North Shore Design Show Preview ...

My husband John and I at the Preview Party
share a celebratory drink in my “room.”

What a fabulous weekend we had at the Wenham Museum’s North Shore Design Show: Favorite Spaces! Today the museum is closed (which will give me a moment to catch up with life in general!) so I am posting some preview pictures for you to enjoy before they re-open for the week on Tuesday.

The show runs through Saturday, May 22nd and there are some great events scheduled: Behind the Scenes of This Old House on Wednesday evening with host and design show chair Kevin O’Connor, Private Tour plus Meet the Designers Breakfast on Friday morning from 9am to 11am, Designing a Fragrant Garden with author/illustrator/designer Kim Smith on Saturday the 22nd, and How to design a Well-Dressed Kitchen with Kathy Marshall of Marshall Whitman Design, also on Saturday.
Click here for ticket information.

Of course, I do not want to spoil your visit to the museum by giving too much away visually, so I will show you just a glimpse of what you will see in the 16 creatively decorated spaces at the show, along with sharing some great photos of our weekend guests!



Beautiful flowers by Lindsay Pollard
Arrangements of Hamilton
line the walkway and fill the museum.

Just some of the amazing behind the scenes crew who made the design show possible, including Honorary Show Chair Kevin O’Connor and his wife Kathleen. Special thanks goes to Lindsay Diehl, Executive Director; Christine Zampell, President; and Willa Worsfold, Council Co-chair. Not pictured: Lisa Bonneville, Consulting Designer.

Mary Donovan of First Oriental Rugs
(who matches my room perfectly!)

Stylish members of the Museum Council mingled with designers and other well-dressed visitors during Friday night’s jam-packed Preview Party ...

Participating designer/stylist Martha Sutyak
(on the right) with her friend, Irena.



Staged for a party: colorful and creative
details fill Martha’s fun-loving space.

Irena’s purse was pretty cool as well!

A corner of the elegant vignette by designer
Elizabeth Brosnan Hourihan of Carpenter & MacNeille
plus a close-up of her equally dazzling purse ...

Fashion designer Harper Della-Piana of Seams Couture with her mother, artist and gallery owner Elissa Della-Piana of Gallery Della-Piana. Here is a peek at the beautifully organic space that Elissa designed for the show ...




More vignettes from this year’s
North Shore Design Show talents:

Rich details fill the combined space of designers Gracyn Whitman and Kathy Marshall
of Marshall Whitman Design.

A jewel of a room inspired by the sea ...
Siemasko + Verbridge

A pair of vignettes from the warm and inviting space
designed by traditionally chic Honey Collins.

A charming powder room by Niles-Scott Interiors.

The table is set for a ladies’ luncheon by designer
Nanette Chandler of Interior Style, Brookline.

Unique pieces presented by Landry & Arcari

A stunning take on contemporary design
by Wilson Kelsey Design, Inc.

An engaging North Shore story is told in this vignette
designed by Patricia Finn of Finn-Martens Design.

A magical time of year is recreated in this room designed by Timeless Interiors of Prides Crossing.

An outdoor oasis designed by John Margolis, President of the Institute of Classical Architecture
& Classical America.

A traditional hunt tea designed with the equestrian in mind by Blue Peacock Home.

In vogue ... a reflective space designed by
Camille Garro Interiors.

I hope to see you at the show!

A special thank you goes to Paula Bakies of
Acorn Interiors for your professional assistance in creating the window treatments and upholstery for my space (I will post more photos of the entire room
after the show ; )

And thank you to the adorable Angela ...
my first visitor on Saturday morning (I could
not have cast a more perfect model!)

Stay tuned for some great design tips that I will post later this week from Sunday’s presentation by consulting designer Lisa Bonneville, shown here with Wenham Museum Executive Director Lindsay Diehl and yours truly ... xo yvonne

North Shore Design Show ...

Look for me at the North Shore Design Show!


If you happen to be joining us this evening for opening night of the North Shore Design Show: Favorite Spaces at the Wenham Museum, please do stop by and say hello! Being able to watch visitors as they interact with our spaces is for me the highlight of being a designer for this event. I have had so much fun putting my room together ... it has been somewhat of a creative journey. I will be at the museum over the weekend, and off and on during the week.

I have been ignoring my real house as of late so I should probably spend some time there picking up everything that I have left in my creative wake! Did I mention my husband has decided now is a good time to remodel (as in demolish) the downstairs bath/mudroom/kitchen???? I am sure there will be some great ideas for these projects at the show. We will just have to stroll across the room to sit at the rustic tribal infused bar area created by Marshall Whitman Design to discuss ... see you at the show!

xoxo
yvonne

Congratulations goes to ...

Jamilyn of
Living it at Home

You are the lucky winner of my Beach Bag & Towel Giveaway (please email your mailing address to yblacker@verizon.net and I will send it your way!)

I hope you enjoy this custom designed beach bag from my collection of seaside inspired pieces along with the matching beach towel that I picked up at HomeGoods.

You certainly deserve a relaxing and sunny day by the sea after all the housecleaning you have been doing lately (visit her charming blog to read about her new motivational system to tackle dust bunny removal, etc.!) As soon as I am done setting up my room for the North Shore Design Show, I will try to follow your “get clean” tips. Right now my home looks like a tornado went through it (or Hurricane Yvonne : )

My room at the Wenham Musuem,
however, is looking very put together ...



This closet door is actually part of a wall that we constructed (hubby and I) to create the one freestanding wall of my 8 x 8 foot space. I tried to create a nice backside view for my neighbor, designer Nanette Chandler of Brookline, who is right beside me. Her space looks so pretty, with beautiful textures and soft colors. I look forward to chatting with her more on Friday night over a drink or two as we show off our spaces to Gala guests. Here is a glimpse of what my room looks like behind this door ...



You will have to come visit to see the rest!

Setting up for a design show reminds me of moving in to my dorm as a BC freshman ... I remember showing up with a car full of mostly decorative (and some functional) objects that I had carefully selected for an entire summer, all the while crossing my fingers hoping that my roommate was cool and her stuff wouldn’t clash with mine. Fortunately, all of my roommates at the show have a great eye for design. I was not so lucky that first year as an undergrad!



After our first day of setting up, my assistant and I (thankfully my husband knows a thing or two about construction!) headed over to The Black Cow for lunch. I had the crab cakes and he had a huge plate of steak and potatoes which was a very good choice since I am way too busy to prepare “real meals” this week!



When we returned home, my first set of Mini Moo Cards had arrived! They show my blog address on one side and this picture on the other ...



Today we headed over bright and early to finish the construction part of my space, and then I styled it after John left. My mom stopped by later to drop off window treatments that I had forgotten at home (a slight glitch!), I met some more nice neighbors, chatted with the amazing women who “run the show” at the Wenham museum, and left with just a small punch list of to-do’s. I figure one more trip and I should be all set (I still have a couple of DIY items to finish up at home). Then it is on to finding the perfect gala outfit (thanks to fashion coach Susan Kanoff, I know where I will be heading to look!)

More to come ...

And a special thanks goes to Dot LaPlante and Lorna Lupi for expertly weaving the new chair seat shown in the sneak peek photo above (amazing!) If you have furniture pieces that have seen better days, bring them to these talented women! They are at:

Pentucket Furniture Restoration
226 Water Street, Haverhill, MA 01830
pentucketfurniture@verizon.net
phone: 1-978-372-9585

Spring doorway

I recently made this spring wreath for a client to adorn the front door of her red, white and blue porch.

The sky blue painted ceiling is a favorite of mine, whether done outside on a porch or inside like we did on our first nursery ceiling (I heard it makes babies smarter to look at a colored ceiling!)

Today’s post is a short one since I am heading over to begin setting up for the North Shore Design Show at the Wenham Museum. While I am away, don’t forget to enter my beach bag giveaway ... I will be announcing the winner tomorrow!

How does your garden grow?

Fernleaf Pink Bleeding Heart

Here are some photos from my perennial gardens taken this morning. Most of these plants were given to me from friends and family, or were purchased at the annual Plant Auction held by the Village Garden Club of Lynnfield. This year, my garden is starting to look well established. That is what I love about perennials, each year you get more than you started with! What other purchase gives you that type of return on your investment??? Once I get to my weeding, I will show photos of the entire garden ; )

Solomon’s Seal


Azalea

Hosta: Blue Elegans

Chives



We noticed yesterday that a bird has built her nest in our birdhouse. I will try to get closeups of the babies when they hatch!

Perennial Plant Auction

Presented by the Village Garden Club of Lynnfield

Monday, May 10th
at 7:30pm to 9pm
at the Lynnfield Meeting House
(on the common across from
the Lynnfield Library)

Take home mature perennials at great prices!
Refreshments will be served.

Happy gardening!