Whitken & Co

Our Mission:

Creating beautiful, functional, and healing spaces for families to live, work, play in, and share with others.

Creating beautiful, functional, and healing spaces for families to live, work, play in, and share with others

08/07/2019

I turned around from wrestling with our massive ladder to see paint pouring out of the bucket and off of the plastic that was supposed to be protecting the floor. I let out a few choice words that would have had my dad laughing and my mom doubting my salvation and praying for my soul and yelled for Kendall to "Get in here and help me NOW!!!"

Creating is an exhausting, frustrating, maddening, and beautiful process. Sometimes it flows seamlessly and sometimes paint spills all over the place and you find yourself on your hands and knees frantically scrubbing it off the floor with your tired and bare fingers before it has time to set.

Sometimes you have to walk away from what was supposed to be a weekend job that has now consumed several weekends before you can muster the grit and courage to dive back in.

But dive back in you do because the call to create and make something beautiful is strong. You can't resist. You know magic is happening and you're the one making it happen.

And also, you're tired of seeing your walls half painted and showering without a shower curtain.

Here's to all the evening and weekend warriors making their home a place of beauty and joy!

Tag someone you know that can relate!

07/29/2019

You know when friends or family come over and you wish your house was all clean and perfect and finished and styled?

Here’s the thing. We live and work and pursue our dreams here, and you know what?

I kind of like it like that. @ Anderson, South Carolina

07/21/2019

✨ Happy Sunday, friends! ✨

07/16/2019

Do you hear it?

The thunder rumbling in the distance?

The birds, undeterred, chirping outside your windows?

The clink of your spoon on the glass bowl as you set it back down after a bite?

The shifting of one dog on her bed and the click of the other dog’s nails on the wood floor and the patter of his feet on the rug as he looks for a spot to lie down?

Thud. He found it. Finally.

Do you hear the clash of the glass dishes against each other as they clang against the steel sink and the swish of the sponge as it wipes them clean?

Do you hear the water pour from the faucet as you wash your face and the tap, tap, tap of your toothbrush on the edge of your sink? It’s plop into the cup?

The click of the light switch and the creak of the door as you leave the room?

Do you hear the rustle of the covers as you crawl into bed? The cicadas and crickets singing their last songs of the night?

The kiss of your love before you turn over and settle into your usual spot?

His last deep breaths before he falls to sleep?

Do you hear it?

The beautiful rhythm of your life?

Shh.

Be still.

Listen.

There it is.

Do you hear it?

07/08/2019

The beginning is exciting, even thrilling. Imagining a thing is half the fun, picturing what it can and will be.

Collecting materials. It can be mundane, sometimes a pain, but even that doesn’t take away the spark.

But then, you start. Or at least you think about starting. And then, you think some more. You know you really should get going but for some reason,

You.
Just.
Can’t.

Oh, look, the plants need to be watered. I need to do this thing for work. I’m just not feeling it today. I’m tired. Maybe next week. I would, but my friends invited me over.

The truth is, you’re daunted.

Planning was fun. Even gathering materials had its own little thrill because you know, this thing is actually gonna happen now.

But getting started. Whew, man. That’s hard.

You’ve created before. You know as much as you love it, that it’s a dirty, messy, gritty process.

It’s always harder than you think it will be. The path to creation is never straight and clear.

Sweat runs down your back and legs. Your body shakes from work it’s not used to and exhaustion. You curse others for a job poorly done that you now have to fix. You catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror as you walk by and see what you’d look like with grey hair because yours is covered in dust and you realize you can’t pull that look off so dying the hair it will be from now til your dead. And your face, well today it’s getting its own special exfoliation that didn’t come out of a tube or package but off your walls.

The initial vision becomes blurry. It’s hard to see because of all the dust. Literally and figuratively.

But you know it’s still there, so you press on. You know the dust will start to settle.

You pick up a rag, dip it in water, and begin wiping the walls.

Tired, you press through, because you know beauty and delight are coming.

07/07/2019

Sunday

When I set aside time to read for fun.

is probably my favorite magazine and I wait with baited breath for each new issue. I usually save it for Sunday’s so that I can sit down and really enjoy it. The highlighter and stickies are a must because it’s that good and there are always things I want to remember and come back to.

is new to me, but it looks lovely and I can’t wait to dig in!

Question: What’s your favorite magazine?

07/04/2019

Happy 4th, friends!!! What are you doing to celebrate today?

02/28/2019

A gloomy, rainy day called for twinkle lights and the Netflix fireplace on the TV to cheer things up a bit. We have four fireplaces in this house and we can’t use a one so Netflix it is! Anybody else like to turn it on just for the crackling noises it makes? 🙋‍♀️😆

02/20/2019

Being brave-ish✨

I haven't shown a lot of our house here in these squares because even though I love it, we haven't done much with it. I don't love the current paint colors and not much of it is an accurate reflection of my style and what I'm capable of as an interior decorator/designer.✨

But the truth is, I still love this house and I am so grateful everyday that I get to live here. I love the bead board walls, the pocket doors, the wagon wheel arch in the entry hallway, and I marvel at the layout designed to perfectly ventilate the house during the hot Carolina summers. ✨

I love the possibilities I see in each space as I walk from room to room and do life here. ✨

I can't wait to tell our kids and grandkids someday how we basically used to hide out in the living room and hibernate under blankets during the winter because the house was so cold, but it was worth it for what we got to create and experience here. ✨

I'm trying to be brave and share more of this home even though it may not technically be "my style" - yet. It is still beautiful and I hope that our story here will inspire others to see and create beauty wherever they live.✨

02/13/2019

Guys, meet Lottie. (That’s her actual named inscribed by the artist’s signature.) ✨

I passed her more times than I can count at one of our local antique stores. I'd always go see if she was still there and stare at her awhile. Something about the expression on her face draws me in. ✨

Well, one day I left her there, and than turned my car around to get her, thanks to everyone here telling me I should go back. ✨

Thank you, friends for making me do that! I don't know why I will not just pull the trigger on things sometimes. I usually regret it. ✨
But now, she makes me happy every time I come into this room and see her on the mantel. Sometimes people laugh at her and thinks it's weird, but I don't care. I believe in filling your home with things that you love and "spark joy" (And now we can't use that phrase without thinking of you know how.) and she does that for me. ✨

Love you lots, Lottie. ✨

Do you have a piece like this in your home? ✨

02/01/2019

Chloe’s cover photo for 😆

This girl, though. Driving me crazy. She figured out how to open the pocket doors to the living room and today she got in and chewed not one, but two pillows. Thankfully they’re both salvageable and thankfully it wasn’t the sofa because I’m only half kidding when I say we’d probably have to drive around the neighborhood until we found one on a curb somewhere to replace it. That’s after I got over my stroke.

Right now both dogs are curled up in bed with me. Kendall’s gone for the weekend and you bet your antique hardware they’re taking full advantage of the situation. (See stories)

01/30/2019

What do you think of when you hear the word bespoke in regards to interior design and decoration? ✨

I shared a few of my thoughts in stories today, but here's the short of it. ✨

When I hear the word "bespoke" I think of something specifically created for a person. It is special and unique. It is well-crafted and well thought through. It is unhurried and cultivated with care. There is a sense of timelessness and transcendence to it and quality, but most importantly, there is a sense of soul. ✨

Do you ever get that feeling from a space? ✨

Those are the kinds of spaces that I want to create in my home and for others. ✨

What kinds of images does the word "bespoke" conjure up for you? ✨

Address

Anderson, SC

Telephone

+12148624829

Website

https://whitkenandco.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Whitken & Co posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Whitken & Co:

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Interior Service in Anderson?