Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A visit to Stone Barns

My son and I spent the morning at Stone Barns in Westchester County, NY. http://www.stonebarnscenter.org/ The weather...beautiful, my date...well, yummy! I always find inspiration for decorating from Mother Nature. One of the most common concerns people have when decorating their home is how to pull colors together to create an inviting space. Use the colors in Mother Nature as a guide. Today, I found inspiration from the stones used to make the buildings, the rolling landscape and the animals.  I could pull together an entire color palette using the various blues, greens, browns, beiges, creams and pinks found in the above mentioned. Are you inspired by nature?


 
Love this rooster gate!
 And, how can you not be inspired by the colors and textures of animals?
We saw sixteen baby lambs! This little guy was born six hours prior to our visit!
(As a mommy to little ones, I know how this mommy ewe feels given that she is sleeping standing up!)
From just this photo I could pull together a very soothing room full of texture with various shades of white, cream, beige with hints of pale pink!
  
 There is a charming little cafe on the grounds that sells Mast Brothers Chocolate. These might be the most gorgeous chocolate bar wrappers I've ever seen! I thought about buying one, but at $9.00 a bar I decided to pass. Now, I'm wondering just how delicious they must have been...they are handmade chocolates (not that I'm a chocolate snob...it all tastes good, right?) Have you ever had this brand of chocolate? 
I would love to have these flowers (called succulents), I mean candles for al fresco dining...all four in the little container would be perfect!
Nature inspires!

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post! I love that place! Have you had dinner there? Its amazing!!! (The owners have a summer/ weekend place in Pound Ridge)...yes, I am a townie! :)

Kathysue said...

I get inspired by nature, daily. I look outside my kitchen window and I am sometimes in awe of Gods handiwork. He is the best designer of all. I love,love the little lambs, Aaaah! Hugs Kathysue

TSL said...

Love the little lambs, how wonderful a visit, so many good memories.

La Dolfina said...

Oh my yes, mother nature inspires me to no end!!
God is my favorite artist:)
What a fabulous day you had... and I love the wrapping on those chocolate bars but $9 in this economy? I think they might go stale:)
Thanks for sharing your lovely day
xo

Unknown said...

What beautiful pictures, so idyllic. Makes me wish I had a little farm or something :D. ... but i want monkeys on my farm LOL. I love monkeys.
Never tried that chocolate, but I have heard about this one on some food blogs. Its supposed to be good. Love he packaging. $9 is a lot but life is short, so treat yourself.
*kisses* HH

Susie @ Maddie G Designs said...

Wonderful pictures! We have a "farm" near out house and they have lots of babies this time of year....Maddie and I have visited a few times recently. However, the scenery is nothing like this.....very inspiring!

Rock'n Roll Ballerina said...

Beautiful photos! Sounds like you had a great time. And the baby lamb is so qute;) Nature sure is inpiring!

That Girl in Pearls said...

Oh yes... my greatest inspiration by far. I think that's why my home evolves and changes with the seasons. I Love to bring the outdoors in!! What a Lovely post. I really enjoyed this!

Beatriz.

Dumbwit Tellher said...

What a terrific inspiring day with your guy. Your photos were gorgeous & the wee lamb was a huge ahhhh...moment!

I was listening to Martha Stewart speak about picking paint colors based on colors from nature yesterday on the Today Show. Nature does inspire me hands down. Glad you had such a special day. x

Gwen Driscoll said...

I use nature as inspiration a lot in my design work. Thus, all my crazy random images during my "Weeks of Color" posts. What a fun day I know you all had together! Thank you for your kind remarks on RHS. I really appreciate your thoughts. Have a great weekend.

Unknown said...

Oh, so beautiful! Love the succulents! I love Westchester County so much! So gorgeous there. I spent the morning working in the yard, so yes, I am feeling quite inspired by nature!

Anonymous said...

It is so pretty in that area and I am so happy that spring has finally arrived in NY.

M.A. the 2nd ~ Frances Russell said...

Lisa.. this looks so beautiful and such a fabulous place to visit. Your photos are great and the animals... particularly love the roosters. You are so right.... almost everything we do especially with interiors comes from nature. The inspiration is all around us! I love the idea of the beige/taupe and whites especially with texture coming from the sheep! Beautiful post as always!
Lots of hugs
Frances

Cashon&Co said...

that baby lamb is beyond....
and the packaging on the chocolate is fab!!!!

Crystal @ Plush Palate said...

Nature DEFINITELY inspires! A trip to the botanical gardens always give me a hundred new color palette ideas! :)

Duchess of Tea said...

Hello darling thanks so much for visiting my cottage and for the kind comment you left behind, much appreciated. I am delighted that our blogs crossed, now I have a lovely world to visit on daily basis.

Love & Hugs
Duchess

pve design said...

When we moved here many years ago, it was a place we would go walk, long before Stone Barns and I was always wondering when and who would snap it up and restore it....we are so lucky, it is like a little bit of Europe in our back-yard.
pve

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