my year end review: looking to the present

I’ve never been very good at resolutions or even setting goals but I do like having a word for the year ahead. Somehow even in the back of my mind the word becomes a motto, an M.O., a compass, a comfort. The word enters my thoughts, prescribed by circumstance; it seems to present itself and I don’t ruminate over it, I agree and accept. There was that year where I felt scattered and so my word was mindful, the year of making random career choices and so I went with strategic. Last year I was in a dark place professionally and the word flourish found me, and I’m glad it did.

2018 kicked off with a visit from the incredibly talented Matthew Mead, someone whose work as a stylist, photographer and magazine editor I have been following for years. Funny, gracious, and creative as they come, I am honored to know Matthew and call him my friend. He showed up on a bright Saturday morning in January – his pick-up truck filled with props and buckets of fresh flowers – for a fun filled day of styling and photographing my home. The images that focused on my craft room, aka the Girlie Office, are featured nearly a year later, in the current issue of In Her Studio magazine.

During the first half of the year, writing for shelter magazines kept me afloat both emotionally and financially. For each home story that I penned, I was transported, inspired, and validated. While a trio of articles is just about to hit newsstands in Boho Style, I actually wrote them back in April and so they seem like ages ago. Another piece due out early in 2019 was written in July. That’s the world of the editorial calendar -- always months ahead. 

During the second half of the year, on June 11 to be exact, I started a new position, my dream job as editor in chief at Providence Media, publisher of a host of Rhode Island lifestyle magazines. Here, I am surrounded by kind collaborative colleagues and am committed to work that I love. I feel valued, useful, and appreciated, and proud of what we do. I have my own office with a tall window that overlooks a leafy brick courtyard. Each day I pitch and develop story ideas, I write, assign, edit, and I even do some product styling. Six months in, I still don’t get that Sunday feeling of dread.

Being immersed in planning editorial content for a series of magazines, my mind is always spinning and months ahead. In September I was writing about wintertime and today I’m working on March. This can cause time to blur and even holidays to feel like they already happened. I have also been self-aware of skimming instead of reading, scanning not looking, and hearing over listening. It’s no wonder that the word PRESENT surfaced as my word for 2019. The plan is to strive to be better aware of my surroundings, to slow down a bit, to pay attention. After all, each day is a gift – that’s why they call it the present, right?

Thanks as always for reading. All best wishes, always!

xo

Elyse

such a pity: final issue of prairie style magazine

To receive an assignment for Prairie Style magazine from its Founder and Editor in Chief Fifi O'Neill, was like getting a present. The honor of being among her roster of writers aside, sets of images for each home bundled in emails were always a swoon-fest! Through the years I connected with homeowners around the United States, mostly by email or phone, even forming some friendships along the way. Why the past-tense? The Autumn 2018 issue will be the last of this series.

Fifi broke the news to me months ago but reading her ever-gracious editor's letter simply titled "Thankful" most definitely bummed me out. It's no secret that magazines are having a tough time with advertisers spending more of their dollars digitally these days. I too spend hours scrolling through images on social media but when I'm really ready to dig in to a project, it's the printed page every time.

There's something special about images that have been planned and styled and photographed by seasoned professionals. All of the time including travel that goes into this work all for us to want to buy this magazine over another one fascinates me; images get posted to Instagram where we scroll them, stopping for seconds to show our adoration with a heart. But the thing is, I don't want printed magazines to go away any more than I want my local bookstore-cafe to disappear. I enjoy the experience. What good is online content when the power goes out?

Writing for Prairie Style has made an impression on my own decorating. I've been inspired to paint my bathroom floor in a checkerboard pattern.

I learned so many tips and tricks from Kim Leggett of City Farmhouse who recently published her first book.

I wrote about a studio constructed of hay bales...

Virtually met fashion and home furnishings designer Tracy Porter and her menagerie of animals...

Learned about pockets of America and even building construction terms and techniques...

Shared about the beauty of simplicity...

Indulged my adoration for alliteration...

Became a fan of ship lap without watching Chip and Joanna Gaines...

And developed a project or two.

I continue to write for other magazines but I'll never forget Prairie and hope you enjoyed it, too.

For the sake of keeping this post from getting too lengthy, only a sampling of readily available images to me are included but all of the generous homeowners and designers and their beautiful and clever surroundings have inspired me in some way and I thank everyone for being available and responsive to my MANY questions!!!

The final issue is now available for presale and hits newsstands on September 4 (some back issues are listed as well). Let's make Prairie go out with a bang and somehow keep our other newsstand favorites going strong!

xo
Elyse

Captions for images from top to bottom {pretty sure they're all accurate}
Major bunting, Summer 2015
Autumn 2018 issue
Linderman home, Summer 2015
McConnell home/Leggett designer, Winter 2015
McConnell home/Leggett designer, Winter 2015
Holt studio, Winter 2015
Porter ranch, Spring 2015
Anderson cabin, Summer 2016
Linderman home, Summer 2015
McCreary home, Spring 2018
Bush home, Summer 2016
Major bunting, Summer 2015
Healy home, Winter 2017

romantic country - spring 2018 #204

The other day that purveyor of the past Facebook, reminded me that it had been one year since Fifi O'Neill visited my home for the second time. I had the date wrong in my mind and when I visited this blog to verify, realized I'd never posted about the experience. So, Dear Blog, on Tuesday, May 23, 2017, Fifi O'Neill, along with her longtime photographer Mark Lohman and his son Taylor, arrived at my home around 9 a.m. for a wonderful day of styling, photographing and of course, lobster rolls {her New England must-have}.

Much had changed since Fifi's first visit...

Today the living room is more streamline and open with layers of window treatments removed and a much darker sofa and love seat in grey, and while Fifi suggested that light-colored throws would do the trick for the space to be Romantic Country magazine-ready, I had an alternative plan!

What if the sofa and loveseat were outfitted in a mishmash of floral fabrics, like this image from Pretty Pastel Style by Selina Lake? Over the years, I'd amassed quite a stash from Rachel Ashwell's Simply Shabby Chic line for Target: window panels, shower curtains, pillowcases and more. What if my sewing-enthusiast friend Lorraine would want to realize this vision for me!? Dare I even ask?

I barely got the proposal out of "Would you sew..." and awesome Lorraine replied, "I will!"

Reunited besties from Junior High, Lorraine and I enjoyed working on this project together, just like the old days. She visited my home frequently taking measurements and doing fittings, and somehow following my notes of keeping the patchwork random {more difficult than it seems}.

Meanwhile, I painted furniture (the piece above was given the Saltwash treatment) and purchased textiles like area rugs and throws {which oddly enough, I don't really own}.

Knowing I was doing the whole swathed-in-cotton florals thing, Fifi shipped me this very slipcover used in her Romantic Prairie Style Cookbook and I borrowed a wingback chair from my friend Maureen!

Here we are at the close of a very fun, very busy and unforgettable day!

Fifi remembered the aqua coffee table from her first visit, which was originally in the Girlie Office and had since been in the basement for a few years! She pulled pastel accents from other rooms, like the frames that line the floating shelves. The shade on the floor lamp is actually a skirt of mine! And as always, Fifi arrived with big ol' spackle buckets of fresh flowers!

The Spring 2018 issue of Romantic Country is especially dear to me because while it had a dedicated writer, I provided the text for six projects, and there was also a feature on dollhouse no. 1 noted on the cover.

Sadly this would be the final issue of Romantic Country, a magazine adored by many for years. Print is really taking a beating these days with advertisers directing their money toward mostly digital sources, requiring publishers to pass costs onto the readers (that's why magazines can be priced around $7-9.). If you love a publication and don't want it to go away the best thing you can do is to keep buying it and even subscribe. But I digress...

It was an honor and a pleasure to have my home featured, to have the help and support of so many, the unconditional patience of my family ("Um, Mom, why is there a camera crew in my room?!"), and to have such a special friend in Fifi. If you ever meet Mark and Taylor Lohman, mention The Jam and you'll see big grins across their handsome faces.

If you missed it on the newsstands, Romantic Country is still available for purchase online at http://amglifestylestore.com/p-2248-romantic-country.aspx

Thank you for visiting!

xo
elyse

10 questions with rachel ashwell about book 10

When I first learned that Rachel Ashwell’s latest book would be about her adoration of flowers, I gasped. After all, Rachel’s style is inspired by petals at every turn. Whether it’s a salvaged dresser embellished with painted swags, vintage wallpaper with floral motifs, or her own line of fabric with names like Royal Bouquet on Oyster (my favorite), blooms are a signature element of all things Ashwell.

Rachel’s tenth book, My Floral Affair: Whimsical Spaces and Beautiful Florals, is dessert for the eyes. Via photographs by Amy Neunsinger, Rachel leads us from Los Angeles to France, Norway, and England to swoon along at beautiful spaces accented with florals. From the aspirational to the inspirational, you’re sure to be motivated to bring even buttercups inside after leafing through the pages.

Here I am looking quite star-struck in 2014. Well, now that you have a visual of us, let's begin!

1. Hello, Rachel! What was your favorite flower as a child?
Daffodils. As a little girl growing up in England, it was a sign that spring was coming.

2. What is your favorite flower at this moment?
Always bluey-pink David Austin garden roses.

3. What is your favorite object to use as a vase?
I collect pretty shaped clear wine/drink bottles for single stems. I’m also partial to vintage vases and pitchers as often by the time they are deemed vintage their designs are nice and faded. I’ve collected quite a few from flea markets over the years. Occasionally I like something really fancy.

4. What is your favorite flower combination for a summer bouquet?
That’s hard, but probably a selection of pink and white garden roses. There’s just something so classic and nostalgic about a rose.

Second would be wildflowers. I love the casualness and organized chaos of flowers picked from a field.

5: Pick one and why: small floral bouquet or large arrangement?
There is something rather glamorous about a large display.

6. Pick one and why: peonies or roses?
Roses -- the ones in my garden are similar to peonies, but they have an amazing fragrance.

7. Describe your favorite shade of pink:
A bluey pink. Or hot pink. Just not salmon or coral.

8. What is your favorite fresh-flower scent?
I love gardenia and jasmine and lavender -- they emit a wonderful aroma, as well as a fragrant rose. I was once told when ladies walked up a pathway in the old days they would brush along lavender and capture the fragrance in their long skirts and petticoats.

9. Is there any flower you tend to avoid and if yes, what and why?
Bird of paradise. Was once given one by a date and that was it! It’s too orange and pointy.

10. Do you have any favorite floral designers?
I love the Fiore Design girls, Jennifer and Nicole in the US. In the U.K. Toria Britten, both featured in my book. I learned so much about their personalities observing how they would direct their vision with wire and frogs. Creating masterpieces of palette and shape. I consider myself a flowers “plopper” meaning I gather beautiful flowers and just plop them in a vase, trusting they will fall beautifully, different to a proper floral designer.

Thank you to Rachel for contributing to this blog post and to CICO Books for my review copy of My Floral Affair: Whimsical Spaces and Beautiful Florals and connecting us, once again! This beautiful book is brimming with inspiration... and permission to be a complete flower plopper!

Thank you for reading!

xo

elyse

my dollhouse design board

I contribute writing {and sometimes develop DIY projects} to a variety of home and lifestyle magazines, and I love love love it! I still pinch myself with each new assignment and finding my work on the newsstand still makes me as giddy as ever. It's always a pleasure to interview homeowners and inquire about the origin of every big and small decor choice. I'm always inspired to look around my own home with fresh eyes for ideas to explore, but some are just not possible either structurally or financially and that's where my curbside-scored dollhouses come into play!

When I'm not writing for magazines, I'm reading them! And one of my favorites is Country Living, which inspired this rustic bedroom in dollhouse no. 2. As you can see, I'm not overly obsessed with scale or perfection. The ceiling beams are painted coffee stirrers, the chair and TV were gifts from my longtime blogging friend Mercedes aka LibertyBiberty who is a magician when it comes to miniatures. 

Coffee stirrers played a big part in this room -- I used them to construct the bistro chairs and for bead-board paneling. I even mixed a tiny batch of Saltwash to give the green console table a layered look. Inspired by Maria of Dreamy Whites, twigs serve as curtain rods for pieces of lace trim.

Recently I did some spring zhushing around my home which lead to doing the same to my two dollhouses, both frozen in a state of decor-dormancy since November! A Shabby Chic fabric swatch tablecloth sets the stage for a guilt-free treat!

After completing articles for Boho Style I wanted to play with bolder patterns and black accents. At over $400 per roll, this Bloomsbury wallpaper from Anthropologie isn't in my budget but printing it out to estimated-scale works. This room is still very much a work-in-progress.

Boho meets Prairie in this little studio at the top of the stairs. The chair is from childhood -- anyone remember Japanese wooden apple tea sets? 

Selina Lake's latest book Garden Style, which I recently blogged about, has me slightly obsessed with botanical prints. Visit this post on my Instagram page to view an easy project.

This ode to Cath Kidston from dollhouse no. 1 featuring bits of stationery was lightened for Spring by swapping out dark furniture with a white slipcover sofa I constructed from cardboard and the cut-up cloth bag from a set of sheets (no-sew, of course).

I'm hoping to explore this concept more fully in a book. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading!

xo

elyse