Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The elegance of rustic series - skirted cabinets & shelving


As I finalize the sale of my California home and approach the sale of Bella Cottage (The Pink House)  here on Saint Simons Island, I have already designed the small, beach cottage 
I hope to to call my new home.

My design challenge is to combine economy with my love for the sea and the rustic elegance of both faded & natural woods, fabric, and texture. 
 Here is my inspirazione.
The next months of posts will all be entitled
The Elegance of Rustic
but each will highlight a different combination of rustic influenced by both the sea & elegant simplicity.
I have chosen grays over the natural neutrals this time and more paint than stained wood.
"Skirting" shelving provides a unique texture and is much less expensive than actual cabinetry and actually provides more room.  Upper shelving instead of cabinets and pot racks complete the effect and stay within budget. 
My next kitchen will be a combination of skirted shelving and separate furniture pieces on a honed travertine marble.
Like my current kitchen (see last photograph) I will find a new place for my 7 foot English farm table. 
If only that table could speak...
It has been with me for 15 years and all the changes that Life and Time ensure.
This time I would like to incorporate a slab of concrete, limestone, or soapstone...
 
Linen, burlap, or
feed sack stand alone in their
statement of simplistic elegance.
Combining an L-shaped kitchen with another living space is the ultimate achievement in
rustica e 
simplicita elegante.
My Saint Simons Island kitchen re-model.

Friday, February 10, 2012

When one door closes... a give-a-way from Burlap Luxe


“When one door closes another door opens, but we so often look 
so long and so regretfully 
upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.
- Alexander Graham Bell -



“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one, which has been opened for us.”
- Helen Keller -


What beauty we can create 
by viewing our doors differently.

The ever beautiful and talented Dore Callaway from Burlap Luxe  is offering a hand made miniature French Opera Theater - valued at $120 dollars from her Etsy shoppe.  You have only to spend a few minutes at Burlap Luxe to know that life is a series of open doors for Dore.  She creates beauty from the lessons.

Her creation of the Opéra Théâtre is but one example of allowing herself to be inspired and then creating something lovely from within that inspiration.

Opéra Théâtre appeared in the Paris department store Etrennes catalog for many years, circa 1875. Originally crafted to entertain child's play, adults found creative pleasure in producing performances as well.

Théâtre size: 16" length 13"1/2 height 7" depth
If we take a moment to speak aloud what inspires us, we honor nothing less than our souls. 
Too often, we allow our world to become too loud & distracting and we miss our purpose, evident in....
Grace:  Grazia (Italian)
The simplicity of beauty, always around us if only we could see...
 The restful elegance of quiet moments give an opportunity for our Truth to be heard....if only we would listen.


The strength in the beauty of simplicity.  In the end, all would agree, Life is in the moments....
and the details of those moments....
that
is what we remember.
 To truly rest into who we are meant to be in this world is an art unto itself. 

Treat yourself to Dore Callaway and Burlap Luxe for inspirazione (inspiration), bellezza (beauty), & cuore sincera (honest heart).


Be brave.
Send a note, make a telephone call, and let that person know who they are in your life.