intention

Living with Intention to Create a Lasting Legacy

We recently took a road trip to Nashville for the annual Antique & Garden Show, this year being it’s 30th Anniversary. This spectacular event provides spaces for high quality antiques and a platform for experts in the fields of antiques, landscape gardens, and horticulture. Additionally, it is a charitable event in which proceeds go to Cheekwood Mansion and ECON Chartities in Nashville. 

We walked through a sea of gorgeous furniture, art, and decor in thoughtful display and heard educational lectures from the top of each field, including our very own East Tennesseans Kreis & Mary Celeste Beall of Blackberry Farms. This show is top notch to say the least. Above all, we were struck by the beauty of intentionality

Antiques set before us a reminder that our things tell a story. Each hand crafted piece brings us to imagine the hands that shaped it and the beauty and comfort it brought to the space in which it sat. Gorgeous furniture, like the vintage furnishings from Eneby Home, remind us of how the past, present, and future all intersect before us everyday. Our homes, like our things, mirror the stories of our lives.

Are we living with intention within the spaces we dwell? 

Living with Intention to Create a Lasting Legacy

A highlight of the show was attending the lecture in which Kreis Beall & Mary Celeste Beall shared their insights on home, family, and making it all beautiful. Kreis and Sandy are the founders of Blackberry Farms while their daughter-in-law Mary Celeste is the proprietor. The incredible experience that Blackberry Farm has become seems so difficult to wrap ones mind around until you hear these two women speak of their inspiration from their own family history and each other. 

...she wanted the place “to look like Mom’s and smell like Mammy’s” paying homage to the two women who had helped shape her.

The respect and love that is shared between this mother and daughter-in-law duo speaks to the power of family in creating home. Both spoke with such vulnerability, humor, and wisdom on how their separate journeys have led them to today. Kreis shared that in the early days of Blackberry Farm, she wanted the place "to look like Mom's and smell like Mammy's" paying homage to the two women who had helped shape her. She also encouraged us business owners to dream big and "start at the top" like the time she called Julia Child to ask if she would lead Blackberry Farm's first cooking class.

Mary Celeste spoke on the importance of creating a home that works for one's own personal living style. As she and Sam designed their forever home at Blackberry, they were very intentional to include the parts that were important to them, not what was trending at the time. They planned their home to grow with their growing family (they have 5 children), and the home centers around the table, the most important place for them.

The thread of sadness of Sam's passing almost 4 years ago is palpable and real as one listens to this journey, but his inspiration and commitment to creating a place to gather with the highest quality food, drink, and venue is very much alive.

What a gift it was to hear this story in person! If you'd like to hear more about Kreis's journey, her new book, "The Great Blue Hills of God" is now available and it's wonderful!

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So, as we think about the impact of our stories…. How can you live with intention in your home?

Consider the Past.

Our “stuff” have a story. The floorboards we walk on everyday. The trim around the doors we swing countlessly open. The hearth we face every night after a long day. And that favorite chair we curl up in as we welcome a new day. Every thing has tells the story of the past. We were struck by the knowledge expert antique collectors and sellers brought to us at the Show. Consider seeking out experts on the pieces you already own or before you pursue something new to learn how you can be more intentional with your spaces.

Pay Attention to the Present.

How are you wanting to live? Like Mary Celeste, can your spaces reflect how you want to live, not just what is in style? Consider your current dreams and intentions (maybe whip out those new years resolutions you drew up just over a month ago!) and how your home can be a sanctuary for those dreams. Who are the people most important to you, and how can your home and things provide pathways for those people?

Leave a legacy for the Future.

Lastly, we want to encourage you to consider the things you currently own or the ones you intend to welcome into your home with intentionality toward the future. Of course, there is always a time and place for mass made products that we can pick up on the fly! But as you move through your own home, consider how you fill it. Consider what you are leaving to the ones you love. A thoughtful look at the past and present can inform a beautiful future.

As you can hear, this show renewed our love of antiques and their place within the spaces we dwell! In our work with HYD, we love seeing how YOU intentionally craft your spaces. Comment one way that you are living with intention.

hosting for the holidays

Image from Remain Simple blog.

Image from Remain Simple blog.

21 days til Thanksgiving! That reality might cause you excitement, panic or any feeling in between. We want to encourage a spirit of "intentionality" instead of "perfection" this holiday season. Think about being a guest in your own home this year: what do you notice, how did you feel, what was the focus? We're sharing a few practical and thoughtful ideas to create an intentional holiday gathering this week. 

Intention: your guests will see it, taste it, feel it and enjoy it. 


While there are so many moving pieces to coordinate for the Thanksgiving meal to be ready, one thing you can have prepared ahead of time for guests to enjoy upon arrival is a festive cocktail. Make it in a large batch so you aren't spending time making individual mixed drinks. Don't forget to mix up a batch without alcohol. Take a look at this recipe

Image from The Kitchn blog.

Image from The Kitchn blog.

In order to plan well, the host needs to know the amount of people they'll be serving. Send a text or email out 2 weeks in advance to get an accurate number of guests. Take a look at this helpful chart about servings and quantities for the size of your group. 

Don't go crazy with seasonal decor. Less is more! Instead of shopping for hours for the "perfect" centerpiece or tablecloth, look outside. Bring some natural elements in to create a rustic and welcoming table. Include your kids as you gather leaves, branches, or greenery from your yard. Lighting and natural elements will create a warm and inviting ambiance for your table

If you prefer a later Thanksgiving meal, someone is sure to be hungry before meal time. Whether it be your children, new acquaintances or yourself- these cranberry brie mini tarts are a beautiful appetizer that won't require additional dishes or silverware to serve and enjoy. If cooking one more thing feels like an unbearable burden, grab some cheese & crackers and have these out to snack on. 

Image from Fox and Briar blog.

Shift the focus outward. Your Thanksgiving table can be the launching point for a group investment in a local cause. There are so many ways to give back in our community. Take a look at this list of specific avenues to give of yourself this holiday season in Knoxville.

With just a pencil and paper, your feast can get a lot richer. Challenge your family or friends to take a moment to write out the things you are thankful for. If you want to go a little deeper, try sharing one or two of your items on your list. Gratitude begets gratitude and the thoughts shared around the table will create memories and meaningful moments.


Share your favorite Thanksgiving decor ideas, organizational tools, and traditions with us. How does your family or community celebrate?  

The Slow Life : Home Tour with Ashley Addair

Help You Dwell sat down with Ashley Addair this week to talk about simple living. Ashley is an established artist living in Knoxville with her husband, two children, the occasional dog, and sporadic out of town guests. To give you a bit of background, Ashley and family have spent the last year or so living a bit nomadic-ally while her husband gutted and rebuilt their home. (Which incidentally used to be a neighborhood grocery store) Their newly finished home is truly a work of art in itself. Ashley is a wonderful thinker and writer and one of her recent blog entries about her entry way inspired us to ask her about her approach to her home and lifestyle.

Tell me a little bit about what simple living means to you.

A: In this season I'm learning a lot about letting things be as they are. I'm trying to live out the tension of facilitating change and evolving but at the same time, accepting things as they are; not fighting the chaos of life. I'm trying to posture myself in a way that allows for finding beauty in that chaos and letting that be enough. 

That is such a refreshing answer. On a practical level, do you have any habits or routines that help you accomplish and maintain that simple posture?

A: I recently read a haiku that said "To make a home, start in one corner- Make that yours. Work outwards, slowly." I'm trying to take that and practice "looking smaller". I'm picking little things, small corners that I can work on and letting the rest go. I'm endeavoring to let things evolve without me and it's helping me notice natural rhythms and the beauty of observing from a distance. Basically, I'm working on becoming increasingly slow: on letting life wash over me and recognizing that slow is the gift of this season. I'm becoming more okay with embracing limitations. In a very literal sense, I've picked one corner of the yard and one corner of the kitchen to focus on and I'm venturing to let the rest go. 

One of the hardest parts of simplifying is letting go of all the "stuff". You seem to have a really healthy detachment to "things". Tell me about that.

A: I have moved around a lot over the course of my life. I've found that there is a gift in traveling light. Honestly, at this point having kids has forced me to recon with the fact that things will get messed up and broken. In general, I try to let things be meaningful without being attached to them.

You can meet Ashley and purchase her art at our pop up market on May 3rd from 11-6. We hope to see you there!

Caroline & Taryn