Boone Plantation - If it's good enough for Ryan & Blake...

So last summer when I was in Charleston SC on a work trip I took some time as I often do to see a site or two in the area.  At the time I shared some great shopping “opportunities”  (check them out here and here) but what I hadn't yet shared was my all too brief visit to Boone Hall Plantation.

It was a great stop but I found myself struggling a bit on what to share with you and how not to sound like a “Mt Pleasant Tour Guide”…so here I am a year later not having shared any of my experience in this beautiful place but with some kind of ok pics and my memories of a wonderful afternoon spent in Mt Pleasant SC.

I had really totally put my thoughts about Boone Hall Plantation away until yesterday when I happened to see somewhere in the “serious” news of our day that Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively  had secretly gotten married and had done it at Boone Hall Plantation.  I immediately went back to the photos in my file and thought it's way past time to share my lovely visit.

"The Avenue of Oaks"
Driving up to the house the driveway is lined with 300+
year old oaks – so beautifully southern plantation-esque. 

I found Boone Hall Plantation from a brochure in the hotel lobby – you know those displays of Six Flags &  Zoo/Aquarium brochures that are ubiquitous to every hotel lobby.  I generally find most of the attractions in these displays to be too “family” friendly or too touristy for my liking but Boone Hall Plantation was just a couple of miles from my hotel and I didn’t have a ton of time to explore so it seemed like it really had potential to be a nice break from my work day.  

Can't believe I captured the rain clouds that were hovering.  It just poured
for a short time then cleared to a beautiful day.

What I was struck mostly with was how modern Boone Hall Plantation is.  Considering the property was developed in the 1700’s and it’s been a working plantation for hundreds of years one would expect to find Scarlett O'Hara on the front portico of Tara.  But actually the current home was not built until 1936 – there are brick cabins on the property which were originally slave housing but the home itself is not a historic structure.   It's certainly beautiful, just not historic.

There are 9 original slave cabins on the property.  They call
this "Slave Street"

Each cabin tells a different part of the story of the lives
of the slaves who lived at Boone Plantation

Unfortunately like many of these tours there was no photography allowed inside the house and my usual web scan left me empty handed so I only have external shots of Boone Hall Plantation.  The Slave cabins are authentically sparse and small with a lot of historic artifacts & documentation on slave life in the 1700’s at Boone Hall Plantation.  They are perhaps one of the most well preserved visually impactful group I have seen.

Boone Hall Plantation is still a working plantation and has survived like any good business by changing to adapt to their world around them.  Our tour guide shared that they have survived all these years by producing bricks, harvesting pecans as well as working an agricultural farm.

Well worth a short visit if you find yourself in Mount Pleasant with a few hours to kill!

Charleston...What's in a Name

So, I am still in search of the perfect wallpaper for a couple of offbeat places in my home and I am still striking out finding anywhere that stocks it.  I am determined though…I will persevere and find the perfect thing…somewhere, somehow.

I continued on this quest while I was in Charleston at a shop called Not Just Fabric.  I found this shop in Charleston Home & Design’s online magazine and they sounded like just what I was looking for…..carrying fabrics, vanities, window treatments, trims, wallpaper & furniture.  Awesome right?  Well, I hate to pop the bubble but I saw very little at Not Just Fabrics except….fabric.

Not Just Fabrics
1610 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., Charleston SC

If you are looking for beautiful upholstery or window treatment fabric at really great bargain prices this is a fabulous place.  There were so many patterns I was lured by…if I only had been prepared with some measurements and not been overwhelmed by the number of things I loved.  I will go back and next time, watch out!

Love the Green fabric in the middle - this would be
so fabulous for my Adirondack Chairs cushions

Oh my gosh that lobster fabric is so fun!  It
came in Navy too...

If you are looking for anything other than fabric and are counting on this to be your resource you’re likely out of luck.  They had a few wallpaper books you can order from (nothing in stock) and a few miscellaneous decorative items but Not Just Fabric was really “Just Fabric”.  Not necessarily a bad thing…they did offer up some really fabulous fabric options!

Am loving the oranges these days and
am especially loving all of the Sale tags
at Not Just Fabrics!

My next stop was Chic Antiques, a consignment antique boutique.  From their website I could tell this was just my kind of place – fun pretty vintage things.  When I arrived it was not at all what I expected – mostly vintage inspired newer pieces and repurposed consignment items. 

Chic Antiques

675-D Johnnie Dodds Blvd., Mt Pleasant, SC

There were many many items I drooled over but definitely not your traditional “antique” shop.  Again, not necessarily a bad thing….

This was what welcomed me...Love!

 One of the things that I really am inspired by these days is traditional furniture that is painted an unexpected color.  Chic Antiques had so many pieces that were such fun colors.  I mean I don’t think I would have the nerve to paint a huge china cabinet pink (a deep reddish pink but none-the-less pink) but the first vignette right up front at Chic Antiques featured just that and let me tell you…FABULOUS!

Such fun colors - this was more of a pink red in person

Chic Antiques also has a phenomenal selection of lamps & chandeliers.  Loved every single one of them!  It took everything in my being to restrain myself from buying all of them.  I guess its luck that I had just finished replacing the fixtures in my house so I couldn’t justify a purchase, don’t know if that’s good luck or bad luck though.

Feeding my Lamp Obsession

All in all neither store was what I expected from the name of the shop but both were definitely wonderful places.

Charming Charleston

I really don’t travel that much for my job but it seems like this summer has really been non-stop.  I have been lucky in that the places I have had to visit have all been really exceptional places.  My recent trip to Charleston was no different – such a lovely place I really think I could easily live there!

I was there to present to another group of co-workers.  When booking my travel I really was not sure what time my presentation was so flew in the day before and scheduled a late evening flight home after my meeting.  I ended up having a mid-afternoon timeslot so was lucky enough to have a bit time to explore.

Thanks to my good friend Mr. Bing I happened upon the online version of Charleston Home & Design Magazine and was from there able to scope out a whole list of “must see” Charleston shops.  It gave me a really great way to plot a plan of action to best utilize my time. 

It was also the catalyst for me to start my “shop bucket list” – a list of great places I read about.  I’m always making notes of these must see’s and then scampering to find my notes when I am actually planning a trip.  I put it in Excel so I can sort by town/state and I can also include things like shop hours, website, etc.  I feel more organized already.

So the first place on my new bucket list is a store named Celadon.  As I was heading toward the store from the airport a Celadon truck crossed my path – I took this as a sign that I was on the right path. 

Celadon
1015 Johnnie Dobbs Blvd., Mt Pleasant SC

Love the floor treatment - this is a very industrial
looking interior but don't be fooled - they have
such beautiful things!

Celadon is a local Charleston home furnishings store and let me tell you I could have easily spent hours and furnished several homes in this store.  The prices were awesome and there was literally something to appeal to pretty much everyone. 

I love the shape of these chairs - very chic

Isn't this just lovely - not your typical
"eco-friendly" look

Their look is pretty global rustic chic (if you can even imagine that).  According to a sign I saw at their shop Celadon is a founding member of the Sustainable Furniture Council and pride themselves on their eco-friendly mission.  I for one have a huge appreciation for this – I may not always take the eco-friendly route but I certainly greatly admire those who do!

Love the colors!

This is what made it into my still
way to small suitcase..great
for spoons & utensils

They also have an offsite warehouse where they sell their discontinued and overstock furniture items. The warehouse store is only open for 4-hours twice a week – can you even believe my luck that I just happened to be in the area when the warehouse store was open?  This place made me want to rent a U-Haul load it up and drive it home full of wonderful goodies.

Celadon Warehouse Store
2221 Noisette Blvd., North Charleston SC
open Wed & Sat 10-1 only

These were so cool - stools
made from sugar sacks!

This small trunk was tempting!  It would
look so great as an end table next to
my sofa.