Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Starfish Cottage

With summer soon approaching I was compelled to show you a peek into Wright-Ryan Homes' Starfish Cottage. This lovely home was built by Wright-Ryan Construction, who have been building Maine's great spaces since 1984. All pictures are from their web site. Let's take a look: We arrive on to a lovely porch. Perfect to relax with a book and listen to the crashing waves.
The entry treats us to a wonderful staircase accented with beadboard - notice the striped runner up the stairs, the porthole interior window, and the nickel lantern. Doesn't this just scream beach house?
We walk upstairs to the heart of the home, the kitchen, designed on the second level to most likely capture the best ocean views.

Notice the fantastic ceiling and porthole window. But, the pièce de résistance' is the starfish railing. What a wonderful custom feature that adds a tremendous amount of personality to this fabulous room. I love the cut outs of marine life and especially the lighthouse post. Notice how the beadboard is brought back into the design scheme, with the lower cabinet doors. The cabinets are a perfect shade of blue, which done incorrectly could have overwhelmed the space. But, this shade of blue actually adds to the ocean and beach feel in subtle but beautiful way. The lighting also reinforces that this is a place for sun and sand! Pull a stool and grab an apple!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

'Bridal Sweet' Retreat for May


We've been preparing this theme for months now, and a last-minute decision led us to rent more space at Faded Elegance Antique to fit it all in!!! With our ongoing preparations for two shows in June (Farm Chicks & Tumbleweed Cotillion), we decided that it was worth it right now. Less time & effort, truthfully! What we have for you in this new space is lots of feminine elegance and whimsy...


A beautiful selection of meticulously handpainted furnishings, including this robin's egg blue mahogany dropleaf table. No less than eight coats of paint, washes and glazes, and a smidgen of gold leaf detail add years and character to an already interesting piece. The base is stunning, with turned legs and copper feet caps.

You'll find a special selection of delicate accessories for your home, party decor, and personal style. A wedding cake (from Deb's new 'FooFooFauxFood'TM line), 'Bride Bingo' game, and crystal snack sets in their original boxes are just the thing for a fabulous Bridal shower!

It's not all about Brides, tho - we have great gifts for mom, too! Beautiful jewelry, embellished jewelry boxes, crystal lamps with creative custom shades, and the current Victoria magazine will make any woman smile.


This delicate white, gold, and aqua china is English Ironstone from Staffordshire. Four sets of teacup, saucer, and plate are available for your special tea party, and an additional two saucers and plates are available for serving cookies!

The piece de' resistance of the display is this artful confection - I call her 'Miss Wedding Belle'. Belle's base is a new style of mannequin we are producing for retail use, created from reclaimed chairs. She's a sweet white bistro chair under the dress, and a wire armature forms her 'body'! I've dressed her in a fanciful dress of netting, satin, lace, georgette, and ribbons. A silky veil sweeps down from her head. She would be a darling addition to your party decor - perhaps to greet guests at the door, or preside over the gift table? Belle is a one-of-a-kind work of art, never to be replicated. She will have cousins, though - I've got a fabulous start on 'Miss Foofy la Rue', a French Miss, for our booth at the Tumbleweed Cotillion Vintage French Market.

If you are interested in learning more about our 'Sittin' Pretty unique mannequins'TM, drop us a line at debi@thedecodiva.com.