Crash! A NEW Era

It's been quite a while since I posted a "Crash!" feature- almost a year actually!  Let's not do that again.  This time, I was a house crash-er at my parent's new (ish) house. About 3 years ago, I shared a mini home tour (which was looking back was mostly vignettes) with you just before my parents moved out of the home I grew up in.

For some silly reason, they wanted to live closer to their children and grandchildren.  So they sorted through 30 years of living in one home, held a huge tag sale, packed up the rest, and moved about 2 hours away.

Flashing to the present, Mom is just about as addicted to blogs as I am.  She decided to take the new house as an opportunity to reinvent her style, and reinvent she did!  She used to gravitate toward antique and Americana and now, while the antiques are still present, the home has a fresh, airy feel.

I am definitely a product of both my parents.  Example: the white bookcase above.  The base of the bookcase showed up in the last tour, but looking a bit differently:

My dad built the hutch top/bookshelf and my mom refinished and painted the whole thing.  I kind of love it.  Like the true librarian she is, Mom uses stacked books throughout the house to tell a story with the titles. Notice: Homes, Not so Big House, Living in New England, and House of Dreams

Mom's most recent furniture refinishing project shows up in the dining room.  The antique table that I grew up abusing using, got a fresh coat of paint on the base with some light distressing.  It looks like it was meant to be this way all along!

Mr. Fiddle Leaf Fig there is the sibling to my dying IKEA one.  Clearly Mom's doing something right because he's more than doubled in height!

Mom's styling stamp is all throughout the house (with Dad's approval of course), but his styling is evident on his dresser: vintage toy car, cut book "P" that he and Mom made a la Anthro, and a vintage cast iron mailbox bank.  Mom might have had her hand in the pile of books, though.  I believe one of the books is titled Man of my Dreams.  How delightfully cheesy are they?? (xoxo)

Even the outside has their touches all over it.  A pop of color door with new, beefier trim around it, neutral shutter, a bountiful garden and a sweet house number sign off etsy (if my mind serves me right).

While they had 30 years to personalize their last home, I think my parents have done quite nicely in the relatively short amount of time they've been in this house- isn't it beautiful??

If you live in the central MA or Boston area and want to see your home Crash!ed on the blog, e-mail me (karen@yearofserendipity.com) a few pics and a bit of the story of your home.  I'd love to make this a regular feature! 

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Crash! Charming Antique Cape

In this, the second installment of "Crash!" I invaded the beautiful home of a former coworker from days of yore.

Susan, her husband Andy and their adorable daughters Jenny and Laura have called this home for just about 4 years.

Built in the 30s, each previous homeowner has added on to it a bit, leaving their personal stamp and making this house truly unique.  Cape style homes around here built 40s and after are pretty cookie cutter, so the distinct non-cookie-cutterness of this older cape is quite refreshing.

Susan, being an architect by profession, definitely has the architect's eye with a designer's touch.  Every piece feels like it's telling a story.

Does the china cabinet look familiar?  If you've ben reading here for a while it should- it's the very same china cabinet that I bought and painted for my dining room before realizing that it just didn't work.  I'm so glad that it found a perfect home in Susan's dining room!  And the yellow is far superior to it's interim gray- so cheery!

One of Susan's stamps on the home so far (aside from her awesome decor) has been to open up the kitchen to the sunken sunroom below.  The sunroom has much grander plans for the future so I won't be sharing that today, but it totally helps the kitchen feel ridiculously open and bright.

This home is a great example of how kids and their accompanying clutter don't have to dictate your style.  The IKEA expedit bookcase (now Kallax) really is ideal for this no matter your budget.  Susan uses the lower bins to hide all the Disney princesses within little hands' reach and draws the eye up to adult level with more sculptural elements on top.

It's the little details that most wouldn't notice that always catch my eye.  Isn't the striped carpet runner mitered at the landing a striking touch?

Even the girls' rooms have an adorably vintage flare.  And as we all know, I'm a sucker for built-ins.

Throughout the home, you'll also find beautiful collages made from vintage prints that Susan's artist mom creates.  This one from the master bedroom was my personal favorite.

I know I swoon over antiques regularly, and this home was no different.  A few of my favorite pieces of furniture were the bench and chair found in the master that had been passed down through her family.  Cool antiques just become even cooler when they have meaning behind them.

Thank you, Susan, so much for letting me into your gorgeous home!!!

Are you in the Boston area and want me to come Crash! your home?  Shoot me an e-mail here with a few photos and a little about your home.

Crash! Seed to Stem

I'm so excited to be announcing this new series!  Every month I'll be 'crashing' a home, shop, or studio and sharing the awesomeness with you. This first Crash! I happened upon by accident.  Hubby and I were pooped from trying to move a couch into Frankie (and movers we are NOT) and were ravenous for a late lunch.  After parking and making a beeline for a Diner, we passed a shop that made my head turn.  Food?  Who needs food, I see pretty things.

Seed to Stem is hard to describe (even by the owners Virginia and Candace).  Here's my assessment- if a posh botanical shop fell in love with a quirky antique shop, had an affair with a taxidermist and then a love child was born out of this little love triangle, you'd get Seed to Stem.  Confused yet?  It'll all make sense when you check this place out!

It was so nice of these lovely ladies to let my camera and me invade their shop and ask them a few questions!

When did you first open the shop?

"We started Seed to Stem about 3 years ago, and were just setting up booths at craft shows, selling terrariums or other nature-inspired art we had put together. Soon after, we decided we wanted to have some type of a brick and mortar store, and rented a small room in an antique mall, The cider mill, in Sterling Mass. We stayed there about 6 months, quickly outgrew the space, and found our new home on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester."

What inspired you to start your own business?

"We were inspired to start our own business because we truly love nature, design, art, creativity, style..... and we really like working for ourselves. We wanted to open a unique shop that can be an inspiration to people, and connect them with nature. We also love visual merchandising, and have a blast re-arranging the shop to present our products in a unique way."

How would you describe your shop's style?

"We sometimes have trouble describing our shop's style. We often call it a gift, curiosity, and botanical shop. Our clients have called the shop "like walking into Narnia", "a perfect juxtaposition between life and death", a "natural wonder shop" etc. etc.  Our shops style is a mix of old and new, of times gone past...antiques, skulls etc., mixed with living plants, modern hand blown glass, and more stylish home accents, with a nod to the Victorian era.  We also do fresh floral design and staging for weddings and events. Most couples that choose us love our style and want it reflected in the design."

What has been your biggest challenge in regards to the business? "Our biggest challenge in regards to the business is keeping up with non-creative tasks.... bookkeeping, banking, e-mails, cleaning etc. ....all while creating the botanical pieces in the shop, re-doing displays, and doing large scale weddings and events. We feel like for most creative people, the more structured parts of running a business can be quite challenging."

On behalf of other creatives- I agree!  It's so tough to focus on boring numbers when you have shiny and pretty things to distract!

His name is Rufus and he is not for sale.  Came you blame them- look at that face!  Bear hug anyone?

And speaking of adorable faces- meet their shop puppy, Poe.  The little sweetheart has the most piercing blue eyes and almost converted this crazy cat lady into a dog person.

Even if you look away from the curated vignettes and look down to the floor, you won't be lacking for eye candy- those rugs!

Thanks Seed to Stem and Virginia and Candace for letting me share your shop's story!