Hunt & Gather Home

Whew! As this busy summer winds down and school ramps up, I find myself needing some down time in the late afternoon to recharge for my evening routine. It’s been pretty obvious that the rest of my family needs some time to regroup and refocus, too, which is why I think we all end up on collapsing on the couch shortly after five each day.

Our down time may only last 15 minutes, but its an essential part of our day that allows us to relax, disconnect from the outside world, and reconnect with each other. I’d love to tell you that the couch we congregate on each afternoon is a lovely vintage piece that I scored at an estate sale for an amazing price and recovered in designer fabric. But I can’t, because it’s not. Our couch is brand-spanking new – the only new piece of furniture in our house.

It took me awhile to come around to the idea of buying a new couch, but what finally sold me was the thought of snuggling up with my boys reading, watching football and family movies, and the comfy cushions. Mostly the comfy cushion. As much as I loved our vintage  green couch, those cushions just weren’t cutting it anymore.

So, about a year ago, my husband and I started saving and we bought ourselves a couch for Christmas.  Hello, adulthood.

I thought about our couch conversion recently when helping a young family choose a couch for the living room in their new house. They’re into Mid-Century furnishings and were torn between vintage and replica options.

After discussing their lifestyle and intended use of the space, it was clear that a vintage style new couch would best suit their families needs.  Playing off their freshly painted walls, I recommended dark blue upholstery to contrast with the gray walls and pick up the blue in the adjacent living room.  Darker colored couches also have the added benefit of hiding dirt, spills, and stains, making them friendly for families with toddlers or teens.

I narrowed my clients’ couch choices down to the following options (all in dark blue, remember).  They took a weekend to check out each model in person, verifying both style and comfort.  A couch is a worthwhile investment and its wise to choose a model that will last until it’s a true vintage!

___________________________________________________________

Younger Furniture | The Louie Sofa

This is great quality piece with tons of fabric options in a true mid-century style.  The tufting on the back cushions is my favorite detail.

Younger Furniture | The Michael Sofa

More contemporary that the Louie model, this lengthy sofa also features thicker lines and a more formal style.

West Elm | Peggy Sofa

Mad Men, anyone? West Elm has some stylish and well-priced options, and the Peggy looks especially striking in the Chenille Tweed, Nightshade fabric.

Dot & Bo | Graham Sofa

Here’s another fun option similar to Peggy, but with two seat cushions instead of three.

West Elm | Axel Sofa
I threw in this leather option just to give them a little something different in a more masculine style.  The Axel would make a striking contrast with the pair of grey tweed Mid-Century chairs that my client already owned. You’ll notice it has the same lines as the Louie sofa and a bit of industrial influence in the metal legs.

_____________________________________________________________

Which couch is your favorite?  My clients chose Younger Furniture’s Louie couch. It’s currently in production, but I’ll post pictures soon.

And don’t worry – my green vintage couch moved to the back office where it receives a little less wear and tear but a lot of love.

. . . Hunt & Gather Home in film!

Early this summer I was preparing to launch Hunt & Gather, LLC, including converting the blog to a website. I struggled to cram my thoughts and dreams into a concise paragraph of 175 words. “If only they could see what I’m thinking,” I complained. “Let’s make that happen,” my husband replied.

A resourcefully creative high school teacher with an entrepreneurial mind, my husband contacted a talented former student, Elyse Reed of Reed Cinema, about filming a short promo video for Hunt & Gather Home. Elyse was on board with our goal for the video from the beginning, and filming with her was a delight. From corralling our kids to tromping through old buildings to climbing on ladders, Elyse brought the spirit and intent of Hunt & Gather Home out of my head and onto the screen.

The art of old house living . . . 

Thanks to all of you who offered words of excitement and encouragement as I announced the official opening of Hunt & Gather Home: Vintage Design & Historic Preservation Consulting. Your words mean so much and I look back over them often to remind myself that I’m not crazy for pursuing my dream (or maybe that I am crazy, but plenty of good people support my craziness)!

I have several projects in the works – both design and preservation – that I hope to share soon on the blog. The ironic part about turning a design blog into a business is that you’re left with less time for blogging!  If you’re not already following Hunt & Gather Home on Facebook and Instagram and want to stay current with my work, click on over and start following today. I will also have a fun little addition coming soon to the website, so stay tuned….

As my household heads back to school, I find myself waking early to take advantage of a morning hour to myself, to ground my thoughts and produce my best work. I look forward to sharing it with you soon.

It’s been fun to see the modern Mid-Century paint colors we chose for our Alabama client (and friend) come alive on the walls of her family’s new home.  We’ve been receiving updates via text message and email.  The transformation looks amazing and is just what we’d hoped. Before | After blog update coming soon!

While the freshly painted walls are drying and the family is moving in, we’ve been working on design boards for the kids’ room.  Being the wonderful mother she is, Holly wanted to tackle her kids’ room first in order to help them adjust to the move and have a special space all their own.  Her two young children, boy and girl ages 4 and 2, will share a bedroom and have a fun playroom where their imaginations can run wild. We decided to tackle the bedroom design first and created a few design boards for inspiration.

Holly and her husband had already made two important design decisions for the room: the construction of  built-in, double bunk beds for the kids and the choice of navy and hot pink comforters. With these two elements in place, we began the fun job of filling in the details.

Since the room has wood floors, Holly requested a rug.  We knew this would be the main design element that would tie the room together and set the mood for the space. We wanted a rug with a gender-neutral pattern and fun colors.  We found several great options, which you’ll see on the design boards below.

After the rug, we knew the room needed one other stylish yet serviceable piece of furniture: a dresser or chest-of-drawers.  Given the size of the wall and the vertical nature of the bunk-beds, we chose a chest-of-drawers.  In keeping with the furniture in the rest of the home, we recommended a fun, Mid-Century inspired piece from West Elm, or a similar vintage find.  Though only one piece of furniture in this room will actually be Mid-Century in style, when combined with our rug options, it will help create a fun, vintage-modern look in the room.  Small Mid-Century accessories like a lamp and reading lights will add to room’s modern mid-century vibe. In this room, a little will go a long way.

Each design board goes a little further to recommend art prints, storage options, drapery, just-for-fun whimsical linens, personalized throw pillows and additional design ideas for further defining the space. We love putting together design boards as a tool for helping homeowners define their vision for a project and tweak their space. We definitely have a favorite board for this project, but the homeowner is still trying to decide!

What do you think? We’d love to know which design board is your favorite.

This blog has been quiet for the past 40 plus days. This unintentional yet symbolic correspondence with the season of Lent and new life of Easter has not been lost on me. I’d be remiss if I didn’t take the time to record what’s been going on in my head and heart for past weeks and the new path that’s before me.

I don’t know how many of you observe Lent or what your observation of the season looks like. Some of you may give things up while others decide to take something on. Whether sacrificial or charitable, the heart of our decision is the intent to prepare ourselves for Easter, and to be different and changed when we arrive.

It took me a week or so to decide what to do to prepare my heart this year. I have plenty of bad habits to give up and could list numerous good things to take on, but action of either kind didn’t feel right. Feeling the need to make some changes in many areas of my life and not knowing exactly what those changes should be, the concept of trust began to run through my mind. I headed to our bookshelf to look for others’ wisdom on the topic.

I chose Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. Manning’s descriptions of trust found early on in the first chapter of his book struck a chord with me and lingered throughout the Lenten season. The words below are paraphrased from Manning’s (and Henri Nouwen’s) writing:

Trust is our gift back to God, which demands a degree of courage that borders on heroic.

Trust was the heart and center of Jesus’ teaching.

Trust will not dispel the confusion, illuminate the darkness, vanquish the uncertainty, and redeem the times, but uncompromising trust in the love of God inspires us to thank God for the darkness that envelops us and to risk a journey into the unknown, letting go of self-made props and believing that God is with us and will give us what we most need.

These words became real to me over the past several weeks of uncertainty, hope, and difficult decisions.

Halfway through reading Ruthless Trust I brought home a copy of The Little Way of Ruthie Lemming following a library trip with my boys. I thought it would be a fun, light read after finishing Ruthless Trust, and decided to peek through the first chapter that evening out of curiosity. I’m not sure if it was my love for Louisiana or the author’s writing style, but I was immediately hooked and couldn’t put the book down. What I expected to be a light-hearted, quick read became a soul-searching tear-jerker, meeting me in the middle of my Lenten journey.

The Little Way of Ruthie Lemming introduced me to the beautiful concept of bright sadness. In the Orthodox Church, Lent is called the season of bright sadness, because it is a time of simultaneous celebration and mourning. Unaware of this spiritual concept before reading The Little Way, I realized this was exactly what the current Lenten season had been for me and was reassured that I was on the right path. The book gave me the words to describe the climate of my heart, one of joyful mourning, knowing the hard decisions it was time for me to make and trusting that God would be present as I moved forward. With this knowledge, the joy and peace I expected to arrive at the end of the process entered into my period of darkness.

Now on this side of Easter, having walked through my darkness and made the hard decisions, my heart is changed. I am thankful for those that walked beside me – authors, family, friends –  listening to my frustrations, speaking words of encouragement, sharing hope. Through you I experienced God’s grace.

As I emerge from this bright sadness into a new beginning, I am hopeful of what is to come. May this blog also bring a new life to my passion for preservation, Louisiana culture, and old-house living; there is a bright sadness in the process of bringing new life to old things.

I hope you will join me on this journey.