eggmountain

Style File 04

When deadlines loom and I begin to feel like the walls are closing in around me, I find the best thing I can do to regain control of the situation is to stop everything and begin cleaning my desk.  Being that I've been in this tiny office for four months without establishing a proper organizational system, it was time to purge the piles of paper that have accumulated and recycle.  During this process, I also found inspiration in the pages of catalogs that have lingered too long.  So even if I accomplish nothing else today, at least tomorrow I can begin with a clean slate.

This weekend we began to brainstorm about the excavated area around the garage and how it should be treated.  While we're still throwing ideas around, I propose this:

From Design Within Reach's Outdoor catalog from (ahem) a year ago, a combination of hardscape and softscape.  Substitute the boxwood for a more native rhododendron, and remove the manicured hedgerow in the background for something a little more fluid, and this could prove to be a lovely spot to forget about all those pesky deadlines.

Of course, a beautiful lawn would be nice, too.  Bocce ball, anyone?

 

 

Style File 03

 

While tidying the office this afternoon, I rediscovered this cut sheet I recently pulled for another project.   Some of these elements might work for the bedroom we're currently updating in the main house - particularly that tailored upholstered headboard.  While we're working with "sagey" greens and deep, rich wood tones, the natural textiles on the bed and headboard would provide a softness to the room that is always welcome for a bedroom retreat.  And more importantly, I think this look could also be duplicated diy style in order to conserve funds. 

If only there were time for a nap...

We can't claim to be professionals.

 

This weekend we spent the majority of our time behind this door, removing wallpaper and repairing the drywall scars we inevitably left behind.  Saying that it was a gruesome adventure is an understatement, as I consider the task of sanding plaster compound to be one of my top ten least favorite things - right behind applying plaster compound. 

However, I do love the sense of renewal that occurs when reinvigorating historic spaces, and this is no exception.  In a few short weeks, this room is going to be BEAUTIFUL, but at the moment it looks like this:

 

Stay tuned!

Guilty Pleasure

I made the mistake of ingesting caffeine (When did caffeine show up in Vitamin Water? - I thought it was just vitamins and water, and well, sugar.) too close to bedtime and now I'm awake while everyone else is in the next room snoozing.  I thought I'd take this alone time to catch up with goop, and because I think you're swell, I'm going to share it with you, too.  Enjoy.

Before we head out to the farm for a day of wallpaper stripping + sheet rock repair, I thought I'd leave with you this - a perfect peony specimen (stealthily snagged from the median under the cover of night.)

Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday!

   

Found

 The main house and garage are both historic remnants from the first quarter of the twentieth century, and occasionally we stumble upon relics dating from that period.  And then there are other times when we discover missing links from the more recent past. 

While measuring the distance from the floor to the bottom of the window framing in the new bay, we found this long lost artifact - a height chart for Sarah, Ethiel, and Faith when they were much shorter than they are today.

Homesick.

It started this morning, first thing, when I almost teared up after hearing NPR's Story Corps interview between a South Georgia farmer and his daughter - oh, that beautiful accent - but the homesickness has been magnified after getting this link from Catie, one of my favorite Georgians:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/04/sneak-peek-rinne-allen.html

Rinne Allen is a personal hero of mine, and I've always admired her home in Athens.  Seeing it again today just reminds me of what I loved and left behind.  It instills an even greater pride of the collective style that emanates from the South, and encourages me to move forward in my discovery of East Tennessee.

And, as a side note, how beautiful is that cinder block wall above?  We've been culling ideas for the soon-to-be-built retaining walls, and this might prove to be the perfect solution.  Gorgeous, no?

A Tree Grows in South Knox.

In South Knox, safety orange collars are a necessity for dogs.  Our mutts will be properly outfitted soon.  For people, the required attire is dictated by anything impervious to dirt.  And so yesterday, I got my first pair of Wellies.  And the best part?  They were only $10.00 at Banana Republic.  Love that.

 

I'm also loving this - the dormer is taking shape!  Last night Eth and I measured knee walls and scoped out potential storage solutions, and this dormer has completely transformed the space.  What was just last week a dark attic is now a magical bedroom nestled in the tree tops.  Which might explain the dream I had last night, with a tree growing inside me...