Mrs. Howard Personal Shopper

New Obsession: Quilts

Phoebe has always been a collector of quilts, and we love to use them in our decorating projects and in our stores. Below is a headboard made from a quilt:

So lucky that the corners matched up on this king size headboard, and that the returns also worked perfectly. Also, it was great that there was enough left for two pillows!

Here are two pillows made from a quilt. This is what you can do with quilts that are in poor condition.

And here are two more.

We have some fantastic quilts in absolutely pristine condition in the stores right now, we have framed them in white frames and they make quite a graphic and modern statement:

Max & Company in Atlanta

 This indigo and white quilt is one of our all-time favorites. 
Max & Company in Jacksonville Beach.

Look at this one, it is a bear claw pattern, a classic quilt design. This would be great in a beach house.
Max & Company in Jacksonville.

Here is a grid of four that can be hung as four ...

... Or here it is hung as two.

Quick Change: Blue & White

Blue and white is a classic and fresh combination that we never seem to tire of. One of the easiest ways to update a room is with new pillows. Here are some current favorites:

(1)
$155 - 15" x 18"



(2)
$415 - 19"square



(3)
$195 - 16.75"square



(4)
$290 - 22"square



(5)
$199 - 20"square



(6)
$199 - 21"square



(7)
$245 - 16"square



(8)
$199 - 20"square

 

As always, all of these items are available for purchase. For more information or to order, please contact me: Leah - lkennelly@jmhoward.net.

Before and After of the Week

Continuing with the same client project from last week, the family room has an enormous vaulted ceiling and a soaring stone fireplace. We needed to close in the space and did so by using an area rug to ground the upholstery and make it a more inviting and relaxed setting. We combined pairs of brown velvet sofas and floral print chairs with the client's existing coffee table. We also custom-made a pair of cabinets with wire doors, one of which houses the TV. The pleated linen sheers on the window frames the beautiful views outside, and allow a lot of natural light to filter in. Check it out:

Before:

After:

Cultivate Your Kitchen

Our friends from Williams-Sonoma were kind enough to include Phoebe in their new web site Cultivate.com, which is launching this month! On the site, Phoebe provides tips about designing a kitchen, layout suggestions, and other topics that are very useful.

Cultivate.com is Williams-Sonoma’s first-ever design web site focused solely on kitchen design and remodeling. Cultivate is full of editorial content with inspiration and advice all about kitchens (there is no e-commerce - it is all about inspiration and tips). Top interior designers share their best kitchen projects and anyone who joins the site can create a private online inspiration folder to save favorite things from the site. There are even helpful tools like the Cultivate budget tracker and a search to find local professionals in your area. More exciting features and updates are planned for 2012. Take a look:

 

Southern Living's Dear Mrs. Howard: Do My Bedside Tables Have to Match?

In the January 2012 issue of Southern Living, Phoebe tackles bedside tables in her column "Dear Mrs. Howard." Here is a preview: