Bella Vita

Just 18 short months ago, my family and I became intimately familiar with The MED and the work they do every day to save lives in the Mid-South region.

Join us for our second annual Show of Support as we give back to this incredible foundation. Featuring works by five of Bella Vita’s talented artists, we will have over 50 new paintings on display and twenty percent of all purchases will be donated to The MED.

Each of our featured artists have also donated a painting for our drawing. With every $10 donation you make to The MED, you'll receive a ticket to enter to win the painting of your choice.

Support The MED today. Someone’s life is counting on it. More about The Med Foundation.

Stephanie and Brent have a great, large living room with tall ceilings. The space is open to adjacent rooms on all sides, which creates a lot of traffic and several potential focal points. Without the right layout, this room could be awkward. 

I wanted to bring in some large scale furniture pieces, because larger pieces would highlight the size of the space while simultaneously drawing the room in to make it cozier. There is a brick fireplace close to the center of the room on one wall. If we could find a large vertical piece to mirror this focal point, we could build a cozy seating arrangement between the two masses. 

Stephanie and I both enjoy furniture with a past. I began hunting for a large, old armoire to mirror the fireplace and provide storage. I found this stunning piece in California, where it had landed after traveling half way around the world. This armoire dates back to the 1780s in France. It was found at a flea market in Provence and sent to the USA on a container full of other French warehouse and flea market goodies. 

The armoire has serpentine paneling on the doors and old rusty hinges and hardware. It arrived in a beautiful bleached oak which we had planned on altering. The old wood had such great character that we didn't want to cover it with paint, but we needed the piece to be a darker grey to offset the wood color from another old piece in the room and the floor color. We enlisted the help of a talented local artist, Jamie Roberts of Off the Wall, to delicately wash the armoire with a stain. The old hinges were causing the wood to oxidize (one beautiful sign of a true antique), creating dark stains near the metal hardware. We used this natural patina as a guide to create our own grey stain. 

Now the armoire sits across from Stephanie and Brent's fireplace, flanked by two contemporary yet majestic armchairs. If only pieces like these could talk... As the Singleys enjoy their cozy new living room, I guess these sweet moments will be added to the armoire's hundreds of years of silent archives.

-Becca

Becca Gaines is an Interior Designer in the Memphis area. She lives at Home in Collierville with her husband Jake, and 17 month old Jovie. Becca is a graduate of The University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) and is registered as an Interior Designer with the Tennessee Board of Architecture and Engineering Examiners. She’s also been awarded certification by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification. Oh yeah, and she worked as an intern at Looney Ricks Kiss Architects too. 

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French Country Chic

Our newest collection was created for the days when you just don't feel the need to hassle with heavy-duty dishes, but still want to feast on beauty. Each piece is designed to appeal to the French Country chic side within, bringing versatility through a simplistic, yet dainty pattern that is classic enough for the most particular of hostesses. Available in classic ivory and white, you can't go wrong with this use-anytime, please everyone set full of bowls, plates, trays and platters that you'll adore.

Bold & Fun

If bright and funky is more your style, you'll love the latest in our French Bull dinnerware collection! Also, featuring the durability of melamine, each piece within this collection has become adored for serving all the guests at your barbecues and parties, and wowing them with the bold and fun prints and patterns that adorn each piece. This collection has all of the pep you need to celebrate the spring season, boasting the must-have colors that we can't get enough of right now. With plates, platters, bowls and tray, there won't be a dull moment when your pieces come to the party! 

Now that the dinnerware is covered, and we're certain you have a few yummy recipes in your back pocket, all that's left to do is grab your sunglasses and let the barbecues begin!

-The Girls at Bella Vita

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