About five years ago this time I was packing up the home I had just purchased and unpacked into. The home has a main house in the front and a small mother in law apartment in the back. The mother in law apartment is why I chose this house- it was 1000 square feet of wonderful space to put our burgeoning art business into and it had auspicious roots as a secret gaming establishment on the edge of New Orleans in the 1930s. The owner, a third generation family member who had lived in the home for fifty years and her husband's family for fifty years prior, told us many stories about the home- of climbing to the attic during Hurricane Betsy, a fire in the downstairs of the studio where grown men gambling had jumped out the windows on top, many of them injuring themselves rather dramatically(her husband, just a boy at the time, injured his leg permanently in that fall and was never able to walk properly- he was autopsied at death and the leg had not been properly cared for and was crooked below the knee).



So with all of the seriousness that comes with a first home purchase, I warily eyed a small storm hitting Florida a few days earlier and took my new Home Depot Charge card and window measurements to the orange behemoth for plywood. The store was pretty dead for a Monday afternoon and I marveled at being there for less than an hour to get all of that wood cut. It took much longer than an hour to load and unload all of the plywood into by 1985 Jeep Grand Cherokee (with pristine wood sidewalls,sigh), tearing the upholstery even more to bits in the process. My girlfriend laughed at me, saying she was going to end up using all of that wood for the kitchen subfloor.



We had spent several months working on the front house's interior. It took us three months to move in and we had two rooms finished- both bedrooms- and the rest of the house was completely empty. One bathroom had been completely dismantled and was in the dining room ala Holly Golightly- claw feets and all. Everything we owned except for work clothes and a newly purchased microwave was all in the back studio building, safely tucked away until room by room, everything was done.



Little did we know we should have boarded up the little studio in the back and not worried too much about the house...



To be continued

Goodwill and Goodwillllll on the Gulf Coast

We had a lovely break from the hectic studio rebuild, business brouhaha, and stress of family illness down by the emerald shores of the Gulf Coast. Why no pictures you ask?



Well, save for a brief foray to one of our favorite places in Destin that used to be a cool restaurant and now is a GOODWILL - a wonderful goodwill full of fabulous stuff- so good, I left as have gone thrift abstinent for the summer so nolasalvage could spend three hours to her hearts content with almost two carts full of stuff.



No I didnt even bring my camera and save for a few phone photos of the rushing waves, spent time soaking up rays and the smell of the water. And tons of sand. Even after vacuuming twice, there is still sand- where is it coming from?

It was beautiful there- we found a great condo across from the beach- owned by a local who was struggling seeing as the summer had been so slow. We ate wonderful seafood and even took in the fabulous Cirque du Soleil, front and center which has inspired some great things for fall. Being under the midway, the stars, the sun and sand, enjoying delicious sweetwater Georgia Brown ale. Ah it was great. A nice way to replenish for the coming fall and enjoying the coast, just like it should be.

It's almost here- Anthropologie Opens in New Orleans tomorrow, Friday the 13th!!!!

It's here- Anthropologie opens here in New Orleans tomorrow and I'm really psyched to have been chosen to design something for the shop. They are calling the capes "necklaces". It would be a rather large gothic necklace- sort of like aztec doily chic meets liberty of london. You would have to go there yourself to figure it out, so please do. Meanwhile, we're hitting the beach for a last hurrah before the school semester begins, so wont be able to check the shop out until next week but a little birdie or two has told me it looks gorgeous! marveleux mon amies! go visit or check out this article:
http://www.nola.com/fashion/index.ssf/2010/08/post_8.html

just in case you wont be in New Orleans Anthropologie, but are looking for a BayouSalvage fix, we have some new stockists:

New Jersey:
Summer Studio, Avalon

South Carolina:
Pack Rats, West Columbia,

Washington:
Seattle Gift Show, Vintage Collection, w/ Reborn Rubbish

California:
Botany's Desire, Riverside (arrives September)

New Hampshire:
White Home Collections, Wilton (arrives September)

Texas:
The French Cupboard, Marburger, Round Top (October)

and new locations coming soon, so shop and enjoy your bit of New Orleans history, steeped in the Deep South, whisky cured,xoxoxo

p.s. the fab pic above, and many of the others are by the lovely talented Janet Antene- she styles, models and takes the photos- so talented!

A Whirlwind Summer

Can you believe it is August? With everything that is going on with the oil spill, the 5 year anniversary of Katrina, a crazy busy Etsy shop and a staggered home renovation, really havent had the time to get all the fall designs in order. And now Fall is here- back to school in two weeks. Of course it is difficult to even think of falling leaves, unless they are falling from the extreme heat we have been under. It doesnt matter how quickly fall comes, as long as it cools off at some point, right?

I've been beating the heat by staying indoors, watching movies and trying to put into linen and thread so many of the ideas that follow me to bed at night and wake me up in the morning. Hopefully more to come real soon!