old country house blog

NATHAN TURNER AND ME

 

ONE WEEK AGO…

almost exactly to the minute….I was strolling down Melrose , in West Hollywood, (Los Angeles…)

looking for Nathan Turner’s store. West Hollywood, where Melrose is located is Design Lover’s Heaven…One amazing busniess after another, textiles, antiques, lighting, accessories…eye candy and beautiful things, wonderful unique perfectly FANTASTIC things!!!

 I kept getting double takes because I could not wipe the BIG cheesy smile off my face…. I was so happy…I was  Home!

mecox
Mecox…one of my favorites… which has location is New York, Chicago, Houston, East Hampton, Dallas, Palm Beach and SouthHampton

I kept wandering into store after store…Mecox, Hollywood at Home – One and Two,  Hollyhock,…I had to remind myself to stay on track…that I had a mission. To Get to Nathan Turner’s store.

I had imagined this moment so many times…meeting him, seeing the dogs;  Daisy and Nacho, and just catching up on old times… Nathan and I go way back…way back…to  JUNE 2012. This was when I,  in a moment of total and complete Designer Worship, sent him paintings of his two beloved dogs:

AvdvnSeCIAEHUbq.jpg-largeDaisy and Nacho.

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NATHANS BOOK “AMERICAN STYLE”

I promise, I do not make a habit of stalking “stars”.. First of all….as you already know, I am not that good at Twitter. But I have followed Nathan’s and his design for a while now and I could not help but notice that…. in every interview, in nearly all of his tweets and in articles and blog posts written about him…the topic at hand was usually his DOGS FIRST…then His Home and his Life, then Design. He is so very gifted…but I do believe he has his priorities straight. He inspires me and he is who I hope to be when I grow up! I love that Design found him…but it does not surprise me….HE IS HIS DESIGN. He exudes the All AMerican charm and ease which epitomizes his Design…He is comfortable and relaxed…but I am getting ahead of myself…

Nathan Turner’s Book

So I moseyed down La Cienega (TONS OF DESIGN STORES) and took a right onto Melrose…I knew I was close…and then I saw one of my Design Blogger Buddies, “Pebbles” (great name!) coming out of a store…

I said to Pebbles, ‘I think I went too far…I must have passed it…I am looking for Nathan’s store.” ….and she said, pointing into the shop from whence  she had just emerged.. …

” You are HERE!!!This is IT!!!”

contact_pic She had just come out fo his store!!!! I could see him through the window, talking to my New Friend Holly who is an interior designer from Charlotte and who has AMAZING STYLE!!! Everything about Holly is stylish…including her name: Holly Hollingsworth Phillips…and I plan to do a WHOLE post on Stylish Holly, later.  She and Nathan go way back, even further than me and they were in there just gabbing away.

Talking Design and such.

I walked in…I think the bell jingled, maybe not, maybe it was me, and immediately Nathan knew who I was…and he came over and gave me the biggest HUG!!!

Like I said, I don’t usually get star struck…and I was NOT star struck…I was just so happy to be there with Nathan in his big Navy and White buffalo check shirt and wrinkled blue khakis…He was exactly as I pictured he would be…He let me sit down to get my knees to stop shaking .

He told Holly and his assistant about the paintings and  brought them out to show them.Nacho loved his.

NATHAN AND NACHO

 Holly left and then we talked and talked …about my life… the kids, I told him how Tate is now the Soccer team Captain and he told me about his 2 brothers, and how his Mom could not seem feed them enough…and we laughed about a certain someone in my house getting caught eating Jello with his hands, while standing IN the refrigerator…and we of course talked about our Dogs and I showed him pictures of my sweet Charlie and told the story of how he saved my life  and how last summer he had to wear a funny collar…

charscollar
AHOY CHARLIE!

…and Nathan laughed and told me that Daisy had to wear one too…

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AHOY DAISY!

We talked about Sweet Daisy, who at 14 is quite old for a Yellow Lab, a testament to his tender care. Daisy loved me taking her picture, but she said,

“You won’t mind if I don’t get up?”

daisy…and Nacho who gave me the full tour, made sure I was all settled in and then went to go lie with his belly flat on the cool wood floor.

nacho

Speaking of the wood floor, I feel quite remiss that I did not get more Photos of Nathan’s amazing
store. The entire back room is literally wall to wall WOOD, beautiful luscious woods, each prettier than the next, like works of art… they balance his whole aesthetic perfectly. I loved every inch of his store, and lusted after so much. Nathan appreciates not only the BIG picture but the details…the little
things that add up…
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like this little Anchor soap dish that I cannot stop thinking about…
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It was wonderful meeting Nathan in person, though I feel like we have known eachother…from another time…or maybe we are just bonded by our intense love for our Dogs and Design and the beauty that can be found in the everyday way we live.
Whatever it is…IT WAS A HIGHLIGHT of my trip and I cannot wait to take the kids in to meet him this summer….
when we do our WEST COAST vacation!!!

8 thoughts on “NATHAN TURNER AND ME

  1. Leslie, you are so stinkin’ adorable! Your enthusiasm is like sunshine! This blog never fails to bring a smile, thanks for being a balm to my winter-weary soul.

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