Country House Style Book Shoot and Pretty Purple Placemats

Big news to share over here....

I have been asked to have my home included in 

a gorgeous coffee table book about Country House Style. 

 Yup.  

 One of those heavy beautiful books you have sitting on the coffee table 

that is about lovely homes that you drool over.  

But this time, my home will be inside the glossy pages!!

And how did this come to be?

 Nora Murphy, of the award winning Nora Murphy Connecticut Country House blog,

got a book deal with the creme de la creme publishing house, Vendome Press, to

write a book about her amazing country house.  She also selected four other homes

to include in the book, one of which is mine!  Essentially the book will be

about Country House Style, and how to create a country house for yourself.

That is EXACTLY what I have done with my own home, starting about ten years ago.

Elements of country homes all include a certain esthetic of relaxed living areas.

Mixing of the fine and fancy, the rustic and elegant, and a general overall purpose

that invites one to enjoy their life in the most simple of ways, but not sacrificing style.  

I couldn't be more honored than to be included in Nora's book.

Visit Nora's blog to see more of her incredible country home, with a link at the end of this post.

See how she recreated her entire home with a refresh project that is sure to inspire everyone!

From the very beginning, Nora had big ideas. Big unique ideas.

Her own master bedroom suite was created when she

 had a large chicken coop moved to her

site and added it onto her antique farmhouse!! 

OMG, can you imagine?  I certainly think it sounds like a normal project!! 

So I guess she and I are kindred spirits.  My ramshackle shed 

project was a triumph for me, I can only imagine how satisfying 

it was to turn a chicken coop into an amazing bedroom suite!

This is the chicken coop addition above, isn't it stunning?

And her cupola is not overlooked by me....as I am just about to install my

own cupola on the ramshackle garden shed.  

Seen here in Matthew Mead's current

 UPSTYLED HOME OUTDOORS mag,

it is no longer ramshackle~its the most adorable shed now.

And its going to look so great with its own cupola!

Nora will be shooting here very soon, and so I have been trying to squeeze in a few

last minute decorating projects, none of which I have shown on the blog.

Some are incredibly beautiful, and I am thrilled with the result.

Yesterday I worked in my dining room, after getting a set of pretty quilted placemats

from April Cornell's website in Vermont.  She is known for her clothing and home

decor accessories that are happy pretty florals.  I bought a set of placemats as 

that is what we use every night when we dine at home.  However these caught my

eye because they had the color purple, a very hard color to find in home textiles.

But let me tell you my secret to using them...I flipped them over to use the backside.

The front side has a patchwork quilt of pretty florals in pink, purple, 

aqua and celery green.  I will use both sides, but the plain purple felt a bit

more restful to my eye.  It is nice to have the option for turning them however.

Sometimes I catch her items at HomeGoods or Marshalls, but I couldn't resist getting

this set, which also happened to be on sale, through her website. No this is not a 

sponsored post (which means you get things for free if you write about them). 

I just happen to love April's stuff.  

Oh, one more thing about Nora....

She is the creative director of Ethan Allen, Global corporation.

Pretty impressive, right?  

And she won best blog a year or so ago....

And currently her home is in the current issue of Country Home magazine!  

So Nora is one to watch, and I am glad I am on her radar.

Click here to visit Nora at her Connecticut Country House