Wednesdays What If's Post…What If You Could Meet Birmingham Designer Lisa Flake And Her Mother Who Started It All?

Well, you can! Meet Lisa Flake and her mom Mary Ruth Caldwell. Together they make up the team known around Birmingham as Caldwell-Flake Interiors. When I first began this Birmingham Designer Series they immediately popped into my head! How could they not?

They are both extremely talented as well as being extremely beautiful and kind. We love seeing them when they come in the shop. However, you have to look fast! And I mean REAL fast! Lisa moves faster than anyone I've ever known! And I love that about her! She knows what she likes and what she wants. No time is wasted and her time is precious to her and very well spent!

Thankfully, Mary Ruth encouraged her daughter to pursue her design abilities and Lisa listened! Her mom has been in the design field for awhile and she knew talent when she saw it. 

Aren't they adorable?  I ran across an old edition of Birmingham Home and Garden magazine and from there I knew I wanted you all to get to see their beautiful work!

 ( and by the way, Lisa and Mary Ruth are two of the best dressed women in town!)

Take a look at this beautiful home that Lisa decorated in her amazing style!

Not only is Lisa wearing cute boots….

She allowed a pool table to be the focus of the room!

 In a quote from Lisa, "It's the first pool table I've ever called gorgeous!" In my opinion, if Lisa Flake can pull this off…it must have worked! She has incredible taste…knows what she likes…and yet she caters to the home owner. And rightfully so! They are the ones who have to live in their homes on a day to day basis and enjoy it! Ultimately, they are the ones that need to be happy and satisfied with Lisa's work!

The pictures above and below are from the same home. Truly spectacular!

Even this fabulous "retreat" of a bathroom for the daughter!

I do think this picture of the family room is one of my favorites! Simply because of the symmetry and the painting! I love it!

From here just sit back and enjoy the view! 

These pictures are taken from Caldwell-Flake Interiors website and are just a small glimpse at what Lisa and Mary Ruth can do!

(this bathroom has given me all sorts of ideas for my own home! Isn't it stunning?)

I do hope you've enjoyed seeing yet another fabulous Birmingham designer! In fact, you saw two of them! They are both so very talented and I know for a fact I've only shown you a mere glimpse of their work! Like I've said before, Birmingham is blessed with so many fabulous decorators, designers, architects, builders, etc…it could take a year to feature each and every one! I am only hitting the ones that I know and the ones that frequent Mulberry Heights Antiques. Hopefully, I can branch out and get to know many more! It would benefit me greatly just to see the talent that is all around me! 

Have a wonderful rest of your week! It's good to be home from our family trip to Hilton Head and it's good to be back in the saddle so to speak! 

I've missed out on a lot and look forward to catching up on many a blog post!

XOXO

Wednesday's What If Post….What If I Confessed To Re-Posting? It's So Worth It!

What If I told you that this was the very first time I have EVER re-posted a blog on Vintage Mulberry? I'm pretty sure I would be telling you the truth! And the reason I'm doing it now…is that I wanted to continue my Birmingham Designer's Series being that we are home to some of the finest in the land as my granddaughter would say! When she describes a princess…or a mermaid or any lovely creature that comes to her mind…they are the "Finest In The Land!" Hence the reason for the re-post on Tammy Connor this week…she is truly amazing and stands alone…her work doesn't need any elaborate introductions…we all know her and love her for who she is and for the design quality she always provides! I think this was posted about a year ago…maybe longer…time gets away from me all too easily these days!  We are on our family vacation this week in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Therefore, time is short and words are few and far between! Enjoy the post on Tammy one more time! You can truly never get enough of her talented work! I hope you are all doing well and I cannot wait to catch up on all of your fabulous posts as well as hear all that has been going on in your lives! Hope you are enjoying summer to it's fullest!
( by the by….I received the sweetest, most sincere thank you note in the mail from Tammy when I first did this post…It truly made my week…probably made my year! I still have it and it meant the world! She is that kind of person!)

"Truth be told"...I should've done this post on Tammy Connor a very long time ago! I've wanted to…I really have!  If I were truly honest I would tell you that I want to come home to a house that Tammy Connor designed…I just do! They are beautiful and lovely…serene and sophisticated…comfortable and uncompromising…all at the same time!

It's hard when you think you know someone and you really don't. I mean, I think she's been in my shop before... because she told me she has but I'm just not sure! 

I feel like I know her though!  I'm super excited about the new book coming out that we will carry that not only features her house as well as several other great designers, but I've heard she has had a huge role in it as a whole. I actually heard that from the author herself, Ronda Rice Carman.

 I'm totally in love with her work and after looking at all of these pictures that I've wanted to talk about for so long I've confirmed what I've always known! I MUST have Tammy Connor help me re-do my house! Then I saw her post on Let There Be Light with the Tastemakers, etc… at the wonderful Birmingham Antiques and Garden Show! How fun!

Something I've always wanted to do…at least in another town!  As a well known and very well respected designer, I think she will do great and we will all benefit from her vignette in the show. I saw several names that I'm very excited about seeing!  Bill Ingram, Liz Woods and the mother daughter team of Marjorie Johnston and  Wendy Barze were the other designers I've always admired.

Seeing this article on the Tastemakers made me reflect on the plans that Jim and I had drawn up by our friend and incredibly talented architect, Lauren Barrett. We were so excited about them and thought everything was about to be under way.

We are still hoping to do them and we WERE doing them until the economy took such a down swing and I looked at my husband and said, " I just don't feel comfortable doing this right now!" Of course, he didn't either because we are "usually" on the same wave length! However…it's been several years since I said that and now with the photo shoot that started today at my house I am that much more aware of the fact that this house needs a HUGE makeover!

 I've decided I really need to talk Jim into at least letting us do "some" renovating and redecorating! I don't want to do it myself anymore…I'm just too tired…Plain and Simple! And after seeing Tammy's pictures that I've wanted to post for quite some time now…I'm convinced that she and I would get along great and that I love her style THAT much! I really do! Take a look for yourself at just a few examples of her incredible talent!

If I could incorporate just a "sprinkling" of her design talent in my home it would make me very happy!

Her work is timeless and transcends all expectations of going from "old lady formal" to new, modern and traditional with a twist!

I'm loving her use of "collections" in the hallway. I can't tell if it's creamware or drabware but either way…it's stunning and would work quite well in my house. And I'm crazy about those crosses in the nursery…that I think was in her own home….I'm double checking that one!

Her unusual light fixtures make me want to scour the countryside for some fabulous treasures to add to the shop!

And I love the serenity of these rooms…would be perfect at our beach house! ( I'm telling you, we would get along just great!)

A few more examples seen above and below of using beloved collections.

Birmingham Country Club was certainly smart when they hired the expertise of Tammy Connor to do the work on the renovations at the club…it's stunning!

Her signature style stands alone…it is timeless and elegant or as my mother in law always says…" Elegant but understated!" So, so true!

I hope you will all try to attend the Birmingham Botanical Garden's Tastemakers 2012 show…it should be well worth your while! I can promise you that you will not be disappointed with Tammy Connor!

Hope your Wednesday is proving to be a great one!