We just received our copy of the PORCH magazine 

'Romantic French' Spring 2010 issue...

...and it is gorgeous! 

So many wonderful photos of shows, products, displays, 

and shops that are absolutely drool-worthy. 

If you love vintage French style, this one is for you!

And we are proud to say you'll find Retreat Style on pages 29,30, and 31:

  

 

We are thrilled to be included, and offer our thanks to the publishers.

You can order your very own copy of this PORCH issue here!

 Image Credits: Photos included in magazine, and shown above, by Deb Kennedy for Retreat Style.

 

We just got word that some of our photos will be included in the upcoming 'Romantic French' issue of PORCH magazine! Click on the link to see the other bloggers who will have their photos in this issue, and you'll see why we are so thrilled to be included.  Talk about good company - Thank you, Polly!

This issue is NOW AVAILABLE! 

Click here for link to PORCH Magazine order page

We finally remembered to order PORCH magazine's Fall 09 issue, and it arrived in the dark of night on Friday. (It was delivered to our neighbors by mistake, and they brought it to our door at about 8 PM) You'll find three photos of some of our Retreat small products on the top half of page 71, as part of a section with other photos of vendors at the FJS show. We share the page with some beautiful work by artist Michelle-Renee.

Again, many thanks to Miss Kimberly at Kimberly Taylor Images (and the charming Mimi Charmante blog) for sharing the lovely shots she took in our booth last October with the PORCH editors, and for adding our name to each photo {hugs}. Our appreciation also goes out to the editors of the magazine for deeming us worthy of inclusion.

We are so amazed by all of the incredible products, settings, shops, and shows in this issue - there is a LOT of talent out there in Junk Land! We are so honored to be included... thank you, PORCH!

I finally found a copy of Somerset Life, and there we are on page 12. WOW.

See our previous post for that news! We thought perhaps you'd like to hear the whole story behind the tent and the photo in the magazine...

The darling BarnHouse Boys invited us to participate in their Flea Market show last July. Amidst the buzzing preparations for it, they dropped the bombshell: Pre-show events were to include a CAMPING TENT COMPETITION. I believe my exact words in response to this announcement were 'Oh, we are SO all OVER that!'

It took all of one day for us to figure out what look we'd go for (a beach cabana), and then a massive structure began to rise in our backyard. We assembled our 20 X 20 party tent, and went to work. When all was said and done, it turned out like this: White and tan canvas, white furniture, two blow-up beds, countless pillows and chenille bedspreads, lanterns and candles, one of Bob's many BBQ's, one small Moroccan stove, AND a huge silver chandelier.

We thought it would be a great place to gather with friends while at the show, as well as being a perfect retreat to relax and sleep in. We were right - all during the show, while we were hard at work in the barn, curious and weary show attendees were sitting, lying, resting, relaxing, and otherwise enjoying our tent! (a pillow fight enused at one point.... I found evidence....)

One elderly couple commented to Bob (as he arrived there to fix our lunches on show day) that this was such a thoughtful thing for the show to have done - provided a resting spot for guests. ;0) It was at the back of the property, up a hill... but everyone made their way to it!

 

The other dealers at the show and photographer Robin Laws are the ones who nicknamed it 'the Taj Ma Tent' and 'Tent Ma Hal'... in my own defense, here's why it was so over the top: These are THE BOYS. Everything they DO is over the top. Add to that their slyly veiled comments about THE QUEEN, Cindy of Tarte, bringing an actual CIRCUS TENT to this soiree. So I ask you, how was I supposed to show up with like, a Coleman tent? SO not going to happen. Deb has a competitive gene and loves a good party! (I'm still sad that through an unfortunate series of events, Cindy's tent did not materialize.) Bob put in his two theatrical cents, too: the chandelier lights up by way of a jump-start battery charger!

 

So, our big ol' tent helped us beat the heat (sort of), treat the Boys to a lovely dinner, and entertained a lot of people at the show. And now it's providing inspiration on the pages of Somerset! You'll see a version of it appear as the backdrop for our show booths in 2010, as well. We owe the Boys a debt of gratitude for spurring us on to acheive greater creative visions for their show AND for graciously including us in their 'Barn People' family. And a huge thank you to Robin for capturing our style in her poetic photos and sharing them with Somerset! (BTW, the mesh curtains looked so much more romantic when they were loose and flowing, but the wind kicked up and they tangled horribly... ergo the unromantic knots in them)

By the way, the funniest part of the story?

Our neighbors saw this monstrosity taking shape in our backyard on the third of July. We spent most of the Fourth fine tuning the details, then sat out in it with the lanterns & candles lit that night watching fireworks go off out over the sea. The next day, several of them came by to say how sad it was that we had to cancel our party. I'm sure we looked confused, because we heard from them that they watched as we sat alone out there, after doing all that work for a party. We just smiled and nodded, knowing that if we had tried to explain WHY we created this and what it was REALLY for, they'd never understand.... ;0) (And then we packed it all up and hauled it to Battle Ground!)

Image credits: Top: Somerset Life Magazine and Robin Laws. All others: DWK for Retreat, 2009.

We are thrilled to share this news with you... a photo of our Retreat 'Taj Ma Tent' accompanies the feature story on the BarnHouse Boys in the January 2010 issue of Somerset Life Magazine! We want to express our gratitude for the amazing talents and generosity of photographer Robin Laws and marketeers extraordinaire the BarnHouse Boys for their part in making this possible.

Obviously, we are overjoyed by the Somerset editors' choice of one of Robin's photos of our tent for inclusion in this beautiful magazine... it's been a dream of ours for quite some time, and now there we are! To see more of our 'Taj Ma Tent', click on the photo in our sidebar... (The photo shown above is one that we took. Robin's are much more artful!)

In addition, the current Fall issue of PORCH Magazine includes some photos of Retreat. We'd like to express our thanks for the remarkable skill and thoughtfulness of sweet Kimberly Taylor, of Mimi Charmante blog and Kimberly Taylor Images. She has captured our style beautifully, and very generously included us in her published portfolio.

Image Credit: Kimberly Taylor Images

We are very grateful to have friends who believe in what we are doing with Retreat! Thank you for your encouragement and support... it really means more to us than we can adequately express. We are so blessed to be a part of this world of vintage wonderment and creativity, and look forward to all that 2010 brings to each and every one of us!

(When we actually get our hands on each of these issues, we'll share snaps of the pages!)

Our Retreat blog has been added to the list of 'Green Home' decor blog 

nominees for Apartment Therapy's 'the Homies' blog awards!

Update: As of December 29, the rankings are closed. 

We didn't make the finals, but invite you to cast your vote HERE 
for another deserving Green Home blog!

There are six finalists and a HUGE list of great contenders. Plus there are hundreds of nominated blogs about Home Decor, Kids' Rooms, and more to discover.

If you like what we offer here in the way of home decor inspiration using green concepts, pop on over and add us to your faves right HERE. The top favorite blogs will move on to the voting stage on December 30th, and we'd appreciate you helping us spread the word about Retreat! Read more about how it works here. No big prize for this, just a nice mention from Apartment Therapy, who holds the contest. But you know what they say: "It's an honor just to be nominated!"

Image Credit: Apartment Therapy and the Homies awards.

This morning I was surfing some of my favorite blogs, and one of them is Danny Seo's 'Daily Danny'. He's a nationally known 'Green Living Expert' (formerly of Country Home magazine, been in lots of TV appearances and magazine articles, and has written a few books) and shares lots of great ideas for recycling, reusing, etc. on his blog. On Wednesday, he shared a post on collage/decopauge: http://www.dailydanny.com/?p=1573

You're gonna' LOVE the material he featured!!! ;0) Want a hint? I sent him a link to our piano bar photo. You see, underneath all of the sheet music, and visible on many parts of the piano bar, is a TON of player piano roll music. A TON. Considering I've been doing collage & decopauge with this material for the past year, I'm ahead of the trend, my friends!!!!!!

Some of you may not know this, but Deb of retreat is a public speaker, writer, and video host in addition to her design work & antique sales. Known as 'the Decorating & Display Diva', Deb contributes her experience & expertise to many retail industry publications. Last June, when we took retreat on the road to the Farm Chicks Show in Spokane, Deb filmed six video segments.

The videos were for the Gift & Home Channel, a new 'online resource for retailers'. In them, Deb shares information that will help retailers create store displays that are unique, effective, and inspiring.

Footage was filmed in our 'Grandma's Garden retreat' booth for two of the six video segments - shots of Deb with the Emmy-award winning camera crew from Peak Productions in Spokane are shown above.

The video series is debuting this month on the Gift & Home Channel, as a part of their focus on visual merchandising & display. Three of the six videos are viewable now, and the newest to debut was shot entirely in our retreat booth. Several great shots of our logo appear, along with our products and many of Deb's great display techniques. Click here to view the segment.

We've been hearing from you that it's difficult to view the videos - so here's a shot at making it easier: We've created an account with GHC, and you can log right in and view Deb's videos. Click on the link provided above, then log in as 'retreat' and use password '123456'. That should get you in. One favor: When you have finished viewing the videos, please log out!!! You can, of course, set up your own account, and spend as much time there as you'd like...

A bit of 'behind the scenes' info: This segment was the first one Deb filmed - at 7 AM, before the show opened. The segment was shot in just two takes, plus some 'close-up' B roll footage, in fifteen minutes. Not bad for a gal running on just one cup of coffee! (The next two hours of filming were fueled by many more mochas and a few Vanilla Cokes, however...)