Forest friends made of feathers come into focus for fall and delicious dinnerware from master makers help my table tell a tale of togetherness. Learn more about the creation of these magical objects!

When you close your eyes and think of the colors of autumn, it is likely that warm tones of yellow, orange red and brown fill your mind. I am finding, over the years, that green is the unsung hero color of the fall. How can that be? Join me in the Warmhouse to get the scoop!

If you are a fan of the natural world, curiosities and antiques, a trip to see Adam at Twelve Vultures may need to make its way onto your weekend to do list. You will just love getting lost among the many treasures of Adam’s emporium of awesome.

Have you ever held an object in your hand, closed your eyes and focused on its form, texture and weight? The first time I held one of Carla Sealey’s porcelain mugs, I did exactly that. I’m sure that once you own one, you will surely do the same.

What does it feel like to be alone these days? Do you welcome it? Are you tired of solo time? I find it to be a vulnerable time and I enter it with both anxiety and an antidote. Join me in the parlor for a cup of Lavender Tea.

I’ve been loving lavender lately along with other fragrant foliage that are highly herbaceous. How did I weave these beauties together into a fantastical forest inspired teatime with dangling ceramics? Very. Carefully.

You’ve seen her work woven in wonderfully in the “You, Me and Lavender Tea” installation. Come into the Drawing Room to learn more about the talented maker of mugs and more!

I have built up quite a collection of dining and serveware over the years and only a portion of them are stored in the curio cabinets in the Warmhouse Story Atmospheric Workshop. When approaching this project, selecting the makers to feature was a tough edit as there are so many gorgeous ebony or blackened objet in my curios. I’ll highlight a few that have a special meaning to me. They come from moments alone or together with others.

While I have been playing with edible floral charcuterie for a few years, the catalyst came down to what must be referred to as a magic carpet.  It took me on a wild, florally ride that resulted in beautiful bites and a dreamy atmosphere.

I was well down my path of floral fascination before I really took time to stop and eat the flowers. Diving in to learn more came about after I was adding dried flowers into my charcuterie spreads and not really thinking that anyone would eat them. Luckily no one ever did. First, they would have tasted awful. Second, they would have been the worst kind of crunchy. Third, most would not be very good for your health.

After 15 years in my high-rise condo, this is our first time “hosting” our feathered friends (a.k.a nightmare birds). Don’t get me wrong, I love birds. I love to listen to them in the park as I walk to the studio. They are mesmerizing.

In the Warmhouse Story Curio Cabinets there are hundreds of present day hand crafted objects and a mix of antiques that have meaning to me. It is quite a collection and my partner, Chad, was thrilled when I got a studio space and took dining and entertaining items out from the media cabinet, linen closet, multiple locations of underbed storage, baskets on bookshelves and random piles everywhere that I was calling decor. (They were really just piles.)

One of the very most activating parts of putting together a concept for entertaining is incorporating elements of the natural world. Each time I share one of my tables with you, I’ll spend some time talking about nature and how it influences my point of view. For this table, “If I Cannot Fly, Let Me Sing” I know that I’d need to evoke a sense of bursting forth. I started with the old suitcases. They were filled with some keepsakes on a shelf at home. I was determined that nature would be bursting out of a floating suitcase.

In the musical Sweeney Todd, the song Green Finch and Linnet Bird is longingly sung by Joanna who has been literally locked away as the young and beautiful ward of a cruel and unseemly judge. I reached out to Melissa Foster, Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University, and invited her to join me in discussing the song, the Parlor Story and life. Let’s dive deeper.

While Warmhouse Story as a concept had been percolating in my mind as a daydream for many years, like an elusive birdsong it seemed a bit out of reach. Beckoning. How might I use my own talents and aesthetic to do something meaningful?