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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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August 12, 2016

Barnsley Gardens and Shaw Floors

Two sisters who hadn’t seen each other in two years had the amazing opportunity last week to not only finally get to be together but to do it in style!

When Shaw Floors reached out to us recently to discuss a potential partnership we were absolutely thrilled for many reasons not the least of which was that it meant we would finally be together again. Reunited and it feels so good!

We arrived as guests of Shaw at the beautiful Barnsley Garden Resort in Georgia and immediately fell in love with it’s charming cottages and picturesque grounds. It really helped to offset the scorching temperatures and humidity, at least for the Oregon sister.

Barnsley Garden Resort cottage

The entire resort is made up of cottages and each one is just beautiful. Especially when you have lovely gifts waiting for you when you walk through the door.

Shaw floors with Barnsley gardens

Later that evening, we made our way to the Barnsley Mansion ruins where Shaw had arranged for us to have dinner.

Barnsley Garden Ruins

We so wish we could fully capture just how amazing this place really is.

Barnsley Mansion Ruins

The Barnsley family story is like something out of a historic fiction novel. Romance, grief, bravery and loss. In fact, the story of this family and their incredible mansion was used as the inspiration for Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone With the Wind.’

Walking through those empty rooms you couldn’t help but feel the spirit of this indomitable family.


Inside Barnsley Garden mansion ruins

As the sun began to set, we made our way to the back lawn where we dined in the most incredible setting we could have imagined. It was truly magical.

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And check out the clever place settings Shaw created. A table runner made of carpet, wood flooring squares as our chargers and hardwood floor samples with our placecards and menus printed on them.

Shaw dinner place setting

After dark, the mansion was lit up and we were all treated to a wonderful time of hearing the entire history of the mansion told to us by a masterful storyteller and musician.

The next day we visited the Shaw Floors Headquarters in Dalton, GA and learned all about the humble beginnings of this amazing company.

Shaw Floors Headquarters

We were given a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how their products come together and even a peek at the new 2017 lines. There are some seriously awesome options coming next year!

Then we were ushered into a room where we were given the chance to be a little naughty.

While we spend most of our days as moms telling everyone in our households to be extra careful not to spill anything on the carpet, we were actually told that we HAD to spill red juice all over those beautiful carpet samples.

Honestly all of us in the room felt strangely liberated which may mean that we need to get out more!

Shaw Lifeguard carpet experiment

Now a picture just won’t do this justice so we made a little video for you so you can truly see how amazing the new R2X technology is in the Lifeguard line of Shaw Carpets.

It’s amazing that something so wrong could be so right!

But of all the things we did this past week, what we cherished the most was the rare time to just be together as sisters.

Heather and Vanessa at Barnsley

We had 5 whole days together.

5 days of talking about only the things that we would understand. 5 days of laughing. 5 days of dreaming and planning for the future of At the Picket Fence. And friends, let me tell you that we came home with renewed energy and passion for this amazing community. We have so much coming up in the next few months (particularly the release of our first book ‘Life in Season’!!) and we can’t wait to share it all with you!

With lots of love,

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18 Comments Filed Under: Family, Good Ideas

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Comments

  1. Linda says

    August 12, 2016 at 7:39 AM

    What a beautiful place to have sister time! Rest, relax, learn, laugh and renew!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      August 12, 2016 at 6:41 PM

      Thank you Linda!

      Reply
  2. Shirley@Housepitality Designs says

    August 12, 2016 at 8:18 AM

    It makes me so happy to see you two together….Glad you had some great times together in that beautiful place…will have to look up this resort…definitely my kind of place…..Dalton, GA is such a quaint town…we gothre for tournaments once a year…and I will be shopping for new carpet in the near future and love that new Shaw technology!….Have a great weekend!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      August 12, 2016 at 6:41 PM

      Thank you so much sweet friend! <3

      Reply
  3. polly says

    August 12, 2016 at 10:01 AM

    so lucky!!!They need to make a girls’ weekend package and market it!I live in FL and haven’t seen my Idaho- living sister in several years- we would kill for a retreat like this to spend time together!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      August 12, 2016 at 6:41 PM

      That is an awesome idea Polly!! I hope you and your sister get some time together soon…it really is so important! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Jeanie says

    August 12, 2016 at 10:10 AM

    2 yrs without seeing each other…wow and this beautiful pic of you two together is the first pic I have seen that you really do look like Sisters!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful trip!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      August 12, 2016 at 6:40 PM

      Awww…yes we definitely look (and sound!) alike when we’re together! Thank you so much for your kind words Jeanie!

      Reply
  5. Julia says

    August 12, 2016 at 12:35 PM

    So happy that you two got to spend time together, in person!! I will have to look up Barnsley Gardens, I love a good historical fiction book.

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      August 12, 2016 at 6:40 PM

      Thank you so much Julia!

      Reply
  6. Vicki says

    August 12, 2016 at 1:51 PM

    What a beautiful place to have sister time together! It was good to see you two together again! I ordered your book and cannot wait to have it in my hands. You both are an inspiration.

    Vicki in Alabama

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      August 12, 2016 at 6:31 PM

      Vicki you have no idea how much it means to us that you ordered our book already! I seriously have tears in my eyes as I type this because it is just so humbling to have the support of our amazing community here. Blessings to you!

      Reply
  7. Leslie says

    August 12, 2016 at 3:06 PM

    How amazing!! Loved all the details and that table setting…unbelievable! Such wonderful connections with flooring. And LOVED that video…SERIOUSLY that carpet technology! Wow!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      August 12, 2016 at 6:40 PM

      Isn’t that carpet amazing Leslie?? It was so fun to do that test!

      Reply
  8. Gwen says

    August 12, 2016 at 11:26 PM

    Wow!!! I had no idea you blog not in the same town!!!! Yet it’s all done so cohesively. What a fabulous setting indeed. Great you were able to go on this fabulous trip. The ruins are still breathtaking.
    Looking forward to more good stuff on your blog. Great cute outfits photo of you two!!

    Reply
  9. Michele says

    August 14, 2016 at 9:26 AM

    WOWWWWWWW! What an honor ~ and delight~ to be included in this amazing event…and two loving BFF sisters together – it honestly doesn’t get better than that, does it?

    You two look beautiful – your inner glow of loving joy shows through!

    Now you cannot – simply CAN NOT go as long getting together next time. That is just tragic! ♥♥

    Reply
  10. Susie Patterson says

    August 17, 2016 at 10:17 PM

    Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful “Sister Time” in such an absolutely beautiful place!!
    By the way, where do you each live? Why has it been two years since you’ve seen each other, if you don’t mind?

    I love “At the Picket Fence”! You two are so amazing! I’m so envious of your talent!!

    Susie Patterson

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      August 18, 2016 at 7:44 PM

      Hi Susie! Thank you so much for your kind words! Heather lives in the Atlanta area and I (Vanessa) live in Oregon. The last two years have been a bit crazy to try and coordinate traveling to see each other and it’s pretty expensive to get our entire family together in one location but we definitely don’t plan on going so long again. 🙂

      Reply

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“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10
This is one of my most favorite projects from my b This is one of my most favorite projects from my book Life in Season! 

Because, if heaven has a fragrance, I’m fairly certain it smells like lilacs.

I think that somewhere along the way the verse in the Bible that said, ‘heaven will smell like lilacs’ just got lost in translation. But it HAD to have been in there at some point, right?

When I bury my head in the blossoms (which I absolutely MUST do every single time I walk past them), I immediately feel a stirring in my soul.

It seems like I wait forever for my lilac tree to bloom. Every year I anxiously watch as the buds begin to form on the branches and then when the blossoms finally burst forth I begin that agonizing process of deciding the absolute perfect moment to snip them and bring them inside.

And then, after all of that waiting and watching it’s just over…done. Because, unlike heaven, lilacs don’t last for an eternity. So, making my own lilac room spray seemed like the perfect way to enjoy their fragrance long after the blossoms have faded.

Here’s how to make it! Ingredients: Water, Vodka, Lilac fragrance oil. Directions: Fill spray bottle with 50/50 ratio of water to vodka. Add 12 drops of lilac oil. Give it a shake, spray and if the scent isn’t strong enough, simply add a few more drops of lilac oil.

Once you’ve made this lilac scented room spray you will be very tempted to spray it in every room in your house. And someone may want to use it in the bathroom to cover up other less…ummmm….pleasing aromas.

But, do not, I repeat do NOT, let them.

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Two of our bathrooms are also in need of major makeovers. And we’ve saved up enough money over the years to tackle those projects. But, for the most part, we made the decision to use the bulk of that money in another way. While we knew that it was financially wise to invest in our house, we also knew that the greatest investment we could make was in our children. 

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#palmsunday
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