I have made it to 100! (in Interior Design Blog Post)

This is my 100th blog post!

I can not believe I have written that many. 

 I thought this should be a special post, so I am going

to share a story with you.

Back in December of 2002 there was a lonely little designer.

 When she had first gone into business, she had a partner. 

But as life changes,the partner moved from town and 

things took a turn and the designer was on her own.

She did some retail work for awhile and then went to work

at a local furniture store. There she worked 

with a great group of designers. For several years, they all
had so much fun working together. But life is nothing but
change and our designer decided to go back out on her own.

That holiday season ADAC (Atlanta Decorative Arts Center) 

had a beautiful luncheon, in the Madison Gallery, for

a group of designers. This was a sit down lunch.

After our designer went through the buffet line, she glanced 

around for a seat. Call it fate or whatever

you think happens at times such as this. The designer spotted a table

with one seat left. She approached the group at the table and 

asked if she could join them. They were a group

that obviously knew each other and there was 

a lot of storytelling and laughter.

Our designer asked them if they worked together.

They said no they were all members of the

Atlanta Designers' Network - ADN. 

Dear Gail, one of the designers asked the lonely little designer

to come visit their group for a meeting. They 

swapped business cards. The lonely designer

thought their group sounded like a great idea. But

she was sure Gail would never remember to call her. 

Well she didn't know Gail back then, like she does now, or

she would have not had a thing to worry about! 

And that my friend is how I went from being a lonely little designer

to being a member of this special organization. 

This group of designers has been a wonderful sounding board 

to exchange ideas, resources, knowledge and many special friendships.

Some of our group has had to leave for different 

reasons and new members have joined us. But 

each one has been someone special and unique.

Now where am I going with this story? I hope I still have your attention! 

ADN meets each month except for July. Our April meeting was

at the Atlanta Merchandise Mart. The designers have a 

a wonderful new concierge, Cathyrn Miller,and this the 

second tour she has arranged for our group. So come

with me on a picture tour of a few of the 

many showrooms at the Mart.

Look at these great color choices!

Each furniture piece selected, in this showroom, 

is individually hand finished by artisans and will vary.
Your unique piece will be "Tomorrow's Antiques"

Our next showroom had us discussing what is under foot. They showed

rugs of all types that are "Timeless Design for the Modern Age."

The last four are all indoor/outdoor rugs! 

Another thing the ADN group appreciates is good food. 

So along with our next showroom stop we had a 

wonderful lunch catered by The Corner Bakery. 

I was familiar with this company because we carried their items 

at the furniture store where I worked. Back then the company

only made baskets. They have come a long way from when

they started! 

I took so many pictures and our tour was so fabulous, that I am 

going to break this into two Parts. I will be back soon

with the rest of the afternoon showrooms. 

So please come and join me! 

I need to powder my nose! (Interior Design for the Powder Room)

If your friends and guests spend any time in your home,

there is one room they may need to visit!

Water closet, Loo, Washroom, Lavatory 

whatever you might call it,this is one of the 

main rooms you need to  "dress up." 

Prior to the 1900's most toilets

 were in a free standing building outside.

This is where the name outhouse originated. 

Any girls that attended Camp Echoee in

Northeast Georgia will know them as 

latrines!

Back when I was a little girl, my bathroom 

had to also serve as the Powder Room. 

My mother and her designer picked out 

pink and maroon tiles like they used in

this picture. 

But to make things even more coordinated, we had a 

pink toilet, sink and bath tub!  Thankfully 

they have the ability to refinish tiles and tubs. My

grandson, Jake, lives in that same house and that 

bathroom now belongs to him It is white and brown!

Come join me as we take a look at Powder Rooms of today!

Powder Rooms can really be a challenge to 

turn a plain box of a space, into something 

dazzling.

Hanging vanities and rectangular sinks are

popular choices right now.

Powder Rooms are good places to use wallpaper

to get some extra bang for your $$$'s.

Vessel sinks are also good choices for a Powder Room.

The designer here has re-purposed a wood

panel to use as a mirror over an antique iron table.

Faux painting lets your imagination run wild. 

In a small room like the Powder Room, the bigger

the scale of wall paper or faux painting, will 

make the bathroom appear larger. The more

background that shows the more open the room feels.

As you can see reflected in the mirror, you can 

use wallpaper and still hang pictures.

A Powder Room is a excellent place to use a 

piece of furniture for your vanity. This Biedermeier 

chest is topped with black marble and an

oval sink. If you look close they picked up the

same color finish for the floor.

Even a busy framed mirror can look fabulous on a

patterned wallpaper. A small dining buffet makes

a great place to store towels.

An accent table with a deep apron,

will work in a very small Powder Room where

room is tight. You still get the look of a furniture

piece without the weight of a chest.

This Powder Room gives you a contemporary look with 

the clean lines of the vanity and the simplicity 

of the pendants, mirror and vessel sink. 

Notice how the walls and floor are 

the same neutral. It really lets everything else pop!

This contemporary bath keeps it very simple, so that

the orange lacquered walls and the smoke Lucite vanity

are the star attractions. 

This is not a large powder room, but the designer has kept

everything in soft tones and straight lines. This offers a very 

soothing spa like feeling. 

Pure Elegance! The shimmer in the Oriental 

wallcovering reflects off the sconces and 

adds extra light and brightness.

Themes are fine in a Powder Room as long as you don't

go overboard! This ship themed bath used just enough

of the mariner lighting, rope detail, rug and porthole window

do not come across to cute!

If you have accessories you want to use and have

a basic white Powder Room. You can buy shelves to

display some of your favorites. I love how she used

just a little bit of blue wall and then 

tied it all together with her porcelain pieces!

I hope I have given you some inspiration to take a look at 

your own powder room and make it sleek contemporary,

traditionally elegant or very personal! 

Enjoy thinking outside the box! 

source: Bomeng.org, Busy Door.com, Colorado Home, David Hintgen, Digs Digs.com, Effortless Style Co., 

Element of Style, The French Tangerine, Houzz, South Shore Decorating, Southern Hospitality, Traditional Homes.

Beginning 2015...

The best quotes and sayings are being shared all over the Internet. 

From Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram they are

being kept in motion by being posted, pinned, and followed.

Whatever the topic might be, there is a quote to fit it. 

The one thing I like about quotes is that they 

make me stop and think about what they have to say.

As 2015 has gotten underway, here are fifteen 

that I thought were worth repeating.

I hope you enjoy them and that they make you stop and think too!

 May 2015 be an exceptional year for each of you! 

Every year I say, NO MORE! But every year, something catches our eye 

that just has to be added to the Christmas decorations here! 

I have to keep a close watch or we might become 

Christmas hoarders. 

This little snowman was the first 

thing to find his way home.

Close friends sent us this beautiful live wreath. 

We wanted something for our back door and this was 

just perfect. 

I always like to have something live and blooming at Christmas

I have had this orchid since before Thanksgiving.

But it is blooming so pretty right now, that

I just had to show you!

Not everything is brand new this year. 

The same dear friends that gave us the 

wreath this year gave us Ho Ho Ho

coming down the chimney!

We have had our front door wreath, since

we moved into our house in 1995! 

Sometimes I want to turn off this little Santa Clock.

I feel like he is ticking away the hours I have left 

to do everything! He has a very distinct 

tick tock sound.

When my grandson, Jake, was little, my Husband would

come in with all these crazy talking toys. I was never really 

sure if Johnny or Jake enjoyed them more. 

I do get a kick out the obnoxious snowman. 

He comes out with things like "I Got Plowed Last Night!"

Mr and Mrs Santa Claus are very old. 

We always used them at Christmas when I was very 

little girl. They are salt and pepper. 

We usually have our Santa Collection on the mantle. But this 

year we decided to do something different and put all our 

Christmas pictures up there.

One of my sweet designer friends sent me my favorite 

Christmas Card this year! I do love a little leopard print! 

When we had our Jack Russell, Miss Priss, we purchased 

the Olive the Other Reindeer book. We added a few 

other Olive things like the stuffed animal Olive. 

Unfortunately  this year, Olive had to hide on the mantle. 

Someone kept moving her around. 

Someone else is hiding, wonder if they are guilty? 

If you are just joining us this year, here are links for a look back 
at my past Christmas blog posts. 

Deck the Halls with Traditions - December 2013

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree - Christmas 2012

These are a Few of my Favorite Things - Christmas 2011

It All Began with a Crash - Christmas 2011

source: Debbie Jacobs Designs