Monday, July 21, 2014

Sunday Antiquing

Yesterday, Elfie and I drove over the mountain to
Charlottesville to visit an estate sale and a few antique
shops. The first stop was at my exes old winery, First
Colony Winery, where they were having an estate sale
from the old Keswick Hall. These where pieces that Lord
Ashley had purchased for the hotel when he owned it and
I guess the new owner didn't like. The estate sale was listed
on Facebook with nice inviting photos....





I had the gentleman having the sale hold two ceramic garden stools for me. They are gorgeous
and the right price....
I will either sell them to my new client or find another buyer for them. We drove over
to 29 south to Covesville Antique Store to look for a desk for my client in Fishersville.



This is an old general store with a big front porch and lots of goodies inside.
If only I was a millionaire, I would buy one of everything! This place also just
bought the Tuckahoe Antique Mall which is not far away and near Wintergreen,
so that was our next stop.I took lots of pictures here, lots of goodies and great prices.










Lots of desk options and lots of beautiful pieces. And last but not least, the Tiger Lilies
I planted in the fall are finally blooming, they are stunning and they smell divine.




Monday, July 7, 2014

Daylilies

The wonderful world of Daylilies, wouldn't we all love
to be a Daylily? I never paid much attention to Daylilies
when I was younger, why do you want a flower that you
can't  pick, why do they close up at night. My ex mother in
law had them all around her pool and fussed at the labs for
running around in them. Stay out of my Daylilies, she would
shout. She would dig some u and give them to me for my yard.
I had no idea what to do with them, where to plant them, I didn't
want them in my flower beds, they just get so big.


When my children were little, I went to one of the first Daylily Festivals at Andre Viettes
Nursery. The festival was small, not at all as big as it is now, we walked around Andre's
house. The were every where, in every color, they even give you a free one for signing up
to receive their news letter. It totally changed my mind about Daylilies, at the old house here,
I had to move all the lilies to the back yard to get more sun. This was around the pool, and they
loved it, they bloomed, they are very hearty. At this house, were I am now, they are beautiful
and look great next to my farmers market pin cushion flowers and the other flowering things in
the yard. The previous gardener must have loved Ande Viettes and Dalilys, they are all around the
yard in ever color.






Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Chintz Fabric

Chintz- originally a glazed calico textile.
Chintz's made a big splash in the 1980's and 90's.
The decorator, Mario Buatta, was named "The Prince
of Chintz". He would cover one room head to toe with
it, including the walls. Recently I had some wonderful old
pieces come in that are covered in old '90's chintz.


 This is a sweet shell print Chintz, if you look closely at the back side of
the skirt, you can see where over time the glaze on the fabric has worn off.





The cushion on the wicker bench that came in is a perfect example of old
Chintz patterns. This is a Warner fabric from their Eastern Cold Collection
called Water Flowers and was purchased at the Second Yard in Charlottesville.
I love the cranes and the lily pads. Again you can see were the sheen is gone from
the cushion and has faded in color compared to the extra piece under the cushion.

Above is one of my favorite Chintzes, Bowood from Colefax and Fowler. I do not think
that all colorways are still available. This pattern has been around since the 1950's and is
one I love to use.


And here we have a new Chintz called Elizabeth, designed by the decorator Alessanrda
Branca for Schumacher. This is a beautiful fabric and very reminiscence of the old Chintzes.
You can find old Chintz fabrics on Ebay and Etsy, they make great pillow fabric.