Even though Lone Chimney is a relatively new business, since the day the Garrett women opened the “doors” so to speak, I’ve been lusting over every single product. I could honestly find a place in my house for each pillow (who doesn’t need an obscene amount of pillows, really). I could carry a different clutch everyday. Admin knows I went ultra nutso over the bird clutch. I feel like it was made with me in mind, somehow. Every time they come up with something new, I can’t believe it’s something I don’t already own. It’s really just that good.

So naturally the ladies of Lone Chimney were a perfect fit for Seven Questions, both because I just knew they were going to have an incredible story, and because I am so in love with their work. Before talking with Barrie I didn’t know just how amazing their story would be- seriously if you can finish reading this and not be dying to become adopted by the Garrett family you clearly have no soul.

See what I mean?
1. What does Lone Chimney even mean?
Lone Chimney is the name of a small town in Oklahoma, close to where our mother Brenda lives. There is literally a chimney sitting all alone in the middle of a field. The story goes that during the land run in 1889 two men laid claim to the same piece of land. The men fought for years until one eventually agreed to sell his piece of the land to the other, but instead of leaving him the house he had built, he burned it down and the only thing left standing was the chimney. Now that’s spiteful.

We’ve always like the name so we stole it, basically. And it went well with the logo (see above), which is a picture of my husband’s one horned goat, Precious.

2. If you could describe your personal design sensibilities in five words, what would they be?
The three of us have pretty different aesthetics but I’d say we all overlap in some ways. How about simplistic, vintage, natural, muted (colors), and southern. Oh and sequins, obviously.

3. What is your favorite thing to create?
Meals. We never ate out as children. Ever. We had dinner at 6:30 straight up every night and it was always cooked by my mom. I’m not kidding when I say that I had to ask my college roommates how to order a pizza. I’d literally never done it. So cooking has always been a big deal in our family.

It’s nice to make a pillow or a necklace and be able to step back and look at it (and sell it of course!). But being able to sit down and feed people is even more fun. Unless you mess up. I get pretty furious when I mess up my cooking. I’ve cried about burning a tray of vegetables before.

4. Please tell us about your guilty pleasures. We need to know.
For me, it’s American Idol. I don’t talk about it in public even though I want to, but I’ve seen almost every show for the last 3 years (before that I was too embarrassed to give it a try). As far as Caitlin and my mom go, I will tell you what I make fun of them for.

Caitlin has too many guilty pleasures to count, though she’s not embarrassed by any of them. Glee comes to mind. Singing the Wicked soundtrack loudly in her car is another.

My mom’s a pretty classy lady but we’ve always made fun of her for watching Perry Mason. She bought the entire series on DVD. There is a 98% chance that if you buy one of her bags, it was made with Perry Mason playing in the background. That or The Rifleman.

5. What are your three favorite inventions?
Honestly, I’d have to say that my cell phone comes in handy every day. I’ve always thought that scissors were another great invention—I never would have thought of that. I would have just kept slashing things with my one lousy knife. And traditional Chinese scissors are so beautiful. But the invention that really wows me is Oxyclean. It’s magical.

6. What’s your favorite thing to do on the weekend?
Hang out with each other and our dogs. I think we’d all agree to that. When we’re not too busy we all go to my mom’s house to cook and drink and swim in the pool. Between mom, dad and Caitlin, we have 9 dogs, which circle around the house like fish when they all get together.

7. How do you feel about robots?
Hate ‘em. With a few exceptions. Wall E (him alone on trashy-earth was too much), the robot from Short Circuit and Casey the Robot.

Garrett Family Favorite Things:
Crushed ice, salt and lemon juice in a tall glass.

Farm fresh eggs.

Most of my mom’s belongings. Caitlin and I fight over who will inherit them when she dies until she gets offended and tells us to stop.

Though technically not a “thing” most of our conversations revolve around animals, either our own pets or someone elses, or the animals outside, or wild animals, or mistreated animals, or unlikely animal friends we saw on television.

Perfume:
The other day my mom told us this story of her smelling some woman’s perfume at a Jerry Seinfeld stand up act and becoming obsessed with the scent. Instead of just asking her what it was (like a normal person) my mom went to Dillard’s and smelled every bottle of perfume they had. It turned out to be…wait for it…Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds. Thankfully she grew out of that phase.

Movie:
There are several movies that our family has watched together for decades. Any Doris Day movie. Sean Connery era Bond movies. Anything with Jimmy Stewart. The Money Pit is a huge one. Also, Caitlin and I never saw the classic 80’s movies growing up—we’ve still never seen The Goonies—but we’ve seen Don’t Tell Her It’s Me about 100 times. That’s another Steve Guttenberg reference, what’s wrong with me?

Book:
We’re all very into Temple Grandin and her books. Caitlin and I love Faulkner and Steinbeck. Oh and David Sedaris.

Dessert:
We’re not a big dessert family, do cocktails count? Mom’s favorite drink that we’ve all adopted is a Kir Royal (champagne with a splash of crème de cassis, or Chambourd, or pomegranate liquor, or anything.)

Song:
David Bowie’s Queen Bitch, ELO’s Turn to Stone, Van Morrison’s Into the Mystic, Elvis Costello’s Watching the Detectives, anything from Raising Sand by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra. Oh god, I just thought of another guilty pleasure—Michael Buble. Don’t tell anyone.