High Point & outdoor velvet

I'm off to High Point, NC! YIPPEE! It is the center of the furniture universe (OK, and Milan) for two weeks a year for the International Home Furnishings Market.....so much to see, so much to order! As fun as it is to see all the great stuff, it sure is exhausting, thank God that some of the showrooms come equipped with margarita machines.....so I will be over and out until at least next Thursday.

Until then........we had a great install today at a clients' home of a cushion for a radiator cover/bench in their formal dining room. They had a 137" banquette built over the radiator to even out the room and provide extra seating. The grid work on the vent covers needed to match the rest of the covers throughout the house and it was a challenge to find! Since the window gets full southern exposure all day and it is in a dining room with great potential for getting dirty, we had to be careful about our fabric choices. So........we chose Great Outdoors Aqua Velvet by Holly Hunt. I swear, I could use this fabric everywhere! It is completely bulletproof! Solution dyed acrylic, 102,000 double rubs (really!), guaranteed 3 years for fading, passes flammability standards, soil resistant and you can leave it outside 365! YIPPEE! I used it on another clients sectional sofa, in my backyard on my outdoor cushions and now in this indoor bench cushion... and it really is a velvet - an outdoor velvet! Oh yeah, it comes in 11 colors, the picture here - which I know does not show the project or the fabric off so well - is in Night Hawk - which is a super dark charcoal. It is not inexpensive, at $144 per yard retail, but worth every penny.....you can even pour bleach on it without leaving a mark! truly remarkable.....

OK then, off to Market - I can't wait to share all the goodies I find! See you soon!

so many cool plants!

What a beautiful weekend in Portland! I spent a good deal of it out in my garden and loved every second of it! As Stella the wonder pup is not yet to be trusted untethered in the garden, she remained tethered to the kitchen stairs, much to her doggy dismay. Yet she still managed to chew off quite a hunk off of my Corokia Cotoneaster...DAMN! Anyhoooo....I planted a bunch of new stuff...........

Aeonium 'Zwartkop'

Abutilon 'Tangerine'

Erepsia lacera - mesembryanthermacaea

Pisum sativum 'blauwschokker'

Tomato 'snow white'

Geranium 'salome'

Kniphofia hirsuta 'traffic lights'

Sweet Pea 'chocolate streamer'

Tulipa vvedenskyi 'tangerine beauty'

All of these plants came from the Hardy Plant sale last weekend...I did not need a single one of them. But what does this really have to do with need?????? It is really just all about PLANT LUST!!!!! I have another tray to plant tomorrow...YIPPEE! More plants!

All in all a very productive day! Then a lovely BBQ and a beer with my darling French husband and Miss Stella. I can't wait 'till tomorrow! Here's to dirt under your nails!

amazing orange proteus!

Last weekend was the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's' Spring Plant and Art Sale. As I am a member of HPSO, I always volunteer to "help". Every 2nd Saturday in April and September I haul my cookies to the Portland Expo Center at 8am, sign in for cashier training and try and establish pole position for one glorious hour of volunteer only shopping at some of the best growers and plants people you have ever seen from 9 to 10 , before the public gets in. A true benefit to being a volunteer! YIPPEE! DOUBLE YIPPEE!!!!!! I was only looking for one particular plant; Orostachys "chinese dunce cap", and was completely unsuccessful.....but I did manage to find $314 worth of other necessary objects that I did not know I needed. I bought my Orostachys from Annies Annuals in the Bay area last March while on a road trip, but didn't take it into the greenhouse soon enough and it is sooooooo dead. I was on a quest and as Annies is out of the plant at the moment, I am still on a quest. The coolest plant I got is Leucospermum Cordifolium from Cistus Nursery in Portland-ish. Sooooo coool! Hardy to 20 degrees-ish, KILLER orange flowers, 5 x 5 eventually. I will for sure put this in my greenhouse for the winter. I bought a beautiful tall orange pot for it today.......when I pot it up, I will post again........here is what the plant looks like:

Orostachys 'chinese dunce cap'

Leucospermum cordifolium

Fermob bench in Elle Decor!

I know I have had this picture from my shop on my blog before, but imagine my surprise when it showed up on page 76 of the May 2009 Elle Decor as one of the "10 Most Gorgeous Garden Benches". YIPPEE!!!!! It really is lovely and we have it priced at $600 - but if you have one of the "Alberta Street Stimulus Package" Coupons, you could have it for 20% off...... You gotta love a good promotion! Spend 25$ at one of the participating shops and get a coupon for 20% off your total purchase at another participating shops on your next visit! Through June 1st!

LOVE IT! Speaking of promotions.....check this out....and yes indeedee you CAN combine all our promotions!

This is more of a close up of the bag with purchase (by Ann Millie) - recycled, recyclable and super cool!

Agave Parryi 'truncata'

DEAR GOD! I think I'm in love.......

more succulents-ish....

I forgot that I had this photo below of a succulent planting at the Portland Yard, Garden & Patio show at the end of February....just your basic succulents/semps in a large (32") and low outdoor bowl, mixed with decorative rock - it was just beautiful. I keep meaning to try this on my own.....

Below is another batch of plantings that we did at the shop with a BEAUTIFUL Agave (my favorite) in one of them. We also used some lemon coral sedum and a few special Echeveria - I think block pots always look great and sophisticated!

My husband got me this pot below for Christmas - from Obleeek in the Bay Area......super lightweight, modern and asymmetrical - perfect for the Adenium I planted in it. It has made itself at home on my kitchen counter and it looks fantastic!

The lovely Miss Barbara recently threw a puppy party for Stella, the amazing wonder-pup - it was a blast and Stella was completely on over-stim....and these cupcakes were definitely a hit! Our friend Eric got them from Saint Cupcake in Northwest Portland and custom-topped with with his very ingenious Stella-Palooza toppers! We were all quite impressed! So crafty! So clever! So yummy! Thanks Eric!

The Latest Dirt...Apr/May 09

I write a bi-monthly garden column for Northwest Renovation Magazine called "The Latest Dirt"...here is the most recent edition......

continued.....

For some crazy reason, I could not add these pictures on the last post, so here they are.......including an up close and personal photo of my darling Stella.

Robert Abbey 'Penelope' pendant.


Patagonia Trading Co. 'Harlow' console

Barbara Cosgrove's large 'Silver Gourd' lamps and Stella the amazing wonder-pup......

Another beautiful day in Portland! So happy to be here! My faithful assistant, the lovely Miss Arnica and I did a fab install at a clients house today...we have been working on the dining room of a very modern home in the west hills and it is all starting to come together. The fabric on the draperies is a linen by Windsor Smith for Kravet and called RIAD. Our walls are "chocolate" in a satin finish by Miller Paint in the historical palette. Lovely! The table is from Moe's home collection and extends to 135" and the amazing chairs are by Nathan Anthony - using their fabric "Queen - Pewter" with chrome nailheads - 8 side chairs and two arm chairs. We are still waiting for the white lacquered "Harlow" console from Patagonia and two Silver Gourd lamps from Barbara Cosgrove. The finishing touch will be just the perfect piece of art, which we have yet to locate - any suggestions? I love how this room is looking, I just couldn't be happier! The new lighting will be installed later this week - 2 Robert Abbey white Penelope pendants, lined with silver. Unfortunately, the FLOS lamp in there now is totally chipped and damaged. When you enter the house, the dining room is at the end of the foyer up two steps and acts as the true focal point - so having the draperies hung from the ceiling in a bold pattern really keeps your eye from running right outside into the garden.....the draperies are actually "non-working" and put in place to soften all the hard edges of the windows and to extend slightly into the window itself to give the illusion of an entire wall of windows. We should have the finishing touches within the next few weeks so stay tuned...then it is on to the kitchen and out onto the deck! YIPPEE!!!

Upholstered platform bed

Happy end of the weekend! I am sitting on my couch in front of the TV, eating a killer BBQ meal and watching Family Guy (my favorite) after an incredibly productive day in the garden. It was the PERFECT day today in Portland - yesterday too! - and it seems that everyone was outside doing something. Towards the end of my gardening time - you could smell the BBQ's firing up all over the neighborhood - there is nothing quite like that smell!

I have been a total slacker this week on the blog-front. But on the upside - I have a whole lot to share....

Tomorrow I am expecting a HUGE delivery of custom furniture for several clients. My favorite piece in the order is a BEAUTIFUL upholstered platform bed. The headboard is very simple, square and 65" tall...outlined with beautiful chrome nailheads - an upholstered platform and square black wood feet. I ordered two of them, I liked the one for the client so much I ordered another one for me! YIPPEE!!!! The fabric I chose for the client is a red and black linen weave linen/poly blend with a few metallic fibers for accent and the fabric I chose for me was the same pattern but without the red, only the black. I had one of these beds on the floor of the shop and took more than a few orders off of it. It really is beautiful and stately.

With my new bed, I will be accenting in orange (of course) with orange sheets from The Company Store and a beautiful white down blanket from Down, Inc., an orange and white Chinese Toile quilt for the foot of the bed by Pottery Barn.....oh and two KILLER orange Robert Abbey triple gourd lamps from my shop - LOVELY!




Lastly......check out this picture of my darling puppy Stella.......she is a Treeing Walker Coonhound...but in this picture doesn't she look like a kangaroo? this picture was after a long hard day at doggy daycare - she goes to Dogs Dig It in Portland - they have a doggy web cam and we can spy on her during the day - It's hard to be the dog!