Going Against the Grainsacks.....

Here are two gorgeous chairs done with the real thing. One with a German Grainsack on the left and one French Grainsack on the right. They are in a fabulous home I will blog about next but this is about the grainsack reproductions.

This is a pillow the real deal from Kymberly Frasier of 3 Fine Grains, note the detail and some of the fading on the beautiful rooster with the wheat.



This is another French one, I am showing more French because the Popularity of the German ones are just now hitting their stride. This is a real one and we have seen this knocked off everywhere.........Sometimes well, sometimes not so well.




Another French grainsack from Textile Trunk proprieter Wendy Lewis another expert in grainsacks.

This is a repro from Aidan Gray, great look, not inexpensive but they tweak it so theirs are unique to them. Pricing is less than the authentic grainsacks but no appreciation of value.

Another two repros from Aidan Gray, well done, not as pricey as the real thing. But not a pricepoint for everyone, fabric is new reproduction fabric but looks good! Well thought out these are sold in pairs meant to be on beds or off setting sofas....

A delightful grainsack in burlap from Petite Coterie, whose product has improved. Less than Aidan Gray and a great price point for those who want the look.....And good value too. These cost less or the same as the ones below...



THESE are terrible! Very bad imitations that make all the companies look bad. It would be better for you not to have one than to have one that looks like this.



Or these. What fabric is this, cotton duck just cut up???? (About 4.00 a yd)

Isn't this a classy chair??? I don't think so. The point is these are popular items and that the repros are knocking off the repros and then the quality of the REPRO goes south. It's going to happen, but will be less likely if you don't buy the worst representations of the real thing. I urge you to go up and see the best at the top of this blog and see how the last three don't cut the mustard. I urge you to visit 3 Fine Grains blog and Textile Trunk on EBAY to see the real ones, and then visit Aidan Gray and Petite Coterie and maybe you will find some you can afford. If you can't get a DECENT repro......Wait til you can.

Thanks Kymberly and Wendy for your help on this.......

I've been tagged, so I'm it!

Mon Ami, Trish, 'The Princess of Trouvais" ( a nom de plume bestowed on her by Jermaine, the princess of French Kissed) tagged me to dig in to my archives and come up with the 10th picture in there. Well my computer crashed a while ago and I lost some, and it could have been a picture of a "before" piece of needy upholstery BEFORE we took it to Beadboard Rehab and redid it. So I thought I would share this.

These are the two big penguins in the shop our first xmas, we had many little ones

and you might wonder why these two BIG ones are going for a ride in a ragtop... Well they were purchased by great customers of ours and they wanted them OVERNIGHTED to Colorado as a Christmas surprise. GULP! I thought these would just go into someone's SUV and go home.

They were so big I had to put the top down to get them in the car for the ride to the UPS store. I brought in the small one first and they were speechless but when I brought in the big one their jaws hit the ground. This also involved UPS building a box so big it had almost had to go freight, me with a glue gun later in the day gluing on a busted wing, (having already jury rigged a broken beak.) They were made of styrofoam. Not tooo sturdy........But all's well that ends well, penguies ended up in Cool Colorado, much happier than in warmer south Texas. By the way, they, as well as passers by enjoyed the ride. And the surprised and delighted recipients had two unexpected and unusual xmas guests....

Arte Pura is here in the US NOW!!!! We have it exclusively...

Well, the gorgeous Italian Linens we have been waiting for have arrived at Beadboard.

Arte Pura de Fianco al Paridiso, (meaning pure art next to heaven) sure feels like it is, and more. Arte Pura is the first Italian linen bedding we actually imported ourselves, so it is EXCLUSIVELY AT BEADBOARD UPCOUNTRY. Yes, the little shop in the country is the first in the country to bring in what designers have been traveling to Europe to procure for their clients.

This is their new bedspread, Ciottolo. Italian Linen that has a hand like butter with wonderful texture, and a surprise. It arrives packed in its own linen overnite carry bag with an organza patch and embroiderd logo on the side. It appeals to the younger set because the relaxed volante or ruffle can tuck into a platform bed. On a vintage bed it casually hangs over a bedskirt or by itself as a soft border.


Swarovski crystal accent pillows lasered on so they are fused into the fabric....





Look at the texture of this ..Ok all you wrinklephopic beings......This is the answer. And here's the truth. In Europe they are not ironing their linen. AND NEITHER IS THEIR HELP!
They enjoy it for what is, wrinkled elegance (as Robes says.) Oh and you'll never catch him ironing linen.


Colors that are all mottled, pre washed, gorgeous. Something for everyone. Also available in a wide array of fabulous tablelinens.........Robes actually made this clothline with some little clothespins we got in France.....I think he did a pretty good job!! Each piece has a vellum tag and a piece of organza also embroidered with the logo, the detail and presentation are suberb.



Double flanges and ties on all four sides.



16" Federa con stampa pillow with generous double layer ruffle.


I am not one for bathroom accroutrements. I think most are contrived, but I love this. Made from the same terrycloth as the coordinating towels, a tissue box cover with Swarovski crystal. There's also one without crystal but with a big linen bow like the pillow below.
This BELONGS in the bathroom don't you think?


How cute is this??????


Did I mention pajamas? They offer linen shirts too, so we thought we were ordering them but ordered pajamas completo. (2 pajama sets.) Robes thought he was getting a shirt :(. No robes for Robes this time but we are already taking orders for our accidental pj's in several colors.....
And learning Italian.... Arrivaderci? Maybe not.....For a recent commentary on the line go to http://www.justluxe.com/
posted April 13th, just put Arte Pura in the search box.

La "Carrotte" Rehab after Round Top

Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog knows we work hard running our shop in Brenham Texas. This time of year is particularly busy as we are open some nights and 12 days straight for all the thousands of visitors in this area attending the Round Top Antiques Fair and the spectacular regional wildflowers.

So, Robes and I decided to treat ourselves to a "carrot". On Easter Sunday we came here for Rehab, or Sunday Brunch. The Inn at Dos Brisas, part of Relais and Chateau located right here near Brenham.

This is on the grounds of Dos Brisas, brimming with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush...


Here is Robes having an aperetif before brunch in the bar. Then my battery on the camera went south. I was cute, for once, I had a hat and everything......(It never goes south for HIS pictures. HMMM..) OH, notice the pink shirt, unstained.



The back of the facility with the pool. There are private casitas you can stay in, riding is available and they had a horse and buggy for those who wanted to imbibe. US? We wanted champagne and to sample the delicious menu chef Jason Robinson concocted for brunch. And what a delicious brunch it was, served by the excellent staff........


We did that Here......Starting with an Amuse Bouche of Deviled farm Fresh Eggs, with trufffles...
Next was Salmon beggars purses with crab for Robes and Morel Agnotti topped with Foie Gras and shaved truffles for Moi. Fabulous.

These are a sampling of the level of cuisine (not what we had) We had an "Intermezzo " of chilled Fennel soup topped with caviar. All of this was accompanied by a lovely bottle of Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose.


I opted for Lamb as the main course, with wild ramps, and Madiera Jus, while Robes had "Surf and Turf" a Wagyu Petit Filet, Grilled African Prawns and watercress with wine jus.
Dessert was Valrona Crepes with malted ice cream & salted rum caramel.


This, obviously, was not Robes's dessert but the color of the Strawberry Napoleon with the Strawberry Champagne Gelee was as red as the red here. It ended up all over his pink shirt, I kept calling him "Chuckie" as it was all over his napkin looking like a "Halloween movie". He folded the napkin so no one could see underneath, I was hysterical......He looked like he'd been in a sword fight. (and lost).

We just exude class don't we?

So thanks for a lovely afternoon at the Inn at Dos Brisas. You can get more info at http://www.dosbrisas.com/

A little dessert for you!!!!! ( not as messy )

More Round Top Adventures, Euro Style, In Search of Linen.....

Nope, Begonias are not part of the wildflowers of Texas. These are in a wonderful floral stand where the 290 loops around Brenham across from K=Bob's Steak House on the way to Round Top.

More from the flower stand......We got some for the shop all orange.......


Bougainvilla gobs of it.........



And then I went up the road to the 237 and the La Bahia Antiques fair on my annual search for European Linens from Touch of Europe. Mimi and Peter always have a great selection and fabulous prices. I shop ahead and they are nice enough to bring my pre selected items out for me....But I like the "Hunt" so I enjoy poking for a few things for moi. They are always bringing out new boxes of merchandise so pickings are always fresh.....




For those who love the French red toile here is a delightful display....


Vintage linen sheets, beautifully monogrammed. Get a plain linen sheet for the bottom and make a duvet.........



Napkins, tea towels and glass cloth.....Feedsacks are in the mix too. This was a whole container load of new merchandise. Whoopee!!!!!

Shams are separated into pairs, and singles and by size.....

And baskets of French soaps.... Always delightful . La Bahia also has home made food by locals, beer, Blue Bell Ice Cream.......

April Food Day

No fooling! It's all about fighting hunger in America. To check it out go to the Pigtown

Design Blog or the April Food Day Blog.