Happy Saturday friends! I hope you’ve had a great week. I can’t think of a better way to cap off the week than a post from my dear friend Tammy Connor of Tammy Connor Interior Design. If you take a peek at her work, I think you’ll agree it’s pretty dreamy. What’s even better – she’s sharing some amazing advice about having patience. Enjoy! xo, Tobi

“Patience is a Virtue” is a motto I have believed in, but struggled with for years. And, lately it seems I have to remind myself of this old adage daily!

Between traveling to projects sites, raising a family and juggling the information overload of the digital world, expectations of immediacy are omnipresent.  And, “patience is a virtue” is a good reminder to most of us!

Unfortunately, the interior design industry is not immune to the fast-paced world of 2012. I often find myself questioning lead times on selections, without real consideration for the amount of time that it takes to handcraft a custom item. Or, I push to get every selection made for a client’s home, so that when we are finished with our installation week, the project will be complete…”and everyone will be happy!”

Ironically, these attempts to control the calendar ultimately undermine my whole design philosophy that “quality craftsmanship and a client’s lifestyle should be the guiding factors in creating interiors that are truly personal and timeless.”

Now for the good news! When you do take the time to find items that really speak to you, and quality is inherent in those selections, they will become a part of your home, and be timeless to you!  I always advise my clients to choose quality over quantity. If necessary, I would much prefer that a project take 3 years to complete with quality pieces that will be cherished forever, than 6 months to just fill a house with furniture.

As I look around my home, it is the items that were collected over time, or have special meaning to me that turn my house into a home.

My living room is an example of a space filled with pieces collected over time. The etchings over my sofa were individually selected and then framed as a collection, the coffee table was custom-made in France, the antique tapestry pillows (many from BViz) were collected as I came across the ones I loved, and the coffee table books are a part of a much larger collection that have been selected over many years.

These shelves display vellum books that I have collected for the past 10 years. My favorite ones came from several trips to Italy, my very favorite country! The creamware and brown and white transferware pieces came from a shopping trip to England. For me, these pieces are not only beautiful; they fill my home with fond memories.

My daughter’s nursery, the most peaceful room in my home, is also an example of a space with handcrafted items collected over time. Many of the stuffed animals in her shelves were mine as a child, I purchased the light fixture at a market in France, and the crosses hanging over her bed were handmade by my friends at my baby shower. And while it took some encouragement for my girlfriends to craft pieces I planned to hang in my house, the special friendships behind this collection will be forever timeless for me.

I hope you will join me in trying to slow down a bit, let up on reins, focus on the details, and enjoy the rewards of practicing patience…..And, remind yourself Rome was not built in a day!  For now, enjoy some beautiful images of spaces, textiles and gardens that were created by a creative hand with lots of patience.

If you would like to read more on my thoughts on timeless design, please follow this link to my blog, The Journal.

-Tammy