Friday Treat - French Design on the Texas Coast

Happy Friday!

Today’s treat highlights another of my favorite blogs – Cote de Texas.  Joni Webb (dubbed “Miss Gracious Living” by Southern Accents magazine) combines wit and a keen eye with an amazing array of spectacular photos of wonderful houses, designs and accessories.  What’s not to like?

The focus of Cote de Texas is to highlight French design on the Texas Coast (Houston primarily).  Being a Texas girl who loves visiting Houston, Cote de Texas can’t help but be one of my favorites – and I am not alone.  With over 71,000 unique visitors each month, Joni struck oil (Texas pun intended) with her blog and insights. 

Each posting is an adventure for the reader.  You can’t help but learn and be inspired by Joni’s perspectives on architecture, interior design and all things French.  For example, her current posting (“A Tale of Two Houses (by the same designer and architect”) starts out as follows:

“Looking at HAR (Houston Area Realtor’ web site) this week I got a lucky hit. A lucky hit is where everything just comes together – wonderful architecture, beautiful interior design, lots of French antiques, and just a bit of a mystery to drive me INSANE!!! A lucky hit like this is very rare and hardly ever happens which makes it all the more special. So…here’s the story. Get your coffee, pull up a chair, and sit back. It’s a little wonderful and a little bit crazy”

Join the throngs and spend a few minutes enjoying Cote de Texas at http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/ .  If you do, you will be inspired by the possibilities Joni shares about French design on the Texas coast!!

Remember to dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

Tulsa Designer Showcase 2011 Observations

It used to be Casa Loma Hotel in the ’40s on the 2nd floor, and Safeway, drug store, and barbershop on the ground floor.    Then it became a disheveled home for pigeons and whatever the wind blew through its broken windows.  Today, it is the home of the Tulsa Designer Showcase – 2011.  Soon, it will be a fully functioning boutique hotel housing 26 rooms, four suites, a ballroom, gift shop and large conference room.  We are describing the Campbell Hotel on historic Route 66 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

With the creativity, style and vision of 35 Tulsa area designers, the Campbell Hotel has been transformed into a feast for the eyes and a banquet for the senses.  Building on Tulsa themes such as the Golden Hurricane Getaway, The Rose Bowl, Mockin’ Bird Hill (Patti Page anyone?) and The Oil Baron’s Suite, the designers returned the hotel to the grace and elegance of its heydays in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. 

Walt and I visited the Tulsa Designer Showcase (2011) at the Campbell Hotel yesterday.  I came away with more than 100 photos, tons of staging and design ideas and few things to share with you.  Today, we will focus on the spectacular beds and accessories:

·         Casa Loma (Kathleen Mowry – Designer)

The first thing that catches your eye in this room is the wonderful, custom bright red headboard that contrasts nicely with the rich green jacquard bedspread.  The lovely floral fabric pillows pull it all together. 

·         Stardust (Jane Butts – Designer)

Simple elegance with a touch of whimsy set off this luxurious bedroom.  The color palette is so calm and serene.  The simplicity of the white stoneware above the bed is a nice contrast to the detailed headboard.

·         The Cotswald (G.K. Griffin – Designer)

G.K. Griffin’s room transported us back to the English countryside with his magnificent Cotswald room.  He combined traditional accessories with a touch of whimsy like the turtle shell wall accents and antler ceiling chandelier.  This room was Walt’s favorite and that is not surprising.  The Cotswald was comfy, cozy and very masculine.

·         Mockin’ Bird Hill (Marilyn Dallarosa – Designer)

A tribute to Patti Page, the Mockin’ Bird Hill room was light, airy and restful.  With the bird motif sprinkled in quiet and quaint ways, this room was the counterpoint to The Cotswald as it was a uniquely feminine room.

The Tulsa Designer Showcase 2011 (http://tulsadesignershowcase.com )ends on May 22^nd.  If you have the time and interest, it is a visit well worth the investment.  Ideas abound and the possibilities of what can be done to a former pigeon coop are endless.

Dwell in possibilities.

Cindy

“Where thou art, that is home” ~ Emily Dickinson

Today is a very special day! Two years ago, I married my fabulous husband, Walt.  We combined households (no small feat) and created a space that reflects who we are individually and as a couple.  In the words of Emily Dickinson, It is home.

On this anniversary, I am reminded that each home is a story.  Our home is providing a wonderful chapter in our life adventure that is full of dreams and experiences.  It is the place where Walt and I entertain our family and friends; share our days, plans and dreams; and especially, laugh, love and live. 

We are continuing the story that spans from the first time I visited this newly constructed and partially furnished home (our first date) to our wedding reception where we celebrated with family and friends -- to just yesterday when we planted our spring flowers.

Potential home buyers come with great expectations and high hopes!  My job as a home stager is to help sellers prepare their house in a way that helps a potential buyer imagine themselves living their best life and continuing the story of that home. 

Many new homeowners probably share the sentiment expressed so eloquently by Jane Smiley:

“I loved the house the way you would any new house, because it is populated by your future, the family of children, friends and neighbors who will fill it with noise or chaos and satisfying pleasures”

Milestones (such as home purchases, graduations and anniversaries) make us look at how, with whom, and where we live our lives.  And in each case, the possibilities often seem as limitless as the achievement because we know the life adventure continues on to the next milestone.

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy