Summer Supper

One personality trait I can always trust my city of Greenville to flaunt: the persistence of collaboration over competition. I do, without doubt, think this very idea is woven into the threads of our lil (but getting way bigger) city. Its a quality I find myself as creative craving: the hunger to learn from others, who are still learning themselves, and the interest in making each other better. This is why creatives have such a solid root in our Greenville soil, this is why we come in numbers and packs. Being ourselves here, is just easy. And when we get together, it's big rewarding things. Southern Living kind of things. I'm just so grateful to live and grow here, ya mean?

Around this time last year, my gal Marquin came to me with the idea of curating a creative-inspired Summer Supper, an evening where we could all put our right-brained noggins together and celebrate the many talents in our community. Each Guest was tasked with their talent. As such, I was responsible for decor and aesthetics. From the very get go, we decided to use what we had in an effort of keeping costs low and steering clear of renting or buying a lot.

Without fail, I choose to head toward the land of tried and true citrus when asked to pick a loose theme. It's so shocking, right? But alas, I couldn't ask to be more myself than have the opportunity to introduce my favorite fruitful vibes with all of the blue and white china in between. With that decided, it felt right to go bottoms up on Lemonade Sangria . 

For the tablescape, I chose to mix two sets of dining room chairs for seating. On the table top, it felt best to ground our design with the base of a simple white table cloth. Then, we had three runners made of inexpensive fabric run down the table- you know we dig a good graphic stripe effect. Flanked by a mix of blue and white salad plates, our simple white dinner plate anchored each place setting. I liked that this created some continuity while also adding interest to each individual setting. Clean white can be the belle of the dang ball. When in doubt, white napkins out. That's my mantra. Sprinkle this tabletop with Rewined glassware and you've got yourself a casual, elegant shindig. 

Individual cutting boards were used as bread plates but also worked as a unique place to showcase our menu and place cards. We wanted our guests to go home with something to remember, thus we also used these as our parting favors. See how I'm going back to our whole use what you have theme?

Last but certainly not least, we worked with Kate Asire to make them floral dreams come way true. Kate did her thang to the fullest using just a couple of impactful arrangements all while supplementing with simple bowls of fruit to accent without distracting. This helped keep our expenses low while following a rule all dinner parties should abide by: spend where it counts.  Spring is the season of showers and oh-so-many parties so here's to happy hosting!

All photos by Kimberly Mitchell Gibson Photography

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Lilypad Lovin'

The fundamental foundation was already there: the chairs, sofa, tables, you my boi blue cabinet. With this light-filled living room, I took the base pieces my client currently owned, and got jiggy with fabrics, art, and accessories until our hearts were content.

With a little bit of rearranging here and there, it became known that a very special kind of piece would need to anchor our space above the couch. Enter this art trifecta of lilypads from One Kings Lane. It takes my mind to one of my favorite places in the mountains of North Carolina and reminds me of the many ponds scattered with this of one-of-a-kind natural beauty. After I found this piece, it was game on with custom pillows. They do all of the right things and pull those colors from our wall art right in; the perfect marriage of textile and art.

Lastly, that large and in charge blue cabinet commands some serious attention, a shade so fresh and solid can't be beat. We styled all of its shelving, mixing in already-there accessories while adding new items to the landscape. It's all about shifting around the old with the new; an exquisite space can be created by introducing new fabrics, art, and accessories. I call this concept a pull it all together par-tay.

Gratitude for Growth

Photo: Luke Cleland 

Dudes. Friends. Design lovers near and far,

I'm popping in after what might be the most busy week to date to share that something big, ballin' and beautiful is most definitely a'coming. We've been working on a new website, branding, and a few other things I'm just over the moon amped to share with you. All of which have been goals I've had for a while; it feels so grand to see these items come to fruition.

Years ago, when I first started making my love for interiors a full-time gig, I never expected the support and collaboration that would come this way. Greenville is the cats pj's, no doubt about it. The community of creatives here rules. It's given me the space to grow as a person, small business owner, and designer. And with all growth comes the grind- working late into the evening and on the weekends, learning new tricks of the trade and pushing myself to know more sets of skills. For example yesterday, Caroline and I spent the day in photography 101 (but felt like 450) with our photographer, Luke Cleland, where we learned that photography is hard AF and eventually, we'll sort of get the hang of it. All in all, we're really grateful for the places we're going, and the excitement that awaits! All good things to come. We want you to come along and we promise we will let you know where we are going really soon! 

Spring Fling

I said a hip hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip, hip hop, and you don't stop. 

The Easter bunny's arrival is just around the corner and as blooms pop up here and there, it's time to give our homes all the same bright and cheery spring vibes. 

Here's to the season of garden parties, spring cleaning, pink prints, daffodil yellow, and poolside jives. We're only a few days into March, but I'm already seeing the most lovely colors strut their stuff on the internets. Below are the much-needed favorites. Have a feeling that yellow cheetah is going to be transacted before the end of the evening, followed by the coolest orb lamp I ever did see. That bright blue umbrella? It  makes me want to have all of our evening meals on the back patio, right where spring dinners belong. I'm just so thrilled spring has sprung and the long (v v cold) wait is over. Happy shopping, shawties.

Yellow Plate | Greek Key Umbrella | Floral Pillow | Brushstroke Lamp | Leopard Pillow | 

Pink Mirror | Seersucker Napkins | Bird Vase | Striped Candles | Plant Print 

Pom Basket | Tassel Pillow | Gold Vase | Cactus Print | Striped Pillow | Orb Lamp | Yellow Rug