely stunning.

Simple but elegant

thanks for stopping by
&
 please email me if you want more information on Anna French wallpapers


~kelley~