Tyler Florence Store - Mill Valley, CA

This past February, my sister was visiting from Florida and we spent a day in Napa Valley visiting Food Network Chef Restaurants!  One of her favorite Food Network chefs is Tyler Florence so we visited his store and learned he had just opened a new kitchen store in Mill Valley.  Unfortunately, we never made it there during her visit - but I made it there last weekend and the next time she is in town, I am definitely taking her for a visit!

One of my favorite aspects of shopping is looking at the way the merchandise is displayed, having a love for all that is creative and beautiful.  This store is visual eye candy for anyone who loves vintage things and gourmet food items - perfect marriage of both!

Vintage display pieces are everywhere!  Imagine my surprise when I saw this display of Brown Butter Cookies from my parent's hometown, Cayucos!  Sitting atop a vintage wine barrel and in the many cubbies were boxes of these one-of-kind cookie, topped with sea salt,  made in the little beach town in central California.  These cookies attracted a national spotlight when Marla Bautista, a reporter for That Morning Show on the E! Channel, visited and did a spotlight feature on the company.  Then the New York Times ran a blurb about the cookies which had the company filling orders around the country!

This display of butter yellow enamelware stood out nicely on the vintage ladder.  

Ladders are great for display. They are so versatile I have seen them used to hang towels in bathrooms, as a shoe rack in a closet, and even suspended from a ceiling 

with hooks added to the rungs to use as a pot rack!  

Since they fold up they are easy to store when you don't need them!

These traditional shelves were stocked with jar after jar of gourmet jams 

and jellies!  They looked like jewels all lined up with the various colors beckoning for all to take a closer look.

These hand poured paraffin and beeswax candles fit perfectly in this vintage pull cart. I love the way they clipped little signs onto the displays with a simple clothespin!

This display of patisserie themed dishes, napkins, paper plates, etc., welcomed all inside the front door.  I wanted those napkins down in the basket so badly for a cupcake party I am hosting later this summer, but the $9.95 price tag for 16 napkins was just a bit too pricey for me.  The glass cloches and pedestal plates were just gorgeous and I loved the Marie Antoinette inspired "Let them eat cake!" theme of this display!

These gorgeous wreaths were hand made from vintage cookbook pages.

My friend, Diedre, makes these wreaths and sells them at local craft fairs. But these wreaths had hefty price tags! I am sure to find enough vintage cookbooks to get enough pages to make one of these add to the cost - the small wreath in the top picture, about 10" in diameter was priced at $195. and the large wreath, about 22" in diameter was even more!  Now compare them to Diedre's -

This is the wreath I bought from Diedre for $28.00!  It is about 24" in diameter, is heart shaped and has a cute little tag on it that says "Je t'aime" - a much better deal!  Diedre says she has made them from cookbook pages before and vintage pages would add to the cost of making them but not that much!!

This was a dream table!  All those little pewter salt cellars, spreading knives, crystal cordial glasses - entertaining specialty items that no one really needs but are so much fun to entertain with and so much fun to look at!!  

Beautiful, indulgent items all displayed on a simple rustic farm table.

These all cotton oven mitts are displayed in a vintage wire laundry cart on wheels.

The strawberry theme of this display took me back to my college days, when my roommate coined one of my nicknames 'strawberry' due to my red hair and freckles!  

So this farm girl made it to Mill Valley to gawk at all the vintage farm stuff Tyler Florence displays his wares in - it was a treat!  The beauty of a well lit store with its creatively displayed merchandise relaxes me as I take everything in.  So if you are ever in Mill Valley, stop in and check it out.  You may even run into Tyler Florence 

as he is often there for book signings and special events.  

I signed up to get the stores email news - I'll use any excuse to have to go back!

Quick Change: Red, White and Blue!

Welcome to my living room!  Well, its not exactly 'dressed' yet in this picture!  I was lucky enough to get new furniture this past year and I decided I would go with a neutral 'palette' that would make it easy to decorate for the holidays.  I LOVE to decorate for the holidays and when the boys were young, they loved coming home from school and seeing the house transformed.  Now that they are out of the house, I needed to find a way to decorate a little simpler, since I do not have so many hands to help anymore!

The neutral couch would be perfect for changing out pillows, the coffee table will get a runner and centerpiece, and the small shabby shelf above the couch, could hold some seasonal trinkets.  The shelf holds small, cherished photos of my grandparents all the time, but it has space for a few treasures!

  I found the vintage bicentennial tin plate with an eagle on it at a thrift store so I put it on the small gold easel.  The salt glazed pitcher and a deep red candle in a pewter candlestick add a bit of color and the metal star from Joann's Fabric Store balances the bright red of the candle. 

The coffee table vignette!  I first placed a neutral linen tablecloth I found at Homegoods, down the middle of the table.  Next came the vintage piecrust pedestal mirror - I found it that day with Margaret at the Sacramento Antique Fair.  I was so excited when I saw it because it was the nicest one I had seen in years, and in years - I had to have it for my collection. The deal was sealed when the kind lady came down $20 from her original asking price!  I added a vase, darling little crystal creamer, apothecary jar and a red vintage candy dish - to which I added (in order!) some flags and a baseball, penny candy sticks, red, white and blue poker chips, and a family favorite - Hershey's Kisses in the candy dish!

Fourth of July is enchanting for children . . .and adults!  It just brings out the child in all of us thus the reason I had to add some of my cherished collection of Boyd's Bears to my decor.  This red bear sits atop a vintage ammunitions box topped with a vintage lace hankie.  I painted the flag table years ago when three other neighbors and I all had toddlers at home.  We did country craft shows together and called ourselves 'Four Friends' - cherished memories!

Now for my quick change pillows!  I took a plain red and white striped pillow. . .

. . . and laid a large star-spangled cloth  napkin on an angle over the top of the pillow.  I folded the napkin back over the top of the pillow and safety pinned it to the back of the pillow, making sure the safety pins wouldn't show. By using safety pins, I can remove the napkin and change it out to a different one for a different season!  I needed to secure the napkin to the front of the pillow so something that will be pretty since it will show . . .

I dug into by jewelry box for some brooches!  I used a vintage sun brooch to pin down the point on the top of the pillow. Luckily, I had two sun brooches for my two pillows.  Star brooches, or even rhinestone brooches would work for the Fourth of July!  Done! You can adapt this method to any holiday.  The red and white striped pillows do triple duty for me - I can leave them as they are for a nautical look or for a candy cane Christmas! But the addition of a colorful napkin affixed with a vintage brooch and the pillows are only limited by your creativity!

Here's a close up of my other sun brooch!

Abracadabra! The quick change is complete!  A tall tin flower pitcher filled with red geraniums and white mums grounds the coffee table centerpiece.  I found the blue denim print pillow at The Tattered House, the fleur-de-lis pillow at Restoration Hardware and the red pillow with the shell accent at Homegoods.

 As empty nesters, my husband and I have lots of quiet times in the house.  The days of three boys running in and out the doors are gone for now and we can display mercury glass candlesticks on our fireplace hearth which we would never have done when they were all at home.  A photo and the teddy bear are reminders of those wild Fourth of July's when we saw sparklers and smoking snakes scar our patios. 

So from all of us, to all of you - have a Cherished Fourth!