NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

I like to enjoy the holiday decorations as long as the fresh greens stay fresh.  Then when I take them out I redo some of my accessories instead of just putting things back where they were.  It gives a fresh start to the new year. 

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

Strauss "Gypsy Baron"
by: Heide Browne
mixed media
22X 28
$250

STORY OF THE WEEK:

THE WHITNEY CHRONICLES  -  "PUMPKIN AGAIN", PART ONE

Hi Glenda,
Happy Holidays!  Just wanted to share this year's pumpkin story with you.  Yesterday I got up determined that this would be the day I "dealt with the pumpkin"...Somehow this Halloween pumpkin dominates my life until I cook it...I can't seem to just throw it on the compost pile...it must be eaten!  And I have torn out a wonderful recipe from a design magazine...it's a complicated recipe (at least for me)...but the photo of "Crusted Pumpkin Wedges with Sour Cream" looks scrumptious...
now to turn a large, hard as a rock pumpkin into perfect wedges requires a power saw...but a serated knife with a threateningly large blade will have to do and as thoughts of a trip to the emergency room loom...I force  the tip of the blade into the pumpkin and try to cut it open.  It's not possible, the knife just stays stuck.  I heave it out and try again.  No luck.  But help is on the way, Heide comes into the kitchen with an offer of help, so we both arm ourselves with  knives ready and thrust  them into the pumpkin, trying to slice it open.  After much struggling, we get it open and split into  two big sections...not perfectly shaped, not symmetrical, not even halves...but open.   Then we begin to remove all the "gunk" of the seeds and strings that fill the middle...a real sticky mess.  Lots of scraping and pulling.  Now to try to make uniformly shaped "pumpkin wedges" that look like half-moons.     Not possible.  I try and try, and finally settle for any size slices that I can carve  that  resemble curved wedges.    This is very hard work, takes strong muscles and perseverance   and it is not made any easier by the fact that I "saved/stored" this pumpkin from Halloween until mid-December.  It is drying up, so the "wedges" do not look  like half moons, but rather brand New Moons... very slim "wedges".
And to backtrack, I forgot to tell you that since  I seem to be so worried about facing  this beast that looms over my head, rather than clearing the decks and planning nothing else to do on "pumpkin"  day except attack this pumpkin...instead I start a load of washing that needs to be tended, with slippers that have to be removed before the spin cycle...and I roll the kitchen island away from the wall by the stove, out into the middle of the room, remove everything that is stored on it's top and  shelves...and those cannisters,  the wok, pots and pans and mixing bowls fill the top of the kitchen table and half of the kitchen counters...so everything that was neatly tucked away has now escaped all over the kitchen.  Then I'm faced with cleaning the walls behind the island and the floor under the island...an unpleasant task as I try to determine what those green blobs are...(old spinach leaves)...I  then question my "thought I was a good housekeeper"  house cleaning capabilities.  Then I spy the dishwasher (which is blocked by the island and which we don't use on a daily basis) and decide to send through a load of glasses and vases, so they will sparkle for the holidays.  While removing them all from  the shelves above the sink and filling the dishwasher, I decide that the cups that hang from these shelves also need washing, so I fill the sink with hot soapy water and put all the cups into it.  Now the other side of the kitchen is completely  filled with a variety of  projects that will require my time and attention.   And I remember that last year when I "transformed" the pumpkin I chose to do it on the day when plumbers were installing a new hot water heater and I had no water during the "pumpkin process".  Deja vu...how have I managed to re-create another  almost impossible situation?  Heide walks into the kitchen,  and I know she is thinking "not again!".  But she lends a hand.
And I realize that maybe, just maybe the terror that this pumpkin causes me, spins me out of control and causes  me to try to distract myself...Not a good plan...Where is the motto "one thing at a time", which  especially should be applied  if the One Thing is a big one! Self-realization has come, but not before I have completed wrecked the kitchen. 
And  the pumpkin is slashed wide  open... so I must proceed ahead... the  crusted wedges must be conquered!

NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

When I am hanging artwork I try to remember to install those small rubber bumpers on the bottom corners on the backs of the pictures.  Especially when I am hanging a large grouping, these little bumpers help keep the pictures from getting crooked.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"African Face"
(one in a series of three)
14 x 14
Pastel on suedecloth
$200

NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP:

When planning window treatments, I find it very helpful to study the antique, historical  window treatments, to understand the proportions.  Then I can tell  how best to adapt swags and valances to modern window sizes.  Many styles are hard to adapt since they were designed for single, tall windows and we have many wide, shorter  windows now ....but it is possible to design them with the grace and beauty intact.

STORY:

This Thanksgiving I made a very fast  trip to visit friends in Cincinnati and I had a wonderful time and I will write  the stories when I have recovered from the traveling!  The hardest thing about holidays is that we all still keep working hard right up to those holiday  and right after them.  Maybe our New Year's resolutions need to be made now...to make more time and space for ourselves during these holidays?!

PICTURE:

"Serene River"
oil pastel,  22 x 28
by Heide Browne

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:
Built-in bookcases around and over a doorway  can look wonderful and be very functional...or even forming a nook for the sofa...and a single shelf placed aprx 7 feet high, running around the entire room or on one wall,  really does create  a lot of space for books and  great space for displaying decorative collections.

STORY OF THE WEEK:

I promise to include two stories in an upcoming week's post.    A Thanksgiving trip  and a condiminium installation have completely filled my week....and I am thankful for both!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"String Theory"
22 x 28 metallic pen
by: Heide Browne
$500

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

I've just finished a second high-rise condominium project and I've found that when working in high rise buildings, paint colors change from one floor to the next.  A gray will look greener on the ground floor due to the trees and grass reflecting the light that comes into the windows and five  stories up the very same gray will look blue since the light is reflected from the sky with nothing but blue outside. 
And dark colors can appear darker since most buildings have covered balconies which lower the light levels in the rooms.  So it takes some adjusting from working in ground level homes.

STORY OF THE WEEK:

From "The Tales from Twin Chimneys"  written in the 90's when I lived out in the country with two other city girls.

"TALES FROM TWIN CHIMNEYS  - A THANKSGIVING ESSAY"
by:  Beverly Anderson

     What am I thankful for this year?...for my romantic nature and my survival skills.  I am a city girl and I moved to the country with two other city girls.  This farm is called "Twin Chimneys" because of  two large, two story high,  hand hewned stone chimneys.  The house is 200 years old and sits on twelve acres with two ponds, a gazebo, and a barn.  It is an idylic setting in rolling Tennesse hills.  A postcard kind of place.  Beauty and tranquility prevail...alas, so does a huge amount of grass mowing.
     So I am thankful for the gorgeous view, which I have enjoyed mainly from the seat of the John Deere riding mower.  I am eternally grateful for each time this ancient mower coughs its way around the yard. It is not so much the physical work I mind, but the enormous mental and emotional energy required to try to "will" this machine over these acres and keep air in all four of it's tires at the same time, to provide some cushion as I am jolted over these "gentle? rolling hills".
     I am also thankful for the far pasture where our neighbor keeps his cows and I am very grateful that he mows these acres himself.  The pasture also serves as a cemetery for a beloved fourteen year old Siberian husky, Tisha, and a cherished thirteen year old tortoise shell colored cat, Bear.
   I am thankfor for my friend's six year old grandson, Robert who sang at cat Bear's funeral...not a quiet, reverent "Jesus Loves Me", but a rousing rock version, self-composed, of "Bear was a Good Old Cat...SHEEE was the best cat we ever had."  This was fully choreographed with wild arm swinging and dancing.  Several verses were sung at the gravesite while our third roommate who was sick that day, watched through the closed kitchen window, no audio available.
   For all the remaining dogs, cats, fish, birds, cows and horses I am thankful.  I am NOT thankfull for the snakes.  I AM thankful that almost all of the holes in the old log walls have been plugged...snakes slithering along the entrance floor do not add to my piece of mind, nor do they increase the chances of my two friends continuing to live in this "idylic" countryside with me.
     I am thankfor for the pioneer spirit still alive in us modern American women, although we never planned to discover it.
     For all these happenings, for the space to experience them on this beautiful land, for the clear sunlight shining off the calm water in the pond and through the brilliantly colored fall leaves, I am thankful.
     I am blessed by it all.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"Energy, Oil and Silver"
22x30
metallic pen, by Heide Browne
$450.00

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:
When I am working on window treatments, the most important thing is their function.  How much privacy is needed?  How much flexibility in the  light control?  What is the best style for the architecture?  What is the best style for the decor?  And then comes the beauty, the fabric color  for the draperies,   the  color  and material  of the blinds, vertical or horizontal,  and foremost the favorite look of my client.    Window treatments should provide all three:  privacy, light control and great looks!

STORY OF THE WEEK:

"TALES FROM TWIN CHIMNEYS  -  TALE PIPES"
Part Two
by:  Beverly Anderson

    I arrived on Thursday morning to find a small garage with a sign on the door "OPEN 8-2 DUE TO SCHOOL AND MY CHILDREN".  A young, pretty blonde woman with goggles on the top of her head said, "Hi, pull your car up on the ramp."  I negotiated it nervously, got out of my car, and she raised it up high into the air.  She didn't ask me to stand under it's belly and stare at it again.  She pulled down her goggles over her eyes and went right to work.  She lighted a big welding torch and began to cut away the rusty pipes.  She works alone.  She measures by sight, aligns the new pipes, welds them on and so on.  I watched fascinated.  She is a metal sculptor at work.  Very talented.  Very competent.  Very carefull.  Her blonde hair and feminine physique did not hinder her even a little bit.  A true craftswoman.
     I watched a while longer and said "I think I'll walk down to the crafts/antique shop/restaurant down the road".  "OK, she said, "I'll be a little while".
     The restaurant looked deserted.  I walked around the side where there was a small lawnmower repair shop.  A man called out to me, "You can come on in the restaurant from this end."  He and his wife have officially closed down, but he was cooking fried pies.  His specialty.  Peach.  Freshly made pie crust.  Hot grease.  Delicious smells.  I ordered one and he said, "Sit down, make yourself at home." His wife came over and sat with me.  "He does all the cooking now, " she said.  "I quit cooking when I got the girls raised".  Her husband said he would be glad to take a look at my ailing John Deere mower, too.  We visited and talked and discovered that I know some of their friends.  She said they made her so welcome when she went to their church.  We exchanged stories of these lovely people.  I finished my pie and got up to leave.  "Where do you work?", she asked.  I told her and we found out we had another friend in common.  More conversation.  More visiting.
     I finally left and walked back to the muffler shop.  She has just  selected a long silver pipe from the assorted oddly shaped pipes that line the walls. She has it braced in  place with long metal stands and she uses two small rocks to wedge it into the right spot while she is welding.  Goggles down.  Sparks flying.  Happily soldering and hammering.  She tells me the only worry she feels about this work is when she has to weld directly to the muffler.  "One backfired once."  "It was very loud, and I had to close the shop and go to the doctor." "Now I'm nervous when I get to that part".  More sparks fly.  She approaches the new muffler with the torch.  I go back outside.
     She finishes up.  I watch her carefully check every weld and pipe to be sure everything is secure.  She apologizes for taking so long.  I assure her it is just fine.  She says she likes to be careful.  She doesn't want her work to be brought back.  I appreciate that very much.  She washes up.  She figures up my bill and says, "$130 is enough for a muffler and tail pipe out here in the country".  I am very grateful.  I have saved a lot of money and spent a very interesting morning.
     I watched two artists at work.  I received a new muffler from a woman and a delicious fried pie from a man.  I met new friends and shared stories of old ones.  I learned a lot.  I have "tale-pipes" to tell.


PICTURE OF THE WEEK:
"Scene on the River", oil pastel
by Heide Browne
$450

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

This summer my front porch was beautiful with morning glory vines growing out of  a large decorative  pot. They climbed up and spiraled  around  the column.  As fall has progressed, their  blossoms began to lessen and their  leaves turned brown and they were no longer beautiful. So I pulled them up this  from the pot and  filled it with tall,  bare branches, cattails and grasses...then I filled the pot with  colorful fall gourds.   I sat a  bright orange pumpkin beside it and the porch is revitalized and beautiful again.

STORY OF THE WEEK:

TALES FROM TWIN CHIMNEYS  -  "TALE PIPES"   PART ONE
By:  Beverly Anderson

     While visiting a friend in town, I noticed my car's muffler was about to fall off.  I carefully drove to a well known big-chain muffler repair shop and asked for an estimate.  $350.00.  Wow!  I was shocked.  My car was up on their rack and they asked me to come and stand under it and look at the problem:  rusty tailpipes, plus a muffler hanging by a thread.  I understood, but was still shocked by the cost.
     I drove home to Twin Chimneys to think about it and talk it over with Gayle and Doug.  Gayle says she is having muffler trouble, too.  Thus began these tales:  "Ask and Ye Shall Receive", and "It's a Small World, Isn't It?"
     I called my friend, Mary Carroll.  She called her friend, Ed.  He said, "Boy, that is a high estimate, but then muffler shops are notorious for eating women alive".  He recommended Gorilla Muffler.  He even volunteered to go with me.  GORILLA  Muffler!  Maybe I will need his company.
     I called Gayle at her office in town and of all things, she had just passed by Gorilla Muffler on her lunch  hour and thought it would be a good possibility, but she  was afraid to go inside.  A great big gorilla stands outside the shop holding a huge tailpipe.  Not her usual shopping experience.
     She gathered her courage and called them on the phone.  The lady who answered was very nice and  the combination of Ed's recommendation and this kind voice, I gathered up my courage and drove to Gorilla Muffler.
     Sure enough, the lady was very friendly.  We visited while my car was taken away for inspection.  It turns out that she passes our house, Twin Chimneys,  each day on her way to work.  In fact she says she always wishes we would get some ducks on our pond.  She says we need some.  We had a delightful conversation and I quit worrying about my muffler and about the big gorilla outside.  The mechanic asked me to come and stand under my raised car.  Again.  This is twice this week I have stood underneath my dirty, strange looking car belly.  It is not fun, but they showed me the same problems and said, "it will be about $130-150 to fix it".  I breathed a sigh of relief.  "Can you do it today?" I asked.  "No, it takes several hours.  "How about tomorrow?" they asked.  "I live out in Ashland City and I can't come into town tomorrow".  A man came out from the back of the shop.  "I think you are closer to our Pleasantview Shop".  I thought to myself "you mean Gorilla Muffler has a branch office?!!!"  I was amazed.  "Yes, I said, that would be more convenient for me".  "OK", he said.  "I'll call my wife and tell her you can come on Thursday."  "She has a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and so she can't fix it that day".  I wondered if she would actually be the one to do the work.  I'm not used to women mechanics, but I am looking forward to meeting her.

...to be continued

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"Daughter of the Autumn Wind"
by Heide Browne
Acrylic, 15 x 18,  $250

 

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

AS THE OUTSIDE WORLD CHANGES TO THE  FALL SEASON, AND WE  SEEK CHANGES IN OUR INTERIOR WORLDS,    A SUMMER "ALL WHITE" BEDROOM CAN BE TRANSFORMED INSTANTLY BY ADDING A BURNT ORANGE COMFORTER AND  THROW PILLOWS IN GOLDS, BROWNS AND ORANGES.

STORY OF THE WEEK:

I am posting  these stories that I wrote in the 90's  when I moved to the country to a two hundred year old farmhouse named "Twin Chimneys" 

TALES FROM TWIN CHIMNEYS (tm)  - "BETWEEN SEASONS"
by: Beverly Anderson

     As I walked to the mailbox this morning, a soft wind caught my attention.  It is different today.  It is dry.  It feels good on my skin and sounds good to my ears.  These are new sounds. The leaves on the trees are drying up and they rustle.  Some fall to the ground and make soft sounds as they land.  I hear a rhythmic chorus of grasshoppers joined by a mockingbird singing his solo.
     The trees on the hillside are beginning to turn yellow.  It is not a grand show yet.  It is a signal of things to come. The green summer grass is  mostly brown and is beginning to be covered with yellow and brown leaves.  The hackberry and mulberry trees shed their leaves early with no splendor.  The autumn asters are blooming pink and purple, beautiful, alone among the dried up stalks of the daylilies and coneflowers.
     It is not an exeptional day, but it is a quiet time between seasons.  A time to notice the changes.
     The cows are sitting and standing lazily beside the pond.  One is in the water.  There are six of them, four reddish brown and two black and white.  They have grown.  They are much bigger than when Johnny brought them here in the spring as "teenage calves".    I always enjoy having them here, but today I am particularly grateful. They bring joy and peace to the land.  They don't require much from a day.  They are content.  I like to watch them as they walk around the pasture.  In the early morning they graze near the barn.  In the hot afternoons they go way down by the far pond.  In the evening they come close to the house.  I can pet them through the fence.  Their noses are big and spongy.    Their heads are hard as rocks, but with fur.  Their eyes are huge glass balls rolling around as they study me.
     I will try to enjoy them more each day now  because they will soon leave.   Johnny picks them up each fall and I remember how it is when they are gone.  Lonely.  The farm feels more complete when they are here.
    Things change.  There is sadness.  And quiet reflection.  Time to more fully enjoy what has been here before it leaves.  Time to think about what is coming.  That is the way it is between seasons.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"Camels" , oil pastel
by Heide Browne
$300

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

When you are choosing white and offwhite paint colors, in my experience they dry lighter than the chips.  If I  hold the chip so you can look across the color and not directly into the face of the chip,  I can tell how white it will be.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"Jigsaw" by Heide Browne,
 mixed media, 28 x 22
$450

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

If you are wanting to change some rooms and don't feel inspired,  I  find it very helpful to visit Consignment Stores, taking a mental inventory of what is available.  Then do an inventory at home and see if there is something you would like to replace.  Or visit the fabric stores to see all the new colors and designs to get inspired.  Sometimes the creative process can go "outside to inside".

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

Verdi's Il Trovatore
from the Music Series
by Heide Browne
Pen and Ink
28 x 22
$750.00

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

"Get out your paintbrush and paint your front door"...Change the color of your front entrance door...it will  make a big change in the appearance of your home.  Black, Red or Dark Green...Turquoise or Purple...let your imagination run wild...make a statement and give your home the  look and  feeling that you want to convey to each and every person who comes to visit.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"Hiya" Lady of the Desert
by Heide Browne
24 x 30, Oil
$500

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK

WHEN SELECTING PAINT COLORS TO CREATE PEACEFUL SPACES, CHOOSE THE COLOR CHIPS THAT HAVE A LITTLE MORE GRAY IN THEM. THE  BRIGHTLY TONED COLORS WILL NOT "STAY STILL" ON THE WALLS.


PICTURE OF THE WEEK:
"MOZART" IN THE MUSIC SERIES
OIL, 22 X 28  $600

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK

I recommend a walk thru the fabric store...to become inspired by all the new patterns and colors.  Even though I am there quite often, new things are always coming in.  Then create  a new window treatment with colors that you might not have thought of before or recover a chair in a fun new print!


PICTURE OF THE WEEK

"Berlioz Symphony Fantastique"
22 x 30
Metallic Pen on Paper
$800

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK

How about painting a room in a soft, cool aqua to help beat the summer heat!  Then in the winter, it can be accented with burnt orange to warm it.   Sherwin Williams'  "Aqua Pura" SW1200 is my favorite soft aqua and if you want a little more depth, "Refined Aqua" SW1199 is very beautiful.  Both of these colors are from their older sample line , but they can still mix them.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

"Ursula's Puzzles"
by Heide Browne
Metallic Pen
40 x 30
$950.00

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

"Stay focused"  I hear that a lot these days.  To me it means to check my "to do list" and see if I have done  the things on the list  that can be completed right away. Not let things drag on too long, and from a design standpoint, that means  "clean out the clutter, decide on the new appliances, decide if the furniture in  living room really can be re-arranged, decide the new paint color for the kitchen or decide to get help with any of those projects...to be able to  put them into action as soon as possible!



PICTURE OF THE WEEK:
African Face
by Heide Browne
One  in a series of Three Pastels
Size 18 x 22
$400

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK

If you are feeling the need for a new look, but not wanting to undertake a complete redecoration/renovation,  indentify  three things you would like to change.
  
Get a more comfortable chair?  Buy some new window treatments?  De-clutter?  Change paint colors? Add hardwood flooring?  Change the kitchen counter tops? Buy a new faucet.

And begin one step at a time.


PICTURE OF THE WEEK:
"Prince of the Earth"
by Heide Browne
Metallic pen
32 x 32 framed
$600

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK

Give me a call 615-256-0688 if you want to make some changes and don't know where to start.  We can meet together and create a plan to fit your needs and your budget.
Sometimes just beginning the process gets the creative wheels turning!

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

With spring approaching, this is a good time to paint...to decide if there is one room that could really use a makeover.  Painting  a new wall color can give a whole new look to a room.  If it was dark, a light color will make a dramatic change.  If it was light, a deep rich color can make all of the furnishings look new. Then rearrange the furniture and you have a completely different room!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"Arabian"  by Heide Browne
Pastel, 24 x 36 framed
$750.00

Weekly Newscast

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:
With Spring coming, freshen  up your interiors by changing the throw pillows in the living room.  Add pillows in  bright, happy colors.  Change out the bed treatments with  comforters in lighter weights and in lighter colors.  And keep on the de-cluttering path...open up the rooms for more light and air as the weather becomes warmer.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:
by Heide Browne
20 x 20 Needlework
"Ornamental Garden"
$450

Weekly Newscast

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

Too much clutter?  Remove some accessory that ended up in the room and was not in the original plan for that room's  decor...like the small statue a friend brought, which should be displayed in the bookcase in the study  and it remained on the end table in the living room.      And if you can remove 5 things like that  from a room it will be so much quieter. 



FEATURED PAINTING: by Heide Browne, oil, size 24 x 30

What will be in this blog

Along with creating this new blog, I'm designing a website http://www.beverlyandersoninteriordesign.com/ which will  appear in the next few weeks.  It will have photos of completed interiors, and information about  the specialized services  my firm provides,  House Fluffing and Color Specialist.
It  will include interior  design tips of the week, my stories The Tales of Twin Chimneys and The Whitney Chronicles, artwork by Heide Browne and photographs of my view of the world.
I hope you will enjoy it!  I will enjoy creating it and I will enjoy designing spaces with you.