A Guest House on Martha's Vineyard

This post will finish up my wanderings down memory lane visiting the job I did for the Newhouses on Martha's Vineyard.

Separating the main house from the guest house was a deck that was the same level as the floors in both houses so that Wynn Newhouse, who used a wheelchair, could easily enter and exit both residences.

I wrote about the deck last week, and decorated it in a way that would relate to the guesthouse, as its double French doors opened onto the private outside seating area.

I repeated the wicker details from the deck inside in the living room.

Since I decorated this house for a story for Country Garden Magazine, I used lots of flower patterns and prints throughout the downstairs.

It was a good deal for the Newhouses, as whatever I used that they liked, they could get at my cost.

I did bring some of my own accessories over to the island for the shoot, as there is never enough 

STUFF

to fill up shelves and table tops when doing a shoot.

As you can see in these pictures, I didn't lack for LOTS of stuff.

I decorated everything using catalogs.

This was before the days of shopping online.

Boy, it would have been so easy now.

Ballard Design was my go to for the botanical prints.

They didn't have quite enough individual prints, so I had to double up on some.

Since it was for a story, and not a client, I figured no one would notice.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that they are still hanging on the walls 25 years later!  

This was in the days before I designed fabric and actually had time on my hands to needlepoint.

I designed and made the round pillow with the no weeds message.

I wish I had made the red slash line thicker.......

Oh Well.....

The upholstered furniture was from Hickory Chair,

The green coffee table from Maine Cottage Furniture,

The white wicker chair with the magazine holder.......

I don't remember.....

this was a looooong time ago, and I'm an old fart.

The black metal table to the right of the sofa was an antique bar cart with small wheels  I convinced June, my office manager and besty, to buy when we were out trolling the junky stores. It ended up being perfect for her family room.

Well, I made her let me use it for the shoot.

(Notice that besty and Betsy are very similar in spelling????

That's probably why I'm so wonderful!!!!!)

This house had been the garage for the main house.

Les Brown, the architect I've been saddled with for most of my adult life that I work with, designed it to be a one bedroom with living room, wet bar and loft.

I wanted the walls to be planks of wood, and had to spend some time with the carpenters to show them what I meant.

THEY WANTED THE BOARDS TO BE TIGHT TOGETHER!!!!

They didn't understand the beauty of cracks!!!!!

So, we had to choose a nail that was the width of the cracks I wanted, that they could use as a spacer.

I had learned my lesson on a little house I redid in New Hampshire.

The carpenter was very proud of how he could make the would ceiling look like it was a solid piece of wood, that ended up resembling plywood, in my less than humble opinion.

He kept on assuring me that over time the cracks would appear......

WELL.....

I WANTED TO SEE THEM RIGHT AWAY!!!!

What's the point of using boards if they end up looking like plywood?????

So.

that's my take on that!!!

 I added a  flirty skirt to the small tufted chair and another needle point pillow, designed and sewn by MOI!!!

It says "sit down right here" the words are in the corners.

So it could say "sit right down here" .........

Being the great blogger that I is,

I just ran and got the pillow and took a shot using my iPad, 'cuz I be too lazy to get out my camera.

It's in the closet right by my desk,

where I'm sitting right now,

but I'd have to take off the lens cap.......

anyway, here's the pillow in all its glory, laying on my desk, as I type!

So,

I made the pillow out of left over yarn I had, which is why it's a little of this and a little of that.

The white wicker table in the back corner was an antique that we found in a local store, we borrowed some things from local merchants for the shoot.

Or.....

It may be from Maine Cottage Furniture......

OY, OY, OY, who can remember?????

I went a little trim crazy on the pillows. I loved the multicolored yarn fringe on the pink ones.

I still think this cabbage rose fabric is beautiful. It's so fresh in its coloring.

At the time of this story, which was in the late 90's, I had just started seeing multiple fabrics used on one piece of upholstery.

Well!!!!!!!

I was smitten!!!!!!!

So, I used a gazillion on the sofa.

The floral is on the tops and bottoms of the cushions, as well as the inside body of the sofa.

The inside arms are a large plaid.

The outside arms and the boxing on the cushions are a smaller plaid. 

And then, of course, there's the two more fabrics plus trims on the toss pillows.

Then there's the small all over pattern of the small button chair and a couple more patterns on the little footstool and the larger striped ottoman.

And contrast welting.....

I like to use a lot of pattern.....

has anyone noticed?????????

It's funny, because I just had the sofa and two chairs and ottoman in my family room all slipcovered in the same pattern as the wallpaper, so I have evolved a little......

NAH,

probably not.

 Across from the sofa was the potting bench.

Catherine Newhouse was adamant that she wanted a potting bench.

I never saw her plant a flower, but she was very clear that she

WANTED A POTTING BENCH!!!!!

SO SHE GOT A POTTING BENCH!!!

I designed it to hold a farmer's sink with a faucet that looked sorta like a pump handle, all in keeping with the theme of the POTTING BENCH!!!!!

All the accessories on THE POTTING BENCH I brought from my home.

I wanted it to look like there were tons of vases and pots, ready to handle any cut flowers or plants needing some care.

I brought my zinc plant labels that I still use today in my vegetable garden.

 I used another basket to hold the trowels and rakes for gardening.

 Below are three shots from today that I found on Vignette Design Blog by Delores Arabian.

It now can be rented for a few weeks in the summer, and she stayed there!

 The present owners kept the floral prints on the wall and moved the living room table from the main house into this little guest house.

I wonder if they noticed that some of the botanical prints repeat?????

 This is how the POTTING BENCH looks today.

It's being used as a bar in the guest house, which is a wonderful use for my little creation.

I noticed that they changed the knobs.

Boy, I went to a lot of trouble to find those particular wooden knobs.....

LOL

(that's the first time I ever used LOL.....LOL)

The wooden countertop has held up well over the years!!!!!

AND THE CRACKS IN THE BOARDS LOOK STELLAR!!!!!

 The outdoor deck is still pretty with the climbing roses flowering.

Non of the furniture I used for the photo shoot was kept.

Well,

that's if for Martha's Vineyard,

next week it's on to something else my tiny mind will unearth.

So on that note,

Latah, Gatah