I’ve been totally digging galvanized home accessories lately. Last Fall, I dug out a couple of tall galvanized containers (that had previously been used for tall flower arrangements – mostly collections of seasonal branches) and have been using them in our bathrooms as garbage pails. The third container has been holding a collection of pussy willow branches in our library ever since they made an appearance at the flower market in late Winter. I like galvanized pieces because they are utilitarian and not too precious. The texture gives off the cool feeling of metal without being too shiny and adds a rustic or primitive, ‘old-timey’ interest to a space. Needless to say, yesterday I was hunting for new dark colored wood placemats (I like the tone-on-tone look for our dining room table) and stumbled upon Crate and Barrel’s Stock the Bar event - where I found the Shindig Barware collection of galvanized metal tabletop home accessories. I really like the smooth, rounded wood handles on the ice bucket and the serving tray. With my attention focused wholly on outdoor entertaining this Summer on our patios, you bet I snagged a few pieces! And speaking of our outdoor patios, I ordered the metal furniture I told you about a few weeks ago. I’ll put it under our wood arbor when it arrives on April 24th! Hey, that should be no surprise – after today’s post you should know I really like the combination! *wink* (As a reminder, the furniture is the American made Cruz line from Room and Board.)
Wood and Metal Images are found on my ABCDDesigns Tumblr and ABCDDesigns Pinterest pages – in the case that you’d like to follow there. The sources I have are: Kitchen Pinned via Tumblr: no source, Galvanized Sink: From The Right Bank, Wood bowl with soup and metal spoon: The Gifts of Life, Buttermilk Dinner Rolls: Michael Ruhlman, Milk Chocolate Layers: I am Baker, Fireplace: The Marion House Book, Rustic Country Pantry: Moods of the Moon and the Muse, Stainless Range and rustic barn wood range hood mantle: All That and a Cup of Tea, Wood and Galvanized Metal with Food: Kiyoaki, Hand-forged garden tools: Babble, China with Metal and Wood Tablescape: Rustic Meets Vintage, Mies En Place: Agent Bauer, Brass Tea Pot in a Wood Kitchen: Studio Ilse

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Uncategorized

Shop the look: MacKenzie Childs Enamel Breakfast Bowl and Rimmed Dish, Waterford Lismore Roly Poly glasses – I almost always drink my wine out of them! Set of Four Pine Cone Hill Mamie Napkins, Reproduction Depression Glass Tumblers (I got mine at ABC Carpet and Home many years ago, but I found them at Anthropologie online for you.) Astier De Villatte Matte Gold Flatware from Huzza, and a Tiffany Rose Bowl.The other two pieces that were on the table are likely from the 1960′s – they belonged to my mother in law – a small three-section appetizer plate, and a cut crystal covered butter dish looks to me like it is a rendition of Waterford’s Lismore pattern on the base, but the top is different from the design they currently stock. Unfortunately, the Easter Egg color ceramic gold-rimmed dishes simply say “Made in Portugal” on the bottom and I originally got them back when I was in college. Really, any coordinating large dinner plate or charger with a gold rim will do!Ok, so I totally think of Alstroemeria as a bouquet stretcher or flower filler - I would never pick it as a bouquet for my tabletop. BUT when you send the Mr to the grocery for a fresh baguette and a bunch of flowers, you work with what he brings home! Honestly, with the way they coordinated with the dinnerware *so* perfectly – I couldn’t be happier with the result. Well done, Husband!

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Entertaining and Nesting and Shopping and Uncategorized

Well, I did it. I finally bit the bullet and ordered the kitchen pendants that I have been dream decorating with since we purchased our home in June of 2010. Why did I hold off so long, you ask? Because these way over-blogged babies have been popping up left and right on the design blog circuit for a few years now. I’ve seriously been trying to talk myself out of them for the last two years. I was afraid that their internet popularity was going to annoy me if I jumped on the Hicks pendant bandwagon.I searched and searched for something that I thought I would like better – and I didn’t find it. I showed the Mr. countless options and he always picked the Hicks Pendant as his favorite. I kept returning back to the original light fixture that I wanted too. The fact is, as many times as I have seen it used – I never grew tired of seeing it incorporated into different design schemes.
Just this past Friday -the very day that I had ours installed- my lovely and talented internet buddy Sharon Taylor from A Lifestyle Thing dream decorated her new kitchen with the Hicks Pendant. (BTW: You must follow her most recent personal home renovation. It’s coming along so beautifully.) Not only have these lighting fixtures been blogged like crazy, but there are even entire pinterest boards dedicated to the much loved Thomas O’Brien Hicks Pendant.In our application, the light fixture pulls together the oil rubbed bronze drawer pulls on the kitchen cabinets with the hits of brass that I have implemented in our library and dining room. The house footprint inside is an ‘H’ shape with the kitchen being the center bar of the ‘H.’ All the rooms on the main floor are attached by open doorways. This means our dual finish fixture is visible from every room on the main level. (For a quick reminder: Dream Decorating with Articulating Brass Lamps - Articulating Brass Lamp: final selection. The dumpster diving Bar Cart I found and used in our library. The collection of Brass Picture Frames that we hung in the Dining Room.) I’m so happy with the addition of these pendants to the heart of our home. They always say “it’s in the details.” In this case, I couldn’t agree more! Before we installed these light fixtures, I didn’t feel as if the kitchen was missing anything, but now that they are installed the space feels infinitely more finished. Yay!Images: My own (I purchased our pendants from Circa Lighting) and Visual Comfort: The Mighty Hicks Pendant via High Gloss Magazine, Rue Magazine, Style At Home Magazine, Jeff Herr Photography, Max and Company, Cote De Texas, Sharon Taylor Designs blog; A lifestyle thing, and Desire To Decorate.

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / The Country House and Uncategorized

I’ve gotten out of the habit of having fresh flowers at the house each week. Unfortunately, I did this without even realizing it – until last weekend when I picked up a few bunches of tulips for a friend that we were visiting in Knoxville. I tell you what, it felt really good to clean, cut, and arrange the flowers on her countertop. When I returned to the Northeast, I promptly picked up a few bunches of my own.There is no doubt that my mood over the last several months has been quite melancholy. It’s a chicken egg-thing, I suppose. Feeling low + stop doing things I love = feel even more in a funk than I was before. I’ve noticed my spirit lifts for a moment when I see them on the dining table. I wonder how I allowed myself to go such a long period of time without fresh flowers on the table tops?As a matter of fact, I enjoy them so much that I’m going to make an effort to remember them more often – no matter how heavy hearted I am feeling. It’s a step in the right direction anyway, right? Heck, I am starting to think that they should be a requirement on my grocery shopping list each week! 

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Nesting and Personal and Uncategorized

Way back when we first started decorating our house, I wanted a dining banquette in the worst way. It would sit across from the four parsons chairs that we scored at a local junk shop in Upstate New York. The banquette idea was derailed when we received an amazing hand-me-down Wingback Chair from my mom and dad that I had always admired. It would find it’s home at the head of the table. I also had in mind the brass nailhead embellished, turned wood, spooled and spindled antique chair (that we found in Knoxville for a steal) awaiting pick-up at my Father in Law’s house. Deep down inside, I knew it should sit at the opposite end of the table – across from the Wingback Chair. The King chair at one head of the table, the curvy Queen at the other.Sometime in October, the Mr started talking about having his workmates upstate for a team-building day. He thought they’d either go to the Orvis Sporting Clay Range or to the Limerock Race Track. “Oh that is a great idea, Husband! Fall is such a beautiful season in this area.” Then he said “Afterwards we can have everyone over to our house for dinner.” WHAT?!?! I mean, I am happy to have people in for dinner -that is what I do- but TEN people one of which being your BOSS?! Talk about pressure. I currently only had six chairs at the table. Am I going to seat ten people on completely mis-matched chairs that don’t even remotely go together?I wouldn’t even start to pretend that I had intentionally mis-matched our chairs unless they really looked good together. And honestly, ever since I got the King and Queen sorted out at each end of our table, I really couldn’t stand the way the Parsons Chairs looked with them. I knew I wanted to find a better solution and change them out. There, I said it.Way back when we lived in the FiDi, we scored two Thos. Moser Catena Arm Chairs at a Sample Sale on Greene Street. Now that practically everything has been moved to The Country House, it would make sense for me to find a place for them in Northwest Connecticut, right? They’ve got quite a wide footprint (at nearly two feet) and realistically I could only fit two more of them at our dining table. *Not that two new full priced ones are currently even in the budget!* Since they are arm chairs, we’d run into the same problem as I did with the chrome chairs (see below) in which the arms hit the bottom of the table when you pull the chair to sit a comfortable distance from the table. I’ll tell you what, the Catena chairs are quite possibly the most gorgeous chairs -EVER- but they were not going to do the trick. I’d never get ten people seated at my table. So I continued the hunt.As you know, I was always luke-warm on the Vintage Chrome Chairs I told you about last Spring. I love the lines, but (besides the issue I with the arms) I am worried about our house going way too Mid Century Modern. Between the Edward Wormley for Dunbar sofa and MCM day bed in the library, several George Nelson Bubble Pendants throughout the house, and our Eames Lounge Chair in the Master bedroom…enough is enough! Not to mention, I began to go down the road of sending the chrome chairs away with fabric to be reupholstered and it became very clear that the machine-injected foam inside the cushions was rotting out. Boo! No matter, I am happy to use them around a game table in our future party barn…And while trying to find the right dining chairs, I kept thinking back to the Shaker Style Farmhouse that Barbara Barry designed in Jackson Hole. It had the perfect balance of Traditional and Modern design for my aesthetic. Oh, and do I spy O and G Studio chairs in that photo? LOVE THEM!…but the footprint was still too large for our needs and the ones featured above are a wee-bit too fussy for our place. That is when I stumbled upon the DWR Salt Chair. It’s petite, perfect for apartment-style or small dining quarters like ours. They are just the right proportions for our farm table. Three chairs fit on either side of the table (between the legs) and if I pull the King and Queen chairs away from the ends, I can comfortably fit four more chairs around it – providing seating for TEN! The very best thing? I scored them at the Columbus Day sale back in October for a fraction of the regular price. How cool is that?I know some of you might be thinking “She is such a hypocrite with this recent purchase.” Not only do I frequently write about the slow home movement, but I subscribe to that lifestyle the best that I can by repurposing and shopping for the highest quality I can afford, or by purchasing vintage furniture instead of buying brand new. The goal is to stay away from low-quality furniture that will end up in a landfill in a few short years. I am not perfect – I’m doing the best I can with what I have got. I’m hoping that these chairs with the DWR sign of approval on them will stand the test of time. I suppose I could have commissioned someone to make chairs for me, but I would have ended up right back in the Thos. Moser price bracket. I couldn’t resist the value for my money in this instance. Luckily, last year I did my fair share of supporting local craftsmen (hence my strict dining chair budget) and I plan to show you the finished results of the Master Bedroom Armoire, a custom shoe cabinet and the antique mirror bookshelf doors that I had made for our home in a future post.All the images are my own except Traditional Home’s photo of the Barbara Barry designed Shaker Style Farmhouse, Thos. Moser Catena Chair and for the Mis-Matched chairs. I ran a search on Pinterest – the one thing I can not stand about the Pinterest is that it’s almost impossible to find the original source. Out of four images, only two linked to the source they came from, thedecorologist.com, and Anthropologie.

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Dream Decorating and The Country House and Uncategorized