Getting Sammied (Yes, it’s a verb!)

If you’ve been following this little blog, no doubt you’ve heard us mention Sam Jones. Sam works with us here at the gallery, and, more importantly works with many of our clients in their home doing what she does best: re-creating rooms and living spaces.

We say that sort of jokingly, but it’s really true. Sam can be called a number of lovely things: Renaissance woman (she knows more about everything than anyone we know); art expert (just throw out an artist’s name, any name, and she’ll rattle off style, period, influences and what he/she liked for lunch.)

Sam adores abstract expressionist art and Mark Rothko is one of her faves (Mark Rothko, No.10, oil on canvas, 1950) (We’re sure she knows every little detail about this ground-breaking artist – we’ll have to test her…)

She’s a tastemaker (she’s on top of every design trend out there); reader of design and art blogs…

There’s not an issue she misses.

It’s always about the mix with Sam…Atlanta’s own dame of decor, Suzanne Kasler, is the inspiration here.

Veranda and John Saladino: Sam’s in heaven.

She’s also a connoisseur of coffee table books; a movie goer; floral designer extraordinaire; and, best of all, furniture re-arranger.

You see, one of Sam’s greatest gifts (and it truly is a gift) is that she can walk into a room, cast an eye over what you’ve got and before you can say hey presto, she’s painted the walls, moved the sofa, re-positioned the chairs, re-hung Aunt Mildred’s rather dull landscape, and maybe recovered a sad and dusty love seat from one of her nameless haunts with nubbly Belgian linen – et voila! You are the proud possessor of a stylish, elegant room – without breaking the bank.

 With Sam’s help, you can go from here….

 …to here.

Her first love is art, art and more art so there’s nothing that makes her happier than placing a painting first and then redesigning a space to make that art shine beautifully. (For a sampling of what Sam’s capable of, click here to a blog we recently did that was all about finding the perfect painting for that tricky spot over the mantel.)

She’s terribly humble, so she never photographs befores or afters (for which we are constantly nagging at her), but one of us was in dire need of “Sammification” before an intimate and swanky benefit dinner – and remembered to take photos.

So, Sammy to the rescue! The bedroom, which has good bones and nice lines, really just need a little fluffing and Sam took care of that in a flash.

Before…

Of course, a couple paintings from the gallery had to spend the night and what a difference they made.

After…

A new duvet and a work by Jeffrey Terreson add a pop of color to the serene space.

Bedroom corner with Melissa Payne Baker’s Harvest I

In the master bedroom foyer, you’re greeted by Angie Renfro’s You Still Feel Like Home.

The next area screaming for attention was in the library where Sam had the brilliant idea of unfolding the drop-leaf table, adding a substantial and gorgeous lamp and spontaneously arranging baskets and jugs underneath. The coup de grace: an ironware bowl filled with fresh green apples and some sprigs of boxwood. So simple and yet so good.

Before…

And after…

Svetlana Shalygina’s Conspiracy is the perfect fit above the artful table vignette Sam arranged.

A sweet arrangement of flowers in front of Liz Barber’s Water Rings IV.

This Huffington had also begged Sam to help with floral arrangements and centerpieces for the dinner – and of course, she did not disappoint. She knows I love anything green and from the garden, so she created a mini potager for each table. Portobello mushrooms, eggplants, asparagus and artichokes all starred front and center and looked just perfect, fresh and natural.

The dinner party spilled over into the kitchen and living rooms, which have also been “Sammified” in the past. Remember this blog about searching for the perfect thing for over the mantel?

Sam’s not just our secret weapon – she actually stays incredibly busy with design jobs and floral work and she’s got a huge cadre of fans and clients. But we adore her and appreciate her enthusiastic passion for art and her unwavering love for all things beautiful. In fact, there’s just nothing better than getting “Sammied,” which has now become a verb at the gallery.

And, Sam’s favorite haunts? She won’t even tell us because we’d probably take one look and keep driving. But she’s got an eye for the diamond in the rough and her vivid imagination (and a can of some yummy Farrow and Ball paint color) works absolute miracles.

Farrow and Ball Colors (French Blue, Cooking Apple Green and Blackened) all at http://www.farrow-ball.com/

We’ll keep hounding her for befores and afters so we can share them with you. And, if you’re local in Atlanta and need a little “Sammification” of your own, just let us know.

Ta Ta…

M.

For the Artful Makeover, Sam’s fees are billed as follows: The first hour of consultation is complimentary, and she charges $50 per hour after that. We actually can’t count the number of our clients who have told us it was the best money they ever spent! We hope to have some Artful Makeover before and after photos to share with you soon.

How to Pass the Time

…when this:

turns to this:

On a recent getaway to the Florida Panhandle, we were stymied by day after day of rain. And not gentle, misty showers, but heavy, tropical downpours that soaked us poor ever-hopeful beachgoers at every turn. Usually, the deluge would begin when you were on a bike, several minutes from home, loaded down with beach paraphernalia and with no alternative but to keep slogging through the sheets of water only to arrive at your destination looking like a drowned rat.

Fancy a walk?

Bike ride, anyone?

After consulting the local weather radar, we became resigned to the fact that our long-anticipated family beach vacation had morphed into hours and hours of family time together – inside. This included five adults and four teenagers. Hmmmm. Which got me thinking about passing the time when the beach trip becomes waterlogged:

- write a blog and amuse family members by taking dozens of photos of the rain

- sit on the porch with a good book and maybe even a little background jazz (we got lucky: our brother-in-law plays the guitar fabulously and there was nothing better than sitting on the porch listening to him quietly strum)

- plan meals (we ate magnificently!)

- make ice cream (under the porch – and more about that in a second)

- make up new card games – or play old favorites

- try on the homeowner’s extensive collection of straw beach hats

- curl up on the sofa and revisit a couple favorite old movies (we got in Fiddler on the Roof and Gone with the Wind – and then mimicked the characters at every opportunity)

- do laundry (sounds weird, but I love doing laundry on vacation. It feels like playing house and it doesn’t really matter if it gets done or not)

- do some online shopping

- take an afternoon nap and fall asleep to the sound of rain on a tin roof

- read magazines (the lovely little house we rented had dozens of back issues of Coastal Living, a stylish publication I just love.)

(Who wouldn’t want a beach porch like this?)

- Write in a diary

- Crank the Ipod and dance (Mimi, our mother/mother-in-law/grandmother, had a rocking list that included Abba and the Bee Gees, and one night after dinner, we had a dance party.)

Back to the ice-cream maker…we have an electric White Mountain ice cream maker that has the wooden sides and a bulky motor that attaches on the top.

And, it makes amazing ice cream. We tried a different batch each night, but the hands-down favorite was the Oreo. Here’s how we made it:

Homemade Oreo ice cream

You start with the base, which is a basic vanilla. This recipe makes 4 quarts, which was just about enough for nine ice-cream connoisseurs:

~3 cups milk

~1 ¾ cups sugar

~½ tsp salt

~2 cups half and half

~1 Tbsp vanilla extract

~3 cups whipping cream

~1 cup crushed Oreos

1. Scald the milk until bubbles form around the edge. Remove from heat.

2. Add sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved. Stir in half and half, vanilla and whipping cream.

3. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

4. Add the crushed Oreos during the last 5-10 minutes of churning.

Usually our efforts yielded different results – one night the consistency was a little too soft, another night it was too icy. We finally got it right, but decided that each and every batch was spoon-lickingly delicious and ice-cream making was to be a new family vacation tradition.

To fill you in on the rest of the vacation: on the last day, the sun finally peeked out, but sadly half our group was already packed and ready to go. Happily, and despite the rain, it was voted as a Best Ever Family Vacation -- which goes to show it’s all about just being together.

Tata!

M.

Humble Beginnings

Welcome to our blog, aptly named The Artful Lifestyle. We join legions of blogs out there and hope our simple and short musings will strike a chord with you. We’ll comment on art (of course), lifestyle, food, design, travel and all the other little things in life that strike our fancy.

Sometimes you’ll hear from Ann, sometimes you’ll hear from Meg and sometimes you’ll be hanging on Sam Jones’ every word as well as pearls of lifely wisdom from Linda Mohan and Sarah Sullivan. And because there's always room for more, we hope to have guest contributors from time to time, so that maybe you'll join the family, as well.

What better way to start off a new year than with a new blog - and, as we struggle with a little "writer’s blog," we hear once you get going you can’t stop!

Ta Ta …

Meg and Ann