mrsjonespaintedfinishes.com » she’s under the influence of…

telling secrets

stephanie — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:15:42 +0000

apparently, last night our hydrangeas and magnolia tree whispered to each other and planned matching outfits for today.

i wish i could do that with paint.

lilly at the flea

stephanie — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:46:09 +0000

the current state of mrs. jones’s physique (possibly cupcake-related?) precludes her from wearing the cute lilly pulitzer prints that some of her friends sport with such elan. the classic pink & green lilly look, though, was inspiration for the treatment on this little flea market shelf.

here is before & after:

and some details:

(supply list: benjamin moore’s moonlight white #2143.60, 50′s pink #2086.70, wales green #2028.50, sherwin-williams’s impatient pink, #6854, pratt & lambert’s biscay green #18.13, and the fabric damask stencil.)

have you seen the fall lilly pulitzer catalog?…how about the gilded chair with those acid-green walls? the distressed chair against the glossy pale blue/gray? (and it may be time to re-consider bangs…she makes them most appealing.)

not long ago, a lovely client requested a preppy wall treatment to pair with her daughter’s lilly p bedding…it’s the most fun i’ve ever had with blue tape. in case you missed it, here’s a re-run:

print rooms

stephanie — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:44:08 +0000

helen morris’s idal workshop on print rooms was fascinating and so much fun…in a nutshell, print rooms began in the uk in the 1700′s as a sort of method of scrapbooking: cutouts of favorite prints and mementoes from travels were brought home and applied directly to the wall, with frames painted around them. in class, we practiced stenciling, shading, gilding and hand-embellishing, using some calendar pages and clip art as practice (below). helen, a partner in the stencil library, has designed a range of possibilities for modern print rooms…see if you don’t get inspired!

a lovely client recently asked for a fresh treatment for her teen daughter’s closet/dressing room…i think now i’ve found just the thing! once the wall is painted out in the pattern, the prints and photos can be hung, rearranged, and replaced at any time using spray adehesive, allowing her to create her own update-able fashion icon shrine.

the uniform project

stephanie — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:02:13 +0000

this young lady is just so intriguing/enthralling/inspiring…sheena matheiken’s got something more fabulous each day. her michael j. homage today was especially nice. i can’t wait to see what she wears tomorrow.

travelogue: columbia, tennessee

stephanie — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:21:25 +0000

oh, columbia! visit to celebrate mule day, to make a pilgrimage to the beautiful, historic old homes and churches (including the james k. polk home, which has a great little bookshop) and to see the county courthouse and other “hannah montana” movie filming locations. or, follow mrs. jones’s fave afternoon itinerary and enjoy lunch at lovely liz lovell’s square market, an iced mocha at killion’s, and a stroll over to loblolly to see artist & owner ellen calvin’s terrific mix of vintage and antique finds, art by some talented locals, and ellen’s own fab & whimsical still life paintings.

this one, called “three’s a crowd”, had to come back to memphis with me:

the secret supper

stephanie — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:36:03 +0000

this weekend, three generations of family friends gathered for a special dinner party on the grounds of fairfield, an antebellum home near mr. jones’s hometown, columbia, tennessee. hosted by dear friends the kennedys and vests, and my amazing sister- & brother-in-law, we were asked to save the date, with the location divulged via e-mail just prior to the event. guests without 4-wheel drive were conveyed across the creek and up the lane by handsome young men in jeeps. it was truly an inspiring, magical, moonlight-and-magnolias evening…the kind we chicago girls just dreamed about.

here is fairfield, before & after:

a cinderella story

stephanie — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:01:54 +0000

as a kick-off to mother’s day, mr. jones gave me a pass to spend this afternoon at the movies. but not just any movie…lucky me, i got one of the last seats for “la cenerentola” broadcast live in hd from the met. elina garanca made a completely dazzling angelina (cinderella), and as always, the costume and set design was nothing short of perfect. (especially fab: the stepsisters’ dressing gowns, alidoro’s gilded wings, and the closet full of clock faces, all reading midnight.) there was a particular shade of periwinkle that was repeated throughout: angelina’s ball gown, the frosting on the wedding cake, even the tie worn by the dashing host, thomas hampson, were all this happy violet hue.

brava to the brilliant elizabeth sheppard hurley and her associates at the met for making these saturday matinees available to us! they’ve just announced the next season, and it is going to be fantastic.

lovely mrs. parish

stephanie — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:56:02 +0000

please excuse mrs. jones from work today. it’s time to present my paper to the memphis woman’s club (est. 1890) on sister parish, her life, and her current relevance to interior design. preparing to take my turn at the podium has been the best excuse ever for a total mrs. parish immersion, re-reading sister and digging up all kinds of facts and legends about the grande dame. it’s also providing an opportunity to gush (in public!) just a little more over thomas jayne, a former parish associate (and mrs. jones’s ultimate design crush), since a conversation with him last year prompted my fascination with her.

mrs. parish’s influential signatures included glazed walls, painted patterned floors, and lacquered and painted furniture. she also was passionate about dachshunds, ropes of faux pearls and handcrafted treasures in crochet, patchwork and decoupage. (are you all connecting the dots here?) what’s not to love?

as sharpay evans says in “hsm 2″, “i need a little fabulous, is that so wrong?”

but now it’s back to work and the real world.