Minnie, Claude and a GIVEAWAY!!!

If I was a thousandaire instead of a hundredaire where would I be today? At BIG SOUTH AUCTION scooping up a few Minnie Evans and Claude Howells that are up today! I love Howells work and would be over the moon if I owned the  pieces that are available  but it is the 3 Minnie Evans that have kept me plotting all week. Jeff is out of town and I seriously considered selling all of our belongings in order to own one. I immediately called him when I found out they were up for auction....

me- Hey honey, what would you think about owning an original of one of my favorite artist?

him- how much?

me-not sure, they are up for auction and I am researching now what I think they will go for.

him-they? how much?

me- yeah well there are 3 Minnie Evans that I like and 2 of the Claude Howells that I would want. But I know that's too much. I really want a Minnie Evans.

him- how much?

me- I was thinking we could consider it an investment, like buy them and sell them when the kids go to college.

him- (laughing) you mean you'd sell them? How much?

me- yea, um.. yea, well I don't know, we could just cross that bridge when we get to it

him- (still laughing)... how much?

me- um, like in the thousands, a couple for one.

him- Are you happy in your delusional world?

me- I am... just thought I'd ask...

So guess who is not buying a Minnie Evans today? But that means you can! If you have ever been interested in collecting art, these 2 artist are a great place to start.

Minnie Evans was a gate keeper at Airlie Gardens here in Wilmington. She was told by God to start painting so she did. She painted what she saw in her dreams and is considered one of the greatest visionary artist of the 20th century. Her art hangs in galleries through out the world and her work is highly sought after for private collectors. (unfortunately, I will not be one of them...) Read more about her here.

These are the 3 pieces that I will not be bringing home... (sob...)

If you are ever in Wilmington you must go to Airlie and see the bottle house that was made in her memory...so cool!

These are the Claude Howell's that I'd love to own... amazing. If you are a collector, what a big day for you! I wish you all the best- I can not wait to hear what these go for! To see everything available at auction go here.

Also...Don't forget to enter our giveaway for this dress from Shabby Apple.

To enter: For one chance, become a Follower (if you aren't already), leave a comment or both for two chances. For a third chance, "like" Shabby Apple on their Facebook page, email us and tell us you did.

email: birdsofafeatherdesign@gmail.com

We will announce the lucky winner next Friday, September 9th. Good Luck!

Bye bye birdie,
~A



Anniversary Giveaway!

It's been a year since we started our blog, see here. Wow, time flies when your having fun. We thought we'd celebrate with our first ever give away. Traditionally, paper is the first anniversary gift. I don't know about you, but what a crappy gift. So in honor of our anniversary, we won't give you paper and are thrilled that Shabby Apple is partnering with us to make our anniversary special. Shabby Apple has amazing dresses in vintage styles at great prices. 

 This dress is very "Hooper"

                        This is very "Ann"

We both agreed that we love the color of this one...

And would wear this all summer long. 

But picked this one to kick it into Fall. Can you believe that we both chose this one as our top pick for the give away. Yes, we agreed on something -- it must be a great dress. 

Ann would pair it with these

Hooper would pair it with these...

You can pair it with whatever you want when it's yours. 


To enter: For one chance, become a Follower (if you aren't already), leave a comment or both for two chances. For a third chance, "like" Shabby Apple on their Facebook page, email us and tell us you did.
email: birdsofafeatherdesign@gmail.com


We will announce the lucky winner next Friday, September 9th. Good Luck!
Bye bye birdie,
~A&H

A Before and After Bedroom

Today (after much chaos with Irene), was my babies' first day of school. I just knew I would be ready. I mean, after all, I got an extra day from the hurricane and was cooped up all weekend with the kids so...


Here's how it went down. 


Made homemade pancakes (rare)
Took twins to first day of Kindergarten.
Took tons of photos/video
Got in car to drive home, lost it. 
Really lost it, hyperventilated and let husband drive
Had to take Xanax. 
Husband thinks I need to go to the looney bin and to make me feel better says brilliant things like:
"Well, they are all grown up!" "Weren't they just so cute, I can remember when they were tiny newborn babies" and the kicker:
"You know, they will be in college before you know it."
Decide to hate husband.
Need another Xanax.
Identity Crisis.
Pull Self Together
Design Appointment.


Ok, so I'll take it from here. I have another room to work on with a beloved client (playroom) and snap some shots of a bedroom I just finished. 


You may remember their living room.... and can see the transformation here.

After we finished this room, we moved onto their bedroom. Check out the BEFORE...

They wanted a more updated look that flowed with the rest of their coastal/organic look. Here's what we came up with.

 We used the West Elm "Overlapping Squares" headboard

 And a burlap/nailhead storage bench at the foot

The West Elm Ogee drapes (via catalog) because my IPhone didn't do them justice

The mirrored dresser from Pier One (what a steal).

Damn IPhone (via PierOne.com).

And some amazing side tables in reclaimed wood from Overstock.com. We weren't crazy about the knobs they came with, so we replaced them with some Mercury Glass from Anthropologie. 


Not bad for the first day back at school. Hope you survived the hurricane and had a good day back too!
Bye bye birdie...
~H


credit to: Pier One, West Elm, Pfizer

Storm Tracker...

Friday
6:30 a.m.
Ann's House: 1st child wakes up. Is bribed with coffee to stay quiet and not wake others. 30 minutes later they are all up (and drinking coffee) They are delighted school is cancelled ...me? hmmm...

Hooper's House: All kids up and ready for school. School cancelled, Hooper climbs back in bed and hides. They find her.


11:00 a.m
Ann's house: Serving lunch. Maybe they will get confused and since the sky is dark we can eat dinner at 4 and ALL go to bed at 5.

Hooper's House: Grocery store with all kids in rain. Water, spam (just kidding), junk food, junk food and more junk food. (and gallons of wine).

12:00 p.m.
Ann's House: Jeff comes home from "work". Wants to know why Jackson is skateboarding through the house and Addie is on her big wheel inside. I act shocked and tell the kids to put the toys back in the garage... (didn't tell Jeff they had been riding for an hour...)

Hooper's House: Read can't come home from "work" because he's "working" in his office and cannot, under any circumstances or natural disaster, be disturbed. That's code for: kids are climbing walls, and I'm not dealing.

2:00 p.m.
Ann's House: The whole fam damily went to the beach to see waves. Crying...sideways rain... forced photo shoot... more crying... went home...

Hooper's House: I am good mom and take everyone to see Spy Kids (PG movie, which seems practically R). Character gives birth to a baby. Great, a whole new can of worms. I avoided questions with: Who wants candy? Spent $27.50 on $3 worth of candy.

4:00 p.m.
Ann's House: Jeff does P90X in the living room... annoying... I eat a cookie

Hooper's House: I take kids to beach to see waves. Hutson blows away.

6:00 p.m.
Ann's House: I feed the family. All blankets and pillows find their way into the living room. We cozy up for a family movie night: Soul Surfer. The first  peaceful moment of the day takes place. Eye of the storm?

Hooper's House: Surely, we can put them to bed. This has been the longest day in history and the hurricane hasn't even officially started. Heat up a pizza, send twin to room for time-out (forget why). He slams door and a large picture falls off of wall in stairwell and propels 7,437,801 pieces of glass all the way down the stairs and throughout living room. Decide I should just make kids stay upstairs so not to step on glass and leave glass for much longer than I should. Looks like hurricane hit the inside of our house.

Looks like we braved the storm  in Wilmington. We are hoping and praying the rest of the East coast fairs as well. Be safe.

Bye, bye Birdie,
~A&H

At First I was Afraid, I was Petrified...

"Oh now go, walk out the door... just turn around now, you're not welcome anymore..."

Yea, we're talking to you Irene, Please don't come here (or anywhere else for that matter). We aren't prepared for another hurricane and don't wish it upon anyone. Not to mention school was (dramatic pause) CANCELLED! That's right, one day in and now they are all home. Don't you think that's enough natural disaster for everyone? The twins are nick named "Thunder and Lighting" and we've had just about enough of that. 

Perhaps you'd leave us alone if we offered up a sacrifice.

(Ann's car) If you MUST cause destruction, take this. She's a 1999 suburban and  purrs like a kitten. You can have her. Toss her, drop a pine tree on her, carry her out to sea. We do not care. But please do not cause harm to us, the rest of the east coast, gulf coast, bahamas or anywhere else where there is land or humans.

We know your potential, our parents still talk about Hazel.(the worst Hurricane in North Carolina history) But check the cover of this book...Don't ya love it? She is so stylish in the middle of a natural disaster. She's in her bathing suit and trench with 
makeup on. Take that Irene.

We will survive...

Bye,bye birdie,

~A&H

credit to: Jay Barnes, Aretha Franklin...

HomeGOODs

On the first day of school, I have big plans. I am not going to cry because the twins are going to Kindergarten and Graham is embarking on a new adventure at a new school. Nope, not a tear. You just have to be ready for the onslaught of emotions and rise above it so... I'm ready. I have been invited to "Muffins and Mimosa's for Mom's" right after drop off -- that's a smart mom. I can drown my sorrows in muffins and pray I don't need a mimosa. After that I'll do what all moms do after their very last child goes to school (sniff)... RETAIL THERAPY. I'm on a tight budget, so Homegoods it is. I'll peruse the aisles with my mimosa coffee and relish in all of the good deals this week. Here are just a few...

 Wouldn't this pillow look great in this room... 

This green vase is bright and organic and $12.99. I could fill it with fresh flowers right after I stroll through the farmer's market and pick some up.

 It would look great in here...

I'm loving these CLEARANCE side tables. They are actually much bigger than they look and are under $50 because they are missing tops. You add a mirrored top or upholstered tops in a fun fabric and...

they could replace these gazillion $$ coffee tables for about $100.

 Love the elephants in the back of the photo and the lilac globe would be perfect on my child's desk or...

 As an unexpected pop on the pretty white etagere...

 I almost snatched him up for $34.99 for the mountain project (or for my mantle), what? We have deer too. Ok, the designer term is "stag"...

 Just put him on the coffee table in this elegant mountain retreat and call it a day. 

 

And this guy for $99.99.

Coffee table here?

Ok, let's face it. None of these rooms need much help and most of us don't have rooms that look like this (I wish), but mix in some killer Homegoods finds and they fit right in. I feel better already! Just so I'm prepared...


Schedule for first day of school:
Mimosas Muffins for moms 
Homegoods for Retail Therapy
Gym (to work off muffins)  
Farmer's Market for fresh flowers and organic food for gourmet meal I'm going to prepare with all my free time.
Shower (for real) with make up and blow dried hair
Lunch with fellow moms whose kids have abandoned them
Pick up from school
Can't wait for the next day....




Bye bye birdie,
~H


credit to: Decorpad, Apartment Therapy, Homegoods

Back from Cashiers

We had a very productive trip and tons of forced family fun. The morning we left, I literally bribed (um, gave my kids an incentive), threatened, and basically forced my family to go for an early am photo shoot. I had been eyeing a nearby covered bridge all week for this special moment. And I mean special. Boy were they excited - you can just see it in their little faces. 

So this looks a little dangerous, now that I'm looking at it, but objects on ground are closer than they appear. 

I just had to share some of the photos. We have a lot of family photos from the week, but some of them involve me being rescued in a canoe so....

Here are some of my other favorite images from the trip.

               The Episcopal Church in the Highlands

From a little jaunt to the antique shops... 

 One of my favorites... "Nest" is jammed packed with great finds that are well priced (for Highlands).

Acorn at Old Edwards Inn (Highlands). I love the sconces above the bookcase. Don't you?

Happy Monday, re-entry is tough!

Bye bye birdie...

~H