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Saturday, March 31, 2012

~♥ A Quote ♥~

    

“Trust is like a vase.. once it's broken, though you can fix it, the vase will never be the same again.”


I'm starting a new series on my blog...I've always loved quotes and I'll share those that speak to me.

Kim

Designer Spotlight: Rogers Design Group and a winner!


Good morning! So nice that its the weekend. We have a few things on the agenda but nothing crazy and I am looking forward to some relaxing time spent at home sans workers...woo hoo! Its suppose to rain today, so its a good day to catch up. We have a party to attend and I am always stuck with the dreaded "what to wear" dilemna, don't know if I have the energy to brave the crowds and go find something to wear. Oh well....guess its back to my boring but safe black dress! I have been very very busy this week with the online store. Its a lot of work, but its truly a labor of love. Getting emails and pictures from excited customers makes my day like you cannot believe. To hear how excited they are just makes ME so happy! So thank you...keep them coming! I am working very hard to get the orders out the door, and the first month no doubt there are small hiccups, but rest assured I am working hard and aim to please. I would like to announce the winner of the beautiful crystal hurricane candle, part of the new line I am carrying which I am super excited about, and apparently many of you are too!








Congratulations goes to............... Lillian!

Prize IDWinner IDPublic InfoPrivate InfoRandom Sorting IDWeight
1: Hurricane candle1491307lillian004FF6C8-E510-4AA1-BC02-B2B592CC30691
                         Please contact me and provide your shipping details ASAP.

Moving onto to the world of design.........I only discovered this talented design firm through a friend whose parents had their beautiful Florida family home decorated by this fabulously talented group. Then as I always do when I see something I love, I explored some more and quickly  realized this was a name worth sharing. I am sure some, perhaps many of you might already know of them but for me this was a new (and exciting) discovery! I think their sophisticated work speaks for itself so without further adieu...here we go! Would love to know what you think of their style! Click here to visit their beautiful website. Enjoy!


Gorgeous colors....... and the ceiling height makes this feel so dramatic

Beautiful architectural details, very elegant room!

Love the soft muted neutrals against the rich, dark woods

Gorgeous well appointed hallway painted in rich creamy tones
Beautiful palette complimented by the dark rich woods
Beautiful foyer and staircase

Love the vibe here, great ceiling detail!
Gorgeous hallway

Love that lantern and the light of this space!

One of my favorite color palettes for a master bedroom
Lovely, and love the paired sofas back to back.
They are well versed in a variety of styles
Great vibe here.......

Pretty.......

Gorgeous!

Beautiful kitchen space with interesting backsplash

Love the animal print in this rich study/library (check out the belljars) 

A cream and white bathroom does it every time!

Gray and white in a bedroom is very pleasing....

Another view

A happy very sophisticated transitional space

Very elegant tonal bedroom

Stunning stair tower

Love the floors......

Of course I am loving this, a white marble topped dark island...bingo!

Quite a beautiful portfolio of rooms don't you think! I love their style, and think some of these interiors are just incredible looking. Would love to know what you think! Don't you get so excited when you discover something or someone new (to you at least)? This was fun fun fun!


Also a few new goodies added to the store as of yesterday...more great things to come! Click here to visit.





And added a few little odds and ends to my console in family room and got in the antler pillows for customer but now I think I need to order one for myself...its a love!



Have a great day and a fabulous weekend!! Hope Sharon that you are feeling better! If you didn't have a chance to read my post yesterday, click here to hear Sharon's inspirational story.

Last....heard from a reader/customer who has a lovely blog, and she sent me a link to a post of her recently put up chinoiserie paper in her dining room which also includes a beautiful planter she bought from me. It is so beautiful...I wanted to share her gorgeous tranformation with you!
Click here to visit. (Living with Lis blog)

And a special thank you to my friend Marianne who just posted on the cocktail napkins she got from me and highlighted the store....click here to visit Style for Living. Thnak you both!




Photobucket

Friday, March 30, 2012

Garden Design.....part 2. Three homes, Six plants.




In the continuation of our series, I want to guide you on honing in on your homes architectural elements and what plants and garden style will be compatible. Let's keep it easy and examine the same six plants for each. Our styles will be "Cottage/informal", Semi-formal, and Formal

The six plants will be, Boxwood, Hydrangeas, Roses, a Crab Apple Tree, Lavender, and Ornamental Grasses. OK, onto the first house...........
     Cottage Style
In this case study is a shingle styled home, think beach, cottage, Cape Cod, a bungalow........very informal. So using our six plants here, let's begin with boxwood;


No rows here but placed sporadically, they offer a sense of continuity without demanding attention. And importantly they offer winter interest. Have to honestly say one of my top favorite plants

Can't you just see it, spilling mounds, collected together for the perfect cottage scene.


Roses, climbing, entwining, intermingling. When I was studying in England I loved the concept of two vines are better than one. You would see a glorious climber like this one above clambering towards the sun while in a deep passionate "hug" with a morning glory vine.......can't you just picture that?

Ornamental Crabs or fruit bearing apple trees would be best as 'one with the garden' with a mosaic inspired plant cluster at it's feet



Does it get any better than this? What better garden than a cottage garden? The sun, the fragrance, the sound of bumble bees (they will never hurt you unless you attack)
The textural contrast of ornamental grasses is again intermingled as are most plants in an informal garden creating little exclamation points of interest


























  Semi-Formal
This is a style that is compatible with almost any architecture. It's the middle of the road, the perfect blend of formal and informal. Let's study the use of our six plants within this framework. Our chosen house is a classic American farmhouse with an asymmetrical design


The boxwood here has become a more prominent player containing the riotous color and free-flowering nature of the perennials
 This layout has a touch of formality however the loose structure of the hydrangeas again relaxes the structured layout of the boxwood
Roses, framing a door but look again at it's partner, yes boxwood. This composition is the classic middle of the road style.
TIP:  Want to surround your door or window in roses without a trellis? Easy, put globs of clear bathroom silicone caulk just where you want the stem. While wet, insert a garden twisty tie encasing it entirely in the caulk, allow to dry, repeat every 12". When thoroughly dry add your stalk, twist and go to the next one.Want to remove the caulk ever? Again easy, slip a screw driver under it and pop them off.

Diminutive crab apples, a favorite is 'Lollipop'. This placement can be formal which is expected in this style, but to a degree. The looseness of the hydrangeas tones down the symmetry

A free formed plant such as the lavender above can single-handedly pull together the desired style when planted in a straight line

Can you see it here? Where is the formality? In the strong rectangle of ornamental grasses which is inherently informal but teamed with the giant allium......Viola!

                                                                   Formal
And in this case French architecture. To me, there are two types of French homes; the formal as above and the French country rustic, which could go with any of the styled gardens previously mentioned. This could also be an English home, Tudor, Greek Revival, ............


This is what we think of as formal boxwood; severely pruned into a pattern, and here lining the walkway with a boxwood sentinel flanking the entrances

Trees in a topiary form is pure formal. How is this for the use of Hydrangea?!




Ahhhhh, yes! Are we in Versailles? This is a la Claude Monet, the alee of roses on multiple trellis forms creating the long view of lusciousness! The supporting cast of boxwood and a pea gravel path, define the style.

Source: google.com via Debra on Pinterest

The perfect crab or fruit bearing apple is the 'espalier', (s  pal yeah) creates a living fence, a tight formation of simple and elegant manipulation
Remember the haphazard layout of the lavender in the cottage style? This is anything but. Patterned gardens are particularly lovely viewed from above.
         

Did you ever think there was such a beautiful way to formalize ornamental grasses? This is the best example I have ever seen

So to recap, hone in on the architecture and the complimentary landscape style. And "see" your chosen plants in a form that fits in with your scheme. Did this help you? Do you feel better informed when visiting the garden center? Any questions? Yes I used to teach landscape design and am used to asking at the end, "any questions?" But I am serious, ask away!

Next in the series:  choosing the "floor" of the garden. Wishing everyone a lovely weekend and as always, thank you for visiting!
xo
Debra






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