apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

the space is definitely not my style but I do like the way she assembles her vignettes.

Vignettes? My granny called them tchotchkes or dustcatchers.

pretty and refreshing. its hard to see a man at home here, though...

I love her layering of books, trays, and collectables. I call them "eyecatchers."

Again, great vignettes. The black stand topped by a wooden boxed topped by a vase topped by a red botanical was my favorite. I'd totally live here, with or without granny.

This is rather wonderful. It is not what I would reflexively do, but it is so well edited that it really works. I could happily curl up her and read some Austin. Very nice.

Vintage Granny is definitely my style, so I love this--it's truly lovely and sweet and strikes such a nice note--but I could actually do with less "vignettes". It makes it seem more like a "don't touch" display home to me than a comfy lived-in space. Specifically, it doesn't look like a space that could comfortably manage a lot of rowdy kids (or one busy toddler and a big dog, which is what I have). I guess I tend more towards the quilt and wool blanket granny style than the doily and vase granny style, though I do love both. I don't mean to sound too negative--I swooned over lots of your pictures, and am definitely bookmarking the tour for future inspiration. Great job!

What an adorable home! Simply beautiful - so pretty and simple!

Not my exact style but if I had a friend with a place like this I would demand weekly visits for tea and scones and gift her a nice warm quilt (which I'd then use every time I went over).

Lovely and inviting!

I feel like having tea! Very lovely, feminine. Not my style, but wonderfully put together. I do agree with blackrose... there's no man's touch anywhere. Is there a mancave hiding somewhere????

Very cute indeed!!!! Not my type, but very very well done. I could definitely escape in a place like this.

I must admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for granny-chic. Well done!

thanks so much for your comments. i know my home is pretty taste specific. and no i don't have kids. but we do have a dog. our home is comfy to us. there is much that is not yet done (since we just moved in). still rooms to paint. and yes, calderonim there is a man cave not pictured. my husband is a classical guitarist with a flair for vintage nostalgia as well. His room is similarly styled, less doilies and more music posters.

We should start an AT drinking game based on the number of times "not my style, but.." appears in the comment section.

Who is the beautiful red-headed woman whose portrait is so prominently displayed?

It is granny-oriented, but my own granny, while having beautiful, beautiful things, didn't quite go in for the superfluous styled vignettes. Spareness was all; probably because of the austerity of the times of most of her life.

I can see why Heather's stylings make such an impact; I wonder if her stylings minus 20 - 30% of their frequency would be even more powerful.

The colors of the rooms and the paints on the old furniture are beautiful. I think a man could be comfortable there if things were kept so orderly. However, there's got to be a television, a radio, a music system and some books and magazines somewhere, or no one would be comfortable.

I look forward to the day when Heather has more of a budget to work with.

I like the way her bed is set between two windows but I find the green shade, of the sofa etc, she favours depressing.

Sorry to gripe, but I have just read the questionnaire. Please drop 'the biggest embarrasement' question some answers are truly cringe worthy. Last week the answer was 'no where for a spare toilet roll'. This post too. Their lives are charmed if these are their biggest embarrassments.

love like the scootergirl the tower of trays and books. Just fine!

Austinsarah,
the red headed woman in the portrait is a page from a book called " Painting Portraits in oil" first published in the 50's. i agree too! im waiting for the day when i can purchase some grown up sophisticated furniture and not have to just make what i have work for now.
oh. btw, we do have tv, stereo eqip, computers and modern conveniences. they are just hidden away. im not a fan of their tendency to be an eye sore in our home , and i thought you hide that stuff away for a home tour photo shoot, no?
hrhprincessfiona,
i agree. i did not like that question at all. its weird. sure i have embarrassing moments, but in my home>??

Really lovely! I agree, your office is to die for. Nicely done!

I really love the style, but some of the vignettes strike me as too... precious. It would make me really anxious to be around them, because they seem so precarious. Ceramics balanced on top of books like it's some kinda home decor Jenga. One false move and it all comes tumbling down. The aesthetic in general really appeals to me, although I'd rather see how the house is actually used, not with the electronics hidden away.

I love how Heather has stayed true to herself in creating these serene, romantic spaces. With all the design messages being thrown at us these days, it would have been easy to be swayed in all kinds of other directions.
Top marks for amazing use of vintage in what looks like (did anybody even notice?) a fairly modern house. It is so easy to miss the artistry involved... and I do feel this is a very liveable space. Probably more so than many. I would love to escape to Heather's and drink tea on that sofa!

A fully-realized vision -- but of what? Its staged-ness makes me think of an ominous intro sequence from David Lynch. If it really was grandma's house, it would be fine. As a deliberate reenactment of grandma's house... well, no second date here!

I second Sophie's comment about Heather staying true to her own vision when it comes to designing her home. Heather and I were apartment mates right out of college and while her style has evolved since then and has certainly been inspired by her participation in current design conversations, the core of her aesthetic is still so distinctively "Heather." There's an integrity to the way she works...next week when wabi sabi trumps mid century modern in what is officially hip among interior fashionistas, it's good to know that there will be folks out there still joyfully crafting their own vision of beauty in their homes. BTW, Heather, I LOVE seeing that big beautiful painting of yours in your new space and that icy blue new version of your corner bookshelf.

Heather, your home is lovely--all that is missing is milk and cookies and a plastic cover on your couch. Please show us more--I'd love to see your kitchen & your husband's music room too. I'm very inspired by your post.

So glad Heather shared her home here! She is definitely passionate about her style & you can see that she has made her house such a comfortable home for her family. Ps. Love her Ikea bedding - I've been eying that reversible duvet cover in the store lately.

'Granny Style' is all well and good-- if that's what floats your boat-- but the precarious piles that have been referred to as 'vignettes' bug the bejezus out of me!

More like 'Grandkid Style', these building block-like piles of books and disparate breakables. They seem the handiwork of a deranged five year old-- formally composed, yet absurdly random.

This is such a lovely departure from the typical Apartment Therapy style! Thanks for sharing your pretty home.

I really appreciate seeing a fresh, different kind of style. Thanks for sharing! It's not my taste, but I think that's the point....she's made an inspiring, expressive home.

Personally, I think vignettes are silly and I get slightly irritated by having to wade through all the photos of them (I mean in general, not just this tour). I always assumed I was alone in this.

This house feels very Southern to me. The style may seem offbeat to AT readers, but I'll bet her neighbors think it's lovely.

Wow, what a lovely home. Not my style, but I can certainly appreciate what has been accomplished here. The vignettes are set up perfectly and I love all the soft colors on the walls and accessories. The only thing I would change here, is to include a photo of the dog!

I like vignettes, but there are a few too many here for me to appreciate. Some (like the one on the mantel and below the Camera Obscura print) are appropriate decorative elements but a lot of these seem overly fussy. Vases stacked on doilies stacked on trays stacked on books? The one on top of the bedroom dresser struck me as particularly odd. What are salt and pepper shakers and a tea tin doing in there anyway?

The aesthetic is nicely realized, but it's too mannered and one-note for me. It has the sleepy, airless feeling of a house preserved in amber. I'd love to see fewer doilies and teeny china vases and more energy injected via deeper, richer colors and interesting (rather than just pretty or soothing) artwork and objets. A touch of wildness via unrestrained greenery would offset some of the prissiness too.

Isn't the white desktop uneven? The desk in your office I mean?

uh oh... I just realized my home might have too many vignettes... and the only influence my husband has had so far are the antiques we inherited from his grandmother and the leather couches he picked out... might be time to rethink some things. Heather's home is lovely though..

this makes me think of dreading childhood visits to the "less cool" grandparents. it would be hard for me to even visit a home like this and feel comfortable, much less live in one.

is anyone else feeling sorry for the man that may live here?

slowdown: my thoughts exactly. but you expressed them better and saved me the trouble! The flowerpot-doily-painting-hatbox-gilded-pumpkin-on-a-chair vignette is just too much for me to comprehend.

"is anyone else feeling sorry for the man that may live here?"

A man lives there?
Poor guy must be blind...

Where on earth did you get that chest "coffee table" in the first picture? I just refinished the exact same one that was my great great grandmothers!

A guy lives here? My condolences. I'm kinda curious to see his man cave.

it's nice to see more color compared with the preview of this house a while back. i love the little pink table/desk, the pink branch, and bright pink flowers in a couple of spots.

i noticed some things migrating from room to room - the mismatched pair of white lampshades on the desk and on the nightstands, the white bird (though you could have two!) on the white shelves with all the white and also under the camera obscura poster, the pink branch on the mantel and also in the dining room. certainly things in my home migrate from one room to another as well, and when you haven't lived there very long, it makes sense that things are still being switched around. it struck me as odd though, because i usually assume that the photos for a house tour are taken all at once. did you take the photos all at once but move things around to stage different areas, or were these taken over time as you set up house?

She even has a cheap rug under the granny couch to tie it all together. Granny indeed.

do we really need to pick on the people who live here? I'm sure her not blind husband loves his house, because his wife, whom he loves decorated it. This is a home decor site, not an open forum for judgement of people.

Thank you for sharing your charming home! I also love and appreciate decorating with things with history. Especially love the vintage lady portrait - I have a few, and would love to get more. I also live in Nashville - any local sources you could share for antiquing? I am a home stager/decorator and have a decorating blog you might enjoy http://www.makingarrangementsblog.com. This morning I posted an article about using vintage wallpaper samples in creative ways. I'm going to go check out your blog right now - I have a few clients that might could use a good decorative painter!

sarahbutterfly,
the chest is a family heirloom that i refinished years ago.
kristiebarnett,
thank you for your kind words. i really appreciate them. so good to know a fellow Nashvillian who has similar tastes. great blog. thanks for sharing. i am book marking it now. my favorite sources in nashville are: Habitat for Humanity Home store, Local Honey, Estelle's, Anthropologie, TN state Flea Market, Gilchrist and Gilchrist, Dealers Choice.
thanks to all who felt compelled to leave kind words for me. i cherish them.

Let me check my watch...yep, it's 2009, and sexism is SOOOOO last century. Are you people saying that men are allergic to pastels and curves? That they are emasculated unless surrounded by dark colors and stark angles? Or, is that just YOU? Here's your apartment therapy...1-800-VIAGRA.

P.S. Heather, I like your place :)

Le_sacra, bepsf and others:

You mistakenly think that your snarky comments reveal the flaws of the home owner's style, but in fact they simply betray your own lack of taste.

And like the person in their car, stuck in traffic, picking away at their nose with a mistaken sense of anonymity, YOU are also "seen" in all your social retardation.

Unlike any design preference, that ugliness is truly cringe worthy.