Virtual Housekeeping

One aspect of my Spring cleaning blitz this month was tidying up and streamlining my business' web presence. To that end, I had Shari Miller of Little Blue Deer Design, the talented graphic designer responsible for the look of this blog, give my website a similar facelift. To complement Henhurst's fresh new look I had a professional photographer, the brilliant Timothy Peters, take some photos for the 'portfolio' section and wanted to share a few of those with you here. Tim specializes in photographing interiors and is truly an artist when it come to highlighting the interesting details.

If you have a minute please take a look at the new Henhurst Interiors website. I would love your feedback.

Timothy Peters' contact information can be found here. There are a lot of inspirational images to peruse on his website. Shari Miller of Little Blue Deer can be found here. I can't recommend her highly enough if you are interested in revamping your website or blog.

David Iatesta Sample Sale

I usually only post sample sale alerts on Henhurst's Facebook page, but as this one has the unique feature of being available online (in addition to being a pretty fabulous resource!) I thought I would share it here as well.

For those of you not familiar with David Iatesta, the company produces high-end, handcrafted furniture, accessories, and lighting. The designs borrow elements from 18th and 19th century European and American heirlooms and are finshed with the patina of fine antiques. The product line is designed and manufactured in the US.

Included in the sale are showroom samples, antiques, accessories and one-of-a-kind creations, 50 to 85% off. The sale runs May 17th through May 19th, with a sneak preview Wednesday, May 16th. Details here.

Southern Charm

Last week was spent in South Carolina visiting my husband's parents in Kiawah Island and soaking up some much needed sun. Kiawah is not far from the beautiful city of Charleston so we planned a day in town and, on my father-in-law's recommendation, visited the website of the Historic Charleston Foundation prior to our trip and booked tickets for a guided walking tour in the morning and an afternoon garden tour.

Charlestonians are clearly very house- and garden-proud and every home, whether large or small, is graced with greenery.

No possible detail is overlooked. Here the front steps are decorated with creeping fig vine (ficus pumila) that, according to our guide, needs to be trimmed weekly during the summer on account of its rapid growth.

The scent of Confederate jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is inescapable in Charleston during the Spring. Its vines flow over walls and around front doors.

Not even garages are neglected when it comes to enhancing the exteriors with flowering vines.

This is possibly the most beautiful garage I have ever seen, really too lovely even to be called a garage.

On to the garden tour...photographs were not permitted inside the private gardens which I can tell you was extremely painful for me; however, from outside the walls and through the iron gates I did snap a few.

What appealed to me about the Charleston gardens we saw, as well the plantings on and around the exteriors of the houses, is that order prevails. Yes, friends, my OCD extends to the outdoors - not for me the undisciplined, English cottage garden! My kind of garden employs a lot of boxwood, neatly trimmed hedges corralling tidy plants, trellis, tuteurs and strategically placed topiary. Whatever the medium, I love topiary.

Fortunately, my girls are truly good sports and, by now, quite used to my tireless explorations of every city we ever visit. Here I am with one of my beautiful daughters who is still managing a smile after viewing nine gardens. They make me proud.

The Historic Charleston Foundation tours we signed up for were part of the organization's Festival of House and Gardens which takes place from late March through late April. It is well worth a visit for a few days or a long weekend to take in some of the extraordinary properties on view.

Spring Fabric Collection from Galbraith & Paul

Fabrics, furnishings and objects where the crafter's hand is evident are more interesting to me than factory produced perfection. Having a sense of where an item originated and how it was made has great value. Such is the appeal of the Galbraith and Paul fabric line which has recently released its Spring collection.

The line, which is designed by Liz Galbraith and hand block printed in a Philadelphia studio, brings a modern eye and vintage techniques to textile design.

While citing the graphics of Marimekko, the painterly qualities of The Bloomsbury Group, and William Morris textiles as inspirations, Galbraith & Paul fabrics have a fresh and elegant spirit that is all their own.

Artisans hand print all of the fabrics, on a variety of linens and velvets, using fabric paints that are permanent and light-fast. Below are examples of how Lotus and Ribbon are printed.

 photos via Galbraith & Paul

In addition to the standard line, fabrics can be printed to order, so color and ground substitutions are easy to do. One can choose from among 37 patterns, 6 grounds and over 100 colors to produce a unique fabric that will work perfectly for your job. Visit Galbraith & Paul's website for more information.

Try This At Home

It is not unusual that for me Spring brings the insatiable urge to rearrange things in the house. I just have to move a few things around, maybe add something new, and some kind of nesting instinct in me is fulfilled. Here is a lovely vignette by Kristin Mullen of Covetable Designs that is inspiring me right now.

Photo: Covetable Designs

Perhaps you are feeling the itch yourself...

Cast resin giant clamshell from Oly Studio

Moss pomander ball from Etsy shop Life is so Beautiful

Mercury glass candlesticks from Neiman Marcus

Noir Furniture curved front chest

Behind the chest Kristin has hung a door taken off an armoire. You can create a similar look by simply stapling chicken wire to the back of an empty frame.

A selection of wood frames with distressed paint found on Etsy

And, no, I can't stop with the blooming branches. Nothing else says Spring quite so perfectly.

Photo: Pottery Barn

The White Album

"My first memory is of the brightness of light... light all around. I was sitting among pillows on a quilt on the ground... very large white pillows..." Georgia O'Keeffe

Sources {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}