A week of Inspiration

 Its been a week full of personal inspiration, one I won't forget.

The beginning of the week had me making the decision to create some 

landscape mural paintings in my home office/studio.  Mind you I have never painted

scenes or anything before (besides furniture and some decorative wall panels I did for

my shop two years ago).  But I was carrying the inspiration of Jennifer Lanne's artistic

style, particularly some chairs she did at the commission of designer Sandra Kelley.

I saw these french chairs with landscapes painted on the backs and I just fell head over 

heels in love.  Jennifer also painted some large landscapes on tarps for Sandra that were

beautiful and restful.  They were the inspiration for my modest panels and I hoped to achieve

the romantic look that embodied them. 

This photo was Sandra Kelly's Brimfield booth, which was happily located in

the same field that our booth was stationed.  It was a delight to stumble upon her

booth and see the chairs that before I had only seen when I discovered them a year 

or so ago on Facebook.  The landscapes are so dreamy and magical, aren't they?

The artist, Jennifer Lanne, paints with a bold and colorful style, and Sandra had 

her create these in the neutral Swedish palette that she loves.  I LOVE them!

 The best thing was that if I didn't achieve what I wanted I knew I could

always paint over it...hah!  So my point is, put your fear to the side and just

have fun and be loose and paint.  I wanted my room to be full of these dreamy

landscapes, and after creating a pair of them on the back wall, I decided to 

try my hand at a Versailles-like scene, based upon our visit there in 2014.

There were many enchanting garden buildings, and this one is loosely based on the Belvedere.

 My choice of paint was what was in my stash, which is a boat load of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  To that I added water to keep it loose and flowing.  I tried to never get nervous when I wasn't loving what was happening on my "canvas".  In the end, I think they came out marvelous!

 Using my favorite Versailles coffee table book as a reference,

I could find landscapes and buildings and classical notes to add to my paintings.

It feels amazing when I walk into my office space now....

so if you are inspired by something, don't overlook a way to bring it 

to life inside of your own home. 

The next day I would travel to a friend's home for an alfresco lunch.

Kaydee and I met in my shops, she was a frequent customer and it was clear

we both liked the same things.  We both would find inspiration in so many of 

the same things, and our talk turned to gardens.  I have been working on my courtyard,

and Kaydee invited me to tour her garden and so I did.

She had this charming menu board set up in her dining room, and it was the sweetest thing!

Her use of color (especially my favorite lilac) was inspiring, and her home

is filled with her own personal style, which I would say is a cross of Boho

and Cottage style.  It is such fun to see a home with style!  By the way,

Matthew Mead and I are on a personal style kick~helping people determine

their own style and make strides to getting the look that they love.  So this visit tied 

into what I am really all about at the moment.  Discovering Personal Style.

  We enjoyed a laid back lunch in the garden, and I was blown away by how many containers and beds Kaydee has growing in her yard.  Tomatoes, potatoes, lettuces, herbs, peppers, beans, and a host of flowers~all grown from seed in the late winter!! I felt like an underachiever hahah!!  Her mom,

Barbara, joined us with her homemade Strawberry Lemonade.  It was a delightful day.

The next day was big doings...I would be joining Matthew Mead on a magazine shoot.
Who is more creative and inspiring than this guy? No one!

As it seems in my life anyways, all points get connected.  This shoot was at

the country home of designer Sandra Kelly.  Yes. That Sandra Kelly.

The one whose booth I ADORED in Brimfield. The one whose commissioned 

chairs and landscapes had so inspired me....well it turns out Matthew had arranged

for shooting her home for his new magazine, and I couldn't have been more excited.

How fun would it be to shoot a video of Matthew shooting a home?  In my world,

its very fun, especially when its a Swedish style home with the color palette I love.

Photo by Matthew Mead

I videotaped him shooting a bit of the house, and we also did a video segment

interviewing the designer about her own personal style.

Photo by Matthew Mead

And there are those amazing chairs!  

I hope you find some inspiration checking out Sandra's home

on the 3 mintue video link above.  My cup runneth over with inspiration this

week, both in fulfilling it and finding it in unexpected places.

How wonderful it all was.

Next week, Matthew will be heading to my home to shoot my office, so 

I better hurry up and finish the rest of my walls....!!

For Instagram peeps you can follow along with us below:

Amy Chalmers: @amymaisondecor

Jennifer Lanne: @jenniferlanne.devilshopfarm

Sandra Kelly: @flax_in_bloom

Matthew Mead: @matthewmeadstyle

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Fab Florals: Tole Chandeliers, Artwork Pillows

While waiting for spring weather to arrive I have been keeping busy by getting things on my wish list checked off, so that when it finally does get nice outside I will be ready!  And I think that the snow and rain and generally awful weather in Boston has had an effect on my desire to brighten up the interior around here.  Florals have been really attractive to me lately, (hence my decoupaged floral desk a few weeks ago) and when I saw this brand new line of pillows by artist Jennifer Lanne of New York, I couldn't wait to get one for myself.  She creates beautiful artwork, based on historical references, generally Rococo in feel, and has turned them into full blown version of European Old World Gypsy Boho style art that I think are amazing! She came up with the idea of taking her paintings and putting the images onto fabrics and released them this week for sale.  So I was first in line, and now I have my own art pillow by Jennifer Lanne!

This is from her website ( I will provide a link at the bottom of the post, don't worry!) and it shows off her style very nicely.  There is MY pillow, far right, tipped in a vertical position.  I was tempted by the pillow front and center, but decided the overall turquoise pillow with small roses would look best for my home.  She also has fabric tuffets and eiderdowns to choose from. Anyway, her artwork is one of my current obsessions~and come to find out we will be in the same field at Brimfield, next month, and our tents are back to back! I love it when the universe lines things up like this!  Justin, my son, and I will be at New England Motel lot #40, and you will find a mix of Maison Decor Frenchy stuff with his Pioneer Goods, rustic stuff!! You can see us and then check out Jennifer Lanne's amazing booth all at the same time! Dates of Brimfield Antique Fair are May 10-15, 2016.

Ok, so back to my house~I just propped it up on my iron daybed to show it off.  It looks pretty in my kitchen on the old worn green painted bench and just as pretty on the living room sofa! I guess I will let Fifi O'Neill decide where to put it when she comes to shoot my house in June. Thats another reason I am getting a few projects done around here, a magazine shoot will make you spring into action like nothing else!  I plan to make a Sunbrella cover for the daybed mattress before it goes outside for the season, as you can see the foam sticking out on the end.

 I will be doing a project with Matthew Mead for Sunbrella Fabrics, and in the corner you can spy some of the gorgeous Sunbrella that just arrived!  I also got a bolt that you can barely see that is all white and it looks like a duck cloth, which I plan to use as the mattress cover. The celery green and the lilac geometric will likely be pillows. He will be shooting my courtyard and its going to be terrific fun getting it all looking amazing outside. 

 Since the daybed is an oddball size, as its likely 100 years old, I found a 4" thick foam mattress at Walmart that I cut to size with my electric carving knife.  I plan to spray the bed an antique Parisian green, then put the white cover on it with the pretty green and purple pillows!! Maybe have a monogram on a pillow or two...can't wait to see this project come to life.

And in the kitchen, I finally got Mr. Maison Decor to switch out my kitchen chandelier for this old Italian Tole number that I have had for years.  It was offered for sale in my shop but no one ever bought it. One lady would come in and look at it every few months, but she never bought it. It was the weirdest thing, haha. I wonder if she wishes she pulled the trigger and bought it after we closed up the shop? Anyway,  I just love these kind of chandeliers. All handmade by some Italian craftsman. It has the original paint on it, and I think it looks great with my cottage kitchen.  

 As you may know, I just love antique or vintage lighting and I think it adds so much personality to a room.  As does artwork and fabrics of course...its so nice to add a refresher for spring in the way of a new pillow or two, and with that, why don't you pop over to Jennifer Lanne's website and get inspired!  Visit her here at Jennifer Lanne Art at Home. I am all about her art, so I just had to share my pillow and say this as well, its beautifully made with a down insert, zippered closure and as you can see by her label~MADE IN AMERICA! 

What is not to love about a small business like this?

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