Deep breath....

I can't thank everyone enough for your sweet comments and emails. This week has been hard. Many of us have suffered loss. Thank-you for allowing me to share mine with you and thank-you for sharing your hurts with me. 

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Everyones doing it....so I am jumping on the recap blogwagon. Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we...  

In January, I showed you how I turned a dated apartment complex into an updated townhome with the tiniest of budgets and some house staging:

February, I gave you a tour of a clients mountain home that I was lucky enough to be involved with from the ground up : 

And, if you want to see some more, here is the post of the kitchen:

In March, I gave you a sneak peek into my own guest bathroom that I was finally redecorating. I was inspired by {out-of-my-price-range} Schumacher wallpaper:

In April, I brought you along on a day in my life: {well...sort of...}

In May, We took of a tour of a Paint-by-Numbers room I finished. I must say, I sort of love this room!

June brought us the completion of a fresh renovated kitchen in a clients mid-century modern home:

In July, I thought I might need to hospitalized due to this:

But, I got it together in time to take you into the clubhouse I completed at Bear Lake Reserve: 

In August, I shared pictures of the Medwest Gala, "Here's to Hollywood" at Harrah's Casino. Every year our fundraiser has a new theme:

I also invited you in to my completed Sharpie-drawn-wallpaper bathroom that was finally finished!

August was busy...I can't leave out my visit to the Cashiers Showhouse:

I was lucky enough to find myself vacationing in California in September. We hit up a lot of the beautiful coast and stayed in various places. Here you can see our visit to the chic Hotel Monaco.

In October, I got busy decorating for fall with some funkins:

As well as party rocking some Halloween costumes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November brought me to one of my favorite events--The Gingerbread Houses at the Grove Park Inn!

And a reveal of a clients newly renovated Guest room:

In December, I shared a way to jazz up your art work with ribbons:

 

Dang, that took a long time to put together--but, you're worth it *silly rainbow smiles*.

Woa!!! What a year! It's kind of fun to look back and remind myself of 2011's accomplishments. I look forward to all that 2012 has in store for all of us and I also look forward to having you here with me. Your encouragement means the world to me. You're the best.

The Cashiers Showhouse is always full of eye candy, but when you get to attend with
 a bunch of design bloggers, well, every detail is more appreciated and more enjoyed! 
Here's another picture of all of us design appreciators who were in attendance.  
{By the way...these girls all laughed at me for my (correct) pronunciation of Cashiers--
Caa-shurs--is the correct 'local' pronunciation, NOT Cash-eers}

 
Lori, Angela , Me, Heidi, Rhoda, and Renae

Enjoying elevations of up to 4160 ft, with rolling pastures and grassy lawns, 
Reflections is a natures lover paradise. 



The entrance was deceiving. It felt as if you were entering a small cottage, but this estate was
 actually a sprawler. The 42-acre sanctuary adjoins 600 additional acres of conservation land.

The house is a true Southern masterpiece, created from logs reclaimed from 1930's
Tennessee Valley Authority construction sites.



The Stone Terrace was decorated by James Farmer in lovely chocolates and marigolds.
 It was accented with loads of blooming hydrangeas.





{southernhospitality}

Charles Faudree designed The Entry. The main building was built in 1967.



This is the Before:



Charles does such a great job at creating a casualness while mixing
 European antiques from multiple cultures.



The Living Room Before: 



Carole Weaks, of Carole Weaks Interiors designed the room with custom upholstery
pieces designed by Ainsworth-Noah for their new line. 
  


The Master Bedroom Before:



Ann Sherrill of Rusticks designed this soothing retreat draped in gauzy linen:



The Kitchen Before:
Melamine cabinets, fluorescent lighting, green formica countertops...
'nuff said.



 Audrey Woods and Cheryl Benitez of Mountain House transformed the space by
painting the cabinets, removing the lighting, and they painted right over the countertop!  


{southernhospitality}

The Sitting Room Before:



Debra Green of English-Green Interiors, did such a beautiful job on the upstairs Sitting Room . 


{southernhospitality}

We all loved this industrial tiered side table


{southernhospitality}

And the little pleated detail on the roman shades.




And check out the silhouette of the legs on the half round table in the corner.



The Music Room on the End wing was added in 1971. It was a log cabin that was dismantled
and rebuilt with each beam numbered.
Before:



 Tammy Connor of Birmingham, transformed this room into one of my favorite spaces.



I just love the idea of the hanging lanterns instead of table lamps! 






And the painted floors....L.O.V.E.

{we had to go barefoot inside the house, please don't think that we also had toothpicks in 
between our teeth and moonshine in our bags. These were the rules, peeps....just saying} 



Outside of the music room was the most delightful Gallery of Dogs Room designed by
my buddy, Sally Johannessen of Dovetail Antiques. There were so many people admiring
this space that I don't have many pictures of it! There were personalized collars and sweet
canine paintings. Trust me, it beautifully displayed Sally's deep love
 of man's best friend {she happens to have 7 best friends!} 



The Library is the other original room in the cabin.
Before:



Lynn Monday of Monday's House of Design enveloped the space with cashmere
plaid curtains, as well as silk, cashmere, and velvet upholstery.    



The Upstairs Getaway Before:



Skip Ryan of The Ryan Companies created such a sweet bedroom with canopied
 twin beds draped in toile and a tiny sage check.  


{southernhospitality}



The Lounging Porch Before:



Outside of the Master Bedroom was the Lounging Porch designed by Francie Hargrove Interiors.
When the house was originally built it was open-air and was referred to as the 'dog run'.
This space was a huge crowd favorite.


 
The furniture was slipcovered with the most lovely outdoor fabrics designed to withstand nature's elements.



This dough bowl full of live moss makes a beautiful centerpiece for this outdoor dining area .
 {Francie's Design Rule regarding artificial flowers: 'If it doesn't grow, it's gotta go!'   AMEN!!}  



The height of the fireplace was even more appreciated flanked with the soaring plaid panels.



These enormous sconces bordered the french doors.   



This fantastic branch detail ran the whole perimeter of the porch's ceiling.  



The Dining Room Before:



The Dining Room was decorated by Tobi West. It was very classic with it's floral
 window treatments, brass chandelier and antiques.   
{This is actually shot from the opposite angle than the before}
 


Dianne Estes of D. Estes Antiques was responsible for the stunning Front Porch.  






There was a lot of lingering done at this custom porch swing. It was upholstered
 in a nubby linen and accented with nailheads. So pretty.



Looking off the porch, these are your views.


{southernhospitality} 

The estate's outbuildings include a two-car carport, an upper barn, a lower barn, and a pond pavilion. 
The pavilion is terraced with perennial gardens, a lake, dock, three ponds, and numerous walking trails.  

Here is the front of the house looking up at the Front Porch.






The weather was perfect to sit out overlooking the pond for lunch. We left the Showhouse
and proceeded to shop all the wonderful stores Cashiers has to offer!   

{Thanks Rhoda for letting me use some of your great photos!}

I had such a fabulous weekend!



{ Lori of Lori May Interiors, Angela of The Painted House , Me, Heidi Meister,
Rhoda of Southern Hospitality, and Renae of Renae Moore Designs }

 Some great bloggers from around the Atlanta area came to my neck of the woods for a weekend
of shopping, eating, cottage living, mountain gazing, and Cashiers Showhouse admiring!! Angela
was our gracious hostess and I have to say, these are some wonderfully talented, completely lovely
ladies. To get to spend time with ladies who share your same passions, strive towards the same goals,
 and struggle with the same 'mom issues' was such a treat. We bounced ideas, did lots of blog talking,
and enjoyed the beauty of our Western NC mountains. I'll share more of our fabulous excursions
 throughout the week! 

Now that the Cashiers 2011 Showhouse is up and running, I thought it would be
 fun to look at some before and after images from last years Showhouse. The
stunning estate was built by Mckee Properties and overlooks Whiteside Mountain
in Wade Hampton Golf Club.




The house was still under construction when we first visited to select our rooms.
. The front door enters into the great room.





This view is looking back at the front door and up top to the 2nd floor {fireplace is to the right}.  




Suzanne Kasler was responsible for the Great Room.  She used lots of pieces from her line at Ballards.
The room was bathed in light from the wall of floor to ceiling windows which seemed to illuminate the 
creamy linens of the furniture and accessories. The soft grays and blues created such a beautiful
complement to all of the wood and stone. 
 



The house was built with built-ins that flanked the fireplace {you can see them in the 'before' picture},
 but Suzanne had a different vision--she had them removed and installed upholstered panels with
 a small blue ribbon detail and little gold knobs. The same blue was used to mat her collections
 of found framed gems.
 




Right off the great room is the dining area and kitchen. Here it is under construction.





Carole Weaks designed the comfortable, layered dining area. It took 6 strong men a
 long time and a lot of sweat to bring that table top {made of concrete} in the house. 





The screened porch is just off the dining area. It features a large rock dual fireplace with
soaring ceilings. Before:





My friend, Ann Sherrill always creates the most stunning rooms. She has impeccable taste
and owns one of the greatest furniture stores in Cashiers called Rusticks. Ann's attention to 
detail and her comfortable style truly captures Southern Rustic at its finest. She created a 
lovely porch that would be fantastic for entertaining.  





Off of the kitchen is the library.





My friends. Audrey Wood and Cheryl Benitez, owners of Mountain House furnishings, transformed
the small space with lovely trimmed curtains, beautifully styled bookcases, and comfortable seating. 





Upstairs, a small sitting area is not much to look at empty. But, a few {thousand} upholstery tacks later... 





And the area is dreamy. Lynn Monday {another Cashiers stand out}, created one of the most
talked about rooms in the house {I wrote about it here} The creamy whites, muted grays and touch
of blue, just beg you to sit back in that plush sofa and grab a book.





On the opposite wall, she flanked the windows in the most gorgeous gray-blue pussy willow fabric.





Right off of the sitting room, was my room. I decided to design a room for a little girl. Having a wall
 of windows on opposite walls, and doors on the other 2, created a bit of a conundrum with
 furniture placement--mainly the bed.




I decided to place the bed right in front of the window and designed a custom headboard.
 Because the windows are so large, the headboard needed to also be large to balance the space.
 On the walls, I painted horizontal stripes in 2 shades of pink for a really subtle backdrop.
The room was furnished with a mixture of high and low--the vintage bedside tables and dresser
 were found locally and repainted. the x-benches are from K-mart {!} I painted the base and made
little slipcovers out of a Dash and Albert rug. This post shows how I made the monogram lampshades




This is the adjoining wall before.





I used a collection of vintage paperdolls. These are originals! {so many people thought I
 had enlarged them} I used a white mat behind each outfit and simple black frames.
   
Instead of flowers, I created an arrangement made out of christmas ornaments
 and beaded flowers and sheer pink ribbon.





I don't have the befores of the following spaces, but you can certainly appreciate
the afters!





This was the hallway at the top of the stairs. Eddie Alvarez and George Oliver used antique farming tools
as unexpected art up the stairs. Who would think it would work so beautifully with the opposite walls
 that are hung with vintage tapestries. Even though these spaces are small, they are huge on impact
as well as functionality. The views from these chairs overlook the downstairs Great Room and out over
Whiteside Mountain.









The 2011 Showhouse opened last weekend and continues until September 4th. I am 
not participating this year. Unfortunately, my schedule this summer has not allowed it. 
But, I am so excited to visit on Saturday with a few Atlanta Bloggers. Are any of you
lovers of great design also visiting on Saturday? I would love to meet you if you are there--
if you see me, please introduce yourself! 

**fun fact--the home sold for 3.1 million the night of the Opening Patron Party!**

{images 1, 5,7,9,11,13,19,20}