Archives for December 2014

Harvest Design

December 28, 2014 by Cynthia 2 Comments

Back of the restaurant. I love the large table with the rope light installation.

Went to a new restaurant in Downtown McKinney named Harvest. It is a farm-to-table restaurant owned by Rick Wells of Rick’s Chophouse, also in Downtown McKinney.

I am deeply enamored with its design. It is one of my favorite styles, pairing the rustic with the refined. Old, original exposed brick, barn wood, industrial light fixtures, filament bulbs, burlap and teal velvet. They use simple cotton, waffle pattern dish rags for napkins. They present your check to you rolled up in a wood cube along with a card that can be ripped in half and planted to yield flowers. A lot of really unique and earthy touches that are in keeping with it’s concept. You’ll feel warm and toasty the minute you walk in the door.

This may give me some ideas for my own renovation. Hmmm…we’ll see.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

Cindy

Barn wood, industrial light fixture, filament bulbs along with these really fabulous teal velvet tufted wing chairs.

Scaffolding planks, cast iron piping and mason jars with vegetables artfully displayed greet you at the door.

All the finishes work together to create a really warm vibe.

A light fixture that is stunningly simple.

The front porch has these terrific swinging settees with the teal velvet cushions (although it now has tables, great for nice weather dining or drinks)

The front porch has these terrific swinging settees with the teal velvet cushions (although they have added tables, great for nice weather dining or drinks outside)

Great little drift wood lamps adorn the 4 top booths.

Filed Under: Discoveries, Uncategorized Tagged With: barn, bulbs, farm, filament, fixtures, harvest, industrial, mckinney, organic, restaurant, table, texas, to, wood

Discovery – Vintage Kitchen Reproductions

December 20, 2014 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Kitchenalia is my latest passion. I recently scored a lovely French herb chopper and an antique garlic or potato masher. Sometimes, however, the real thing is a tad expensive. I was mining the web and found two sites that offer reproductions at a much reduced price over its antique counter part and I thought I would share them with you.

Original English butter slabs can run anywhere from $1200 to $2500. Or you can find a reproduction English Butter Platter from Joanne Hudson for much, much less (click on the picture to go directly to the product/site):

Reproduction of an English Butter Slab. Other styles are available.

Original French wire ware cooling racks can cost upwards of $150 or so, if you can find one. However, a reproduction of an old wire cookie rack from Donna Hay is very reasonable (click on the picture to go directly to the product/site):

Reproduction of an old French cookie rack. It comes in two sizes.

I get tremendous joy (and use) out of both of these items and look forward to having them a part of my renovated kitchen.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

Cindy

Filed Under: Antique Finds, Discoveries, Uncategorized Tagged With: antique, baking, butter, butter slab, cookie, cooking, cottage, english, french, kitchen, kitchenalia, rack, reproductions, slap, utensils, wire, wire cookie rack

I needed a little Christmas…

December 15, 2014 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Glittery little wreath ornaments on an old, mottled mirror.

Getting in the Christmas spirit has been a little hard this year. I am firmly ensconced in what I affectionately refer to as the size 7 shoe box apartment while the renovation is going on.

About the only thing I could think of to make me feel a little better about it was to do some nominal decorating for the holidays. Something that was enough to make me smile, but didn’t require a lot of effort and could be accomplished on a small budget.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,
Cindy

A pensive looking Samantha curls up on the bed for a nap.

Little Annie in her favorite spot.

Simple ironstone basin set on top of a fresh greenery wreath.

Vintage, hand blown ornaments in a wire basket, setting softly on a wreath on my coffee table.

A lovely mid century lamp on an antique textile with a lovely holiday candle for aroma and ambiance.

Keeping it simple with a wreath hung above the bed.

A little nook in my apartment with a simple wreath, some candles and a lovely quilt with lovely festive colors for some contrast.

Filed Under: Holiday and Seasonal, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: antiques, christmas, cottage, country, decorations, fresh, greens, holiday, white, wreath

The Prettiness of Ugly

December 14, 2014 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

-- Download The Prettiness of Ugly as PDF --

We are at a bit of a standstill with the renovation until we get our permits approved. So when I went by the house this weekend, I didn’t expect much would be different. And I was right. But what little had changed was choice indeed.

The six or seven layers on the kitchen floor were pulled up and to reveal original hard wood floors. They don’t look especially great right now, but everyone loves a Cinderella story and these little ugly ducklings have a shot at becoming pretty. What a sweet surprise!

My contractor believes we can salvage the floors in the kitchen. All the floors will be refinished in a honey pine tone. They will be a nice, warm contrast to the exposed ships lap on the walls which will be painted white as part of the renovation.

The top half of the picture shows the newly revealed kitchen floors, the bottom have of the pic are the floors that were already exposed.

The top half of the picture shows the newly revealed kitchen floors, the bottom half of the pic are the floors that were already exposed which are in serious need of refinishing.

Here is a general sense of the feel I am going for:

A simple palette: white walls with pine flooring. This will make the house a canvas for my antique pieces.

Filed Under: Discoveries, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: antiques, cottage, farm, farmhouse, floors, honey, honey pine floors, house, interior, pine, remodel, renovation, white, wood, wood floors

A Lovely Mess

December 7, 2014 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

-- Download A Lovely Mess as PDF --

The last few weeks have been stressful, to put it mildly. Closing on the loan, packing, moving and settling in to a tiny apartment. It’s fair to say that I am a nester and being in limbo is not my strong suit.

I needed to see progress on my house in order to feel like this is all for something. In this case, moving forward, or progress begins with stepping back and deconstructing.

Week #1 has begun with demolition. And it’s a lovely mess. I am beyond thrilled to see that under all the sheetrock was ships lap. Original to the house and of its time, it really needs to shine. We are keeping it exposed for the renovation and will eventually paint it. We’ll harvest, patch and repair where we need to and fill the whole house with it. Wood walls. Warm, comforting wood walls. What a simple path to happiness.

Here are the pictures from the first week. Please join me on this journey.

Always,

Cindy