Pretty in Pink
Pictured below is my friend, Julie Stabler. I met Julie about five years ago at a luncheon in Portland. Julie and her husband Bill live in a newly built two-story farmhouse in the country outside of Salem. Since that first meeting, I have been entertained at Julie's beautiful home several times. She is a lover of holidays and decorates accordingly.
Julie had a group of ladies in for a pre-Easter lunch on April 1 (no fooling). She is very strict about the color scheme in her home using mainly pinks and greens so that it lends itself to Easter decor quite easily.
The table was set using Desert Rose plates, fresh tulips, and a large bunny presided over the table setting. Each place had a jadite goblet filled with edible Easter "grass" and a frosted cookie.
Every surface in the kitchen, family room, and even bathrooms was filled with Easter memorabilia. I didn't count but there were bunnies, chicks, eggs, Easter trees, everywhere. Julie and Bill have small grandchildren who enjoy the decorating.
Just having the energy to decorate that much is pretty impressive to me, BUT, there is a hook to Julie's story. She is a builder of furniture. I saw all this for myself the first time I went to the workshop behind her house. There were beautiful shelves, cabinets, counters, benches--some using architectural fragments, some re-finished and some painted. She has built the breakfronts, desks, shelves, and cupboards for their home. She has done fixtures for retail stores, and many ,many special orders. I commissioned her to build a set of three bookshelves for my dining area, and they exceeded my expectations.
Naturally, being me, I had to know how she got started doing this. She said she started by making cutouts for the decorative painting she did. She needed a shelf for a display she had at the Crafter's Mall. She built one, and then and there decided she would rather work on the "big stuff" because it was "more fun". (I KNOW--she doesn't look like your typical furniture builder!!!)
Julie is cutting back these days on the building because she loves helping out with her adorable grandchildren. She did say she was thinking of maybe learning how to upholster...after all, she does sew also. I could tell you much more about Julie and her collections, (if you look closely in the photo below, you will see a few of the oil paintings of pink roses she has collected--many on e-Bay) and maybe I will another time.
I did notice a loveseat covered in a leopard print in her office--it's surprising how right and good it looks with all the pink!!!
After all that inspiration, I decided I could not be an Easter Scrooge.
I went home and dragged out a few bunnies of my own....
signing off.........
Gayle@starsantique.com
photos courtesy of Dianne Muyskens
