Under the influence...

This is a quick and dirty list of the people, places and things that have influenced me and molded my particular design style, such as it is...and I think it's pretty ok.

First and foremost...my mom. She instilled a passion for style in me at a very early age (possibly in the womb). I always tell people that my mom was Martha Stewart before Martha Stewart was Martha Stewart.

Barbie...laugh if you will but Barbie's clothes and accessories and houses were where I first experimented with design. Truly sorry about all the botched haircuts, Barbie.

Laura Ashley...I came across a Laura Ashley catalog some time in my teens and couldn't rest until I had installed Laura Ashley's pink roses wallpaper border in my bedroom. It was pure hell to take if off a decade later...

This Old House...I'm talking old school This Old House, the original with Bob Vila. I actually remember watching their very first re-model and being completely mesmerized by the renovation process. It was a fascination that led me to buy and restore four houses (including a new condo) and counting in my lifetime.

Country Living, Cottage Living, Country Home...these magazines, which my mother read religiously, really opened my eyes to what the cottage aestethic is really all about.

Martha Stewart Living...I started my collection of McCoy pottery immediately after reading about Martha's own collection. My McCoy vases and pots are still among my favorite things, 20 years later.

Key West...my first trip to the Conch House Bed and Breakfast in Key West is really what took me from simply cottage style to beach cottage. I loved the vibrant colors and the more relaxed, carefree vibe. While I admire Martha's fastidiousness, I knew I wanted a house that looked more lived in.

Speaking of lived in, when I stumbled across Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Treasure Hunting and Decorating Guide a decade ago in Borders, my design style finally began to gel. My Pottery Barn look was quickly replaced with white slip-covered furniture, pale colors, and girlie vintage trinkets, fabrics and chandeliers and I've never looked back. 10 years later, my shabby chic-influenced style still feels timeless and as comfortable as ever. And opening my front door never fails to make me smile.

My latest design influence is Jane Coslick....thanks once again to my Palm Cottage vacation on Tybee Island. Jane's style really incorporates everything I love about houses...the thrill of restoration and transformation, a look that is at once feminine and elegant but also very warm and lived-in...a backdrop of white splashed with lucious pastels and happy citrus colors...the idea of the house as a coccoon or retreat from the stress and formality of the outside world. If you want to see some great examples of Jane's work pick up a copy of the book Cottages by Brian Coleman. (I just found my copy at Home Goods in the checkout line for $5!)

OK...those are my inspirations...and the list never stops growing...tell me about yours!

FiFi Flowers' Paintings Make A Happy Little House Even Happier!

I just realized that my first three posts were very yuckily "me" oriented. I promise this blog won't be all about me...it's more about finding who you are through what you love to do and realizing that something like decorating a little house with the things you love in ways that are cheap, easy and fun can actually lead you down a life path you never even imagined.

So, in the course of this little mid-life journey I'm on, and with the help of my Tybee Island vacation, my discovery of designer Jane Coslick and her restored Tybee Cottages, and the wonders of the internet, I stumbled across a fabulous artist/designer in L.A. named FiFi Flowers. I discovered that she had done a series of paintings of Jane Coslick's Tybee cottages and some were for sale on FiFi's website http://www.fififlowers.com/.

Her art is happy, whimsical and very girlie (like me), so I bought a little booklette of Tybee paintings and added FiFi as a Facebook friend. That led FiFi to look at my Tybee vacation album, and she told me that she loved my photo of the Palm Cottage (an adorable Jane Coslick rescue and design) where my family stayed. She said that the Palm Cottage was one she hadn't painted and she would like my permission to use the photo as the inspiration for one of her paintings. Of course I said, "Yes!" and I ultimately commissioned her to do the painting for me. (You can see all of my Tybee Island Vacation photos by clicking here.) Below you can see the evolution of the Palm Cottage painting from photo to first coat painting to final painting to hanging on my dining room wall (the final painting is also the first photo at the top of this post). I also subsequently bought her Tybee chairs painting, which is also in my dining room and I framed several of the smaller paintings from the booklette which are now happily at home on my mantle (which I could never figure out how to decorate!) and my little hallway. I hope you love FiFi's work as much as I do and I encourage you to follow her blog and buy some of her work. I promise your house (and you) will be happier for it!

The photo I took with my Samsung Moment smartphone camera...

FiFi's first coat of paint... The final painting at home on my dining room wall...

The Tybee Pier on my mantle...

And last but not least, the Tybee Chairs on my other dining room wall...

FiFi, thanks for letting me bring your happy vibe to my happy little house!