We're baaaack and have a surprise!

Ok, we're back from market. Our husbands are thrilled. Us? Not so much. It was 48 hours of shopping 'til you drop. You know, the good kind. The kind where you check off tons of wishes on those dreamy clients' wish lists and come home with enough stuff to fill up hiding spaces in garage. Ann is asleep, so I don't have to worry about her reading this. I am guessing she passed out on her sofa around 7. Me, my adrenaline is still flowing, so I am trying to get this blog down before I crash, or worse, husband decides he needs something out of garage. 
So here is how it went down. We left very early Friday morning. Dark-thirty. But, you say... market didn't start until Saturday. Yes, you are right, however, in our bargain hunting (genius) minds, going up a day early for preview sales would be very beneficial. Don't tell  husbands market didn't actually start until Saturday. I would show pictures, but, at 6 am, they just aren't that pretty. 
Arrive at preview sale. Start picking. For what you ask? Well... that is another surprise post. We were shopping for you (hint hint). So here are some shots of the fabulous warehouse we hit first....

 Let's suffice it to say that we couldn't quite fit it all in the car. This is Jesus (not THE Jesus, although it would have been great if He had been around to help miraculously fit everything in our car).

So then, packed to the gills, we headed to the showrooms. Again, since market wasn't open yet, we got the benefit of eating all of the food (rationed for market) and drinking pre-market (um, rationed for market) wine. They are smart. Feed us and ply us with alcohol and we will place orders. Even joined in on an employee dinner. Great you say, sounds fun. Yes, until we wake up on the actual day of market feeling not so hot and exhausted for chumming it up with reps. Loving this new released rug at the Feizy showroom... the perfect expression of how we were feeling. 

No pics of us either because after a night of eating market food and drinking market wine, we are so bloated, we can barely shop. Harder to write orders on second day when fingers are like sausages. Ok, I digress... This brightened the morning. Lucite and chrome... so pretty.

 Then onto Global Views. Bright cheery and glam (unlike us)

 Remember Ann's find at the junk shop? This isn't it.... put throw on a neutral fabric and for a fraction of the cost (OK, 100th of the cost....) you could have this.  Maybe I should take a load off and have another salty appetizer and glass of wine.  

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If you are just getting to market, enjoy, it's a great one! Tons to see. We just ate  shopped our way right through. Stay tuned for more on our market finds and how you too can get your hot little hands on some. Night night. My adrenaline just ran out...
Bye bye birdie,
A&H

Best junk shop EVER!!!!

So I have been a busy bee... I was in Durham and then Southern Pines working. The beauty of traveling back roads is every now and then you come across something pretty great. My friend whose nursery I worked on told me I had to visit this big old rambling house because she was pretty sure I would love what was inside. She was so right. Not only was it filled with treasures but the owners were the nicest people ever and didn't seem to mind that I was there for an hour and a half and occasionally drooled on the merchandise...

 this was the house behind the store front... packed and way cool too....

 this is an iron headboard and foot board but with custom rails and painted would be perfect twin beds for a little girl... and then....

OMG! Do you see this chair? Is this the coolest EVER! I almost cried when I saw the sold tag... really...

and then  drank myself into a stupor and stuck the bottles on a tree. Just kidding but this did cheer me up...

This tobacco basket came home with me and is huge. Jeff is encouraging me to move my Dad's scary portrait and hang it there. I think the better solution is to add on...

These little beauties were my find of the day. My heart raced when I saw them and I am planning for them to reside next to my bed. I bought some pagoda shades and am debating on keeping them creamy yellow or painting them white. What do you think?

love, love, love this chair. Love the tufting. Can't you just see it painted white and reupholstered in a bright velvet? emerald green, hot pink, orange, teal, gold.... hmmm...

I am a sucker for old china...

and sofas that remind me of my grandmothers house. Only hers were blue...

As I was leaving I made a detour and did a quick trip down memory lane. I drove by the first house Jeff and I owned before we moved back to Wilmington. It was a great first house and where we brought Jackson home...

I'm back in Wilmington now but headed to Highpoint tomorrow with Hooper for more treasure hunting at market...We will keep you posted!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Bye, bye birdie,

~A

Look What I Found

In search of... trinkets, trays and just plain FUN accessories for clients (er um myself), I came across this fabulous line of gorgeous details at Iomoi. I need a very large tray (preferably lucite) for my very large (preferably clean) ottoman. I figure if I simply draw the eye away from the many stains, by creating a new table scape. These trays add a whole new meaning to "table scape". Did I mention, you can pick a pattern? Yum.

I recently bought a $40 bookcase at an estate sale (that's another post) and it started me on a make over of my office. What if I had big lucite containers filled with these fab pens and pencils?

And threw one of these in my office chair (or um, every chair in my house). Overkill? Maybe not, they have tons of patterns to choose from. Oh, and here is the best part... Everything can be personalized. Yep. I'm talking everything from foo dogs to family crest images. Don't have a family crest? (me neither), 

let's pretend.  

I know that letter writing is a lost art, but think of how you could brighten someone's day with a note on this beautiful paper. I mean, Dear Preston... thank you for making my day. Your style is impeccable. 

Check them out, you won't be disappointed!

Bye bye birdie...

A&H

Credit to: Iomoi stores and images from www.iomoistores.yahoo.net

Must See Before and After

We all love a great before and after story. It's about transformation and we all want to believe that anything can be transformed. (Ann and I hope we have been transformed since our high school yearbook photos).

Well... wait until you see this!
Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home transformed her own home and brought out of the 70's and beyond our wildest dreams. It takes true talent to see a diamond in the rough and Lauren nailed it. Here is a sneak peek...

While the exterior of the home shows quite a change, the interior is almost unrecognizable.

You absolutely MUST click here to see the rest. You won't believe your eyes. Happy Monday!
Bye bye birdie...
~A&H

credit to: purestylehome.blogspot.com, Lauren Liess

Mostly Likely to....

... Write a blog about what what losers we were (are)...

So, you never know what spring cleaning will turn up. Hooper's mom apparently is doing some serious spring cleaning and found our senior yearbook. We thought yall might enjoy a little flashback...

Oh Hooper... friends don't let friends use curling irons...Sally Fields called and she wants her flying nun costume back. I really do not know where to begin...I could do a whole blog post on that collar alone...

 

I'm really trying to find something to rip apart here... but I'm looking pretty normal... The most tragic thing about this picture is this is what I still look like in my head... just not in my mirror... How bummer is that?

I wasn't at this particular match but I'm wondering if Hooper really smashed a winner down the line.   I'm just saying... For goodness sakes she's got a bum knee! What is she really capable of at this point? ... Not sayin' she didn't- just putting it out there...

Ok, so now you know... I was a cheerleader... I know laugh- I'm still scratching my head over this one. Apparently I'm such a good cheerleader that I do not even have to stand up. I can just cheer from the back of a pick up truck. Maybe even from the parking lot...  Yeah! Go Vikes! Go Big blue! We're # 1!

Awww... the embarrassing ads your parents place in the back of yearbooks... (Hooper had one too- she conveniently left it out..)  Now that's confidence... rollin' all out of that tank top and still eating an ice cream cone.

Speaking of adds in the back of yearbooks...

You are only really cool if you put an add in the back of the yearbook with your B.F.F. about how cool you are... So here it is for all blog world to see... We were (self proclaimed) awesome. We have cool quotes, cool drawings, and we documented all the wild things we did on this page. ( In code of course so our parents couldn't bust us.) Don't you wish you went to school with us?  We kept ourselves quite entertained reading all this stuff yesterday... We were such dorks!  (oh no, maybe we still are...yall would tell us right?)

Dear blog world,

It's been so fun getting to know you this year! We have had some great laughs. This year has been CRAZY! I hope we will always party together! Later...

L.Y.L.A.S, R.H.T.S, K.I.T., B.F.F.,

B.B.B.

~ A & H

Bamboozled

We, like everyone else, are obsessed with faux bamboo. It's light and airy, doesn't block views and a-la-Palm Beach, can be painted any color...All good qualities when decorating at the coast. Here are some of our favorite bamboo infused spaces...

If you're lucky, you can still score bamboo on Craig's List, at second hand shops, estate sales, etc... We scoured our town for some great local finds that just may find their way into our lucky client's homes...

Love this lamp, hate the shade. Add a printed pagoda shade and call it a day.

This little number is getting a fresh coat of chartreuse and will be making a statement every morning above a client's breakfast table.

This headboard will be lacquered in pink and will be the perfect centerpiece in a 3 year olds Asian inspired room. Stay tuned for that one. 

Imagine this painted white with this sunny fabric. 

We are bamboozled, are you?

Bye bye birdie...

~A&H

credit to:

Decorpad, Elle Decor, Apartment Therapy, Craig's List, Cottage Living, House Beautiful

Refined and Repurposed: Before and After

Once in awhile, I get asked to work on a space like this. The client has amazing taste, incredible accessories and furniture with timeless lines... oh, I love my job. This was such a fun project because everything was repurposed. The client wanted an updated space that was sophisticated and restful. A mother of three, she wanted a retreat just for her (unless she decided to entertain) in which case, her current room just wasn't fitting her needs. 

The long room had almost a gallery feel with everything oriented around the grand fireplace. The result of this long layout is that there was no cozy spot for conversation and the areas in the back of the long room were never used. It was an amazing room to start with, but just wasn't getting used to it's full potential. The walls are a soft yellow with heavy cream silk drapes. I decided to work with that and change out the fabrics and rug to give the room a more current look.

She told me to go all over her house and find pieces that I could work with. I found chairs, lamps and more chairs and went to town. 

This chair looked tired and worn out, but look at the lines! I saw it and dragged it out of her bedroom for a major facelift. 

I reoriented the furniture so that the room went from lending itself to no conversation to being the topic of conversation. The client is always put together (she will argue this, but it's true). She loves old style glamour (just like me) and so I started the room with one of my very favorite glamorous things. It may just be my signature. Can you guess?

What's a girl to do if a client gives her free reign to go glam? Silver and Gold, that's what. 

 The tuxedo sofa got recovered in a divine gray velvet. 

 Remember the gilt chair from her bedroom? Lucky me, there were two. The subtle gray and gold silk check updates the pair. 

 I loved her wall of butterfly etchings, so they stayed, we just created another seating space around them. 

 Funky fringe makes these pillows a little less serious. 

 I took this desk out of her kitchen and used it behind the sofa to showcase her beautiful coral and porcelain and now it has a purpose... she can write me an invitation to invite me over for dinner and drinks in her new space. 

 A little crystal antique lamp on this small marble top table is the perfect size for me to put my cocktail or um tea while visiting. 

 I love this chair. It is a totally unexpected pattern with a Moroccan vibe and the pillow was made from an old fur coat she bought at a yard sale. 

 The pops of turquoise in the antique foo dogs (the real deal) add another color to... 

 ... play off of her collection of blue willow china pieces. 

 The Greek Key coffee table grounds the hide and I love the dark elements. 

 Remember this? Doesn't she look beautiful? A Kravet fabric and a gazillion nail heads and viola!

Love the detailing.

 Her grand fireplace just needed more to bring down the scale, so we added a Venetian mirror. 

 Do you like it? What do you think? I want a mom cave like this one. 

Bye bye birdie...
~H