Romantic Homes

I am happy to announce the September issue of Romantic Homes, featuring my store and home, should be on the newsstand any day now. Retailers who carry the magazine received them about 10 days ago and home subscribers should have gotten them right after that. This is the cover to look for:

Not only is my home featured but the store as well. (This is a first!) The editor Jacqueline deMontravel teased me back in March saying they loved my bedroom shot and it would make a great cover, but- it did not make the cover after all.

What I had hoped to be the cover shot above, my bedroom. The headboard is now for sale in the store. The double lamps were a last minute thought.

I got an email last January from RH asking to shoot my house. RH allowed me to pick the photographer (former Hallmark photographer Bill Krzyzanowski), style the pics and email it in. A few months later my former employee (and photographer that shot my home for Vintage Christmas Crafts) Nicole Cawlfield shot the store photographs for the article. Below are some of the pages as shown in the magazine and some of the pictures as taken. Enjoy.

I wanted to explain how I use texture instead of color so I sent a lot of closeups of different items in the house.

The giant tumbleweed on the mantle was borrowed from my gardener. That was tough to give back.

Behind the scenes facts: The knobs on my cabinets were hot glued on to save time, the chandelier is hanging by raw wires (and still are) and the greens in the galvanized tub were just for show. I bought this enormous round burlap tablecloth for the store but no one had a table big enough for it so I went and found a table to sell them together.

The following two pages I mocked up for fun before the story came out.

My silver frame collection with old family pics.
Back left photo: Mom and dad's wedding pic, John & Hazel 1956. Large oval: Grandma Georgia Peterson 1920. Back right: My other Grandma and Grandpa, John& Mable Dusenberry 1963,
Small sailor pic, my dad off to service 1940's. Couple with car: mom and dad 1955. Front small oval, my big sister Wilma June Garrison 1943.

The shot above was my desperate attempt to make the winter weather appear like Spring. A disaster from the beginning as the wind was so strong that day, it blew the heavy statue down, broke off it's head, and other pots were busted on the floor. It never made it into the mag anyway and I am thrilled! It looked rigged and I never liked it- but cute enough I guess.

Thanks to Carol Spinski (Raised in Cotton) for helping during the shoot that day and Gwen and Terri from Mission Road Antique Mall for loaning me some authentic French accessories: (pressed botanicals in the living room, metal canisters on the counter and garden statuary on the porch).

And now the store :

Nothing thrilled me more than to see the tongue-in-cheek heading to the shop article (above). I am not sure even they knew what this title says to a shop owner!

It's official. Pearl has been in enough pictures. She needs to retire from modeling.

I was shocked at myself when I realized I didn't put anything on this table at the end of the bed! We were moving so many things on and off it for the right angle, I forgot.

This great galvanized wall piece I bought in Round Top last March.

The display above was one of my favorites but they cropped it too much in the magazine to get the full effect.

They cropped this picture too much as well and you lost the great pieces in the back.

I have decided to sell the religious stuff all year.

Thanks for looking! More images and lots of text in the magazine. Try to pick one up.

Let Her Wave

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My third article for the Kansas City Star, published 6/21/09

photo by Roy Inman, shot inside the store

Design Notebook | Betsy Ross: The Ultimate Style Maven

When George Washington asked Betsy Ross to sew him a little something back in 1776, little did anyone know history was in the making. Today, 233 years later, the American Flag, along with its many meanings, has passed the test of great design. I love seeing the red, white and blue wave 24/7/365, but what about decorating with it indoors too? Do not overlook America’s most famous graphic design to bring some patriotic pride inside your home.

There are very specific rules for displaying the flag, and I am not one for disrespecting our United States logo, but I guess I bend the rules a bit because I love it too much to limit its showing to what the experts say. The golden rule for displaying the flag is to honor it: keep it clean, show it proudly and use it smartly.

I like to display a large flag attached to its wooden pole in a large heavy vase or old-fashioned tree stand. Try it in a corner of the living room, your home office or hung against your garage wall. It can also make a striking centerpiece used as a tablecloth, but I would never do this if food were being served.

My favorite look is a bouquet of smaller flags in an old ironstone pitcher. Or try a smaller flag sewn on your favorite ticking pillow. Painting your own primitive flag on a slab of old barn wood or corrugated metal can still get the message across as well.

The American flag has strong graphic appeal and can be used with many decorating styles, depending on your taste. Here are different strategies to ponder:

• Keep it easy: An all white country setting with ticking pillows, metal lawn chairs and bent willow tables is always a perfect setting for the American flag.

• Make it majestic: A dark study with leather chairs and piles of books is begging for a flag in the room.

• Let it pop: A collection of colorful modern art, bubble chairs and shag rug can easily accept the bold graphics of an American flag. (Didn't Warhol used it a time or two?)

The American flag has been a symbol for so many important moments in our lives, to display it only a few times a year is a shame. Unfold this precious cloth and give it a permanent place inside your home. It will remind us daily of how lucky we are and what it has meant to so many.

DEBBIE DUSENBERRY
is the owner and creative director
of Curious Sofa in Prairie Village.
When not in her shop she travels,
antiques, and blogs- all with her
beloved pet Bichon, Pearl by her side.

3/50 in June

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Above, our custom fans were passed out during the Prairie Village Art Show.

Have any of you heard of the 3/50 Project? If not, I want to tell you about the wave sweeping across small businesses in the U.S. What's so cool about this is my friend Cinda Baxter invented it! I met Cinda when I was asked to be on the GHTA retail advisory board in 2007. She had a successful store for many years and is now a buyer, consultant, national speaker and cheerleader for all things retail. The 3/50 Project was created out of necessity to get the message out that if you want your favorite brick and mortar stores to survive, you must support them! We need more than cheers and concern, we need your dollars. What I love about 3/50 is it is not all about me, it is about me and two more of your favorite stores!

Basically the 3/50 Project says this:
1. Pick 3 independently owned businesses you would miss if they disappeared. Stop in. Say hello. Pick up something that makes you smile. Your purchases are what keeps those businesses around.
2. If half of the employed population spent $50 each month in these stores it would create over $42 billion in revenue.
3. For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you spend this money online, nothing comes home.

If you read this blog I assume you are a fan of Curious Sofa. Many of you shop in the store often and some of you we only see now and then. However often you frequent the store, it is almost impossible to have a conversation these days without a customer asking sincerely, "How are you guys doing?" Now if you make a living in retail you know how to answer these questions with the right amount of political correctness. I am not one for lying or even stretching the truth. I simply do not do it very well. I will always tell someone how we are really doing because it is just habit.

The truth is, we're fine. We're as fine as everyone else is. How's that? I know of no one who is flourishing right now. My staff and I are on board 200% to keep things alive at Curious Sofa for as long as you help. We're still having our events, buying new merchandise every week and the antiques are still coming (and going!) but we cannot survive without you no matter how creative we get- nor can any of your other favorite stores. Please take note of the 3/50 Project and do what you can to keep us all going. We want to continue to be here for you.

So for now, take a look at what we've been up to and believe it or not the Halloween and Christmas goods are already trickling in too!

More ruffled slipcovers just arrived.

One of two original antique Kewpie's I found last week.

The red, white and blue is flying proudly throughout the store.

A pair of vintage concrete eagles just in time for Independence Day.

This antique baby bathtub would be perfect for the household catch-all. I also love the distressed bench/coffee table.

Frosted antique glasses, summer cookbooks and vintage sailboat.

Our collection of salvage is growing too.

I love it when I find a pair of good vintage boots to sell.

This painted vintage buffet just in.

From a weekend road trip, this great collection of cigar boxes.

We've gone global.

Every summer we get the seashells out. I especially love them displayed in this grey cabinet.

Within a week I found this melange of modern items: 60's buffet, industrial light bulbs and vinyl rocker. A nice, clean change for us.

As always, hope to see you!
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