Words can’t describe the beauty of this restaurant.  Designer Smith Hanes is an absolute genius.  How does everyone in the world not know about him?  Why is our country so screwed up that we all know the name of Kim Kardashian but we all don’t know someone who can create such art?

My iPhone pics won’t do it justice.  Just go.

Those columns are dressed in creamy subway tiles stacked vertically.  The bar to the left is constructed out of brass, glass and wood.  Oh, and the banquettes are ROUND.  Such simple genius, and so communal and warm.

Check the marble at the chef’s table.

Yes, tile heaven.

Please someone hire us so we can replicate this insane shelving in your kitchen.  Is it not magical?

Yes, I knew you were hoping to see my instagram version of the same picture.  Here it is.  Don’t you love that end-of-the-day-almost-summertime light?

I wonder what the total budget was for lighting….$800,000?  The picture lights and pendants and sconces are oversized and amazing.  All of the brass, by the way, looks like it has been sitting in a saltwater pool for decades.  It has the perfect patina that only can come from sun, salt and time.

no words needed, right?

Gorgeous cousin Allie in awe, too.  (I need her bag, shoes, and linen shirt, by the way.  She makes her living as a fashion stylist–can you believe?)

The stripe detail!  And the labels on the doors appear to be hand-painted in gold.

The handicap logo she is pointing to is fishing!  If you squint you can see the rod and line.

Bravo, chef Fry and Mr. Hanes (and probably a team of investors, etc.).  I can’t wait to bring everyone I know here!

xo,

Julie

(sidenote:  I know real writers don’t wait for inspiration.  They show up everyday and write.  They are disciplined and dedicated and keep at it no matter what.)

I just can’t believe that this May it will have been four years that I’ve been blogging.  It has been such an amazing journey!!  Some days it felt I couldn’t write enough and I would have to write a post everyday.  Lately it has been once a month, but I’m still here.

A few hours ago I got the news that Better Homes & Gardens will be shooting our sweet clients in their kitchen, family room and dining room that we designed (part of their green kitchen below).  We are so grateful & excited!

I feel like I have learned a thing or two in these four years, so when you learn—you teach.

Here are a few things that have worked for me what what I still believe in.

1.  Be what you are for, not what you are against.

This is so huge for me and a mantra that I find myself saying over and over.  I learned it from my mom and it has never failed.

There are a million places on the internet where you can spend time bashing people, criticizing or just reading gossip.  I don’t do this and I don’t go there.  I’m not a pollyanna, but I am a busy mom.  We all have the same 24-hours in a day, so if you have something you really want to do, you don’t have any time for this crap.

This leads me into the next thing…

2.  Be intentional.

If you have a blog, decide what you intend your blog to be and do that.

Is it just a place to share and write?  Then do that.  Is it a place where you are seeking a sense of community and you want a lot of comments, conversation & debate?  Then do that.  Do you want to earn some money blogging?  Then do that.

For me, I knew the day I began blogging that I hoped, prayed and intended that it would be an avenue for me to design for other people.  I knew I had this love and desire of design that wasn’t satisfied by just designing our own home.  I remember having a long, emotional conversation with Chris at our kitchen table where I told him,”I know I can’t spend anymore of our money.  And I know I can’t stop doing this.  I need to find a way to do this for others.”

(our old kitchen in BHG:)

I had already earned my Master’s degree and I knew with two toddlers there was no easy way to go back to school.  I believed I had what it took to teach myself and just do it, so I did.

But with the blog, I did my best to stay intentional with this one goal in mind.  I used the blog as a tool to showcase our work and to hopefully attract potential clients.  I was intentional about choosing not to make money from blogging.  Yes, there was a time I had some advertisers, but I learned you really need to choose if you are going to be a blogger or a designer.  I am sure you will remind me of people who do both :), but my intention is to do really amazing work–like Steven Gambrel, Ruthie Sommers, Tom Scheerer, etc.  I may or may not have clients who trust me with their home and money to create on this level in the future….but I just might.  And this is my intention.  So I would think about, “Would Nancy Braithwaite do a sponsored post?”….which I am almost certain would be a no, so I don’t.

3.  Annunciate.

Okay.  I stole this one.  The other day I watched one of Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday shows (so good, by the way).  She was having a conversation with Sue Monk Kidd the author of The Secret Life of Bees.  She was talking about the power of annunciating your dream out loud.

I can’t believe I haven’t read anything she has written.  I’m planning to start this book this weekend (have you read it??).  Her story is real and full of failure, but it also full of hope and beauty.

She spoke about a girls’ trip she took to some obscure island in Greece.  They visited a very old convent or church or some sacred building (I can’t recall), where she met an old nun who was 4’11″ and full of wisdom.  The nun told Sue and her friends to follow the stairs under the building to a portrait of Mary.  She then instructed her to “tell her what you want from the bottom of your heart.”  Sue said this was the first time in her life she had ever spoken the words, “I want to be a novelist.”  This was seven years before she wrote her NY Times bestseller.

You know there is power in what you think, but also power in what you speak.  You have to tell your intention to someone, too!  Like Sue Monk Kidd when she said the word, “novelist”, she said “it shocked her.”  But followed with, “shouldn’t we shock ourselves once in awhile?”

I will never forget when I told Emily Followill, “I hope to be designing spaces one day that are worthy of your photographs.”

Four years later…..and she has shot one project for us:

And will shoot this kitchen this summer:

don’t take it from me…..

And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

4.  Hustle

Not much description needed here.  Do the work.  Make the hard choices (money you may want to spend on a new leopard clutch goes instead to a photographer, etc.)

5.  Share it.

You have so many ways now–

Of course you put yourself out there for criticism.  There is no way to be vulnerable without it (and the criticism will come).  That is the price you pay, and in my opinion, the price is worth it.

I’ve got more to say, but now I’m getting sleepy so I’ll just say to be continued…..

Hope you are well,

xo,

Julie

We went dark in our entire master suite, molding and all (it is really a very dark green).

Here is how it looked when we bought it:

We knocked out the wall on the left to make the master bathroom bigger (and added french doors).  To the right was a bedroom.  We stole that room to make it our closet. (Yes, a total dream.  I’ve never had a walk-in closet like this).  We made our bedroom just a tad larger and had to move one of the windows.  The best part about renovating is you can customize anything you want (within budget, of course).  My dream would have been to remove these ’70s windows entirely, but windows are expensive, yo!  Instead, painting the window trim the wall color helps to camouflage their age a bit.  We measured our queen-sized bed and made the windows flank it perfectly.

(our outlets are now black, too, by the way…and our bed is in and it is partially decorated.  The light is vintage from a boutique in New York.)

Our bathroom is the same color, trim and all.  I went with white tile and a white tub and sink to brighten it up.

Again, not entirely decorated.  It takes time and money and I’m still getting a feel what what is supposed to go there.  If you listen close enough, the home will tell you

(these knobs are from anthro.  They have the best ones, in my opinion)

The boys approve of mama’s tub:

And what inspired me to go dark?  Not too sure–probably these designers:

Barbara Westbrook (especially her use of dark trim and dark shades–so elegant).  I think it would be such a different room with white moldings and light shades

You know, she worked for Nancy Braithwaite before she went out on her own.  I’m not surprised that I was also inspired by Ms. Westbrook’s former boss, too:

I know this was in Cottage Living forever ago (Braithwaite–her daughter’s Atlanta bungalow), but it will never be old to me.  It is elegant, calm, earthy, and I love the white bedding and white sink against the backdrop of the dark (our sink is in front of our window, too, thanks mostly in part to their design.)

I mixed polished nickel and antique brass in both rooms.  You can’t do black without some brass, thanks to Jenna Lyons in Domino

Here are a few more of the dark images that inspired me to go for it (with unknown sources.  Please tell me if you know designer/photographer/publication)

below:  note dark millwork, too:

Bungalow Classic can do no wrong:

the white accents and wood tones are a must when working with dark colors, in my humble opinion

love the simplicity here:

And Tom Scheerer can do nothing but beautiful:

I fell in love with this dark shop, too:

Speaking of shop, we will be introducing our new website (easier to navigate & well-orgainzed, and pretty!) and our online shop will be up-and-running soon.  Here is a peek at our logo:

by the way, Anisa’s home is under contract!  I can’t wait to share her renovating adventures….

Have a great weekend,

Julie

They have been renting it a while, so these pictures below are staging photos–some of the furniture belongs to the family who is renting and some of it is Anisa’s.  Contact jayciemirabella @ yahoo.com if you have any interest!

Julie

Have a great Monday,

Julie

It’s just been quite a season for all of us apparently.

I saw the best quote, “Let us love winter for it is the spring of genius.” -Pietro Aretino.

Not assuming genius is sprouting around here anytime soon, but you do need that time to go inward.  The stillness.  Fires.  Reading. Cooking.  Watching my new favorite show with Chris, True Detective.  Those writers sure had their winter of genius.

(my view from my car during Atlanta’s crazy apocalyptic traffic jam)

This winter I’ve realized how much I’ve missed reading.  Books have  always been my first love.  I’ve stocked up my Kindle, iBooks and our pretty new shelves and doing my best to absorb them one-by-one.  I had to buy Donna Tartt, of course, but I have to start her first hit Secret History.

I haven’t fallen at first glance, so maybe she’s a slow burn.  I just wanted to give her due respect before I embarked on Goldfinch.

I’ve also been into anything Anne Lamott this winter.  I just feel like I’ve met this kindred spirit with her (isn’t that what books are all about?—que Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting when he says that, “Sure, I have friends.  I have Nietzsche and Camus….” (I’m sure he quoted other authors than these, I just can’t remember who.  But y’all saw the movie.  If not, you’ve got to.)

But Ms. Lamott is just everything radical and everything Christian (which are synonymous to me).  It is difficult and SO rare to find a Christian writer who inspires me and I connect with.  She is about what she is for, not what she is against.  She is for love and truth and forgiveness and grace.  I really am a misfit toy and she has never quite fit-in, either.  I’m a hippie Christ-follower in a suburban sea of FoxNews angry anti-everything “Christians.”  I don’t know why in the hell I’m choosing to write so transparently tonight.

What else?  On a (hopefully) lighter note (pun intended) I’ve read Wheat Belly.  I saw this book peeking out on our very fit empty-nester client’s coffee table a few weeks ago.  She’s got some major body going on, so whatever she’s having, I’ll have.   Then, my sister texts me a YouTube link of the author’s talk somewhere.  These two events, on top of Chris’ desire to eat less wheat because his best friend lost 20 lbs doing so, got my butt and my Armada headed to Whole Foods.

I did have about 48 hours of wheat withdrawal (insane, right?), but haven’t missed it at all since they have stopped.  I’ll give you an update in a month or so to see how I’m hanging in there.

In other news, we are still moving in the house.  I’m sure it will take a good year or more.  How long until you felt really moved in?  Our first night here was November 7th.

We had our first party in our new house last Saturday.  It was wonderful.  We finally had Chris a birthday party with his buddies from elementary school.  We had kobe meatballs and chicken satay and lots of wine and craft beer (Chris is a real beer-lover, so his friends gave him new concoctions even he hasn’t heard of.)  I stayed up until 3!!!  (Haven’t done that in probably 10 years).  Chris kept adding logs to the fire and his talented buddy, Rich, played the Beatles on the guitar and I happily (to myself, not others) sang along.

The fireplace is in this room below, the “cozy” room as we call it.  It is almost “done”, therefore, I can hopefully move money and energy to the other rooms in the house.  Nothing gets you decorating and hanging art like having a party.  What is that about?  I know I’m not the only one.  Do tell.

My sweet Wyatt is modeling it for you.  Boy, I sure love my two boys.

I’ve got two vintage chairs at the upholsterer (should have been done yesterday, but I’ll give them grace for the snow and all, and because all I said earlier about Anne Lamott and stuff.)  They are some badass chairs I think you will love.

Below this picture you can see the lamp that goes in between the two new-ish chairs:

You can kinda make out the lamp.  I know the shot is blown-out.  There are now panels & art on this side of the wall, too.

So don’t give up on me!  We are working on some cool projects that I know we will get to sharing soon.

We have a bathroom coming out in a magazine in a month or so and I’ll post those pictures.  This month or next we are shooting (well, a magazine is shooting) a kitchen we finished last year.  We will post all the details and behind-the-scenes.

Anisa and I are working on a beautiful multipurpose family room (the client with the wheat-belly bod)  as well as preppy & eclectic bedrooms for girls.  Heck, we are even designing a dental office in New York and an historic bathroom renovation in Alexandria, Virginia.

It is so difficult writing so vulnerably in posts!  I get to this point and I want to delete it all.  But, so far y’all have been quite nice.  So I’ll choose publish instead.

back soon,

Julie

But there are gifts with being sick at Christmas.  Instead of being consumed with busyness we really had time to be together.  Being confined to my bed meant I had time to begin my Donna Tartt novel that I’d yet to crack open and finally got around to flipping through my Coastal Livings and the new Domino that were waiting for me.

Chris and I had time to watch the complete Jesus of Nazareth miniseries that comes on each Christmas on the free religious channel.  Just like with subtitles, after you are a few minutes in your mind forgets about the 1-800-find Jesus number in the bottom of the screen.  I also was transfixed by the Spelman and Morehouse College Glee Clubs’ Christmas concert on tv.  I cried through the whole thing.  I am sure Chris thought I had lost my mind.

We are all better now and looking forward to the coming year.  We are bit-by-bit emptying our PODS that is sitting in our driveway and slowy moving in our new/old home.

I want to share the images I’ve been carting around in my head and on my laptop which have inspired the design of our renovation.  We wanted a modern barn kinda feel, and I think that is what we got.

Here’s the inspiration (picture overload warning):

Windsor Smith for Veranda’s House of Windsor:  (the dark windows & doors & all the light pouring through.  The touch of glam in the chairs and the contrast of dark and light—you will see this contrast in most of the pictures)

For the stairs and the rail we wanted simple & clean.  White treads (there are no risers) and no decorative millwork at all.  Think old saltbox homes and shaker-style.

This is the picture I gave our contractor (credit unknown):

I also kept going back to this image from Tom Scheerer’s house published in House Beautiful:

Here is an instagram pic of what it looks like (Olii loves sunning on the flagstone)

We may wrap them in leopard eventually….

We went dark in our master bedroom & bathroom.  Our bed is white as are our linens, so it feels a bit lighter than you might think.  I was scared to take the risk, but Anisa talked me into it.  So glad she did!  It’s my fave.

inspiration:  Miles Redd in Domino.  Dark but not cold–warmth in the natural elements.

And this dark but light bathroom from Cottage Living is just the best!

Again, all I have are instagram pics.  Here’s the bathroom.

If you go dark, I recommend going for it with moldings & trim and everything.  If you’re gonna do it, commit all the way.

I know it’s a mess, but cut me some slack.  Still moving in….

In the living room, I completely copied the style of these built-ins.  I couldn’t beat it, so I chose to flat-out copy the design.

I started filling the shelves yesterday.

In the kitchen, we went with a black sink (inspired by Roman & Williams)

Plain, flat-front cabinets (I die over this kitchen so much!  credit unknown)

And carrera marble tops.  DuPont has a new product called bullet-proof.  It ran us around $500 to seal it, but they guarantee it for 20 years!!  They will replace the marble if it stains.  So far, so good.  (and we are kinda messy)

This picture inspired our hood (simple, squared-off).  McAlpine Tankersly in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine.

This kitchen in Martha Stewart was the inspiration for our waterfall peninsula:

Some random images which really inspired the “feel” of the home:

(cream walls, dark furniture, hints of color, natural elements)

The picture above influenced the lighting in the boys’ rooms—deep bowl pendants from Barn Light Electric. (image via Elle Decor)

Please don’t judge the soda.  I usually don’t keep it in the house but we were sick.

Roman & Williams goodness (I believe World of Interiors in 2008)

The image below is the reason for the white floors upstairs:

The country but clean feel from Garden & Gun:

(image below unknown.  Love the detail & the boot storage)

We went with plaid wallpaper and 1″ x 8″ boards below in our powder room:  Love our dark doors, too–

And we went with a black front door with full-light because of this door.  We didn’t do metal, though.  It would have put us in the poor house.

I know this is just a taste, but it just takes time.  I have dreams of getting our home published, too, so I might save the full-on shots until I give it a go to see if there are any takers.

I do hope your Christmas was merry and that your new year is off to a good start!

xo,

Julie

We love new, larger windows, white tongue-and-groove ceilings, sconces & table lamps & chandeliers galore, and, at times, a new coat of lighter paint on kitchen cabinets and exterior siding.

Such was the case with our clients in New Jersey.  We have tackled their home, room-by-room, over the years.  Recently, the kitchen and the exterior got a face-lift:

Their neighborhood is fairly traditional, so they wanted to keep it classic.  What we went with?  Well, a good cream of course.

New simple sconces flanking the door…and the paint colors are BM Swiss coffee (body), BM Iron Mountain (shutters & garage door), and Farrow & Ball light blue for the door  (respectively below)

This is their “six-year home”, they said, so they went for a cosmetic upgrade to their kitchen instead of their desired complete gut.

The choices for the kitchen?  gray cabinets (BM Fieldstone–thank you, Sally Wheat :), antique brass 8″ pulls for hardware, Carrera marble tops, polished nickel Rohl faucets and a fireclay farmhouse sink.  They both declared the hood had to go, so we replaced it altogether with a clean-lined, industrial one.  The walls and ceiling were all given a bath in Swiss coffee like the exterior, and oyster gray grout proved to be a perfect contrast to the subway tile.   Oh, and don’t forget the honkin’ brass pendant!

new shade for texture:

New breakfast nook….

I have never met this family, but I feel I know them so well!

Want to share another family’s home with you.  My grad school friend is selling their suburban Atlanta home (in Marietta).  I think you’ll like it.  I wish them the best on their new adventures in Colorado!

Her home has a website below:

1890sfarmhouse

Here’s a peek:

There are more pictures as well as Mandy’s contact info on the site if you like!

xo,

Julie

They stayed in the cottage below (that has since sold) designed & furnished by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams in Atlanta.  

What a lovely board & batten exterior and beautiful door….

and how great is that lantern?

The nautical blue-and-brass continues inside:

We are always fans of table lamps in the kitchen!

And amazing shelves across the window…

mod living room….

love this floor lamp

And we love MG+BW’s painted stump tables.

Serenbe is truly about as close to Utopia as you can get.  Farmland mixed with the arts mixed with beautiful design and good food.  It doesn’t get much better.  (Only downfall is it’s quite expensive to live here.  It would be nice to make this available for the everyman.)

outdoor living:

lovely bakery:

acres of grass for grazing:

shops all in walking distance:

Every space so thoughtfully & tastefully designed:

Casey (Anisa’s husband) enjoying dinner at The Farmhouse.

I accidentally gave the incorrect link to his new album in the previous post.  Casey said about this album, “it’s filled with honest songs about the journey God’s had me on.”

His new album on itunes, here.  

Of course, we’d love your support.

xo,

Julie

But it’s good.  Ive tagged it #projectmodernbarn on Instagram and that is truly what it is.  (By the way, if you want to keep up with Anisa and me and our projects you can follow us there.  Instagram has kinda become our mini-blog of sorts.  Our name is milkandhoneyhome)

In most of the living areas we have 1″ x 8″ vertical boards instead of drywall.  We don’t caulk them so they can naturally breathe and settle freely over the years.  We replaced all the windows we could afford to and that was worth every last penny.

The walls our BM Moonlight White–it’s a great creamy white but not yellow.  I thought long & hard about this choice!  I wanted more of a cream than a stark white, especially because I wanted it to contrast with the ceilings.  I did BM Wedgwood Gray cut 50%.  This color is cool, so I feel it best to be next to a warm.

Our dog, Olii, is a bit worn out, too.

Oh, I’ve got great plans for our breakfast nook here.  As y’all know, it only takes time and money.

It has already proven to be a favorite little spot.  The south-facing window is warm & cozy.

Here is the view from the settee.  The fridge, coffee counter & trash/recycle bins are to the right.

We went with clean & mod cabinetry.  The cabinet-makers are European, so this look was second-nature to them.

Opposite the range, this is the view.  This wall of bookshelves was my dream and it is so fun to see them come to life.  This room is fairly long, so we broke it up with two lanterns and two purposes.  The lantern closest to the kitchen will hang over our dining table.  The second one closet to the bookshelves will be over a coffee table & seating area.  We plan to have no tv in this room.  We’ll see……  Aren’t y’all so tired of screens everywhere?

Most of our furniture is still in storage…

this room looks out onto the backyard.

The upstairs feels like a little cottage.  We did pine floors here (and they are now white!!  not practical, but you only live once).  This room here will be the playroom.  The room behind this picture is the guest bedroom and the room on the opposite side is M & HH’s new office!

I’m sure Daniel & Brian (contractor and electrician) will be thrilled to know I’ve posted this picture

In other news…..we are grateful to be in HGTV Magazine this month.  Our old kitchen is featured in their white kitchen section:

And we also had our photo shoot with Jennifer Kesler for the Decatur kitchen project.  Here’s the outcome!

Here’s Jennifer….

Love these shots Anisa took during the shoot, too

Is this picture overload in this post or what?

In other news, Anisa’s husband, Casey Darnell, has a new, self-titled record coming out November 11th.

The info is here

He’s so good!

Hope you’re having a great fall.

xo,

Julie

Decatur is really a special little place (my sister and brother live here, too).  People here like to walk to shops and restaurants.  You see more bikes here, too.  Bigger is not more, here.  The peeps in Decatur frown on McMansions and three-car garages.

I know these are generalizations, for sure, but as a life-long Atlantan I’ve earned the right to make some.  People in Decatur are more about backyard farming and composting, more about old Subarus and mandatory recycling.  The people who choose to live in Decatur don’t care about keeping up with the Joneses–they want to be sure they are nothing like the Joneses.

They like reclaimed wood over shiny granite (see our island!), they prefer staying true to the history of the home than worrying over their resale dollar.  The people of Decatur choose slow and right to fast and cheap everytime.  I dig this kinda person.

I hope I don’t disappoint in saying that the before & after post will come later.  I know my posts leave much to be desired these days.  I did want to share some phone pics of the completed reno:

The countertops are absolute black honed granite (love!).  The faucet is vintage brass and the sink skirt is Robert Allen fabric (actually a red fabric we all adore!)

The sconces were a real splurge—Barn Light Electric and we left the stickers on.  Oops

A bit was saved by reusing the dishwasher & microwave.

The grout looks a bit darker in person.  It is French gray.

The brackets are IKEA and our contractor built the shelves (and all cabinets were custom by him and his cabinet makers, too)  The indoor/outdoor runner is Dash & Albert.

The island is reclaimed wood–it was just sanded once and one coat of poly.

Anisa was genius in her lawyer-cabinet design for the top doors.  The open upwards and look timeless, in my opinion.  Clear glass used with these.

The range is a 30″ Bertazzoni (I’m using this range in our new kitchen, too–so excited!)

BM Kendall Charcoal inside the windows.

And you can’t beat those barnlight electric teal stripe schoolhouse pendants.  We went a tad nuts mixing the galvanized silver on the pendant rods, the black on the sconces and the vintage brass on the faucet and hardware.  Typically we reign ourselves in with mixing two metals.  For some reason, three felt okay here.

To add a touch of texture, our workroom crafted these little stool slips (not pressed yet)

We hope you like our take on an historic renovation.  Good pictures and a true before & after to come shortly (as well as Serenbe part II)

Enjoy this brief taste of fall weather.  Love October.

xo,

Julie