Velvet & Linen

visiting belgium and france...

Steve and I love to travel with our children. Introducing them to cultures that are different from ours is one of our greatest pleasures. We also tend to choose countries that inspire our designs in some way, so this month we are taking a family trip to Belgium and France. Our recent projects, including Patina Farm, have been greatly influenced by the design aesthetics of these two countries. 

We are excited to be spending the day with our dear friend Greet Lefevre and her family. Greet is a talented interior designer and writer of the blog Belgian Pearls.

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Ever since I met Greet through our blogs, I've admired the Lefevre's gorgeous home and gardens. I'm particularly impressed by Greet's husband, Jan who does a lot of the work himself!

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Greet shared these images of her garden in a recent post. Her garden has the perfect balance of symmetry and softness.

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I'm looking forward to seeing this charming out building that Jan built last year. 

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Greet's orangerie is covered in luscious grape vines!

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Through her posts on Belgian Pearls, Greet has introduced me to several architectural resources that we plan to visit. Our first stop will be Van Cronenburg.

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We hope to be able to use their hardware throughout Patina Farm.

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Their designs have the tactile hand made quality that I've been searching for.

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Their finishes are also fantastic!

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Greet wrote an amazing post about her favorite resources for reclaimed architectural materials. We plan to visit several of them during our visit, including Rik Storm.

These beams are the perfect pale gray color for Patina Farm! 

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I adore everything about this room...the ceiling, the brick floor, those gorgeous steel windows!
 
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I'd like to use some reclaimed wood on the outside of our studio!

 
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Verschaeve is another destination on our list. I've made a schedule of all of the doors we need for Patina Farm and am hopeful that I will find most of them at Verschaeve,  given their extensive selection of antique doors.

 
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I wish I had a place for these beauties!

 
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We also have a date to visit the studio and residence of one of the most influential designers alive today, Axel Vervoordt!

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Our day will start at the Kanaal, a former distillery that Axel Vervoordt has transformed into exposition rooms, offices, warehouses, and restoration workshops.

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We have plans to tour Axel and May Vervoordt's private residence, the Castle of s'Gravenwezel near Antwerp.

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After exploring Belgium, we are driving to Paris for a couple of days. We don't have a many plans, but we do have tickets to see the Ralph Lauren Automobile exhibit at the Louvre. 

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The entire family has a strong appreciation for beautiful car design.

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After seeing Woody Allen's latest movie Midnight in Paris, Steve, Leila and I put Monet's Water Lilies exhibit at the L'Orangerie on our "must see" list. 

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Vicki Archer, book author and writer of one of my favorite daily blog reads, French Essence,was kind enough to send me a list of her favorite boutiques. Leila and I are planning to carve out a little "mom and daughter bonding time" to do some shopping. Thank you Vicki! 

This is Vicki's dreamy home in Provence!  Vicki knows how to live...

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We are also squeezing in a day trip to Provence to visit my friend Heather Robinson.

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Those of you who follow Heather's blog, Lost in Arles, know that Heather is a fabulous writer that now lives in the charming town of Arles.  We are hoping to do some antique shopping during the day, but just being in Provence is enough for me!

This is Heather and Remi's last apartment. They just signed the lease for a new residence that I'm looking forward to seeing.

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I'm excited to take you with us on our trip. I plan to do many posts during our travels including a few videos. I think they will give you some insight into our design process as well.

I would also love to get your suggestions to add to our "must see" list! 

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

 

 

the perfect birthday present...

Steve gave me a wonderful early surprise birthday present! Although my birthday isn't until tomorrow, we spent the day together in Ojai on Tuesday. He made plans for us to meet our landscape installer, Brian Diamond at the site to talk about trimming our beautiful Oak trees. 

Before meeting Brian, we stopped by Ojai City Hall to chat with Sherry, the charming woman who runs the Planning Department. We've already had our arborist inspect our trees, but because our Oak trees are a protected species it's important to understand the trimming guidelines thoroughly.

Then it was off to the site! Steve and I spent some time over the weekend laying out the house on the lot so we could see if it was in the perfect position. This was extremely helpful. We actually moved the front door over 3 feet so that our guests would have a view of the mountains underneath the canopy of our oldest Oak tree.

Once the dead branches are removed, our studio will have a breathtaking view through the trees.

When we sit by the fire in our bedroom at sunset, we'll be able to see "the pink moment" as the mountains reflect the colors of the setting sun.

This lovely Oak will shade the chicken coop, so the chicks will stay cool. 

At the present moment our lot is split into two levels. This is the view from the bottom looking up at where our future home will sit.  We plan to add some terraces going down the hill to create different outdoor "rooms".  

Over dinner that night, Steve and I dreamed up our first ideas for our landscape plan on Steve's ipad. Eventually the plan will include a kitchen/chicken garden, a large field of lavender, a duck pond, an orchard, stables and a meadow for some horses. Each of these areas will probably be developed one by one as smaller projects. 

A couple of you have asked about the more technical aspects of our design. As our plans move forward I promise I will share with you what we've learned about solar power and hydro-thermal energy options as well as our plans to dig our own well on the property. 

 I love being able to share our dreams with you and would appreciate any comments you might have about our plans so far!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

 

 

inside patina style...

I just received a surprise package from Madge Baird, our book editor at Gibbs Smith. When I opened the envelope I couldn't believe what I was holding. It was one of the first copies of our finished book, Patina Style, and it was even more beautiful than I had imagined!

 

My legs became a bit weak, and I had to sit down as I slowly turned the pages...

 

In the Introduction, we explain our design philosophy and how it shaped Patina Style. 

Lisa Romerein did such an fabulous job capturing the romance of our bedroom.

 

Patina Style is filled with gorgeous image grids expertly created by our book designer, Doug Turshen. 

 

We chose Lisa Romerein's image of my office for the back of the book jacket. If only it was this clean all of the time! 

This has been a very emotional day for me. The dream of Patina Style has been in my head for such a long time. To touch it, see it, and experience it as a reality is proof that anything is possible! 

We only have one copy of Patina Style for now, but we look forward to sharing it with you when it's officially for sale in stores.  You can also pre-order your copy of Patina Style on Amazon.

In the meantime, please continue to dream and pursue your passion!

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

 

 

patina farm: the model...

Just a couple of thank you's before I start this post...

Thank you to Marianne at Haven & Home for asking me to write a guest post for her "Love the one you're with" series. To read about what I'm loving please visit Marianne's beautiful blog. 

I also want to thank all of you who wrote supportive comments and emails about our chicken (too many roosters!) ordeal.  Henrietta is having the hardest time adjusting to the new chicks, so we've been spending some time together at night on the couch. Yes, I'm officially the crazy chicken woman!

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Like many of our clients, I find models to be extremely helpful. Seeing our home in 3 dimensions allows me to really understand how the rooms connect to each other and to the the gardens. 

This is the front facade of Patina Farm!  There will be a gravel motor court in front of the main entrance and a gravel drive that leads to the garages on the West (right) side of the house. 

The entrance tower will be white lime washed brick. Two large wood shutter doors will remain open during the day to allow light through the glass front door. 

Our kitchen garden and chicken coop will be on the West side of the house, directly behind the garages. 

Although the majority of the house will be plaster with an antique french tile roof, this garage will be made of gray wood with an metal roof. 

The chicken coop will be made from gray wood and chicken wire with an metal roof over the chicken sleeping and nesting area. Our studio will have a view of this garden and our roaming chickens. 

There are three large arched steel doors on the back of the house allowing light into my studio, the main living space, and our bedroom. 

The three windows of the kitchen and the trio of windows above the living room window seat flank the middle steel doors. 

The main part of the house is very open, with only a white lime washed brick fireplace separating the kitchen and the dining room/living room. 

Here's another view of the inside. There is a large pantry to the right of the kitchen. 

We're now starting to collect more finish samples. The palette is very light and neutral with accents of chalky blue gray. We won't begin building until next year, which gives us the luxury of time to work out all of the details!

xo

Brooke

One last, very important note... I want to congratulate my friend Monika Claasen on her home being featured in the May/June issue of Rue Magazine. Please visit Monika at Spendid Willow to read more about the photo shoot. Click here to see her home in Rue. Yay Mon!

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.