Garden Tour: Cabell's Winding Backyard Garden

After walking through Cabell's lovely home, I want to show you one of my absolute favorite parts of the house: the back porch and garden. It's so peaceful here, you can't help but relax at the sight of a giant fireplace, right? There are plenty of places to sit and stay a while.

Cabell keeps all her garden tools close at hand. Containers, trowels, gloves, plant markers, fertilizer, vases, anything you can think of.

As you walk off the porch and into the garden, you're met with a perfect stone pathway to the left and stairs out to the right. The landscape is so natural, I just love it.

Cabell's potting bench is just to the left of the photo above. What an awesome place to re-pot a few plants. Cabell's artwork is everywhere around the house and the garden is no exception. And there's a funny story to go with this one... If you read Cabell's definition of "Garden" here you might notice one word has been misspelled. She is (admittedly) notorious for misspelling words in her artwork. So Cabell told us she was just working in the garden one day, and her husband, Mike, was sitting on the porch. She asked him what he was doing and his response... "Oh, just discov-ing life." She had no idea what he was talking about, but he told her she'd get it eventually. A while later, Cabell noticed the spelling error and remembered "disov-ing life!" - ha! 

This is a simple story but it's one of my favorites. It takes on so much meaning because Cabell's husband, Mike, passed away a few years ago. I have re-written this sentence that comes after that sentence a few times now, and there's no way to properly express how heartbreaking the loss, but how Cabell's unwavering faith has kept her joyful. I will always be in awe of her. 

Back to the garden.... columbine! A new favorite of mine, these are some of the funniest shaped flowers I've ever seen. In this shady corner, the flowers are elevated in a terra cotta pot, while the hosta and creeping jenny create a nice, green groundcover.

I love how these terra cotta pots have become such a part of the garden, they are grown over and half visible, sacrificing themselves for the vines and greenery. I love the sense of permanence this lends to a garden. Since getting back to my own garden after our visit to Cabell's, I'm looking around for perfect places to add trios of terra cotta.

As you walk up the path, there are birds chirping and bees buzzing everywhere. Not bad for what Cabell calls her "morning commute" to the studio...

Looking back at the porch from the studio is quite a lovely view.

Cabell laughed when she told us about the wisteria she's growing up the right side of the porch. I can't wait to see it take over!

 Don't you just want to hop in and stay a while? I could have walked around the garden for hours. I can't wait to go back to see another season's blooms and what Cabell has added. It's a long process, gardening, but what a beautiful result.

Home Tour: Cabell's Artsy Haven in Rome, GA

Sometimes you walk into a beautiful, well-curated home, you're greeted by a lovely, let-me-take-your-bags hostess and you never want to leave. That's what happened last week when Jeanette, Bonnie and I (and baby Edith!) took a little road trip to Rome, GA to spend some time with Cabell Sweeney. Cabell is a pro at loving on people. She invited us up for an evening of rest and relaxation, and (a first for me) a tour of her gorgeous home and garden. Take a peek inside!

Cabell's bright green front door welcomes you into a comfortable, art-laden family room first. There is greenery everywhere, canvases and frames fill every vertical surface and the walls of bookshelves instantly give you a sense that Cabell has been collecting and curating for a long while.

This wall of various sized bookshelves is a sight to behold! Cabell pointed to specific shelves and told us that when she was a young girl in middle school her mother would give her a choice for the summers: work extra chores around the house or read. She obviously chose reading and has the books to prove it.

Every piece of artwork in this house has a story, a connection and a meaning. Cabell shared with us so many of these stories, it was hard to believe she could remember them all! Then again, the stories are so poignant, how could she not? The top two portraits in the wall below are Cabell's great-grandparents, their portraits done by John Singer Sargent. The originals are in the Boston Museum of Fine Art. How neat!

There are a couple of these small chairs placed around the house, holding coffee table books on museums, art, and history. I love each vignette.

To the right of the family room is the dining room, a large rectangular farmhouse table welcomes guests. 

More bookshelves filled with books, art, and keepsakes....

Knowing that she wanted to feature this portrait of her grandmother, Cabell said she sketched out the wall of bookshelves pretty loosely, focusing on the larger areas. The small shelves fell into place for small stacks of books and pottery.

Another lovely chair and coffee tabel book vignette...

Cabell has a wildly successful pottery business - you can read about it here! - so it's easy to see why gorgeous hand-painted mugs, bowls and everyday china fill her kitchen to the brim.

Concrete countertops, a wall of white subway tile, open shelving, a picturesque window above the sink and copper accents all contribute to this lovely kitchen.

Cabell had fresh cut flowers everywhere....

This hallway leads to a few bedrooms and bathrooms and opens up to my favorite part of the house.... the back porch and garden. Come back tomorrow to see the lovely cottage-style garden and Cabell's "commute" to the art studio in her backyard. You won't want to miss it.

Kitchenette Redo

In case you haven't heard yet, The Curtis Casa is getting a new roommate! My sister, Anna, is moving in with us in June! Anna just graduated from college and is finding her footing in the real world. We've got plenty of space (more than the two of us have needed for the past three years!) and are thrilled to welcome my sis into our home.

Our basement was listed as an "in-law suite" when we bought the house, it's a large family room, one bedroom, one bathroom and a kitchenette. Cool, huh! Here's what we've done with it. First, we made it a man cave: dark colors, big tv, beer posters. Sometimes we toyed with the idea of renting it out. Mostly we just had movie nights down there. It just became a sad space we never used. With my sister moving in, I'm super excited to re-think and give the space a little love. First up for a little refreshing, the kitchenette! Fair warning... This is a pretty sad "before" state. I jokingly say that the previous owner had a moose theme going on and he left all of his moose-paraphernalia here when he moved out. We threw it away but the vibe is still moose lodge-esque, I think.

Just look at these countertops... It's a leaf motif. I've been trying to get rid of it since we moved in, I've just never had a good reason.

The cabinets themselves are actually great quality - better than our kitchen upstairs. They have the thick hinges that close slowly and all the drawers slide evenly like they're supposed to. The green color is actually not bad. It's an interesting, soft, earthy tone that's surprisingly nice when you remove it from this area. Why the green, wood and leaf motif all together? I'll never know. 

(Now, the brown paint color I take full responsibility for. We were painting a man cave, I love neutrals and browns and I didn't know what I was doing so I picked this color. It's also actually an okay color on it's own. But man, all together... yuck-o-la.)

So here's our plan to fix up this tiny kitchenette for my sister. Finally, an excuse to get that leaf motif out of here! I'm thrilled to be adding a little butcher block to the mix, from the fine folks over at J. Aaron Wood Countertops. (More on them coming soon!) Butcher block, green, brass, pops of color, lots of white, maybe a backsplash... All good things! I can't wait to get started.

butcher block counter / brass hardware / ceramic produce basket / enamel coffee pot / kilim rug

Garden Inspiration, Vol. 11

Good morning, friends! How is everyone? I took an unexpected long weekend after a quick road trip last week with girlfriends, a sick weekend, followed by a fun visit with my sister, Anna, and her friend, Kendall. (They're about to start a post-college cross country road trip and they're starting it with a few days with me in Atlanta. Fun!) 

Anyway, on our road trip to Rome, GA last week I spotted a few unusual combinations of flowers and lots of interesting vessels. Now I'm on the hunt to incorporate some more unique vessels into my home and garden landscape. Here's a little inspiration to get me started.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

PS - Thank you all for the sweet comments and encouragements on my new column with Better Homes & Gardens! I'm thrilled to be working with the BHG garden team and I've got a lot of fun garden stuff ready to share!

Better Homes & Gardens

Hello friends! I've got some fun news for this Thursday morning. Starting today I'll be over on the Better Homes & Gardens Everyday Gardener blog every week sharing gardening inspiration and helpful tips and tricks! Today I'm sharing a bit about my love of gardening and the three women who've influenced my green thumb. Check it out!

I asked Allen to snap a quick picture of me in the garden for the post. Birch had to investigate what we were up to... He did not understand why I was sitting on the ground and why he couldn't sit in my lap. 

Then Allen snapped this funny sequence as Birch found a (huge!) stick and ran circles around me... You can tell by my face I could hear him coming! Ha!

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Mother's Day Arrangements with Grocery Store Flowers

If you need a quick centerpiece arrangement or just need to drop off a little Happy Mother's Day bouquet for a friend, grab a few flowers from your local grocery or farmer's market. I got these ranunculus and hyacinths from Trader Joe's, I always seem to get lucky with flowers there! Here are a few tips for creating a simple, beautiful arrangement for a Mom in your life!

Start with the hyacinth (or other short, thick flower) to create a strong base and add ranunculus around the outside. Cut the stems at different lengths and place the ranunculus at various heights. Use a rubberband to hold the arrangement together at the base. Add extras from your garden or your neighbors garden! I added a little maidenhair fern and the one purple anemone I had from my blooms to add a little pop. 

I placed a few ranunculus blooms and some maidenhair fern in your vase to create a base and fluff up the arrangement. You can do this before or after you add the arrangement, I did a bit of both.

Voila! Treat Mom to a lovely Mother's Day arrangement and she'll enjoy it all week long!

All The Spaces, Home Depot Style Challenge

Have you been checking in on the HD Style Challenge this past month? It's so interesting to see how all the style challengers designed their spaces. Some design elements popped up in more than one space - string lights, anyone? And I spotted some really awesome and unique DIY projects, of course. I've compiled all the spaces here so you can see them all in one place! There are links to the Style Challenge posts on Home Depot and to the challengers blogs as well. Take a look around... You will be inspired, I promise!

Outdoor Entertaining from Brittany, BrittanyMakes

Oh, there's moi! (More here, here and here.) 

Urban Balcony Ideas from Mandy, Fabric Paper Glue

Small Patio Decorating Ideas from Kelly, View Along The Way

Brick Patio Makeover from Bryn, Bryn Alexandra

Decorating with Color from Kristen, The Hunted Interior

Chic Outdoor Entertaining from Chassity, Look Linger Love

Small Patio Ideas from Courtney, Courtney Out Loud

Family Friendly Patio from Erika, BluLabel Bungalow

Poolside Patio Ideas from Cassie, Hi Sugarplum!

Colorful Balcony Ideas from Alex, Things That Sparkle

Front Porch Ideas from Grace, A Storied Style

Casual Eclectic Patio from Tobe, Because It's Awesome

Natural Patio Ideas from Erin, House of Earnest

Contemporary Backyard Patio by Lauren, Pure Style Home

Charming Courtyard Ideas from Hannah, Maple & Shade

Family Friendly Patio from Dana, House*Tweaking