Beloved

New Orleans has a centuries old connection with Haiti.

So watching the suffering strikes deep in our hearts.

There are many Haitians living in New Orleans.


One of them is our friend and our tango student. Last week he came to class bringing some photos he wanted to show us.

He brought photos of the happy times he had in Haiti. He wanted to show us that something beautiful once existed where all is now destroyed.

I was very touched by this.

So I did a little search for images of Haiti before the earthquake.

True it's a country of contrasts, and a place that has had it's fair share of bad luck with hurricanes and mudslides.

The people are beautiful, and they are fighters.


And the road ahead is the hardest one yet.

The whole world is responding.

We humans are good and kind and concerned.

So as you look at these pretty pictures of Haiti, I hope you enjoy them.

If you cannot go there to help, or cannot afford to make a donation to help, send them a little good wish, a little prayer.

Every region has it's impending hazards, a potential "big one" of some kind.


You never know when your world will be turned upside down.

You never know what twists and turns, and trials and tribulations will come your way.

It was Haiti today, it could be one of us tomorrow.


So embrace someone or something you care for. Enjoy the relative calm of your everyday life.


Be kind if you can. To yourself, and to others.


We are all the same in the way we feel happiness and sadness.

We are all the same in the way we deal with crisis.

We help one another. It's our nature.

In New Orleans we sometimes shake our head and say "It ain't dere no more".


In New Orleans sometimes we laugh and say, "It ain't dere no more".


We have had so many wonderful people come to help us in New Orleans, and so many people helped us in their hometowns and cities.


This outreach and caring has done more for us than you can possibly realize.


Five years and counting and the scars are fading, and hearts are healing.

Five years later we are not always waiting for the other shoe to drop. At least not all of the time.

Five years later we are at a beginning we can wrap our minds around.

I wish it were five years later for the people in Haiti.


Happy Weekend!

PS If you'd like to see another beautiful post about Haiti, go to the blog Soodie Beasley.

What Do You Think?

I got an e-mail about yesterday's post regarding decorating with cowhide. The writer was very lovely, an animal lover, not a vegetarian, not an activist, just a nice girl queasy and concerned about using cowhides. She asked that I please post the question to the gentle readers, about how they deal with and feel about using cowhides.

I wrote her back and said for me that cowhide is another leather product, like a purse, or shoes, or a leather jacket, or furniture (like a leather chair or couch).

And in the comments yesterday, another reader raised the question about using cowhides.

It kind of reminds me of the same questions about using taxidermy and antlers as decorative accessories.

I love animals. I love a good steak once in awhile; I have a beautiful cowhide Kelly bag; you know I love decorating with cowhide rugs. I'm not from a cattle raising state like Texas, I'm a New York girl. My husband is from Argentina, and steaks and cowhides and beautiful leather goods are practically the national identity.

So chime in. What do think - how do you feel about using cowhides in your decor?

Readers Projects: Casting Call for Cowhide, Ikat, And Suzani

Thank you for the great response to the casting call for photos of how you are using cowhide, Suzani, and Ikat in your homes. Decor bloggers and readers are dedicated to making their homes beautiful, and we constantly inspire one another.

First up, is Roybn Henderson from My Southern Cottage. Her classic and clean use of a zebra printed cowhide is beautiful. Check out her blog - she has so many great tips and a DIY project for the cute burlap pillows on her sofa that is genius.

Robyn says: "I feel that's what these blogs are all about- throwing yourself (or your home) out there for everyone to see and take the good with bad comments. I definitely need another eye to see things and tell me what to do. I just don't want to pay for it, so I blog. Sometimes 100+ bloggers is alot better than one interior designer."

Robyn Henderson's cowhide on seagrass

Jamie Rogers from Doxa Home sent this to me. She has a great post on living with pets and light color furnishings.

Jamie Rogers has a cowhide on the floor of her home

I had to dig in the vault for some more photos, and I found this image of a beautiful living room from the home of Gina from Willow Decor. She recently added a white cowhide rug.

Gina from Willow Decor added a white cowhide rug on top of sea grass

Another example of white cowhide comes via a photo from my friend Peg DeFilippis. This is her New York City loft apartment.

Peg placed a white cowhide on under a modern chaise on the hardwood floor in her NYC home

You know by now that I'm a huge fan of cowhide. Here's my living room with a brown and white cowhide rug.

I just purchased two white cowhides on eBay.
To parapharase eBay, I am awaitng their delivery!
I already have one white cowhide that I used in my office.

Valorie Hart white cowhide on the floor in the office

I said, used. I have started a new project! I am turning my red office back to a dining room, and after five years, am changing the red walls for another color! Stay tuned for how it turns out!
In the meantime, I threw the rug from the floor onto the table! I love it!
I predict draping cowhide on tables and on furniture will become a hot trend this year!

Valorie Hart - A sneak peek at the office conversion to a dining room

The white cowhide moved from the floor to the table!

The next call for entries is about Suzani. I didn't get any photos from you! So I dug in the vault for this photo from Joni from Cote de Texas, who really informed us all about Suzanis. This is photo of how she used it as a table covering in her home.

Joni Webb - Suzani table skirt in her home

She also has one as a throw at the foot of her bed.

Joni Webb - Suzani throw at the end of the bed in her home

My friend Peg got this cute bedspread from Urban Outfitters a couple of years ago for her daughter's room.

Peg's Suzani bedspread

Joni inspired the Suzani I got for Christmas 2008. I love it, but I really didn't know what to do with it ha ha. Here I draped it on a counter in my office/dining room.

Valorie Hart - Suzani tablecloth

ERROR

My Suzani is small. It's actually a vintage tablecloth, so I thought I'd try using it that way on my kitchen table. This vintage Suzani came from directly from Uzbekistan.

Valorie Hart - Suzani in the kitchen

The Ikat trend came out of the Bohemian/Hippie Chic fashion and home decor trend that was a hot topic among decor and fashion bloggers starting in 2007. Courtney Barnes of Style Court enlightened all of us, and we fell in line.
One of the most charming images she showed us was of a vintage chair frame reupholstered with an Ikat fabric Jen West found on eBay. I think Jen West launched a thousand Ikat chairs! And I think she had this chair for sale in huge purge HERE! Jen if you didn't sell it e-mail me!

Artist Anne Harwell made a painting of this chair, and subsequent prints, that are still a huge seller in her Etsy shop.

Blogger Renae Moore and I have been searching for well priced Ikat fabric. We both love Madeline Weinrib, but that company is an independent, and only gives a 20% discount to the trade of its very high priced fabric. I have been trying to get our shop to carry MW but the owner thinks the line is too pricey and the trade discount too small.
Another line Renae and I were excited to see is Trina Turk for Schumacher. Renae got some memos and sent me some photos. She was thinking of doing up some Ikat pillows for her couch.

The Trina Turk fabric wasn't what she had in mind, and she found something else for her pillows.

Renae Moore Designs - Ikat pillows on her sofa

She also was getting ready to reupholster a pair of wing chairs, and considered this beautiful burnt orange fabric.

Renae Moore shows some Fabric choices for her chairs and pillows

But in the end she chose this classic gray green.

Renae Moore Designs - a pair of reupholstered wing chairs

The last images are certainly not the least.

Rebeka Lambert of artsy-crafty babe send me some photos in a e-mail entitled "Love My Ikat!".


She says: "Well, I'm no designer or decorator, but I love ikat! This summer I slipcovered a thrift store wing back chair and made a table skirt from some blue ikat-ish fabric. I'd have a cowhide rug in my house if my little dog wouldn't chew it to pieces - I can see that disaster already :)".

Rebeka Lambert - artsy-crafty babe - made this Ikat slip cover

She also made this very cute pillow!

Rebeka Lambert - artsy-crafty babe - made this Ikat pillow

And she made this table skirt!

Rebeka Lambert - artsy-crafty babe - made this Ikat table skirt
She has an Etsy store too!

I love doing Readers Projects posts. Thanks again for participating.
You don't have to wait for another casting call. Just e-mail me your projects, especially of the things you are doing in your own homes.