Over the years, many of us bloggers have developed working relationships with certain decor companies. It’s only natural, as we are always writing about lamps and sofas, paints and wallpapers. One of the companies that I’ve been connected with is Aidan Gray – the decor and furniture merchandiser. For some reason, the owner, Randal Weeks, and I just clicked when he realized that I was obsessed with the product that he designs.
We formed a professional friendship over our love of French decor. Later, Aidan Gray became an advertiser on Cote de Texas and then, I was beyond thrilled when Randal designed a new sconce and named it after me:
The Joni:
The two lights version HERE
And the three lights “Joni” version, HERE
It’s so great to be immortalized, especially when the product is so beautiful!!
For years Aidan Gray was known for its French styled furniture, lighting and accessories – many with chippy, hand painted, and white-washed finishes. Lately, in a sign of the times and an appreciation of millenniums and their aesthetic, Aidan Gray has launched a more modern look.
But, while the new looks are popular, the painted finishes remain in great demand and they actually look great when the two aesthetics are mixed together.
One of Aidan Gray’s most successful lines is their lighting division: lamps, chandeliers, and sconces.
And this is where the new giveaway comes in.
We are calling the new giveaway:
“AIDAN GRAY WITH AN EDGE”
or better known as Hashtag #AGwithanedge
IN APPRECIATION OF YOUR INTEREST THROUGH THE YEARS…..
AIDAN GRAY AND COTE DE TEXAS WILL BE HOSTING A GIVEAWAY OF
FIFTEEN -15
– YES, YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY –
FIFTEEN
AIDAN GRAY LIGHT FIXTURES WILL BE GIVEN AWAY TO 15 LUCKY READERS!!!!
FIFTEEN
Some of these 15 are actually PAIRS, as in PAIRS of lamps or PAIRS of sconces.
The story behind the giveaway is a little long, so I am breaking it up into two parts.
Today, is the introduction:
AIDAN GRAY WITH AN EDGE:
HASHTAG #AGwithanedge
Over the years, I have hosted a few notable giveaways and one of the best and most popular ever was the “Aidan Gray Catalogue Giveaway.”
When the time came for Randal Weeks to photograph the newest catalogue for Aidan Gray, he came up with an idea. Usually, the catalogue was staged and photographed at the Week’s own beautiful house:
Randal and his wife had bought this house and then totally renovated it. Here, steel doors were added at both ends of the Entry Hall, and a large skylight was installed in the ceiling. The house would be staged with the newest A/G merchandise and then it was professionally photographed for each A/G catalogue.
All the rooms, including the Living Room, were styled with Aidan Gray merchandise and then photographed. This is my favorite room!!! I love the way Randal styled this room!
Even the remodeled kitchen was photographed for the catalogues. After the renovation, it now has two marble topped islands along with metal shelves.
In the master bedroom, an Aidan Gray bench and chaise were used in this photograph, along with sconces and lamps.
And the pool house was also used as a setting for the catalogues. Each year, Randal would fill it up with the latest pieces from the Aidan Gray line and then it would be photographed.
And so, when the time came to design the newest catalogue, Randal had a lightbulb go off in his head. Why not do something completely different instead of using his own house for the newest catalogue?
And, so the Cote de Texas giveaway was born.
Randal and I got together and came up with the contest. We would have Cote de Texas readers submit photographs of their own house in hopes of winning the contest. The three winners would then have their house photographed by Aidan Gray for the new catalogue.
Needless to say, the giveaway was a huge hit and over 60 people sent in photographs of their house, hoping to be a winner.
I had the most fun – looking at all the photos!!! I narrowed down the submissions and then let Randal and his wife be the final judges. They picked three houses and he set up appointments to photograph their houses.
Here is the story of the winners of the Home Styling giveaway HERE.
Before the photos were taken, Randal drew up preliminary plans for each room:
For this winner who submitted the photo of her entry hall, Randal drew up a plan incorporating Aidan Gray merchandise. And, below is the entry hall, styled and photographed by Randal Weeks for the new A/G catalogue:
I loved this photo! Randal took a pretty entry hall and turned it into an even prettier room!!! I loved the orange pillows, the orange trim, and the orange in the rug and flowers.
This family room was picked by Randal Weeks for the catalogue. He initially planned to photograph it with French inspired A/G merchandise, but that all changed:
Here, the final photograph showed that Randal used A/G’s new modern line of chairs, along with the French bench. A/G sconces and lamps were also used.
This dining room was a blank slate. The homeowner told Randal Weeks that she had always dreamed of having the room faux painted. She was shocked when Randal showed up the next day with Leslie of Segreto Finishes who brought along her crew from Houston to paint the dining room!
And, here is the finished dining room as photographed for the catalogue. The walls were painted by Segreto and the room was filled with A/G furniture. An A/G chandelier and sconces were used, along with furniture and accessories. This was my favorite winner in the catalogue giveaway! I loved this room!!
Another view of the dining room with this vignette accessorized with A/G urns and sconces and furniture.
In the same house, Randal Weeks also photographed their kitchen for the catalogue, adding A/G bar stools, chandelier and accessories.
And, in the same house, this BEFORE photograph shows the lucky winner’s family room before it was also painted by Segreto Finishes!
I love the final look with the A/G benches, chairs, table, and accessories.
And here’s a close up of the bookshelves – and the paint treatment done by Segreto. She was such a lucky homeowner!!
There were many more rooms in different houses that were photographed for that catalogue giveaway. It remains one of my most favorite contests ever.
After the contest was over, I wrote another story showing all the final rooms that were photographed. And then, for the next few months – I shared photographs from some of the houses that were runners-up.
All in all it was a really fun giveaway that the readers enjoyed almost as much as me!!
Which brings me to today and our new giveaway “Aidan Gray With An Edge”
I was so excited to hear from Randal Weeks a few weeks ago with a new idea for another giveaway contest.
It all starts with this house:
A while ago, the Weeks purchased this beautiful, but run-down, Tudor house in High Point, North Carolina. The plans were to totally renovate it and then fill it with Aidan Gray furniture, thereby creating a nice home-away-from-home for all the times that the Weeks and their friends spend at the High Point market.
And here is the newly restored facade of the Tudor house today, with a beautiful blanket of snow and new gray paint.
The house is completed now and filled with Aidan Gray furniture. Of course, Randal had it photographed to show all the amazing changes in the house and how all the Aidan Gray pieces made it look that much better.
In the next few days – I will show you these before and after photographs of the house.
And then we will ask you, the reader, to submit a photograph of a room or vignette in your own house – and explain how you would use an Aidan Gray light fixture to upgrade that vignette.
Hopefully, you will get inspiration from Randal’s new High Point house OR you might have your own ideas!!
After you put together your inspiration photo – you will put it on Instagram with the Hashtag
“#AGwithanedge”
The contest will be fun because all the entries will be on Instagram and everyone will be able to see them all!!
Here is my own entry in the contest showing my entry hall with an Aidan Gray chandelier that would make the area look much better. I used the Pic-Stitch app to make this photograph.
We will have instructions on how to create your own inspiration photo on the next story.
So…stay tuned for Part II of the new Aidan Gray Giveaway story.
AIDAN GRAY WITH AN EDGE
HASHTAG #AGwithanedge
Photos from a past Urban Market.
And if you are in the market for a dog, Golden Beginnings Golden Retriever Rescue will be there too!! AWWWWW.
