INSPIRATION..always needed, always welcome!

If you are in or anywhere near Atlanta this week, you must visit the Cathedral Antiques Show Inspiration House. Each year, a great roster of designers is selected to transform spaces in conjunction with the Cathedral Antiques Show. Although the Antiques Show ended on the 3rd, the Inspiration House continues through this Sunday, the 10th.

Visit the website for more information about this event that celebrates great design and benefits a charity. http://www.cathedralantiques.org/

I was a bit under the weather when I toured the house (and in a pretty foul mood because I felt so bad), so thankfully there were three spaces and two artists that made my trip completely worth it by being very inspiring.

PARKER KENNEDY!! The name deserves all caps and two exclamation points. I mean, really, how fun is this living room?? I could spend hours, okay days, very happy in this space. Not since Dorothy Draper has hot pink seen this much use. Tempered slightly by a great blue used throughout the room, I think the Parker Kennedy design duo David Ecton and Lance Jackson did an outstanding job. On the Parker Kennedy website, it says "“Preppy on the Edge”… A contempory approach to the timeless classic. It is the defining difference between traditional to transitional design, and that is what Parker Kennedy strives to accomplish.", is the defining hallmark of Parker Kennedy's design work. WELL, I give you.....

image--scan of Parker Kennedy card in inspiration house room

 DEFINITELY preppy on the edge..and I absolutely love it.

LOVE the combination of lacquer, mirror, silver, chinoiserie, greek key, etc, etc. very well done.

a traditional wing chair goes Dorothy Draper with the painted legs and hot pink velvet

Barbara Cosgrove Foo Dog Lamp with Silver Shade

LOVE the blue grosgrain on hot pink velvet pillows.

 this chair is FANTASTIC! 

It turns out that PARKER KENNEDY LIVING is a retail showroom and warehouse in Atlanta and they show at Scott's as well. I will be checking out their wares as soon as I am better and able to get out and shop for clients!

From the bolt of color in the living room, I headed downstairs where I found this very serene retreat by one of my favorite architects, Bill Ingram, who lives in Birmingham. Through all of the press attention he has received, I have followed Ingram's work for years and it was thrilling to be in a space that he designed. This is where a great book and a cup of tea would join me every day. Ingram's work is so thoughtfully executed. This is a very small space with stone walls and great windows which make furniture placement a challenge. Leave it to a brilliant architect to work it all out in great style. There will be more in the future on Bill Ingram's work and this room so I will share the details then.

My favorite reading lamp, the "Studio Adjustable Floor Lamp" by Circa Lighting, is beside each chair waiting on me to sit a while with the above mentioned book and cup of tea!

To see projects by Bill Ingram, please visit www.billingramarchitect.com

Back upstairs, I got a huge smile on my face when I saw the chic as all get out Bob Collins bamboo  wallpaper and Kent Bragaline fabric on the skirted table in the foyer. And to top it off, a Chinoiserie lantern from John Rosselli. Palm Beach, anyone??

Former New Yorker Louise Wilcox Cronan (LWC Interiors) designed this space and it does exactly what a foyer should do...welcome visitors in great style, with charm, and hand out a smile to each guest as they come in.

I visit as many show houses as I can in hopes of seeing new products and artists to specify for Jeffery McCullough Art Design & Consulting projects. At this show house, there were two artists whose work I fell in love with.

One, Erin McIntosh, who is represented by Gregg Irby Fine Art in Atlanta, isn't brand new to me. In fact, I recently bought one of her incredible abstract works on paper pieces from Gregg Irby.

But I had not seen a grouping of Erin McIntosh's work and was very pleased to see three in the dining room designed by Wesley Huffard. I am just in love with these abstract watercolor on paper pieces. AND, best of all, the 11" x 14" unframed pieces are only $ 90 each. Buy this artists work now!

My photographs really do not do justice to the talent that this young artist possesses. To see more of her work, visit Gregg Irby Fine Art's website. http://www.greggirbyfineart.com/artists/mcintosh/

My Savannah area friends are going to be in big trouble if they know about this next artist and haven't told me! Katherine Sandoz?? I walked into the back hall designed by Brooke Merrill Home and about tripped over furniture to get up close and personal with these little jewels!

Of course, the second I got back to my computer in the office I was googling up a storm. Turns out, Katherine Sandoz lives in Savannah, has two (not one, mind you) masters from SCAD, and has shown at galleries in Savannah, Atlanta, Austin, and New Hampshire. Again, like Parker Kennedy Living, as soon as I'm back up to snuff, I will be driving down to Savannah to see more of her work!

From http://www.katherinesandoz.com, here are images of the above two pieces. 

(the woods) N
5 x 6, water-based media on panel, summer-fall 2011

(marsh) K
7 x 8, water-based media on panel, summer-fall 2011

See why it is important to visit show houses?? Inspiration, ideas, exposure, celebration of talent.

Now you go this week to the CATHEDRAL ANTIQUES INSPIRATION HOUSE located on the grounds of The Cathedral of Saint Philip  at 2744 Peachtree Road NW.

ENJOY!