To Market ...To Market . to See What's New!!!!

Headed to Atlanta Georgia to the to the  International Home furnishings Market. Getting lost is what I do best and this place is so large that I am always getting lost.  I am what you might call "Directionally Challenged".
Am I looking for new old things or old new things ? That is food for thought...
I promise I will take some photographs and share with you.
 Speaking of sharing ,had to share one more photo from our styling because we made a run to my storage unit and added my antique red drum as the coffee table.

I have a  few new projects ahead of me so I am taking time for this "pondering" road trip. I will be gone  less than 48 hours so I can't get into to much trouble.
Going to order room service and sleep late for sure!!!!

Putty at the Party

We had a garden party yesterday and Putty got to come. His parents were out of town so I went to his house and invited him down. He had just gotten his hair done so he was the hit of the party!!!!

  

Learning to pay the bills...............

I love design and hate the "bottom line"...the invoicing of the massive amounts of sales receipts and return receipts and  more receipts...!! Invoicing, managing the paperwork and keeping track of ALL the receipts..... I avoid it like the plague.

My "artist soul" just wants to make things yummy...like you never want to leave the place!!!!!! I am always careful with the clients' money...I do a lot of designing on a 'nickle'. Making careful purchases for my clients while loving the bargains and the recycled treasures...that is my favorite!!
                Finding new uses for old things...top of my list!

Long story short...my "invoicer" retired and now it is up to me to sit down and DO IT!!!! I miss her, but she is on to a well deserved permanent holiday.

My attention span is short and the paperwork drives me bonkers. I am on  computer, but unfortunately it doesn't do everything.... I've got to provide some input...and when the credit card bills arrive it takes hours to match it up to the jobs!

This is a photo of what I call the "BIG" desk. I have 2 other desk and they ALL look like this..................................................

So alas, Kristin, my new assistant, has been thrown into the bill paying today and she is on the verge of a breakdown herself.. Remember she is an organization  freak...so this gives her anxiety overload!!! 

 My office was the old country store on the Isle of Hope.  On most days it is my refuge and a great place to empty the car between shopping trips.....

. I love this building and it comes complete with a kitty named "Lance"  and a new great four poster canopy bed which will most likely end up in some lucky clients home.

New Year .. New Project.. New Attitude....

A new and very special project has come my way. I am excited about being able to create new and different things for an old hardware store.
I am excited about the new year and the clean slate it always brings my way. Of course I still write the year as 2010 until the middle of march..... Actually I have very few clocks in my life because I never want to know how behind I am.
I have so much to learn about so many things and I can't wait to get started.
In the construction business, the holidays are very unproductive and as a designer things are on hold as well.
. The New year always gives me hope.....and time to rethink the future and appreciate the past.
Happy New Year!!!

 

Sometimes White and Ruffled

One of my latest projects and one of my favorite ever. I have clients that love love love color. It brings them so much Joy and happiness ( me too) and we just completed a guest room that I may move into. It is actually sophie's, the granddaughter's room when she comes for a visit. (and my room). I made a turquoise metal star for her door with her name on it (and mine too ) I will be selling the white ruffled duvet and euros on the store so you can create you own magic. The wall is painted CORAL BELLS by Sherwin Willams Paint Company and the headboard is from  the salvation army with a serious spray of aqua .several cans covered all  the mix and "don't" match furniture. We used what we had and the Bellamy's  painting were actually hanging right outside the bedroom door. It sooooo  Worked!!!! The lamps came from none other than our local Home Goods but I found the antique chandelier at the antique mall. The panels ( complete with  tiny turquoise ball fringe came from Carol's Linens in Macon Ga.. The throw pillow was a gift from heaven via Marshall's. I have this thing "about the Perfect thing" . I will search high and low for years sometimes to find it....and I always know it when I see it or I will, if all else fails create it myself.

Don't forget to sign up for the give away . I will draw the winner on the 4th of November.

PS
I have learned through the giveaway and visiting blog land  ......... The love of white in any form is universal........ That makes me very happy.

Update on The Teacher!

Here is Anna's class room and a few photos I found on our camera. With not much budget , Anna created wonderful energy with her giant paint brushes right outside of her classroom.

This is the beginning of Anna Speir's (my assistant) project her with 5th graders in Art. ( september 11th blog)This is an example of her prototype for the class. "Looks like a Jane Coslick Cottage" with it's ZEBRA shutters!

She has created a project on two Georgia Artist! Beverly Buchanan(Athen's Georgia) and me "Jane Coslick" cottages and Shacks! This is just an update about the teacher and her students. I believe in art and I can tell Anna is as great an art teacher as she is a photographer and designer.

No Accessories here...YET

Sorry for dropping off the face of the Blogosphere, but I've been busy with a design deadline.

To pick up where we left off...THIS (pictured in the Blog above) is the garage behind the cottage. It's close enough to the cottage to become the "guest room." Right now, it looks like a garage and it feels like a garage, BUT with a little love and the right ACCESSORIES it will expand the areas around the cottage. Eventually it will be at the end of the patio, near the gazebo, down a tiny path. Then the tiny cottage WILL hold all the" friends and family," kind of like a bunk room: simple and kind of like girl scout camp (as I remember it), but with the designer touch.

I design around my clients needs. This is a wonderful, close-knit family, but I can't fit them all in a 780 square-foot cottage. When we finish, they'll be spending time all over the property: on the patio, on the rope swing, in the hanging bed, on the bar stools, sofas, chairs, and in all the nooks and crannies. How cool is that!!!!!

A Visit With Bellamy

In some of the magazines that have featured homes I’ve designed or restored, you may have recognized the paintings of Bellamy Murphy. 

Bellamy is a good friend and I just love her artwork as well as her unique eye for color, and many of my clients agree! She lives in Savannah, which seems to have influenced her choice of subject matter: marsh scenes, palm trees, shrimp, cottages, crabs, and starfish. 

Here’s a picture from earlier today when I went over to Bellamy’s studio to bring her a little bit of inspiration: a spider orchid and a swatch of fabric. She works straight from the colors and the shapes, giving it her own unique twist!

Here’s how to contact Bellamy:

To see her work visit her website: bellamyart.com

Contact the artist: bellamyart@me.com

Surfer Girl Embraces the Cowgirl Lifestyle

The Steamboat Pilot covered my design work on the Blalock house in Colorado in this great article. I'm not ready to exchange my flip flops for cowboy boots yet, but it was a wonderful experience to work on this ranch project.

Welcome to Jane Says!

Welcome to my new blog! I will be telling you about the kinds of things I do on a daily basis... everything from Furniture to Fabrics and Colors, Design, Restoration and Preservation... for locales nearby, like Savannah and Tybee Island... to the Great Beyond.

Thanks for stopping by, and please check back often!