French Dehors

The Mister and I took a small hiatus a couple of years ago and traveled to Europe for 2 months. It was the most amazing trip, and we both came back inspired by the European lifestyle. I think we took over 1,ooo pictures, and most of the shots were captured the architectural beauty of our surroundings.

Of all the places we visited, I must say France was my favorite...I know, it's so cliche, but the French must be doing something right for everyone to fall in love with them! I love so many types of design styles, but I'm always pulled toward the simple, effortless style of the French. Whether it's food, fashion or interiors, the French always look pull together but in a "grab a glass of wine and let's sit and chat" kind of way.

I wanted to share a few photos I took while in France to visually explain what I mean, I also want to share with you a new resource I found while perusing one of my interior magazines:

Authentic Provence

They sell reproduction and original French planters, spouts, statues, fireplace mantles, lighting, and much more. Their products are the most authentic garden antiques inspired from country manors to chateaux.

They also offer wonderful lighting and flooring that is reclaimed from old buildings around the country.

Last, here are a few photos I shot that are filed away in my decorating files for future use!

Labor Day Getaway!

This post is a bit belated as Labor Day was a couple of weeks ago, but bare with me. The Mister and I, along with a couple of friends took off for the Eastern Shore of Maryland that meant to be just a day trip to St. Michael's and a few of the surrounding towns. However, what ensued was a little adventure that led us to bit of paradise.

After spending most of the day driving around the Eastern Shore on Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we found ourselves in the quiet, little town of Oxford, MD. This sleepy town is about 30 min. from St. Michael's, and as we pulled in I felt we had stumbled onto a movie set. We parked the car and just started walking, and you can literally walk the whole town it's so small. Our sights fell on tree lined streets with THE CUTEST houses that felt very Nantucket-ish. There was a public park that ran along the water with a tiny beach sprinkled with little kids running in and out of the water collecting shells. There were not many shops, but most of Oxford was filled with a few local stores, a handful of B&Bs, several boat docks and people just walking and riding bikes. On a whim, we ended up deciding to stay the night at the Robert Morris Inn, which I highly recommend. Here are a few pics below that I took, and I know this is a little slice of heaven I hope to return to in the near future.

I was obsessed with this house! I love the turquoise door.

No, this is not my bike, but it was just sitting there asking me to hop on.

(Sorry for the extremely short shorts! Because we had not planned on spending the night, we had a fun adventure at a near-by Wal-Mart. I was challenged to find a decent cute outfit, and unfortunately all the shorts were not any longer than the pair I donned!)

Ahhh....

Another favorite house! Love the front porch. Love the pebbled driveway. Love the nautical flags.

Love that across the street is the water.

The Good News....

Well, I certainly had an overwhelming response to my last post regarding my good news. I received several texts and emails asking if I was preggo! Unfortunately, much to your dismay I am NOT pregnant, but I was glad to know I have a few loyal readers! And I only hope I look as cute as the chick in the pic when I'm preggo (although she looks hardly pregnant).

So on to the good news, I just wanted to share with you all that my website is up and running! Check it out here: www.haddoninteriors.com.

Shhh....

I have a some good news to share later this week!

L.O.V.E.

Does someone have a powder room I can put these in? The price point is fabulous too!

Eye Spy...

...the beginnings of fall! Although it's not quite crisp during the day, at least the humidity has seemed to pack its bags and head off - I hope he is gone for good! This is what I want to be doing this season:

Sitting in a cozy living room by the fire,

(image via House Beautiful)

Eating a few slices of Barefoot Contessa's Pumpkin Roulade,

(image via House Beautiful)

While wearing this fabulous sweater!

(image via Anthropologie)

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

(image via Conde Nast)

Me and the Mister plan to do a little Jazz in the Garden tonight and then topping the weekend off with a trip to the Eastern Shore with friends this weekend! Enjoy the long holiday!

Radiator Revamp

I'm currently working on a project that involves a radiator situated in the worst part of the room. I'm not a huge fan of these monsters as they are usually large, rusty, dusty and quite the eye sore, but these are the puzzling design issues that I love solving! Thankfully, there are some decent solutions to masquerading this oh so lovely heating source!

1. Use it as a faux - table. Just embrace it!

(image via American Lifestyle Magazine)

2. If the radiator is in the bathroom, again embrace it, paint it (make sure to use high heat paint) the same color as your walls so it will recede, but then use it as a towel warmer!

A similar idea....use it to warm your breakfast. What a creative invention!

3. Or you can call a spade a spade, but put a custom radiator cover over it to make it a bit more appealing.

Albert Hadley Sketches... A girl can dream!

(image via Habitually Chic)

(image via Habitually Chic)

(image via Gerald Bland Inc.)

Oh, how I would LOVE to have just one of Albert Hadley's sketches! Wouldn't it be divine just to have just one (that is all I ask) and frame it? I'm sure these are going for a pretty penny, so I may just have to settle on trying to create one with my own pen and ink...

Foyer Tables

This past weekend I went back to NC for a wedding. I grew up in a small-ish town called Mooresville, and it's your standard "Main Street" town but it has continued to grow due to urban sprawl. There are a few antique type stores on Main St., although it's usually a hodge podge of cast offs with maybe a treasure stuck in there somewhere! Well, I popped into one store because I was curious and I always get this small flutter of excitement with the hope I will leave with an amazing piece (I get that same flutter any time I'm at TJ Maxx and Lohman's too). After perusing the store, I stopped to stare at this beauty:

The base is made of beautiful bamboo and has a leather top. I just thought this was a fabulous piece and only for $250!!!!! I was crazy to leave it, but unfortunately we don't have room for it. I think I'll tell my mom to keep an eye on it for me:)

I love the idea of foyer tables if you have the space. Here are a few pics that had me dreaming of sugar plums and the possibilities of using this table! :