Find unique items for your home

As a designer I love to find unique and interesting pieces to use for clients, family, friends and myself! We have all heard about design styles – pottery Barn style, country, modern, transitional, traditional, French country and so on. Using unique pieces can make your style and your home stand out! One of the best places to find reasonably priced and unique items is at antique malls. Antique malls have a variety of dealers who rent a space in a larger retail space. This allows for a wide variety of items to be found in the one store. One of the best in the Atlanta area is The Queen of Hearts. I would be remiss to not be upfront that I do have a have a space in the Alpharetta store and I am still amazed at the wonderful and unique products I see (and some times purchase!!) every time I update my space. The prices are very reasonable as well. So next time you are ready for a quick boost to your home check out an antique mall….maybe I will see you there!! Michelle Freestyle Design and Interiors www.freestyledesignonline.com michelle@freestyledesignonline.com

Photos on Canvas

So today I ordered a photo on canvas...... Which got me thinking...... I do not use typical artwork in my own home and I love to find unique items and unique ways to use them. This is such a great way to use photos you love and there are so many ways to use this art form. You could also use this format for old family photos, current family photos, pets, kids, the beach, the mountains, honeymoon, travel, they can use any picture!!! It can be done in color, sepia or black and white. Custom sizes can be made, colored edges or trim, and editing can be provided as well. With all of the choices everyone can find options they will love. Just search online to find many companies who provide this service at reasonable prices. Personally my picture is of my three dogs and I can't wait to see how it turns out!! If I can help you with your own personal art or other design dilemmas, please contact me!! Michelle Michelle Branton, Owner, Designpreneur Freestyle Design Michelle@freestyledesignonline.com www.freestyledesignonline.com

Fabulous Farm Tables......

Who doesn't love a farm table? They feel like home and family who wouldn't love that! The original farm tables were born from the very basic need of settlers to have a place to sit and eat. These early farm tables were very basic indeed, cut from plentiful timber stocks, as towns were formed they needed lumber and grain. These were supplied by lumber and grain mills, which were more often than not located on a river which provided the power. Structural timbers were quickly converted to legs and long slabs became table tops. Tools were very primitive, so the farm table was usually long and narrow and basic. Seating was usually a bench or two which resembled a miniature farm table. The lumber used, was very rarely cured or kiln dried. Air drying had to do. For this reason if you can find an original farm table you will see inevitably it would have cracks and twists formed as the lumber dried, in the home. Quite often the owner would have to cut a small wooden bowtie and cut it into the table across the crack to keep it from lengthening and widening further. Antique farm tables, in good shape, with this type of characteristic fetch huge dollars if one can find them. The most plentiful lumber back then was usually Eastern White Pine, huge trees with nice clear grain and few defects. Soft and easy to work with it made great structural lumber for farm homes and barns, but it’s naturally soft nature showed the wear and tear of daily homestead life when used to build a farm table. Not only was the farm table a place to eat, but more often than not it was a handy work bench, baking board, canning of preserves and a place to wash the baby etc. As towns and villages became more sophisticated, so did the farm table. The lumber mills added “kiln drying” and then hard woods to their offerings. Paints and varnishes became available, imported from the East coast by merchants. Legs turned on a lathe, quite often powered by a foot treadle, hand pegged tops with walnut accents all served to help transform a very basic farm table into an elegant dining table. Oak and maple lumber were utilized by craftsmen to provide more durable and more refined type farm tables for their newly affluent clientele. Presently farm tables have enjoyed resurgence in popularity. Their warm rustic charm, no matter how old will fit in with just about any décor from log homes to modernist. Very few furniture pieces are able to transcend time and style as the farm table. The recent building boom which saw many older buildings being torn down for salvage, made beautiful old slabs of wood, aged in time, available to the new generation of farm table builder. These old boards have the structure and characteristics that are missing from modern lumber as the old growth trees are gone. Modern methods of cutting, milling, drying and conditioning of lumber has made the building of new farm tables much easier than for our early ancestors. Amateur woodworkers have also been making their own farm tables, but there is nothing like experience to render “just the right” farm table. While there are many antique dealers selling farm tables you can have one made by several companies, many of who offer craftsman with generations of experience behind them. This experience and client input can yield for you the perfect farm table. Imagine being able to have someone build you a farm table to the length and width you need, from the type of wood you would like with the color and finish of your choice…all at a reasonable price. If you are in the market for a table or need any assistance with designing the perfect space for you and your family, please contact me. Michelle Michelle Branton, Owner, Designpreneur Freestyle Design Michelle@freestyledesignonline.com www.freestyledesignonline.com

Organizing for 2011

Yesterday I worked on an installation for a retail frozen yogurt and coffee shop in Dahlonega, GA called Yummy Yogurt. It is going to be an amazing place and is coming together beautifully. There are, of course, a few snafu's so know that when you are working on projects we ALL have them. Work through it or get help and it will all come together. When the project is finished I will post pictures so be watching for them!

It appears I am behind many others in my personal organizing for the new year. I am beginning to get that amazing feeling of relief that comes from purging and cleaning (and I will get it done eventually!) Luckily when I get through I have many organizing systems in place already so it is pretty easy to get them back up and running. If you are like me and slow to get started, no worries it is still waiting for you!!! I found a great article to help you stay organized with your organizing.
http://freshome.com/2011/01/18/10-ways-to-reduce-cluttter-in-your-home/
Best of luck. Michelle

Michelle Branton, Designpreneur
Freestyle Design
www.freestyledesignonline.com
michelle@freestyledesignonline.com

Happy 2011.....

Ok so I am off to a slow start but that happens sometimes to all of us....right??? Yesterday I walked in with a chair to put in my space at Queen of Hearts and it was snatched out of my hands and purchased. I got a chance to chat with the very nice woman who purchased the chair, she is redoing a room while her husband is out of town....love that!! We talked about her ideas and she was so excited it made my day!! Then today I got the Christmas decorations put away....I feel like I am on a roll. I have made a decision to do some things different right now, they could be large or small things but it feels so renewing to step outside of the "usual." One of those things which I have been working on is reducing chemicals in the house. I found a great write up on some easy ideas I want to share with you. http://www.thisdishisvegetarian.com/2011/01/kick-chemicals-to-curb-with-these.html Another of those things I am going to change is being a more regular blogger so I hope you enjoy my thoughts, ideas, and general rants. Please let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions. Happy 2011 to you all! Michelle
Michelle Branton, Designpreneur, Freestyle Design
www.freestyledesignonline.com
michelle@freestyledesignonline.com