GRAY Magazine Issue No. 7

A Magnificent Magazine 

Issue No. 7 of Gray Magazine - is a fitting name for a Northwest magazine! So simply stated.

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design is the firm featured on the cover of Issue No. 7, located in Portland, OR.

After drooling over this magnificent magazine, the article titled: Notes of Noir on page 26 has convinced me that I must buy a subscription to this fine magazine. I must add a quick note. Fantastic, I see a designer from North Carolina - Mira. For those of your who know me, know that Wilmington, NC is very close to my heart! xo

Wouldn't it be wonderful to drive down to Portland and be a fly on the wall at this firm! We could 'take it all in'. The photos in the magazine emit this incredible vintage VIBE, fine woodwork, handblown glass and this super cool ambiance. It is not your ordinary work space, by any stretch! Would you like to go? We can even stop by Anthropologie on the way back. 

The downtown Seattle, Wa Anthropologie - 5th Ave

On my way back from Seattle the other day I had a minute to run into Anthropologie on 5th, it's an amazing two story brick building with an expansive staircase that takes you up to the second floor. This is the only 2 story Anthropologie that I have ever been in & I've been in many....

Now that I'm thinking about it, let me count how many stores that I have been in all over the country. I really cannot stay away and would love to work at one but do not live close enough. 

Anthropologie visits to date:

Atlanta, GA

LaJolla, CA

Mission Valley, CA

Seattle, WA

Bellevue, WA

University Village, WA

Tigard, OR

Tampa, FL

Myrtle Beach, SC 

Raleigh, NC ?

Oklahoma City - in August 13

Photo, J Bevin

Carnival Cone Wall Planter - $20, I purchased the blue at Anthropologie a few days ago. Their display's are magnificant..... 

Photo, J Bevin

Taken on a GRAY December morning in Gig Harbor, WA.

A POP of PEACH

This adorable couple had a farmers market set up on their boat in Tacoma, Wa. I could not resist buying a few peaches. yum! Do you see the ANCHOR on their logo?

The stars of the show in my living room - for now, ha!  

1. My new peach herringbone throw 

2. Lobster pillow 

I bought the pillow in Tampa, Fl at maybe HomeGoods or TjMaxx while on Spring Break recently.

Our hatch cover coffee table has been in the making for at least 15 years now. Avery and I picked it up at an antique shop in NH, and have been dragging it around the country ever since. Not long ago, Ryan Dehart made the hatch cover into a coffee table for me. It's a masterpiece! Thanks Ryan!  

Just a little bit different angle. Architectural photography is not all that easy for me. There are lots and lots of options for the placement of things, and camera angles as well. I think that I need a wider angle lens. 

My New Church Pew

 It is 5 feet long with a little bend in the middle.

I have been dreaming about owning a church pew for years and years. Maybe it was the New England influences that came from my first 14 years in Vermont?  I was on my way to Metropolitan Market to buy a cup of coffee when I noticed a church pew sitting on the grass. Quickly I pulled over to inquire. After one lift & quick look at the quarter sawn oak, it was the pew for me:) I overheard the owner mention to a women, $50 bucks. I couldn't believe it. I probably would have paid $150 bucks.

It was a tight fit, but thankfully fit into my Honda Pilot :)

The new home for my pew may be where the vintage record player is now. The pew matches perfectly with our tiger oak table. Don't you just love the legs on the table? Avery and I purchased it in New Hampshire when we were first married. I think that the pew will fit the space below the painting, a bit better than the record player.....Though that record player is a definite head turner. Did I mention- $50 bucks on that at an Estate sale. 

A little refinishing will be necessary before it comes into the house. I think that I can do it myself - AMEN!

The gentleman who sold me the pew also included this neat book in with my purchase. 

Thank you GOD! 

My new Tj Maxx coffee table

HERE SHE IS~

My home is full of stories. I'll begin with the sofa. I picked out the fabric while living in Bankers Hill, San Diego (downtown). If you have ever flown into San Diego you would have flown right over our old house and truth be told, only about a few 100 feet from our roof. Yikes

This couch called my name while I clicked around on an interior/ furniture website back in 2001 - the name slips my mind (it was one of the 1st sites).

A nice man at a furniture store in San Diego let me borrow the fabric swatches for the night.  It didn't take long to narrow down the fabrics. Walla.... both the couch the sofa were ordered from NC. 

Unbeknownst to Avery and I, our next move would be to Wilmington, NC. Years later we would end up buying lots of furniture from the factories in Highpoint.

My tastes have changed over the years and as you can see 'this look' is far from the Seaside Style that I am craving these days. I have just not had the heart to get rid of either piece of furniture.  

The braided rug from Garnett Hill seem to de-modernizes the room? 'Son of a gun' I think it works! 

Thanks Laura for the rug suggestion.

She caught my eye over the holidays at our local Tj Maxx. The GOLD legs and beautiful PATINA on the wood - made me look ;} A month or so later she was still sitting in the store and on SALE! I bought her and now am really having a hard time parting w/ the sofa. 

She is heavy and from Indonesia. One day I hope to travel to there and buy lots of furniture! Erin will you go with me?