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Have yall seen the HBO Documentary “Nothing Left Unsaid where the social icon, Gloria Vanderbilt, is interviewed by her son, Anderson Cooper. I am constantly drawn to it and seem to watch it every few months. I am positively in awe and fascinated by Gloria Vanderbilt. Her innocence, style, love and honesty is positively charming. You can tell through the hardships she has endured that she has done a tremendous amount of soul searching and is such a strong woman.
(And as a mother of a son, it is about the most precious thing ever to watch how much Anderson not only loves but ADORES his mother.)
One of the things you learn in this conversation is how she uses her art as a form of therapy. One of her most striking mediums is what she calls “Dream Boxes” where she assembles these fabulous acrylic boxes with items to display an emotion or tell a story.
This one stopped me in my tracks.
I am not sure how many of you know this but I actually have a day job in addition to running Capitol Vintage Charm. And the beginning of the year is VERY much my busy season (which would explain the lack of blog posts lately) at work. Anywho, I have been swamped lately.
When we bought our house last year, I told the realtor that I was looking for a house I could throw a birthday party for my son, Grayson. Our rental wasn’t big enough to have parties. I was determined my little man would have his first real birthday party this year even if I didn’t have the time to put it together.
Well, that’s where I enlisted the help of my friend, Jennifer of A Tasteful Table.
Today I am going to share a few my favorite small space and inexpensive tricks to dress your table. After having lived in basements all over Washington DC for the majority of my life, I have become very adapt at figuring out how to entertain in small spaces. For most of my life, my entertaining haul fit in plastic bins under my bed.
When I am out hunting, I never ever leave a porcelain decorative/trinket box behind. I love them. I have them all over my house and use them to hold toothpicks, ponytail holders and thumbtacks. But, my favorite thing to do with them is use them to hold matches and place them next to the candles I have around my house.
I remember when I first saw this image I gasped. This collection of vintage portraits of George Washington was just everything to me. We are major history buffs over in the House of Harvie. And, personally, I love vintage portraits.
If you have followed me for awhile, you know we have a 6 year old Havanese named Hemingway. As the name suggests, Havanese are from Havana, Cuba. We wanted a name that captured his homeland but were a little worried screaming something like "Castro" at a dog park on Capitol Hill might raise some eyebrows.
We are those crazy dog people. Which is fitting because our dog is crazy. I don't mean, quirky. I mean...he is on Prozac for separation anxiety and escapes most enclosures kind of crazy. Bless it. He is so sweet and so nuts.
I was cleaning out my phone the other day and came across some pics of our trip years ago to Key West and was laughing at how we just HAD to go see Hemingway's House because of our dog. Turns out, it was and is one of my favorite and most inspirational spaces I had ever seen.
I don't have a tattoo. But if I did, it would probably be of my monogram. It is the only thing I love that much. Literally. I would put a monogram on a monogram and top it with my monogram.
I am so excited to announce a fun collaboration with a dear friend, Katharine Dore of K Dore Designs. When you come visit me this year at the Luckett's Spring Market, you will have an opportunity to have Katharine monogram the vintage napkins I have for sale.
Monogramed vintage napkins are such a great gift idea or the perfect little happy for yourself.
I asked Katharine to introduce herself and share a little bit about monograming. I am so excited to start this collaboration with her and look forward to more fun projects in the future with my fellow Louisiana Lady!
Earlier this week, I discussed some of my favorite ways you can incorporate Dorothy Draper touches into your own home. Personally, I adore her style. I love the dramatic touches: the shiny metals, the dramatic patterns and bold colors. But, I got to thinking about some of my friends who are much more modern. And all of that drama wouldn't exactly appeal to them.
So, I give to you my vision for a very modern spin on Dorothy Draper touches.
Having a tableware fetish and living in a tiny rental has not mixed well for my marriage. I really meant what I said in my "About Me" on how I sneak in plates and teacups in my purse. Or tell Bruce they are "for the shop" and then they end up "in my kitchen."
Crazy how they just migrate in there, huh?
Milk Glass. You've heard the term but do you really know what it is? Today we are going to briefly explore what it is and how to determine if it is older or a reproduction piece.
A few years ago, I was thrifting and found some milk glass. Not knowing much about it, I did some googling when I got home and realized there is WAY more to know than just seeing a piece of white glass and declaring it "milk glass". I never considered myself a real fan of it until I realized what all was categorized as milk glass.
I spend WAY too much time thinking about my future house. (correction, my future homes). If I am in a new neighborhood, I fantasize about what the inside of the homes look like based off the exterior and start picking finishes that would match this house. Try as I might, I can't turn it off.
When we finally buy a home and move out of Chateau Shittay, the one part of the house I pray I can make work is a dining room library. I really have my heart set on this.
As we have established here, I have a thing for foyers. It is probably a deep rooted jealousy, honestly. I have never lived in a place that was large enough to have an actual entryway. Usually it was like hovel and the door opened up straight into the room. If I was a lucky, a renter from a million years ago left a hook or something by the front door.
My husband loves books...like LOVES books. And I am about to sound like I don't...but I do. One day I would love nothing more than to have a room full of built-in bookshelves and have them covered from floor to ceiling with stacks of books. A home library is the height of charming to me.
But, you know, we live in a rental that may fall apart if the wind blows too hard. We can't even buy our son one of those Anywhere Chairs that the cool kids have because we have NOWHERE to put this ANYWHERE. (See what I did there? Yeah, I'm proud of it and will stand by the corny joke.)
Over the weekend while Grayson was taking a nap, I started playing around with an Easter table concept with items I have in the Etsy shop. I am not going to lie to yall....having a room full of props you are selling that you can play with at any time is the best perk of having your own Etsy shop.
I just found this tablecloth over the weekend (did you see the latest post about the top things to thrift?) and it was so funky with the fringe, I couldn't wait to get home and play with it. I think I keep mentioning it but I am on a serious mustard yellow kick now.
This wall in my living room, ya'll. It changes more than I do outfits. I am constantly rearranging depending on my latest art finds. (Did you see my Instagram post yesterday? It has already changed from this picture taken 2 weeks ago).
As I have mentioned before, we live in a rental. Much to my frustration, my landlord will not let me paint and don't even get me started on how horrible that carpet is. Adding fun and bright art is such an easy way for me to take this drab room up a notch.
My son, Grayson, has the best room in the whole house. It is bright and has the perfect mix of all the vintage touches I love to incorporate into my designs. It is full of texture and layers. It is important to me he grows up around lots of bold color. I think it immediately can lift a bad mood. I kind of laugh at the idea he may look back at this room and think "Oh, that was so mom."
I am so seriously excited about spring coming. Being able to go outside without heavy coats! Flowers! And being able to open up the house and do some entertaining!
Today I wanted to share my favorite tips for creating a super easy modern buffet table using beautiful vintage platters. Entertaining with vintage platters is my happy place. Mixing and matching and showing off beautiful old items in a modern setting is exactly what I love to do.
Have yall ever heard of the book, "The 5 Love Languages"? (It is a personal favorite). I am, shockingly, all of the love languages. (Poor hubbie, Bruce). But, if I could be so bold, I would suggest a 6th Love Language...Breakfast in Bed. Let's face it, is there anything better and more romantic than being greeted by your morning coffee immediately upon waking up?
No. There isn't.
Today, I thought we should examine how to construct the perfect vintage breakfast tray just in time for Valentines Day. So forward this on ya boo-boo's, y'all. The excuses are over.
Y'all, I have a vintage feast for your eyes! This amooooozing Capitol Hill rental vintage utopia belongs to one of my best friends, Blair. And my girl does not mess around when it comes to showing her love of all things art deco, seascapes and baskets. She is my most favorite partner in crime for all of my thriting and flea market missions and you are about to see why.
One of my biggest pet peeves is how hideous tissue boxes are. I know they have come a long way but they still have a hell of a way to go, in my opinion. I cover them any chance I can get.
One of the most common things I find at flea markets are brass mid-century animals. The beauties were all the rage in the 1960s and still very popular today. They are the perfect touch to warm up a mantel, to add some depth to your bookshelves or to add visual interest or height to a side table. I absolutely love them and find them so useful in decorating.
I absolutely love a wall full of vintage artwork. They add such texture, color and charm to a room. But if I could get what I really wanted in my rental, it would be a to back those bad boys with some wallpaper. Because there is NOTHING sexier to me than some vintage art on a modern wallpaper. In my opinion, it is the easiest way to merge modern and vintage together with the biggest impact. Like....blow your mind kind of impact.
I mean, LOOK at that picture above! (And follow Gen on Instagram if you don't. Not only will you want to be her best friend but her taste is so freaking on point, it isn't even funny). That Schumacher wallpaper...be still my heart. Also...adding the black top to that toilet is genius. Black is such an easy way to ground a room that has a lot going on with color and pattern.
Here are some suggestions on how exactly to pair a modern wallpaper with a vintage piece of art.
Oh, Shiny Brites....you really are the grand daddy of all the Vintage Christmas decor, aren't you, you little devil!?!?
The popularity of these have exploded again. And thank God for that. They are stunning. I am absolutely loving all the creative things that folks have been doing with them.
Now having a family of my own, I have been giving a lot of thought to our Christmas decorations. I am sure this isn't going to come as a shock to you but I am incredibly sentimental. And while I now have a healthy does of Melissa and Doug Christmas items in my house, I am thinking a lot about what types of items I am going to have in my home for my son to have an attachment to his childhood memories.
Stepping into a house or apartment and having a fabulous entryway is simply the best teaser. It gives you an idea of what you can expect for the whole house. It does not matter if you are walking into an old grand foyer or your front door opens right into your living room, creating a entry nook is not only welcoming but functional.
I can’t even begin to explain my love of a good tray. They serve a million different functions. We use vintage bamboo trays when we are having BBQs so our guests can hold all their refreshments. I use them to help corral toys around our house - they are especially helpful when playing with play-doh or coloring and we are going between the kitchen and the playroom. I also keep one at my front door so I can throw all my junk in it during the week and then take it around the house with me at the end of the week and put all the items where they belong.
But the best use for a tray, in my opinion, is to help draw the eye to a collection. Just like an area rug helps pull the room together, a well placed tray will help pull the decor of your table together.