I've been wanting to show you the home that was featured in the February issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion that really inspired me.  Usually I am not crazy about the interiors that they feature, but I really love this one.  This, together with the Blueprint feature of Joelle Hoverson's home have really got me thinking about how handmade goods make the home a true reflection of its inhabitants.

It's as if the owner has used the house as her canvas, thinking about every detail from the artwork, to the quirky placement of objects, the pattern of the FLOR tiles, to the exposed selvedge of the linen drapes.  She did not stick with convention, she questioned it with each choice.  It is this kind of thinking that takes a home from a Pottery Barn photo spread, to a unique space.

You don't get the feeling that a decorator just left, you get the feeling that the homeowner has collected these cherished objects over time-- that this took time.  So many furnishings look like "Garanimals" for the home (do they still make those??)-- if you buy the rug that matches the couch, that matches the framed picture, then you've expressed yourself. 

Oh my, I love those quilty cushions in that top photo, and those puppets on the wall in the photo above, and those little slipcovers on the cube ottomans below- gah!  It doesn't make me want to live in it, or own those objects, but to have my home be equally reflective of me and my family.  I get so many requests for paint colors, or information about where to purchase an object, and I want to help, really I do...but I do hope that rather than just recreating something I've done, you are inspired to go and try something for yourself, something authentically you.  I am inspired by so many people in the crafty world-- some artists would look at my inspiration board and think I'm creepy stalker girl (Denyse Schmidt, Laura Normandin), but really I just take what I can from their work and apply it to my own. 

 

And about the folk-art angel, that was a fun conversation...thanks for participating.  I LOVE the idea of an apron or smocky-type thing, and my goal wasn't to make her "prettier," but really do something a little more conceptual.  A lot has transpired in my life since I bought her-- a doll named Hope-- before I even knew I needed hope.  I wanted her to reflect that.  Have you seen the work of Julia Negus?  I love her conceptual textile work (especially the "peg bag"), check it out.  Read about the embroidered child's straightjacket-- it isn't as creepy as it appears-- full of hope really.