Romancing the Garage Door

Let's face it- garage doors are something that I have never paid much attention, never mind fantasizing about design elements on them.  All that changed yesterday!  Our builder sent us to approve our garage door design and select the hardware elements for the door.  I never  thought about garage door hardware- just took it for granted I guess!  All I cared about was that the door went up and down when I wanted it to!!!! However, the new house that we are building has garage doors that are a major design element of the front of the home.

We started out wanting three garages that faced away from the front of the house- never to be seen by passers by.  However, our steep mountainous lot did not allow for that concept and the garage doors are the first thing you see when arriving to the property.

Since the  garage doors are a key feature, our architect gave them the look of old carriage house doors.  And to make them much easier to navigate with our large SUV's, he widened the opening from the standard 8 feet to 9 feet wide.  The height is 9 feet instead of the standard 8 to accommodate car top carriers, etc.

Calling for a carriage house design, the doors are designed to appear like 4 separate doors that swing wide open. 

Searching Pinterest for some interesting garage door designs, I found the following-

 

Love the pergola over these doors with the soft plants in the front of the columns.

 

Another rounded pergola with pots as the planters.

 Love the reclaimed wood and hardware detail on these doors.

 

 Another Pinterest picture showing how important the hardware is to the design of the door.

 

 

 

 

This garage is adorable and makes you think of fairytale cottages. 

 

Another garage door made by the artisans that are making our door- reclaimed barn wood.

Made right here just past Black Mountain in Mt. Pilot.

 

 

Yesterday, we viewed door hardware from several manufactures.

 

Gorgeous stuff-

 

 

Rocky Mountain Hardware- my absolute favorite!  They are making our front door hardware and I would love to use them for the garage doors too!



 

However, our final decision was to use a local artisan that hand forges hardware for

Carriage House Doors out of Burnsville, NC, about 30 miles north of here. 

They can be painted to match the Rocky Mountain Hardware for the front door.

 

 

 

 From the Tuscan Collection, we chose the Bar Handle.  They are taller and balance the taller doors.

There will be 2 on each door.

 

 

 And the 24 inch Cambridge strap- the original choice of our architect!

 

 

The Carriage House door for our new home! Looks like they swing open, but they roll-up like a traditional garage door!   Ours will be stained a grey tone to match the shutters on the house.

 

Next decision is what the driveway material will be??

Who knew one could spend so much time on a garage door???

Building this house has certainly been an adventure.



Dahlias- A New Love Affair

I am a lover of roses, peonies and hydrangeas.  But they have competition- the Dahlia.  Today I visited a flower farm in Mills River, North Carolina to see the dinner plate size dahlias!

 The drive to the farm is so pretty- rolling hills and lots of green.

 

Then you enter the drive-way of Poppin's Posies and rows of flowers are before your eyes.

 

Rows and rows and rows.

 

 

I couldn't wait to get out my camera and start photographing these fleeting beauties.

 The  center of these flowers is complex and deep with color.

 

 This color is a favorite with brides.

 

 

 

And the best thing- you can buy a bucket of these flowers for $30.00!

 



 

 

Five dinner plate size dahlias and many smaller ones are arranged and ready to enjoy.

What a treat- it's so sad that they don't last very long.  

 

The national dahlia show will be held in Asheville at the Grove Park Inn in September.

 I can't wait to buy some dahlia tubers and try to grow them!

 

So if you are in WNC, visit Poppin's Posies in Mills River.  They are open every day except Sundays.

Planning a Wedding at the Biltmore

This next year will be busy!  Not only will we be moving into our new home, but my daughter is getting married at the Biltmore Estate!  This past week, she and her fiancé visited Asheville to begin the planning of the wedding.  We had a visit with our florist- the Bloom Room- to begin discussion of how to transform the Diana venue into a magical woodland wedding! We visited the venue to discuss our thoughts, then met at the florist to start the planning process!

 

 

The 180 foot long tent  will be transformed into a Mid Summer's Night Dream!

Antler chandeliers, barn wood  siding, moss colored up lighting, moss, dark purples

 and lots of candles will do the trick!

 A magical fairy land will be in these woods for the children to have fun.

Fairy houses, little elves and fairies, fairy lights all to delight the guests!

 

 

The wedding ceremony will take place here in front  of the Biltmore house!

A spectacular view from the terrace - I can't wait to see the wedding pictures!

 

the incredible attention to detail on the Biltmore house finished in 1895!

 

Looking through the stone balcony around the terrace.

 

Love these lanterns on the side of the home!

The incredible gardens behind the house- a spot for more great wedding pictures!

 

 The iconic conservatory!

 

 

Mia, one of the flower girls, leaving the florist meeting with a bucket of flowers!

 

The bride and flower girl!

 

Getting the flowers home and into a vase to enjoy! Not quite the right shade of purple

for my daughter's taste- but we have 10 months to find that perfect purple rose!

 

 

But oh- so much more to do!  A busy year indeed!

Moving Into a New Home

After eight years of thoughtful planning, the Miller family finally moved into their dream home last Saturday!  Many more weeks of fluffing and puffing will be occurring, but I wanted to share with you some snippets of the progress so far.  

 

Three weeks ago- no lights. no copper details and no drive-way!  

 Last Friday, July 16th- the big day!  Lights, copper details, and drive-way. And the big thing-

A Certificate of Occupancy from the county!

The moving truck arrives Saturday!

 

Entering the impressive foyer, a hand forged railing is noticed. 

While still waiting for it's final

paint application, it is still a beautiful work of art by a local craftsman.

 

Entering the twenty foot high living room, one cannot help but look up at the impressive beams.

 

 

The tall stacked stone fireplace with it's limestone surround isn't too shabby either!

 

And as the furniture begins to roll of the truck, the muted warm gray color scheme comes to life.

Everything looks gorgeous on the muted antique white rugs that we purchased at Scott's last weekend!

Last week, Jill found these Designer Guild pillows at a fabulous Asheville store called Porter and Prince.  They add just a touch of a teal gray blue to the room.  Perfection!

 



 The newly upholstered sofa looks great on the rug also.

 

 

The artwork gets uncrated and the lamps get plugged in!  It really is starting to look like a home.

 

The massive master shower awaits it's first inhabitants- while 

 

 

the new mattress gets dressed with Designer Guild and Bella Notte Linens.

 

Notice the lux cut velvet bench at the bottom of the bed- a real steal that we found at a fabric

outlet in Greenville!   Should have been mine, but it sure does look great here. 

 

 

I can't wait to see this bedding on the Ebanista four poster bed that is arriving shortly.

 



 Notice the beautiful embroidery on the Bella Notte satin pillow.

 

 

 

Moving down to the lower level, a different vibe is happening.  I love the black and brass

 

chandelier-  It is so pretty when lit as the inside of the shade is brass.

 

 Peaking in the bedrooms, a linen tufted bed is dressed in gray velvet Bella Notte. The cow rug
adds a bit of tough love to the feminine setting. I love the contrast.

 

Another room- dressed in lace trimmed linen sheets, grey and red and black tartan.

 

Look at this adorable black and white plaid settee in this bedroom.

Same fabric on a comfy chair for the downstairs family room.

 

 



 

Now back upstairs to my favorite space- the kitchen, dining  and keeping room.

Gray and white with quartzite countertops, this kitchen is a dream space for a cook.

 

 

And while one should be putting things away and getting organized,

 it is impossible not to putz, place, and play with little vignettes. 

 

 

The keeping room with a swivel chair ready  to enjoy the fireplace.

 

And taking a look back from the fireplace, the dining area takes your breath away.

 

Soft grey walls and dark gray trim compliment the rustic pine buffet and white linen chairs.

 



 

The menu, from Jill's daughters wedding last May, looks amazing over the buffet.

I like the addition of the dark black in the room. Our friend Laurell created this menu board

for the wedding and it brings back lot's of great memories.  It's perfect for this space!

 And of course, the putzing, placing and playing with pretty things just happens- even though there are millions of boxes still to be opened!  It's how we roll!

 

 



Wonder what's in the next box to play with?

 

Everything seems new again in a new house!

 

There are still lot's of things missing, but it is starting to look like a home. 

 So much more to do- the landscaping, organizing, drapery, cleaning,  What will we do next year?