Sunday, November 29, 2015

Estate On The Boulevard

 There's a new store in town!
We were driving through Cloverdale last week when I noticed what looked like a fun antique store.
I told Mr. A to hang a u-turn right away.

It was well worth the stop as it is much more than an antique collective.

In other words, not a thrift store but almost a home goods store.

I recognized a couple of dealers, like Cathleen Alyce who once had a shop just outside of  Healdsburg.
I even blogged about her years ago here!

I recognized her booth.  She still finds vintage pieces and then refinishes or paints to refurbish and recycle.

I love seeing stores like this popping up in Cloverdale.

Cloverdale is undergoing a transformation as new businesses open in the heart of downtown.
A young couple just opened a garden nursery, there are cute boutiques, a cool coffee shop and soon the Trading Post Market and Bakery will open, where my son will be baking bread for the community.

Cloverdale reminds me of Healdsburg 20 years ago before it became trendy!
(You can read more about Cloverdale and its local businesses in a recent 7 x 7 article, here.)

Wishing the "4 chicks from the sticks" much success with their store, Estate on the Boulevard!

* * *

On December 4th and 5th, there will be an open market, kicking off the holiday season.
The Cloverdale Winter Market, located in the parking lot of the new restaurant and bakery, The Trading Post will host several wineries and vendors selling jewelry, ceramics and gift items.  There will be live music and food too!
I'm happy that Les Méchantes will also be a vendor!
We will have a booth, selling our curated collection of clothing, accessories and gifts.
Stop by and say hi!


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Monday, November 16, 2015

Hardwood Floor Color And Blog Issues

Just when I had this post ready to publish about the hardwood floor color, my blog went dark.
It appears my domain name that I purchased from GoDaddy had lapsed because of an expired credit card on file.  They assured me when I renewed my domain name that my blog would be back in an hour or possibly 48 hours.

By Sunday, it was quite evident that my blog was gone.
I tried everything!  Blogger had me stuck in a continuous redirect loop.
I tried to call Blogger, but there is no number, ever for them.  You're on your own.
GoDaddy eventually fixed the problem for me but it meant hours on the phone.
I'm so grateful that one of their tech support spent the extra time to correct the problem.
Otherwise, Vignette Design was gone forever!

So back to the hardwood floor color....
I ended up mixing Minwax Jacobean and Classic Gray for a grayed down brown that captured the look of the floors I am going for.
Unfortunately, the stain appeared streaked on the herringbone portion of the floors because the installer used the wrong rag when applying the stain.  He sanded the herringbone and reapplied the color with a different rag.

However, he applied the color on the border too, giving the borders two coats of stain.  Now the borders looked darker, almost black.  It wasn't right.
At this point, we were just chasing the stain and my contractor and I made the decision to sand it all down and start over.  Even the installer said he wanted to do it as he was unhappy with the way the floors looked.
Today, the floors are all sanded and ready for stain, but instead we will cover them up because otherwise it will stall the painter, the tiler and the stair installer another week.  The stain will go on later.  

Back to the blog....
Facing the reality that Vignette Design was gone, I had to ask myself if it was a sign to stop blogging.
I'm not posting as much as I used to and maybe this was meant to be.  
What bothered me though were all those years I spent, over 1000 posts, almost 6 million visitors--all gone.  This November marked my 6th year of blogging!
So when Vignette Design went back online last night, I was quite relieved, to say the least!
Thank you to all who follow me and thanks to those who reached out in concern.


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Saturday, November 14, 2015

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Thursday, November 5, 2015

Club Chairs In The Kitchen? You Betcha!

I love it when websites allow you to design your own furniture like Serena and Lily does.
Just plug in your fabric choice and you get an accurate idea of what your new furniture will look like.
For the kitchen club chairs, I wanted a fabric that would hold up to a lot of wear, plus dogs.
This is where I will drink coffee in the morning, work on my computer and sip a glass of wine in the evening while Mr A cooks one of his specialty dishes!
The Serena and Lily Spruce Chair is the perfect, compact size.

The pattern is fairly simple!  Black and white stripes in a heavy cotton with brass nailheads.
I can add a textural throw and pillows to jazz these chairs up.


The best part is that they are crazy comfortable!
I know I will not regret ordering these chairs for the kitchen!

PS:  I returned the barstools from Serena and Lily.
Back to square one and to be continued...


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Tuesday, November 3, 2015

A Is For Succulents

A few months ago, I visited the San Francisco urban nursery, Flora Grubb and purchased this form in hopes of creating a succulent "A" for the wall in our new atrium.  
Yea, that was more than a few months ago actually.
In hindsight, I really should have planted the succulents then, as it takes several months for them to root in order to hang on a wall. 

So, I'm a little late!  
Let's get started...
The medium that holds the succulents is kind of a fiber that at first needs to be soaked.

With tweezers, I made holes and inserted the succulents after their roots were trimmed.

Here is the work in progress.
I tried to vary the succulents to keep the arrangement interesting.

Ta-da!
My succulent "A!"

It's not quite as nice as this one which was professionally planted by the Flora Grubb crew, but I can fill in with small succulents later.

Hopefully, by the time we move in to the new house, the "A" will be ready to hang!

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Monday, November 2, 2015

Tartan In My Closet For The Holidays

Is it tartan season yet?  
November is the perfect time to bring it out of the closet and wear it!
Here are a few tartan pieces that I plan on wearing this season, starting with these GAP pants.
I plan on dressing them up with heals, or dressing them down with a chambray shirt and tennies.

One of my favorite purchases from last season is this Kate Spade Saturday satchel.
It's been hiding in the drawer for too many months.

Just last week, I splurged on these pumps from Coach.
I'm not sure how I'll walk in them, but OMG how gorgeous are they?
Yes, those are studs along the bottom and they are made out of haircalf!

I don't always wear red tartan...
This coat is a subtle plaid of olive and blue, just in at our store, Les Méchantes.
It's by J.O.A. and is the perfect warm coat for fall.

But of all the tartan in my closet, I love this cape the most
It was a gift from my daughter, purchased in Scotland and carried back in her suitcase.
It's the real deal!

Happy Tartan Season!

(I'm joining The Tartan Parade at The Polohouse.)


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