MITCHELL GOLD

Let's face it..... there are plenty of places to shop for home furnishings today.  In fact the internet has become quite the playground for that.

For a "brick and mortar" store to be successful they have to have a great product and good customer service.  In my opinion Mitchell Gold has that.  Every time I visit to scout for a job or just to see what is new the associates are very helpful offering me tear sheets, fabric samples and help with measurements.

Taking it one step further, I always receive a hand written note [not an email!] thanking me for coming in whether I purchased or not.

That is something.

The other day I was in and took some shots of their fall collection.

This sofa made me fall in love with gold again.  The tuxedo arm 2 cushion sofa has such a classic style and placed against the blue wall with cream accents was really sophisticated.

Love the tufting...but maybe not if you have kids...too many places for crumbs to hide :)

Another stunner....

And then the ever classic navy....with a slight hollywood arm and the silver nail heads.

Did you know that Mitchell Gold cushions have a lifetime warranty?  Yep.  My slipcovered sofa and chairs in my den are MG and I have had them at least 10 years.

photographed by Sara Dorio and styled by Annette Joseph.

Here are the chairs.  I have 2 sets of slipcovers, white and a flax linen that I change to in the fall.  I have washed the white ones at least 30 times or more and they are just now showing  some wear.  In fact I was in there looking at some fabric samples for new covers but let's keep that on the down low OK?

Enough about me....if you don't love this...raise your hand.  In fact this would be great for kids....you can't really hurt hide right?  After all cows live outside and roll in the mud.

More kid friendly leather....plus a tight back sofa.  Also good with kids.

Nice shelves.....

Cool bug art.

Digging.

Love a modern wing.

Despite tough economic times Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams started MG in 1989.  Their 400,000 sq ft warehouse located in North Carolina [made in the USA baby!] has an employee gym, health conscious cafe, and on site day care center.  They support 12 non profit partners and they love dogs!  

They also distribute their furniture to Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Bloomingdales and Restoration Hardware.  Don't get me started on RH.  They have customer no-service and have really just become a showroom to order from.  Nothing is ever in stock anymore.  I could go on.......

MG is not paying me to write this but sometimes I think it is just nice to recognize when a company gets it right.

They do.

Our dk Gallery lunch/mixer was so much fun....I took pictures so I will post on that soon.

Regarding the wax I used on my books...a reader told me a much easier thing to use are glue sticks!  Just more proof that I am not a crafty DIY girl.

Freaky

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DYI BOOKS...and box turtles

I just finished my morning walk with the dogs which includes the trail I have spoken about  in our neighborhood.  I  recently started taking my phone with me not to talk...but it has an app that records my pace, route and time.  I can get a little OCD with things like this and it makes me competitive so I work harder!

Anyway......the other day I saw 2 box turtles.

Having sex.

Yeah...I know.  It was a first for me.

Picture...no worries....I doubt this will make you hide your eyes.

At first I just thought the little bugger had tipped over....I can be slow like that.  After a few minutes of my brain processing why the heck they were in this position I gasped.  Oh my gosh...they are mating.  I am sure I ruined the moment for them by snapping this picture.

Another reason to have my phone with me.  Nature.

Remember when I painted the Readers Digest books?  I bought a few more the other day just to see what else I could do with them.

I painted them out like before with chalk paint and then went to Michaels to get this.

Sealing wax.

And I did this.

Waxing is not that easy.  The directions said not to burn it.  Well...how the heck do you keep from burning wax when you have to light the wick???  My first few attempts were kind of  a black and white marble look.

Not exactly what I was going for.

I finally "kinda" got it but I did not like the contrast of the blue paint so I dry brushed it with the cream.

Need more books to practice with for sure.

If you are inclined to venture out to Marietta tomorrow
DK Gallery is hosting this.....

Which is why I will be spending a good part of today  reinventing myself.  Hair done....eyebrows waxed.....pedicure......

Of course it's supposed to rain like the dickens tomorrow so it won't matter what I do to my hair....it will still look like this.

Alrighty then.....gotta go figure out what to wear.

Shafrizzy

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THE WINNER AND STYLING BOOKSHELVES

Happy Friday y'all!  How ironic that the winner of the YELLOW giveaway is the Pink Pagoda?  I worked with Jennifer on the One Room Challenge.....you can see pictures of her finished room here.

She has great style and I am hoping that she can use a little yellow in her life :)  Jennifer also has some great things to buy so go see!

A couple of weeks ago when I posted about the bookshelves I did for my ORC Melanie from My Sweet Savannah emailed me and asked if I would help her with a few shelves in her dining room.

I have been reading her blog since I was knee high to a grasshopper.....well not really but since the break of dawn....OK...since I discovered blogs.

She is quite talented and one time I saw a picture of her in a cowboy hat and was so jealous of how much she rocked that look.

Doing shelves virtually is a whole new world for me.  I am visual and need to be able to stand back and case the joint while I am doing them  [drinking wine is always optional].  But she was persistent and assured me that it could be done.  I am nothing if not easily persuaded (remember how Linda threatened me about trying to pull out of the ORC!) folding like a cheap tent as they say.

So she emailed me a picture of what they looked like.  

I thought they looked pretty good myself but I can understand that sometimes you can be too close to the situation...and need a new eye!

I had to figure out a way to do this so I printed out the picture and got some tracing paper.  Using mostly what she already had and....here is the first rough draft.  

She emailed me a few pictures of various things she had hoarded  laying around so I used a few of them..... starting with the canvas in the middle.

Pretty dang primitive....I know.

We kept playing around with it for a few days....emailing pictures back and forth....and then the weekend came along and we took a break.

I think she uncorked the wine and worked on those shelves like Jackson Pollack on a canvas!

The next image I received was completely different from  the previous one.....really.

After some scooching....tweaking....."do you have one of these?"....do you have 2 of those?".....about 15 or 20 e-mails back and forth with  pictures.....we declared "case closed".

She can't fool me....I know bloggers....and they like to mess with stuff!  I give it about 2 weeks.....

She mentioned a plant in the corner and I said....yes some greenery would be awesome to tie in with the green bottles......5 seconds later another email.

Girl is good.  And fast.

You need to go here to see her pictures because not only does she look damn good in a cowboy hat she also takes much better pictures than me.

The whole process made me think about the art of display.  AND...that made me think of Pottery Barn because they do have quite the team of stylist.  One thing I know and that is.....create an arch.

I took some pictures with my iphone the other day to show you.

See?
Here is another one..

Start in the middle of the shelf and work out.

You are going to get the point after a few more of these....

Again....

Even here with these shelves....

Wanna poke my eyes out yet.  Bad pictures I know but I am just trying to make a point.  Are there exceptions to the rule?  Of course.  

Because of the wall restrictions...but still an arch! 

Still an arch.

OK...a good example here is that on the second shelf they hung the middle plate to get some height.  The third row they kept everything pretty much the same...

So if you are struggling just use the guidelines of "shelving 101"....start in the middle with the tallest item....and then layer the back with books, trays and plates.  After that stand back...take a sip of wine and see where you can edit.

That's all I got today....

Sherika

30

LAMPS FOR THE ORC

The lamps for my ORC finally came in....after almost 6 weeks.  I don't know about you but I am impatient and hate waiting for stuff.....tick....tock.

I changed out the shades to add texture.  I think these from Pottery Barn are a pretty good deal and they come in small, medium and large.

After I picked up the lamps I went all over town looking for some little glass finials.  Yes....you read that right....ALL OVER TOWN.

Seriously.  The place I got them last time had more than I could want in a lifetime.  Today....nada.

Here are some of the things I saw along the way.

I started at Ballard's [the outlet store]to pick up the lamps....

I saw this and posted on Instagram.  Some black and white goodness....and 30% off all furniture today.  I know someone who might have gone back to get it :)

I also saw 2 of these....

Oh mommie...where is my bottle....

Then I went to a flea market near me that USUALLY has the finials.  Saw this little number....

Along with this brass planter.  How dang good does this look with the geranium in it....note to self....I have one of these somewhere.

More brass.  Looks like I have completely forgotten about my task at hand.

Good Lord.  What finials?  Where am I.

Doesn't everything look better on a stand...or on plexiglass?  Yes.

Without even trying...I am feeling a theme here....black stuff accented with brass....

Oh...this is fine.  And looks good in our imaginary room.

Whoops....straying.  But how much do you love this blue.  A lot...I thought so.

Of course that makes the day just a little longer.  It is nearly impossible to just go in and out.  I have tried.  Can not be done.

Anyway....the lamps are in...

But those ridiculous little gold balls on the top can just TAKE A HIKE!

So...that was my day....At times I feel as though I am running on a little hamster treadmill just going in circles.

Remember my post on Rodolfo Castro the architect?  Well so excited to be meeting him [with the clients] on Friday to see what magic he has for their addition!  

I am not ashamed to admit to a little jealousy that it's not for my house......sigh.

Last chance for the giveaway....winner on Friday!

Sherika

29

LOOK WHAT I FOUND

I wish I had more time for thrift stores.....cause the other day I had a few minutes..... ran into one and scored.   Now when I say "scored"...well it was nothing I needed but dang...I could not leave them for someone else to discover.

Why?

Well...that seems to be the million dollar question for everyone....right?

Then it launched me into a creative dither of pulling out fabrics.  Like I don't have enough to do that I start designing for an imaginary client.....focus Sherry.

Blah Blah......

Here is what I found.

For practically pennies......

The first 2.  Now I realize these are no Michelangelo's.  But....they do have a kind of interesting primitive quality to them....

2 more.  All for under $10.  One thousand pennies.

I could even paint over them...which I won't because I am  not an artist......  No way Jose.

Just for grins of course I had to go into my office and put a plan together....

Maybe a bedroom.....

Paint the walls...or the ceiling

Farrow and Ball: Pink Ground.

Headboard in the pretty soft green with nail heads right.

I even found this pretty soft velvet pillow on Etsy

White bedding with large Euro shams in the Windsor Smith Pelagos/Haze

A chair/bench in the blue Schumacher stripe.

Oh the endless possibilities.

Then...

I got carried away....

As I said.....imaginary client.....or someone might call me and say "please come do one of those plans at my house".  I will say..."your damn straight".  Let's do it.

Back to reality.

I'll probably just give them away.....

This was your random post for Monday.  

I drove up to see the Cashiers Designer Show House Friday and Saturday.  It was purdy....and I believe the house was for sale for a cool 5 million.  Crikey.

Of course they were all "no pictures"....which irritates me.   I mean if you saw some good images wouldn't you be more inclined to drive up there and see it???  

I snuck a few with my iphone but I am not sure the quality is worth sharing....

Except for this outside shot.  I bet I have peaked your interest now.  Not.

I did get to hang out with some extremely fun chicks.

Rhoda

Lisa

Lori

Edie

Stayed in Angela's cottage in Waynesville.  Which you can see pictures of here.

Good times.

Sherika

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