Monday, April 7, 2014

Blogger Style: Taby



I am excited to bring you another "Blogger Style" post. This time I'm sharing a look at the lovely home of Taby, the clever blogger behind The Closet Intellectual. Taby shares her home with husband Jeremy, their three children, three dogs and two cats.

The whole brood lives in a little 1971 house named Cecilia in the picturesque mountains of East Tennessee. "She had been a rental house for over 20 years and horribly, horribly abused when we bought her," says Taby. "We've been nursing her back to health over the past ten years."


Tabetha was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area of California. Her earliest memories are of macrame and orange walls in the family living room and hippies singing "Puff the Magic Dragon" around the fountains of the city. In her late teens she moved to North Carolina. "No grand reasoning or exciting circumstance," she says. "North Carolina was there, so we went - it's just how my family rolls."


Taby finished college and on a whim decided to go to grad school. That's where she met her husband, who was born and raised in Tennessee. "We fell in love and got married, and the rest is history," she says. "Literally. We are both historians - I do American history, with a focus on civil disobedience, and he specializes in European history with a focus on national identity." Taby is a professor at a local college, while Jeremy works as an adjunct professor and a research librarian.

The couple's oldest child, Bayley, (named after the San Francisco Bay), just turned 21 and is a English major focusing on British literature. Son Tucker, 17, is a junior in high school, playing football and running track in his off hours. Harper Ann is "a 16-year-old dynamo who plays soccer and makes mischief like a pro," says her mom. Dogs Doctor, Alice and Poosh and cats Boromir and Mac round out the group.


In her own words...Taby's design philosophy

I've always been drawn to color. I blame my mother's orange walls - two bright orange walls and two yellow in my childhood living room. We have no intention of ever leaving our house - we've put far too much of ourselves in her to sell - so I enjoy redoing and rethinking and viciously rearranging the environment from time to time. Right now I am going for a version of a 30's bungalow meets Alice in Wonderland...which makes a lot of sense in my head, but looks odd on paper.

Since the house is small, I try to keep everything coordinated with the same colors running throughout, though each room has a different colour emphasized to give it a sense of division of space. Both Jeremy and I like independent artists and supporting folks trying to make a go of it, so we have a bunch of different goodies from both local artists and etsy crafters. We also enjoy attending auctions with my parents, who still live in North Carolina, and have a bunch of oddities from hither and yon.

I do some painting and crafting - in my younger days I painted murals and did faux finishes for a living, which I loved as a process, but I'm not great working with clients so it wasn't a good fit for my personality. I still enjoy crafting and painting as hobbies. It's a nice creative respite from a job that requires a lot of thinking. I find tons of inspiration from websites and other bloggers. I love seeing how other people incorporate their own unique ideas into their homes. I am also endlessly inspired by my mother, who has wonderful taste and a similar penchant for redecoration. Fortunately my husband is always game for change so long as he has his office to retreat to! All kidding aside, we do a great deal of hunting and gathering together, so the house really is a blend of both our interests. The bottom line is, we all love Cecilia madly. She is home!











I love all of the whimsical touches that Taby and Jeremy have added to their sweet home. I think the artwork and crafty pieces really reflect the people who inhabit Cecilia - their personalities, their interests and their tightness as a family unit.

Thanks for the tour Taby! It has been a treat.

What special touches do you add to your home to reflect your interests?


18 comments:

  1. What a beautiful Home! Love the bright Colour in the Bedroom ,a wonderful Place :)
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very beautiful home. The colors are inspiring!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aren't they great? My husband and I used to use bold colours in our apartments, but we have chickened out and gone mostly white in the house! ;)

      Jo

      Delete
  3. Gah! I love that green bedroom SO much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's an awesome colour isn't it Laurie? :)

      Delete
  4. I love that they named their house! All of the color is fantastic, and I'm swooning over those dining room chairs. East Tennessee is one of the most beautiful places -- what a lucky family!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, Heather. I have to think of a name for my house now! ;) And I love the dining room chairs too!

      Delete
  5. Love the use of colour! So inspiring. Thanks for sharing, love looking into other peoples homes and how they decorate.

    Pia
    pjmscloset.blogspot.ca

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think we need some colour in our lives, with all this dead grass and dirty, melting snow, don't we Pia?

      I love to see how others decorate too! :)

      Jo

      Delete
  6. Wonderful to see in such detail! Such a bright and happy space, and nothing I love more than a house tour :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does indeed look like a happy space, doesn't it? I love a good house tour too! :)

      Delete
  7. such a great vibe.. a real home.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such a great home with great personality!! And I LOVE just stumbling upon this and finding my work in Taby's home. The best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your embroidery work adds to the charm Ruthie! :)

      Delete
  9. She has a beautiful home. I have a lot of plants and cats in my decorating and of course books since I'm an author :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Books are a wonderful decorative element in a home. And if you get time to read them, even better! ;)

      Delete