Airmail!

Inspired by one of Oh Joy!'s latest blogs, I bring you:

Making these are totally fun!

(Make your own inspiration board at wedding wire.com and send it to me!!! It doesn't have to be about weddings AT ALL. In fact, if you could make me one with the theme being either "Brooklyn", "Food", or "Nightmares" I'd post it!)

I wanna go to THAT wedding! All sweets and ribbon!

The lovely couple, BTW, is Tara and Jeremy. The photograph was taken by wedding photographer extraordinaire, Erik Clausen, aka {Poser}.

*I read in an interview that his favorite TV show is Northern Exposure.*

These photos are just so sincere!

If I could have anyone photograph our wedding... it'd be him.

While we're on photographs and -ographers a friend of mine told me about one of her friends, who's a photographer, Stephanie Land. And she mentioned that one of her photographs was in an inspiration board of mine in my first post!

*In her bio it says that she has a thing for fine penmanship. I get that.*

Here are some of my faves from her website:

Well done!!!

"Modern-Rustic-Industrial-Country"?

"Modern", "Rustic", "Industrial", "Country"; These are words that I have had a GREAT time Google imaging, both for wedding ideas and country house ideas. Also, any combination of the above adjectives, adding "kitchen", "bathroom", "interior", etc. are sure to result in at least 10 minutes - 2 days of internet rabbit hole-ing.

I might warn you though, if you type in "Industrial" and "Country" you just get... well, photos of industrial countries.

Here's an inspiration board of a few images I fancy for Upstate.

I'm actually more of a sunny, traditional, cottage-y type of gal, but the building we're converting is actually an old hay drier from the 50's and is... well, let's call it "Industrial Rustic"...




However after a little 1, 2, 3, 4; i.e., plumbing, insulation, walls and floor, it'll feel a little less cold. Perhaps...

A calm farm house oasis?

A rustic getaway with antique treasures and modern sensibility?

Perhaps, we'll even find room for a charming refurbished tub!

I guess this is like the pregnant stage of things.

"Will she take ballet? Will she be good at math? Will 'SHE' be a HE?!!! Will HE take ballet?!"

Etc. I think a lot of what the space turns out to be will depend on what we can find and what we can afford. We've already got the bulk of our kitchen! And just knowing what our appliances look like has influenced the tone of the rest of the house. But again, I think that a space knows what it wants to be and if you just listen tenderly and go slow you can't go wrong. Besides, interior design is meant to be an ongoing process (*I* think).

These photos are from the architecture firm of David Yocum and Brian Bell, based in Atlanta. Click Here for a slideshow of their converted office space!




Talk about Industrial Rustic Modern!

Hello, Spring!

Right now I'm watching kids fly kites in the park downstairs. Only a few weeks ago that very same hill was all snow and sprinkled with sledders.

That's the park in Fall. I know.

I've never had a favorite time of year, I've always loved the "in betweens", when you can smell the coming season. Folks, I can smell Spring. It's warmish here in the city, which can only mean bike time is upon is. Goodbye scarves and hello t-shirts. Goodbye planning construction Upstate and hello constructing.

This picture was taken on the farm months before we could call it ours.

That's Nick and Milan, friends from birth. They were born 6 hours apart at the very same hospital and have been buddies ever since! He is also the Godfather of our land, speaks Chinese, majored in math at Vassar, got his masters at Columbia in architecture and now works at the Metropolitan Opera.

(His mother has asked me to help him find a nice woman... )

That's what the farm USED to look like!

That's Milan's dad Paul. He's a genius. He also looks EXACTLY like Teddy Roosevelt.

And that's our trusty old farm, who's survived the winter and looks forward to being landscaped and thought about... and blogged about.

Goodbye Winter and hello Spring!!!

Back To Life, Back To Reality

So I've been a little o b s e s s e d...

It's like I'm swimming in this heavy ocean and on one side of me is this gorgeous island, and that island is our wedding. And on my other side is a different island, that I can tell holds endless possibilities, and that island is our new farm. And then, today, when I'm not sure which island to explore for the time being, I realize that... I'm IN THE OCEAN. And that ocean is the city. It's where I'm from and it's... reality.

So . . . 

I was cleaning my bathroom, which I LOVE to do...

Everything can be wiped down (I have two sponges, green for gross things and blue for... bathroom?) and everything has a place. There aren't too many products, all the towels are thick and CLEAN and the same (which makes me feel like a grown-up). 

And while lost in the joy that is my bathroom, I thought-  

"It's nice to think about rooms that DON'T need floors, that already HAVE plumbing. It's nice to take a break from 'future oriented' Faryl." 

And then like a Kevin Costner movie I saw in theaters at a very impressionable age a voice came from the drain of the tub with great purpose...

BLOG ABOUT YOUR BATHROOM

Actually it wasn't that dramatic. AT ALL. Just a little thought. From the ocean of reality,... (staring Kevin Costner.)

ANYWHO.

When I first moved in I had such vision for the bathroom that it clouded what the bathroom wanted to be. And I think that's the most common mistake people have with decorating, not listening to what the space wants. My bathroom is what it is. And I love her. (it.)

I love the little doorknob on the old door with WAY over a century of sloppy paint jobs.

I love the light the window brings into the hallway.

On the shelf above the toilet is an old canvas from high school, turned backwards, I LOVE paintings turned backwards. There's a bonsai plant (from WALMART) that is entirely, remarkably resilient. Toothbrushes in a mason jar, a little incense house form anthropologie, a nest, and a frame from Pottery Barn. Aside from the canvas, and the toothbrushes, -oh, and the shelf (IKEA) all of the other items mentioned were gifts.

This tile pattern I DO not love, but we've gotten used to each other and I appreciate it.

I love my shower curtain! A cloth shower curtain to me is essential. A shower liner is ALSO essential. So is getting them at the dollar store.

In honor of my little love letter to my bathroom I hereby make Fridays a day for things we cherish. Material or not.

In the back of every Domino Magazine (RIP) they had a page dedicated to someone's 10 Favorite Things. So THIS Friday, and perhaps every Friday following, I'm pleased to introduce: Friday's Faves. I'd like to keep the favorites under 10, as we are in a recession.

I guess this week's FAVE-RITZ are from my bathroom!!!

Cheers.

SAVED

Wedding etiquette is hilarious and intriguing.

Part of my quest for nuptial knowledge has led me to understand that "having a wedding" just means having a party with presupposed components, many of which are completely at one's discretion;

i.e., Do what you love and chuck the rest.

One particular element of * THE WEDDING* that I totally LOVE are save-the-date cards. They're generally sent out at least six months before the wedding date, and are usually followed by a formal wedding invitation. (DUH!)

Any excuse for sending fun stationery and getting to use actual stamps makes my heart flutter. But "Save the dates" don't always have to be cards, they can be magnets, pins or:

TEA TOWELS!

Found at Snippet & Ink: "Iris and Travis first met at a bar called Butter, and this simple ingredient served as the inspiration for an elegantly rustic, farmstand chic wedding, starting with these tea towel save-the-dates by Viola from Chewing the Cud."

Whoa, that wedding's in 2 days!!! Break a leg!

How perfect for a Mississippi wedding!
This design is from All Things Lovely.

Uh-oh... too cute time.

I had all sorts of creative fantasies regarding our own save the date cards, but... alas, money happens to be an issue, and sending postcards vs. something that requires more postage is a HUGE difference. But DANG, our postcards are gonna charm the pants off of itself.

The only other thing is...

We might have to pick a date before we start telling people to... "save the date".

It's HIP to be CHAIR

One of the BEST things about buying an old house (or an old farm) is the possibility of treasure. Now, since it's previous owner had only been there for 15 years, keeping the farm as a storage facility for empty beer bottles, highway debris and a couple of porno mags, I was hesitant about finding any real goods.

Treasure!

However, among the findings were several old signs, cool ancient tools and machinery, loads of windows and salvaged doors and CHAIRS. (!)

Now, one can only do so much with old machinery, but CHAIRS!? Very useful. And after daily peaks at design*sponge's section on before & afters, I feel inspired and motivated to transform. Here are a few of their examps:

This "resuscitation" belongs to a girl named Erica.

...and this modification is owed to a girl named Bethany.

Now, I'm more of a "let's sand it" girl than a "let's paint it" girl. I'm interested in what the chair is MADE out of, what it's been through, etc. But you can't really sand away tacky, sometimes you gotta paint... or... Here is an interesting example of what someone procured from hideousness.

Ain't that a charmer?

So here are some of my chairs that will one day be... our dining chairs?!?!?!

Stay tuned for the AFTER photos. (Although my priority is less about dining chairs and more about... floors, walls and plumbing. So those "after" photos might be a long time comin'.)