If you're here for Furniture Feature Friday, it's still going on below this post. Feel free to link up any furniture pieces!
When my business phone rings, it's always exciting. I'm a little dorky about it. The phone rings and I run through the house yelling, "The Mustard Seed phone!!!" It's like the Bat Phone or something. So, I look at the caller ID to see if it's a publishing company or Nate Berkus or something like that. Most of the time it's one of my retail spaces calling about a price on something. Last Tuesday, the caller ID simply read "South Carolina."
A sweet voice with a southern drawl was on the other end. "This is Barb Blair from Knack..." She went on to tell me about herself and how she felt compelled to call me. She apologized for the strangeness of the call, but for me, it really wasn't strange. I didn't know her at all (I've been under a rock or something), but I felt a real connection with her, too. Several phone calls (some a few hours) and e-mails later and I'm telling my husband that I'm talking to "my friend Barb."
If you read Design*Sponge faithfully, then you know Barb. She writes a weekly (now monthly) column called before and after basics. If you read Southern Living, you may recognize her from the February 2011 issue.
(OK, can I just say that I am now dreaming of Southern Living coming to my house and taking pictures of me sitting on one of my dressers?)
Well, Barb was right to call. She was right that we have a lot in common. We're both furniture and antique girls. We have very similar businesses and dreams. We talked paint, wax, brushes, cameras, blogs, furniture, workshops, sprayers, books, writing, prices, goals, Etsy, antiques...all of it. It's been like finding a long-lost friend and a true kindred spirit.
What is just as cool as having so much in common is how different our styles and brands are. Check out her home...
...and her furniture...
You wouldn't look at our styles and see our commonality. I'm French country, she's vintage modern. I lean towards the traditional, she leans to the unconventional. I like a tight bunch of hydrangeas in an ironstone pitcher, she likes a single stem flower in a modern glass vase.
Despite the differences, we use so many of the same techniques and products, we look for the same pieces of furniture, and we have a similar way of looking at our businesses.
Barb has also given me a preview of where I would like to be in a few years. She works out of this super-cool studio.
That place just looks like heaven to a furniture girl like me...although, I think I'd like to be in a barn or something.
If you want to learn more about Barb, check out her well written and very inspiring blog, Knack, where you'll happen to find a feature about me today! If you *must* own one of Barb's pieces, you can buy one (or more) at her Knack Studios Etsy Store. And, if you're in the Greenville, SC area, you can make an appointment to visit her in her studio or check out her space in Antiques on Augusta.
She just can't be your BFF. 'Cause I've got dibs.
And you'll be seeing more of Barb around here. We are planning some collaboration projects where we'll share our painting, business and furniture knowledge with all of you. It'll be good stuff.
Speaking of Design*Sponge, my Union Jack dresser was featured there yesterday! You can check out my feature here.
