New Decorating Job

I have a new decorating job that has been in the works since
this summer. This is a client of mine that I helped with her old
house a few years ago. She has since purchases a new house in
downtown Staunton, a historic Victorian house on New Street.
The first part of this house is working on the two units in the back
that are now two Airbnb rentals. We were working on these while
the house was being renovated, so it all came together as the house was
being finished. The first one has a blue and white theme and  I got to
use one of my favorite fabrics by Schumacher, a beautiful toile called
Birds of Paradise, for the curtains.

The Airbnb is called the Labrador Manor and these are the pictures of the listing online.
I forgot to take pictures when I was there. The second rooms were done in Stouts Flicks3
in grey.

I think these back two rooms were at one point servant rooms with double back
porches and separate entrances.

 The next rooms will be done soon, one of the fabrics is on back order. If you want
to see more of the house, check out the listing.

Mini Vacation to Figure Eight Island, N.C.

For my birthday last week, I took a couple of days off to go to Figure Eight Island
in North Carolina with my mom, my sister, my aunt and cousin. We stayed in a huge
house on this beautiful island.

There is a bridge you take to get over to the island, this is a view from the porch.

There are only a few houses on the island, surrounded by marsh and water with loads
of wildlife.

My lense fogged up while I was taking the picture of the Herond. Saturday the storm
came through and the temperature changed to cool. I went down to the dock to take
more pictures.

This is the water side of the house.

And the front of the house.

Each morning we walked the island to explore the surroundings, above is the water
across from the front of the house with two men fishing. Below is a picture of my
favorite house.

A view of the beaches and if you look close on the bottom picture, you can see
Wrightsville Beach at the end of the beach.

 A picture of the storm coming in above. And below, a few paintings from the house and
in my bedroom.

It was a great trip with lots of shopping in beautiful stores and great food in wonderful
restaurants.

The First Day of Fall

The past two days have been very hot, it is hard to believe that it is
the first day of fall. There is a cold front coming in so hopefully it
is going to start to cool off. Below you will see pictures of the last
blooms in my yard.

New Design For My Dining Room

I have been dying to do a new design for my dining room, I looked at rugs on Amazon.
I saw some that I thought were pretty at Home Goods, but I came across this 8' x 10' rug
at Ross Stores at only $100 and said let's do it. It's time to lighten up this room.

The old rug was a dated pastel 9' x 12' rug that I found at an antique store a couple of
years ago in other house, see my old posts from when I lived on Fayette St.. It was dirty
and was impossible to keep clean.

 The new is a Dragos rug made in Turkey and had Grey and multi tones, it shoes more
floor and is not as thick as the last rug. It gives the room a lighter look with a more updated
look.

The old curtains were made for my living room many moons ago. They are a
light green silk stripe and were dark and dated.

The new curtains are from Ballard Design and are a cotton twill with a decorative border and
are called Embroidered Square Trim Panels in Gray. I love the light they let into the room,
I do miss the look of silk but these do bring a new look to the room.

My next design decision will be replacing the chair fabric, above are a few contenders,
Duralee has come out with a few new patterns that I love.. Will post a finished look soon.
Still working on this room.

Say Good Bye to Summer

These Zinnias are my last blooms of the summer.

And my rose bush has made a comeback at the end of the summer.

And to end this, the last fabric pick for my client in the Fan.

The AC is off, the nights are getting cooler and my favorite time of year is coming.

Getting Ready for Fall

On a day when the temperatures are high, 90 something. I received a box
from TJ Maxx with clothing for Fall. It all started when I saw a cute shoe
at my local TJ Maxx, but didn't see my size, so when I got home, I searched
for the shoes on their on line website. So here we go with my purchase.

 Animals prints in a skirt and shoes.

The Anne Klein animal flats on the left are the item that started this whole thing. The
Catherine Malandrino Leopard mules were a must.

The NYCC animal print skirt will look great with a black tee as we start to go to cooler
days and will later look great with boots and a turtleneck. My go to look.

This gorgeous Catherine Malandrino black knit sweater dress with an envelope hem
and button shoulder.

And last, a Forgotten Grace long sleeve puff shoulder top will look great with any
piece in my wardrobe. Hope to see cooler days to come.