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

The Christmas Bedroom

December 2, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Comfy and cozy and all snuggled in on a cold winter’s day.

I try to put a little Christmas in every room and my master bedroom is no exception. I also try to make Christmas decorating simple. That means less stress putting it up and less stress dismantling it when the holiday season is over.

Some fresh greens and a lovely Pottery Barn velvet quilt found online for next to nothing as well as PB’s flax colored solid quilt. Together, both are very subtle but still give you the feeling of the season.

My dear sweet Annie has fallen in love with the quilt and photo shoot or not, she wasn’t moving.

I’d like to give a nod to Annie’s foster mother, Silvana. Compassionate souls run deep and carry heavy hearts, sometimes. I am grateful you went to such great lengths to rescue Annie from the streets and became her caretaker along with the many other dogs you foster. Annie fills my heart and my soul and I simply couldn’t love her any more than I already do. Thank you for that, Silvana.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

Cindy

xoxo

Red, flax and with fresh greens in the background. Perfect holiday cheer and coziness.

Simple mini wreaths hung with a neutral velvet ribbon. White sheets with a flax colored quilt make the perfect pair.

Battery operated candles offer a great flicker from the outside looking in.

Very old antique cabinet with fresh greens. The green against the fresh white reminds me of evergreen trees and fresh snow.

The lovely faux red berries pick up the color of the red velvet quilt and keep that holiday pop of color near.

Filed Under: Holiday and Seasonal, My Home Tagged With: antique, barn, christmas, cottage, country, dog, fresh, greens, holiday, merry, pottery, pottery barn, quilt, rescue, velvet, white

The Renewed Home

August 9, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

A reproduction vintage alarm clock perched on my coastal design books make for great bedside reading!

Post before last, I blogged about having to re-design my downstairs in order to accommodate being able to care for my special needs dog. I had to move the master bedroom downstairs so that I wouldn’t have to physically carry her up and down stairs during the night as she weighs 47 pounds. The truth is that I love the new downstairs. Creating a bedroom that has adequate clothing storage on any day is a good day in an old house. After living out of plastic storage containers in a small guest room, the day I completed the re-design was an over-the-top good day. It is the little things, some times, that mean the most.

True to my word, here are the “after” photos. What used to be a television room, is now my master bedroom. All-in-all, a great improvement. If I were forced to critique one thing, it would be that this room is a pass through to two other parts of the house. But, we who love old houses, learn to accept the quirks in exchange for a time worn interior. A more than fair trade in my book.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

xoxo

Cindy

Before

You will see a number of navigational markers with the decorative items that are given new life in the new Master Bedroom.

Den.

Den.

Den.

AFTER

A reading nook with a comfortable old wicker chair and lamp is perfect for curling up with a good book.

An old quilt, pillows made from vintage fabric and a ambient lighting make this one cozy bedroom.

This, believe it or not…is the only closet in the house and I don’t even use it for storing clothing!

A basket in the corner with a vintage basket cover is a great place to keep extra blankets and quilts.

I formerly used this cabinet to house a television, it now is used for clothing storage in lieu of a dresser.

This lovely white, weathered armoire doubles as my closet.

Can you pick out the two Pottery Barn market items? The poet’s lantern on the left is vintage PB and the mercury glass task lamp is a new item.

A small table is the perfect fit for this little space.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: antique, antique wicker, barn, bed, bedroom, chair, cottage, country, french, master, master bedroom, pottery, pottery barn, redesign, wicker, wicker chair

Things as they ought to be…

July 28, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

A vintage enamel bucket next to my garden hydrangeas in a milk glass vase. Classic combo.

I try to make life a little easier these days. Without time enough in the day to do all the things I want to do requires me to prioritize that which is most important.

As such, I try to find furnishings for my home that need not be changed in order for me to like it. I want things that I love in their “as found” condition. I’d be a happy girl if I never picked up a block sander and paintbrush again. I’d rather spend time admiring something’s prettiness than trying to cajole it into something else.

A couple of months ago, I found a rusty, vintage nine piece wrought iron patio set. My first order of business was to get it powder coated to pretty up the finish. But then I thought “no”…let’s not worry about perfection. Let’s just let it be.

A new outdoor rug, some custom cushions, a few market items from Pottery Barn and we are good to go.

So here you have it. A summer porch with rusty furniture. And frankly, I couldn’t be happier.

I hope you find some inspiration.

xoxo.

Always,

Cindy

Rusty and the refined. Linen pillows, custom cushion make these some very comfortable vintage rocking chairs.

Big blue striped pillows, a lantern filled with sand, shells and citronella and an antique pewter mailbox all feel very coastal.

The stripes in the rug play against the flag stripes, the blue in the pillows play against the blue in the flag.

An vintage camp chair covered with a vintage grain sack that can be used for extra seating and folded up when not in use.

Filed Under: Antique Finds, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: barn, blur, cottage, country, cushions, independence day, july 4th, patriotic, porch, pottery, pottery barn, red, seagrass, summer, vintage, white, woodward patio furniture, wrought iron

One Room or Another…

July 19, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Before: Den

After in the same spot: New Side Table/Night Stand in the new Master Bedroom.

The beauty of an old house is that each room can be anything you want it to be. Just as antiques can be moved from one room or another based on fancy and feeling, rooms can be re-purposed out of whimsy or necessity. For me, necessity dictated some changes.

I have a special needs dog who often requires care throughout the night. For the better part of three years, she wakes me up 2 to 4 times during the night. The original master bedroom was upstairs, so it required me to pick her up and carry her up and down two flights of stairs (she is blind and can not walk down them on her own) which was difficult, not to mention dangerous.

About two years ago, I felt it was better to sleep downstairs in the guest room because it was easier to take my dog outside without having to navigate two flights of stairs. However, the guest room has no closet and is hardly large enough for decent clothing storage.

The solution was to re-purpose each room downstairs in order to create a master bedroom for myself. Indeed, it would help me feel less like a guest in temporary quarters as I did, storing my clothes in stacking plastic storage containers.

And so it goes, I had a major antique sale to get rid of the furniture that would not fit in the new arrangements and I set out to re-design each room in a way that was more suitable.

I will share the pictures in future posts, but I thought I would start out be sharing the old and new floor plan along with a sneak peak of the results.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Cindy

A guest room, den, dining room and sitting room.

A guest room, master bedroom, dining room and den

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: after, antiques, arrangement, barn, before, before and after, cottage, glass, lamp, master bedroom, mercury, pottery, pottery barn mercury glass lamp, redesign, room

My All Time Favorite Christmas Issue

October 16, 2012 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

A Scenic Winter View.

Country Living HOLIDAYS 2002. I have read that issue literally hundreds of times and in ten years, it continues to resonate with me, not just during the holidays, but all year long. One particular article about a family who lived in a small barn as their main house was being re-built after a fire is the one that caught my eye.

The barn had been decorated to have all the comforts of home while the family was temporarily displaced. I loved the worn surfaces and the light palette. I was drawn to the antique pieces that had a European feel to them. I admire the the utter simplicity. As a result, I have spent the last 9 years trying to emulate that style in my own little cottage.

Since this was a holiday issue, the lodging has been decorated in a really restrained way for Christmas, but feels no less festive than the most decorated homes. As the holidays have come and gone, I find myself trying to do more with less. Having an appreciation for simplicity and the reduction in stress that goes along with it.

Thanks for stopping by for my first Christmas post. I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

Cindy