Three Areas to Focus on When Entertaining

With a nephew on the way and my sister’s belly growing like a pumpkin, a fall shower at home with friends and family will be a treasure of a time.

Of course I’m having to sneak in some decorating ahead of time - in between a porch installation, landscape project and a looming book deadline! Making hay while the sun shines and the key to a productive hive is productive worker bees! Jason and Sami have been super help, and I just can’t wait to finish the flowers on Friday and have the shower on Saturday.

It’ll be fun!

 

I firmly believe that there are three spots in your home that need attention when entertaining- the front door or whatever the main entry is. This is your home's first and last visual impression. 

Next is the mantel- jam up and jelly tight! Make that focal point of the room dynamite and don't fuss over decorating everywhere else- just make sure the room is clean and the mantel fabulous!

 

Last, your main table- that arrangement I'm making on Friday. Let your main food table or gift table or whatever it may be for the event be a show stopper!

Those three things make party decorating a breeze. One other spot not to forget is the powder room- a great little bouquet or pretty plant is always apropos there.
 

THE FARMER'S DOZEN

Akin to a baker's dozen, my Farmer's Dozen is a quantity of a dozen or so questions - a series of questions with fellow designers, authors, tastemakers, friends and Southerners alike.

I am so excited to share these with y'all- I'm answering my own first to kick off the series and look forward to posting my friends' responses. This is going to be fun!

Grab a Farmer's Dozen for your Southern fix - your dose of garden living, cooking, decorating, entertaining and all things this Farmer loves!

1. Where are you hailing from? 

My mail goes to Kathleen- my land is in Perry, my church is in Warner Robins and I grew up in Hawkinsville- all three are within a twenty mile radius of Kathleen. Each town claims me and I'm lucky to claim them.

2. If you were a color, what would you be and why? 

I've always thought green since it is so ubiquitous throughout nature but I honestly lean toward blue- like the blue you find in "blue and white" china. It's neutral and wonderful as an accent with so much including it's familial blue hues.

3. What are some of your favorite heirlooms? What do you love about them? How have you incorporated them into your decor?

Mimi's iron skillets- they are priceless and completely utilitarian. As for decor, I have some pieces (sideboard, chandelier, a portrait, silver) that were my great, great aunt's- as most Southerners do, we display and use these with reverence and a little guilt too if we do not! I love that these pieces were special to my family before I came along and they're special to me now as connections to my people and heritage. I use the sideboard and chandelier in my dining room.

4. What's your favorite room in your home? 

The dining room- it's where we sit, eat and laugh. I love dining rooms and love using them- even for a weeknight dinner- they make the meal special.

5. What's your favorite pattern? 

I love blue and white, period. Good old Blue Willow and Chinese export such as Canton are favorites. Plus, I'm spoiled- my aunt owns a dinnerware company and her Basket Felice pattern is a favorite too. Silver wise, I love Audobon- anyone who knows me knows I love birds and cows but the birds make a much more lovely and elegant silver pattern than the latter! When it comes to fabrics, I am a sucker for plaids and checks. And to reference birds again, Schumacher's "Quail Meadow" and Lee Jofa's "Tree of Life" are all time classic favorites.

6. Where is your favorite get-a-way? 

Cashiers NC- it's my home away from and I feel I can truly live in Cashiers. On the flip side, I love renting a Gulf beach condo and having my sisters and friends with me for a week to read and eat fried shrimp and just leave at the end of the week.

7. What's growing in your garden? 

Rosemary always- it's my favorite herb and greenery too for small bouquets. Since it's fall, my Mexican Sage (Salvia leucanthe) is riotous now and peppers seems to keep coming in with a zinnia or two. 

8. What was the last meal you made in your home? Who did you share it with? 

At my aunt's home in Cashiers which is like my home, I made a pasta with roasted heirloom tomatoes and sweet onions with a garlic infused olive oil; a salad with fresh mountain apples, honey whipped goat cheese and sweet-n-salty pecans; and for dessert I made a gingerbread with pumpkin ricotta mousse and whipped cream. We (my Maggies- sister and friend and my favorite brother-in-law Zach) sat out on the porch on a crisp fall evening and enjoyed every bite and second together! I also did shrimp and grits for fiends in Richmond VA recently and we had a ball!

9. What's your favorite garden flavor? How do you incorporate it into your favorite dishes?

 Rosemary. I love this herb because it is savory and divine and spectacularly amazing in sweet dishes too. Try some in an apple pie or ice cream and you'll be thrilled! I use it in tea too for a delightful kick.

 
10. Who inspires you? 

Different folks and strokes- the seasons do, designers in magazines, my family, mind-springs of inspiration jolt a creative bend and I just run with it. I have a tad bit of competitiveness in me so if I see someone do something I think is super, then I want to say, "Hey! Look what I can do!" and creative thereto.

11. What do you call your grandmother? Share a story about her... maybe something you've inherited from her. 

Mrs. Napp N. Granade, the former Sarah Ann Bates, is best known as Mimi. I, being the oldest grandchild, donned her with title because I wanted her to hold "me, me, hold me" and Mimi was coined. The spelling taken from the traditional nomenclature. She's taught me to cook and host and love whole heartedly. 

12. Favorite scent? 

Gardenia, tea olive, garden ginger and tea steeping.

13. What's on your coffee table right now? 

Stacks of magazines, a candle, a turtle shell and some garden flowers. The tv remote is probably buried under there somewhere. I tell my clients that their coffee tables are mini representations of there lives- thus mine touts as a creative vestige to design, nature, the seasons and the constant pursuit for the remote!

Foraging: There's an App for That!

Fall is the perfect time of year for foraging--it's a beautiful time with all of these lovely elements of nature are at their seasonal peak as they are about to go dormant for winter. Nuts, berries, mushrooms, and grass are just a few of the things you can forage for. And foraging is an excellent way to get yourself and your family out of doors before it turns too cold. I always say that foraging should start in your backyard, but feel free to take a hike!

The first rule of thumb with foraging is knowledge. Picking the wrong berry or mushroom can be a dangerous mistake. Thankfully, in this bright and shiny age of technology, information about what it's safe to forage for is right at your fingertips because now, there IS an app for that! You can read about my favorite foraging apps in this article via HGTV Gardens by Danny Bonvissuto.

Also in this article you will find a recipe for this Farmer's Garden Wassail--a delicious seasonal tea that utilizes juniper berries, something you will definitely encounter on your fall foraging adventures! Happy foraging, y'all!

Quick & Dirty: Foraging Meets the Future | HGTV Gardens | Danny Bonvissuto

Hanging Prints

Starting with a blank wall of two hundred year old heart Georgia pine in a farmhouse set in a glen of pines, pecans, and peaches, I had to face my given restrictions - a beam and door and thus my parameters.

Hoping to enhance the diagonal prowess of the stairwell, columns of prints in descending height was a thought; but, the beam and print size gave me the chance over challenge to square off the collection and form a handsome grid.

Next to my favorite, plates on the wall, a collection of orderly hung prints is just as captivating and very visually appealing. Whether displayed in numbered columns of the same shape and size or as a collection in ordered chaos of different shapes and sizes, a collection of prints is amazing. They tell a story of many chapters- a thousand words per picture.

Jason is my project manager and is keen to keep James Farmer Designs flush with plate and picture hangers - plus his laser level and eagle eye are the perfect combo for a project like this.

There is no formula for success but working left to right, setting a columnar template, marking with a pencil the spots for hangers, and using a laser level helps me plan out the attack.

One, two, three - our first column and our cornerstone for this hanging is set.

 

Once the cornerstone is established it's time to square off and finish out the grid.

 

Moving on up! Now, the last two prints are why it's good to be a tall Farmer.

 

Odd numbered sets make for awesomely even displays - here I used nine prints and the three over three set makes a visually delightful square.

 

These antique pages from an ornithology anthology are now soaring with new wings and grace this farmhouse kitchen with stylish arrangement. Yet, I like to think this same display and my designs could have been an original part of the decor - a way to connect with the past, keep tradition alive and always embracing classic Southern style.

Hanging Plates

Hanging plates - my favorite decorating pastime. Designers either have a love or hate take on plates on the wall.

I'm traditional, classic and of course LOVE a plate display arranged artfully and hung on the wall. Give me a blank brick wall and I'm near about weak in the knees to hang something on it- plates notwithstanding.

 

Blue Willow and majolica- two of this Farmer's favorite types of china pattern and ceramic style respectively. Starting with my pivot point of a Blue Willow platter, I anchored the trunk of this tree with my vertical components. This is my MO when hanging plates.

For my side flanks, I used a pair of old barn wood brackets with a pair of Chinese export birds perched atop the patina laden sconces. This pair of birds is more so a fraternal pair or a mated pair since the male and female are represented closer to natural size. It breaks the perfect symmetry but doesn't detour from balance.

Now for some feather edge plates. Next to Blue Willow and majolica, I adore feather edge plates and platters. This English ironstone style is lovely and white with a feathered edge in blue or green usually. Two of this style plate bring out the white in the blue and white and the green in the majolica.

 

Last but not least, a pair of Blue Willow plates anchors the bottom flange of the arrangement and serves as visually weighty complements to the feather edge plates.

 

Remember, balance is key to aesthetic delight. Akin to a plate laden with luscious food- we eat with our eyes first. When the sight is visually appealing, the effect is a positive resonance for our mind and for those who love design, our hearts.

Additionally, triangulation is integral for geometric consistency and further aesthetic appeal. This form provides visual comfort and support and both asymmetrical and symmetrical balance with acute, obtuse and right angles. I barely passed any math class but excelled in geometry- that's the math and science combo I comprehend completely- especially when broken down for interior or garden design.

Furthermore, complements such as sweet and salty are fantastic for cooking and complementary elements fair well in design. In this case, porcelains and bricks- so much fun!

Give me a blank wall, some plates and hangers and you'll have one happy Farmer!