Updates at Our Place

Do you remember my home office which I wrote about here in June 2012? As a quick reminder, an upstairs guest bedroom was converted to my office. For meeting with clients, I use our shop's office, while this home office is perfect for reading books, magazines, and favorite blogs. I adore being in the room as it is located in a very quiet and private part of our home.

It's only taken a year, but finally there is progress on the decorating front. Actually, I'm glad I didn't rush into finishing it because some of my favorite new pieces were not planned.

The newest addition is this blue-and-white pouf. I originally wanted a footed ottoman with a ticking fabric and dark legs, but didn't have time to find one. Then, I happened upon this fun elephant pouf and thought: perfect! The size is just spot-on for the slipcovered chairs. 

The best part is how the colors complement my rich indigo blue pillow from LuRu Home. Have you heard of LuRu? They were featured in the June 2013 issue of House Beautiful. Founded by Claire Russo and Liza Serratore, LuRu specializes in beautiful custom hand dyed textiles: pillows, napkins, place mats, etc. I discovered them via the blog Tokyo Jinja written by Jacqueline Wein. Jacqueline, being the world traveler, shares her adventures, special finds, and lovely writing all on her blog - one of my favorites! Thank you, Claire, Liza and Jacqueline!!!

Here is the gallery wall now. There are 4 new pieces of artwork, and I've rearranged the grouping. None of the artworks were acquired specifically for this room. Just a random collection from our travels, friends and leftover shop inventory :) 

Perhaps the piece that doesn't quite work 100% in the grouping is the abstract from Nantucket (above left). It is painted on a grayish natural linen which looks good with the curtains and linen liner of the floral still-life painting. So, for now, it is staying. On the top right are two mid 20th century French paintings: a Brittany landscape and rooftop scene of Paris. The rooftop painting is by Andre Lauran from the Ecole de Beaux Arts de Lyon.

Finishing the gallery wall is a special seascape painting from my friend, Michele Ranard. Michele painted this piece just for me, and I enjoy it everyday! You can see more of her paintings here. Not only is Michele a talented artist, she is the gifted author of the stylish blog Hello Lovely! Thank you, Michele!

  Speaking of updates, we had our second garden shoot for Southern Living Magazine. You can read about the first photo shoot here. Once again, the talented and celebrated Helen Norman came out to photograph our gardens. Here she is shooting the blue garden in the late evening light.

 The next morning, we all got up at 4:30 AM for coffee, and dragged our zombie selves outside to shoot the white garden and front boxwood garden. Whew, talk about tired!

 We had glorious morning light and, miraculously, no rain. Seems like we're stuck in a weather funk lately - rain nearly every day! Tom and I were stressing for days...worrying about the rain ruining the Annabelle Hydrangeas and Asiatic Lilies.

 The photo above was taken around 6:15 AM. Helen, can we have a peek? Helen's photos turned out gorgeous, so I hope you all buy the issue when it comes out. If you subscribe, still go out and buy extra copies :)

 Above: Asiatic white lilies and Alliums poking through the foliage of Japanese Anemones. Below: 

- Petunias in the urn with potted English boxwoods

- Oleander tree (top right)

- Daisies, Phlox and Lilies (middle to bottom right)

 Thank you so much to Southern Living! Tom and I are especially grateful to Garden Editor Rebecca Reed of S.L. And, many thanks to Helen!

Have a wonderful weekend, and a fantastic 4th of July!

Loi
PS - I understand Google Reader will be removed, and there might be changes to blog lists, etc. So I just joined Bloglovin (icon located at the top right side) to stay connected with all my blog friends. Please be patient while I learn how to navigate there.