My best day.....

I am heading out tomorrow for my 7th annual Farm Chicks Antiques Show!

It's a tradition that will always be.....as long as Serena keeps going,

I will be there.  We will stay at the Davenport Hotel,

eat at the fabulous Chaps and get a Celeste-hug, reunite with

our favorite vendors and bloggers then shop the vintage goodness

that never disappoints!  This year, I am bringing my

husband for the first time - {gasp!}......

Months ago I found out my country boyfriend, Kenny Chesney

was playing in Seattle on June 1st.  I sort of mentioned

to my husband what a great day it would be if I could

shop Farm Chicks in the morning then head to Seattle

to see Kenny that night.....and guess what?

That's what we are doing.

This week has been terribly busy with client work

and end of year school commitments but I

am ready to get my country on.......

I will be taking lots of Instagram photos of our 

adventure, you can follow me on Instagram

at jillhinsoninteriors.

Yee Haw!!!!!!!

A fresh office space...

I just took another look at this design board and realized

you all are going to think, "office?"...."huh, she must be losing it,

this looks nothing like an office....".

Well, my client already has a desk for the space but wanted to 

maximize the use of the room by adding a daybed

for overnight guests.  The room also needed extra storage and

a light fixture that would work with the room's low ceilings.

When I asked the client about colors, she referred me to the 

May issue of Better Homes & Gardens where they 

featured an aqua, green and raspberry color scheme -

so I ran with that!

How's everyone doing this Monday Tuesday? Arghhh?

Busy week ahead - finishing up some client projects, beginning

some others....AND heading to Farm Chicks on Thursday!

Are you going??? I would love to meet you if you are!

Let me know, ok?

AND - if you would like my help designing a fresh space
in YOUR home - please, email me at jill.hinsondesigns@gmail.com!

I have just a couple openings for e-Design clients in July - 
I would love to work with you! We will have lots of fun!

Memorial Day...

via

This weekend we pause to remember the heroes who have

served in our military and the many who paid the ultimate sacrifice - for our

freedom!  I don't know about you, but I find that powerful.  It's 

humbling to know that there are young men and women who

leave their families and risk their lives for US......how fortunate

 to live in a country that raises citizens who feel that calling.

I never take the freedom and liberty that we enjoy for granted -

this weekend I will raise my hotdog and Widmer Hefeweizen 

in their honor!  I hope you are able to do the same.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Preserved Boxwood Wreath at Tar-jay!

Wreaths are hard to come by in the Pacific Northwest - well, let 

me clarify - good wreaths are to come by in the Pacific Northwest.

We tend to not be a 'put a wreath on it' kind of people.

Is it more a southern thing? Midwest?

Anyway, after I re-painted my front door, I impatiently

wanted to style-up my front porch, including

hanging a wreath.....

In my head, I pictured a preserved boxwood

wreath.  I remembered a cute garden

store ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN that

often carried preserved boxwood wreaths. So one

afternoon, I drove to the OTHER SIDE OF TOWN

only to learn that the 'cute garden store' had closed! Ugh!

In desperation I ended up in the Smith & Hawken aisle

at my local Target store contemplating whether

this wreath would cut it.....

It LOOKS like preserved boxwood but it's so fake, plus it had

{ahem, HAD} these stupid dried flaky things interspersed 

with the fake preserved boxwood....

My impatience won over and I purchased the wreath and brought

her home and proceeded to cut the dried flaky things off the wreath.

Super easy as there were not many!  

And for $24.99 {or was it $29.99?}, voila!

I added some black and white gingham ribbon and called

it good - 

Have a wonderful day!

Oklahoma... {and a winner}.

My thoughts and prayers today are with those

families in Oklahoma who are experiencing unimaginable loss.

When we lived in Minnesota, I remember vividly heading to the

basement many times during the summer months when

the tornado whistles would sound.  Always, I spent our time

in the basement calming my girls' fears, repeating "everything is

going to be ok" over and over....I imagine the teachers in those

elementary schools provided the same kind of words to the 

many children who were frightened and without the

familiar comfort of their parents during those horrible moments.

Just another reason teachers are angels

on earth!

*****************

The winner of the $50 Shabby Apple credit 

is Sharon from Sharon Barrett Interiors!

Congratulations.

******************

Shabby Apple Giveaway!

I was going about my Saturday....a rare one where we

have NO obligations - no soccer games, sleepovers, 

social engagements, playdates etc....NOTHING,

when all of a sudden I realized I promised a giveaway

yesterday and didn't deliver!  Sorry!

I have hosted Shabby Apple giveaways before and they

are always fun.  Shabby Apple is an online boutique

filled with beautiful vintage clothing, dress and

skirts and accessories.  There is so much 

goodness!

I am definitely a dress girl - somedays, especially in the

spring and summer, a dress is just an easy thing to 

put on and go!  You always can count on looking

put together when you wear a dress.

I recently got the 'DaVinci' dress {pictured on the model above}

from Shabby Apple and I love it!  This is a dress

that can either go casual or dressy, depending on how

you accessorize it.  Plus, it is SUPER comfortable!

Shabby Apple has generously offered to give

ONE lucky Forever*Cottage a $50 credit

to use to purchase your very own cute dress!

To Enter:

1.  Visit Shabby Apple

2.  Come back and tell me what dress

floats your boat.

3. And for fun, and an additional entry,

tell me what would be the first thing

you would buy if you ever won the 

Powerball.

I will close the giveaway on Monday at 

6:00 PM PST....

Have a great weekend!

Powerball....

via

No we didn't win.

But yesterday, as I paid for my groceries, I took note

of the lottery machine near the customer service desk.

I had NEVER before purchased a lottery ticket....

Weird?

But yesterday, for some reason I felt compelled to do so.

I inserted some loose $1 dollar bills I had in my wallet and

began pushing buttons - immediately the machine told

me I had not put in enough money so I dug around

and added the appropriate amount - a whole $4.

I remembered that the news had mentioned that 

the Powerball jackpot was alot {whatever specifically

alot was, I did not know or remember}....but really what's 

another 100 million give or take...

I mentioned to my husband that I had purchased

lottery tickets last night and he told me the drawing had

just happened - who knew they drew Powerball numbers on

Wednesday night??? For some reason I thought I was

beating the weekend rush by buying my tickets on

Wednesday - humph!  

Turns out there is another drawing on Saturday and

the jackpot is something like $400 million bucks!

If I win, I am buying furniture and fabric.....,

beginning with the secretary pictured above....

Come back tomorrow for a fun giveaway I am 

hosting over the weekend - you may not

win Powerball but you can be a winner here

at good old Forever*Cottage......

It's a good giveaway,
but if I understand if you'd rather win Powerball,

me too.

Accessorizing......with taxidermy and other 'manly' things...

I spent another day styling in THIS client's home.

Today we worked in her formal living room.....a space

that is dominated by a beautiful baby grand piano and 

her hubby's prized deer head.....

So how does one ultra-feminine chick who loves all

things roses, vintage and frills decorate around taxidermy?

Very carefully.

Thankfully this client has quite a nice collection of vintage objects so we 

styled her bookcases with lots of 'manly-ish' accessories... {very technical decorator

terms I am using tonight}.

What does that mean, you ask?

Today, it meant old books, vintage hunting signs, a vintage

wine demi-john and an uber-cool old telephone box among

many other things...

Having such cool stuff makes a stylist's job easy!

Of course, I added some feminine touches so the room

really represents BOTH husband and wife.

Not many rooms can pull off vintage donkey statuary but this one does!

How cute is that face?

And here is the prized deer head - I love the frame around it!

These are the kinds of rooms that make my heart sing.....

they are personal and speak to the people who

live in the home.  Many a chi-chi foofy designers would

snub their noses at this room but in my opinion,  it's these

kinds of room that make your house a home.

My buddy Marc says it best......

One entry, two ways......

Remember last week when I said I was working with a e-Design

client on an entry/foyer project?  Well, I wanted to share with you

a bit about how these e-Design projects work.

Working via the internet is really

a different design process as I have to rely on the client to 

accurately represent the space and communicate how 

they want the space to look.  Often, this means many

emails back and forth, Pinterest board following and

sharing photos of the actual space.

The design board above was the first design board

I submitted to the client.

The board below is the final design board that

the client will execute.

Quite different, huh?

Ultimately, the client wanted a more neutral, traditional space

than the first design board indicated......

I have to say, I love the process of working across the miles 

with appreciative, lovely and fun homeowners.  It is really an honor!

You too can get in on the fun - my late night emails, quirky comments

and over-accessorizing!  Email me at jill.hinsondesigns@gmail.com

if you have a space that could use my help!  I would love

to work with you!

Going 'green'........

 Well, here she is......

I chose to go with a green front door.....

Am I thrilled?

Overly excited to show you all?

Not really.

I know it's a rather dull shade of green...

What can I say?

I played it safe.

Sometimes we do that.

And, perhaps, after having a bold yellow

door for a time...I was do for 'stately'

and 'classic'.....

I could mention all the things I would like

to change about the front of our house...

like a new front door minus the frosted glass

on the sidelights {really, who does this?}....

and bigger lights on either side of the door,

and perhaps a hanging fixture above the door

 instead of the recessed

light.

I would love to have a screen door but it's

a 'no go' with the lack of depth we have.....

Do you know how much $$$ a whole

new front door with the frame and all is going

for these days? Cha-ching!

And today while at the hardware store, I may or may not

have checked out another shade of green.....shhhh,

don't tell my husband!

Hope you all had a fabulous Mother's Day.....

On Mother's Day......

Wishing all of you mommas out there a very happy day!  May you truly have

the day off, cleaning up after NO ONE.  

Our plan is to have our raised beds all planted......

it's become a fun tradition.

I have these two beauties to thank for having the 

best job in the world........

They humble me...

They bless me....

They challenge me....

They make me proud......

They make me want to be better....

They made me a momma!

And to my own mother.....

Happy Mother's Day!

xo~

Entry Styling.....setting the design-stage for your home.

I am working with a new e-client on a design plan for

the family's foyer/entry way....

So this week, I found myself looking through my favorite

Pinterest entryway images.....

I found that I am drawn to imperfect entries{not surprising}...ones with

shoes scattered, 'smallish' in size and even include a stray toy or two!

However, they are all well designed and, I imagine, 

reflect the design of the rest of the home.

via

All these entries exude casual comfort, they are welcoming!

Remember, your home's entry sets the tone for how you want

your family, guest and visitors to feel in your home.

Homeowners can often get so caught up in decorating the big

spaces that the entry can become overlooked......

via

Admittedly, I have some work to do on my own home's entry -

it's been on the 'to do' list for sometime!  I'd love to 

start with a fabulous antique Persian rug.....and then go

from there.....

Do you have a smallish space in your home that

needs some design help?  I do small space 

design boards at half the price of my full-room design!

********

Email me at jill.hinsondesigns@gmail.com to

discuss your space!

* Coming Soon:  My front door color reveal.......how's that for a tease?

Is the suspense killing you yet?

French Dining Room.....{a client project}.

Greetings from the sunny/warm Pacific Northwest -

we are having crazy summer like weather here, I'll

take it in May!

**********

This is the dining room of the same client from this living room post......

Last week, I worked on styling her dining room.

The only "new to the room" elements are the 

large botanical prints on either side of the hutch.

The client has a nice collection of ironstone and other

goodies she picked up at flea markets - including the 

gorgeous grain sack table runner and French baguette basket

on her dining table.

We are still waiting for two of these lovelies for 

the parsons chairs on either side of the hutch.  I love

the graphic punch they will give the room.

If you need me this week, you will find me in my garden!

I hope the sun is shines on you too!

May Day......best holiday ever...

Technically, from where I live, I haven't missed my opportunity

to wish you a happy May Day, it's 9:02 PST.

It's been a day, I will leave it at that.

Why is spring so dang busy????

I am a big fan of May Day....it's so much better than Christmas, 

Easter or Valentine's day because it involves no shopping, 

wrapping, cleaning, cooking or baking.  And might I say,

May Day gets no respect here in blogland - no link-up parties,

hour tours and the like......

May Day is just all about flowers and giving....

and enjoying the new life that spring brings....

I have plenty blooming in my yard and have 

been enjoying cuttings of viburnum 'snowball' and

lilacs.....Trader Joe's isn't getting my flower dollars theses days...

Come back, please, I have pretty photos coming.....