June 26, 2013

My Weekend In Santa Barbara With... Fifi O'Neill And Mark Lohman

Doré Callaway Interior Design ~ Designer
Above photo my piece.

"Love is in the air"
Santa Barbara, CA.
6-22-2013
Wedding Shoot


A peek of what you will see in Fifi O'Neill's new book of Wedding Style's.
Due to release spring 2014

Myself and my Daughter Hannah, were invited to spend our weekend with Fifi O'Neill at
 the beautiful home of,
Renee & Gordon Werner
Where truly Patina & Personality meets and greets the seaside view of Santa Barbara, Ca.
Renee & Gordon Werner's
Home is featured in one of Fifi O'Neill's Magazines...
French Country Style on magazine stands until July 2013
Pages 48-59

My daughter Hannah Bailey Callaway, Modeled as a bride along with many added design touches I added to this event that will be featured along with Renee's garden wedding event in what we know to be a best seller Wedding Style Book for our beautiful friend,
 Fifi O'Neil.

I would love to share in detail but, I can only share some snippets of what the surroundings were like before its staging, we were sworn to secrecy to not leak a thing.

All Photos taken by Me, Doré Callaway  

Home of
Renee & Gordon Werner
Weekend of 6-22-2013 spent with Fifi O'Neill and Mark Lohman
Later, end of day followed the beautiful company of
Sunday Hendrickson
A stylist for Fifi shoots on the many featured homes we love and adore.

These windows are antique windows collected by the owner of the home. Renee Werner knew when she found these beautiful windows that she would find a place for them and indeed she did. When the Werner's added onto their home they knew it must have tumbled used brick flooring and washed cement walls a perfect room for their windows a garden room addiction right off the kitchen next to the main entrance of the home making for a beautiful view of the Santa Barbara California sea.

This was the column that greeted us to the entrance to the French garden home.
My daughter Hannah pictured in all this wow-ness!

Contributing Photographer Mark Lohman
He is a force to reckon with, amazing talent stands behind that camera.
I had the privilage of having him shoot our home when it was featured in Romantic Country magazine Spring issue 2013 another of Fifi O'Neill's beautiful publications
Mark Lohman works closely with Fifi adding his beauty through the lens of what he sees; we can tell you he is so much fun to be around.

Renee loves and we do to the added salvage she adds to her gardens, they are like rooms with a view. She sat for hours talking and sharing her love for salvage with my daughter Hannah and myself.
I would ask her in conversation where did you find this or that, her answers were, "I had them shipped over from France"
Just look at that iron door that trellis' her vines.

Old bits of broken chipped glass is left over to what was a pane of window glass to the iron door, soulful is all I can say.
Garden art is everywhere. This is the view from her sea weathered veranda porch exiting the French doors of her kitchen. You will also notice a bit of whimsey like this iron umbrella.

Windows are left open allowing the sea air to visit.


"Photo taken in my home"

This is a similar piece that will also be featured in Fifi O'Neill's up and coming Wedding Styles book I feel so honored to be contributing to the beauty she is creating.
As I stated before I can only show you snippets of what you will see and this is in closeness to the likes of the one featured.

This LOVE sign is of 100 year old barn woods that is backed with a split up antique table top. The letters spelling out LOVE are of  vintage salvage glued in place, nail gunned down to then deeply screwed down for lasting heirloomed life to it and will be for sale in my Burlap Luxe etsy shop.
It is a one-of-a-kind
will not be produced with these woods or embellishments again due to materials obtained and used.



Beautifully displayed for a wedding, bridal shower, new arrival of that bundle of joy or an expression of the LOVE in your home. 

I will be sharing soon this newly painted piece that has lived with me for ten years in natural finish featured in Romantic Country magazine spring 2013

Also will be featured in Fifi's Wedding book and listed in my etsy as well.
The last of my antique galvanized zinc plates and is a one of a kind piece.

French address numbers were also used in Fifi's, Wedding book at each table for table numbers.
you will find them in my etsy shop, this is the last of them. No more will be made due to the last of the antique zinc plates are no more.

Number 1 belongs to Fifi

A peek of what is attached to the wedding cake that I made for Fifi's wedding book in the gardens of Renee & Gordons Santa Barbara, Ca. Seaside home.

Another part of what sits on top of the wedding cake is one of my wire birdcages I create. This one is special; I created it for my daughter's hope chest that will someday sit atop her wedding cake that I too will make for her. Perched inside the wire crown cage is a swing with vintage ephemera paper of Bower birds. The male Bower builds the most beautiful hut/home of all bird species, its part of his courtship to winning over the love of his life just as it should be. The male bower bird will find field brocante, shinny stones and small objects to decorate with by weaving it so beautifully into his built home to attract the attention of a mate making it a lasting life home.

As you see I have created and weaved one of my beautiful little crowns into this Bower birdcage as would a Bower bird if it happened upon it. 

As we left the gates of Renee & Gordon Werners Santa Barbara seaside French cottage home it was emotionally more than one could imagine, an experience that embraces grace and beauty while letting the whispers of the day follow us home.

June 14, 2013

White Frenchness and Brocante Lighting

"Burlap Luxe Home"

My new old thrift find; I am enamored with this find.
For centuries France has produced, safe to say the best lighting but, along with that is their pricey tags.

You can often find reproductions and antiques that hold great tag sales as well as, estate sales and antique dealers but, when a great old reproduction comes along you might have to upstyle its dated look as I did here.


GoodWill find $7.00 in a garishly dated 1970's Lime Green &Yellow paint finish. It had the right shape and a surprise to being wood it allowed me to strip it down and add a chippy wash of white to it.

Having the right subtle and harmonious colour adds to the atmosphere of any rustic
French home.


I am pleased with the paint treatment I gave it, the little splits in the wood add the right kind of rightness to its age.

I never undervalue lighting when a piece can pull off that rustic French role
it will play in a room.

Inspiring white Frenchness with a hint of lavender.

June 07, 2013

Français et Rustique

Burlap Luxe Home

Clippings from my shrubs offer a calm placed in a French floral can filled with
chalky white and grey patina. 

Peacefully old and pure

Tarnished up against white

Gentle and relaxed

New To My Etsy Shop...

French Address Numbers
Les numéros d'adresse français

I have become the keeper of treasured finds and share the extras. Inspired by vintage galvanized zinc I created French address numbers some time ago on these steal plaques that have taken on a soulfully aged grey patina. I could not leave well enough alone and have now added my zinc numbers to salvaged vintage mahogany creating a harmonious mix of recreating old world French.

             The zinc plate is not screwed to the wood base but, nailed with vintage in style,
zinc nail heads.


Inspired to recreate French European house address numbers on vintage zinc galvanized steel plaques added to vintage reclaimed mahogany wood 7"x 6" They have aged zinc nails filling in the holes on all four corners that couldn't have been more perfect for what they were to become. A tinted worn black paint finish made for painting on the surfaces of galvanized metal by (Val-Spar) and a matte hand rubbed sealer for heirloom quality. I became enamored with the charm of their outcome!

              There is enormous charm in decorating with French house numbers,
adding romance and European flea market country living to your collected style.



Inspiring French address numbers ready to hang. Found in my peaceful etsy!