Inspired to Finally Get Transforming a Piece or Two of the Home

Posted: October 16, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Favorite Bloggers, Fun, Project Home | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

     Lately, inspiration has been everywhere.  It started at the Designed for a Cure event for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  There a panel of Williams & Sherrill design experts, including Kevin Malone, shared their design viewpoints.   Then through Annie Selke‘s luncheon presentation, I learned that my design style is “Everyday Exuberance”.  This perfectly apt and succinct description can now guide me and give me confidence in my color choices.

     The next week one of my design blogger heroines, Tobi Fairley, delighted an IFDA luncheon crowd as she showed how her design aesthetic and her design projects have evolved over the last decade of her very successful career.  She shared a lot of advice with the audience of mostly local designers, but I am going to take some of it as well, starting with taking pictures of the rooms of my house to locate decor problems.  Following the IFDA luncheon where Tobi spoke, our posse toured the Richmond Symphony Designer House, which was filled with amazing rooms produced by local talent like Malone and Kat Liebschwager of Ruth & Ollie (I hear Kat’s fabulous dinner room there was photographed for a future issue of Traditional Home).

     The following week, I had the great pleasure to have coffee with one of my other design blogger heroines, Laura Trevey of Bright Bold & Beautiful.  Introduced through a mutual friend after I won a BB&B Bliss giveaway, Laura truly lives up to the name of her blog.  By the end of our coffee, she felt like an old friend.  Laura has got such exciting things happening on her blog (you really should subscribe here to find out), and she left me completely energized.

Energetic and enthusiastic, Laura Trevey takes her own advise and gets in the picture with her kids and the dog.

     Finally, over the past month I have had the pleasure of a couple of day trips to the Rivah with friends.  While their fabulous homes demanded attention, on both trips we stopped by the delightfully French design shop, Brocante, in Irvington, as well as browse the local antique and consignment stores.  Brocante carries the Annie Sloan chalk paint line and is filled with examples of furniture that Brocante’s helpful owner, Rachel Pugliese, has transformed with the AS paint.  Each time I visit Brocante, I have to buy some Annie Sloan thing, which ends up in a closet while I fantasize about what boring brown piece of furniture in our house can be spiced up with the magic contained in one of her cans.

     Not this time, though.  With all of this inspiration and the realization that I could not buy another orphan piece of furniture until I made progress on what we already have, I have finally gotten out the sandpaper, wood-putty and paint brushes and started making a few transformations of my own.  I can’t wait to show you the results of my inspiration to transformation pieces.  In the meantime, maybe these inspirations will nudge you to transform your home fantasies into reality.

National Designers Dish at Richmond Fundraisers

Posted: September 18, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Favorite Bloggers, Project Home, Richmond Rocks | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Annie Selke Shares her Design Success for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

     Last Friday, I attended the inaugural Designed for a Cure held at The Country Club of Virginia.  Spearheaded by Avad Fan follower, Ellen Vance, and Sondra Washburn, the morning began with three workshops presented by the creative talents at Williams and Sherrill.  Guests could choose to learn about approaches to feng sui, “Making a Big Splash” or design trends.

Designed for a Cure

     Close to 200 people attended this unique fundraiser in support of Richmond’s active local chapter of the Cystic Fybrosis Foundation and were treated to a post-lunch presentation by the amazing Annie Selke, the inimitable creator of Pine Cone Hill, Dash & Albert Rug Company (named after two of her dogs) and her fabric collection, Annie Selke Home.  She described her varied career that brought her to product design and her ever growing business that she runs from the Berkshire hills of west Massachusetts.  Passionate about design, she has finally found the time to write a bright and beautiful book called Fresh American Spaces, in which she breaks down home design approaches into five subcategories.  Listening to her presentation, I immediately knew that my own design approach falls into her category, “Everyday Exuberance”, and that section of her book offers ideas for bringing bright design together to create a happy home.

Annie Selke chatting with attendees as she signs her book, Fresh American Spaces.

     Delightful and down-to-earth, Ms. Selke enchanted her audience throughout her presentation and the question and answer session, as well as during her book-signing.  Her spirit helped launch this Designed for a Cure event into a new annual happening.  As our table discussed at the lunch, most Richmonders are so tired of the auction-style fundraisers that have become the standard for non-profits around town, so we welcomed this refreshing format.   As word of its success spreads, next year’s Designed for a Cure should raise even more funds to be used to finally find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

Next Up:  Tobi Fairley Headlines the IFDA Day of Design at the Richmond Symphony Designer House

     I am so looking forward to hearing my favorite design star, Tobi Fairley, speak at the IFDA Day of Design at the Richmond Symphony Orchestra League 2012 Designer House on Thursday, September 27, 2012.  Tobi’s Blog arrives in my inbox every morning, and pictures of her creations are scattered throughout my Pinterest boards.  Like Ms. Selke, Ms. Fairley does not shy away from color, and I cannot wait to be inspired by her, as well as the Show House, Pinifer Park, which opened last week.

     At the last Designer Show House two years ago, Tobi designed the front entrance hall (above).  Featured in the April 2012 issue of Traditional Home magazine, pictures of that stunning space continue to pop up throughout the internet.  If Tobi speaks anything like she writes and creates, her Richmond audience is in for a treat.

     Even if you can’t get to the IFDA luncheon, you’ll want to visit the Designer House and Garden.  I hear the house is filled with great designs in small spaces.  Only open through October 8th, this show house provides a beautiful way to support the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.