Southern finds this week include Texas relish, Atlanta-made iron beds and charming greeting cards from Florida.
Metal work
At the North Carolina School of the Arts, Charles Calhoun became interested in furniture design and metal work. After graduation, the fifth generation Atlantan returned home and in 1994 started Calhoun Design and Metalworks as a resource for homeowners, designers and architects. The custom shop specializes in hand-forged iron work, but also uses other metals in designs. Calhoun collaborated with interior designer Nancy Duffey on the design of the iron canopy bed. With its clean lines and linen upholstered headboard, the iron bed is available in queen ($5,400) and king ($6,000) sizes. Look for the bed in Duffey’s shop, Scout for the Home, at 18 E. Andrews Drive, Atlanta, www.scoutforthehome.com. The home boutique also features Calhoun’s 36-inch-round wire cocktail table. The nickel table with the walnut top is $3,900. Learn more about Calhoun’s company at www.calhounmetalworks.com.
Sweet & spicy
Ashley Langley and Paige Johnson grew up enjoying their mother’s homemade salsa at backyard BBQs and simple suppers. The Texas sisters in 2009 decided to bottle and sell it. The Smither Family Kitchen salsa was such a hit the first year, the family’s Houston-based company came out with a sweet and spicy relish. Made with dill, jalapenos and other spices, the Dillapeno relish won first place in the 2011 Zest Fest in Dallas and the 2010 Houston Hot Sauce Festival. Fans like the relish on meat, in potato salad and with chips. A 27-ounce jar of the award-winning Dillapeno relish is $13. Find it at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, 209 Edgewood Ave. SE, in downtown Atlanta, or order a jar or two at www.smitherfamilykitchen.com.
Put in on paper
After six months of designing custom wedding invitations for friends and clients from home, Anna and Nathan Bond started the Rifle Paper Co. In November 2009, their colorful and whimsical collection of greeting cards debuted online and the buzz began. Anthropologie and others took notice of Anna’s charming cards, which seem both modern and nostalgic. The thank-you cards ($16 to $18 for a boxed set of eight) and recipe cards ($10 to $12 for 12 cards) are popular with customers young and old. Based in Winter Park, Fla., the company and its owners, both 26, now offer a new line of playful notepads for your to-do lists ($8 for 85 tear-off pages) and 2012 calendars ($16 to $28). View the entire collection at www.riflepaperco.com.
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