Home & Interior Design

Le Corbusier's Five Points of Architecture

2011-11-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

Les 5 Points d' une architecture nouvelle, which Le Corbusier finally formulated in 1926 included (1) the pilotis elevating the mass off the ground, (2) the free plan, achieved through the separation of the load-bearing columns from the walls subdividing the space, (3) the free facade, the corollary of the free plan in the vertical plane, (4) the long horizontal sliding window and finally (5) the roof garden, restoring, supposedly, the area of ground covered by the house.

above: Le Corbusier Comparative sketches to show the advantages of the 'Five Points'

These points were illustrated best in Le Corbusier's domestic architecture.
Le Corbusier's first attempt to deal with the problem of mass housing was Maisons Citrohan, designed in 1920-22. All parts of the house are united by a spatial continuum, while the open space created by the pilotis and the flat roof increase the otherwise small available area. The prototype of a single-family unit, which was later modified to a module within a collective building, for example the basic units of the Immeuble-villa (1922).

Le Corbusier established his concept of the dwelling as standardized, mass produced and serviceable like the modern car. Citrohan 2 implies the elements of the Dom-Ino constructural system, that is the use of a reinforced concrete frame. Citrohan 2 introduced ideas of Le Corbusier's '5 Points of New Architecture': the building raised off the ground on pilotis, which 'free' the ground for vehicular circulation and for services. The roof-garden or terrace, which is clearly established in the Citrohan projects as a component of private, domestic space.

above: Four Studies of the potentials of the 'Five Points', 1929.

(a) Maison La Roche-Jeanneret, (b) Villa Stein, (c) Villa at Carthage, (d) Villa Savoye

The Cook House or Maison Cook in Boulogne-sur-Seine (1926) was a terrace house, an almost perfect prototype for a small, single-family urban dwelling, employed several of Le Corbusier's ideas. The ground floor was almost entirely open; which contained parking space for a car, a small-enclosed entry and stair hall, and a paved and planted open terrace. The upper floors were supported on a few concrete pilotis.

As at Citrohan, the living room extended upward through two storeys, and a portion of the roof used as a spacious garden terrace. Also, special in the Maison Cook was the extremely free handling of partitions. On every floor level Le Corbusier made a point of curving his partitions to make it quite clear that they were entirely independent of all structural supports.

Having assured himself of the 'Five Points' in the design of the Maison Cook, Le Corbusier was about to explore further possibilities of the system. The sytem led to practical advantages as well as spatial and formal flexibility. The Villa Stein which Le Corbusier built at Garches during 1927. Again, pilotis supporting a part of the ground floor; a hollowed-out, two storey outdoor cube; freely curved partitions on every floor; a 'Golden Section' system of facade design; and a roof garden on top. The villa was another contribution towards Le Corbusier's central objective - to create prototypes for a vertical city. Villa Stein possessed a sculptured stairs and suspended entrance canopies, the long, uninterrupted ribbon windows. Also, both its short end walls are blank, or almost blank, as Garches was designed again as a unit in a repetitive block of 'superimposed villas'.

The 2 Houses Le Corbusier built at Weissenhof Siedlung in Stuttgart (1927), were an experimental building to the modern suburb. Le Corbusier felt fully justified in making his Weissenhof buildings a kind of summary of all his convictions concerning an industrialized architecture.

The first Weissenhof building was a precise and beautifully proportioned version of his Citrohan project of 1922. It repeated the clearly defined roof garden on top, and free facade glazed by large rectangles of glass, like an abstract painting. The second building was an actual apartment house. The building had single-level apartments on the second floor, and a roof garden on top. The stair towers were treated as separate elements, projecting out from the 'pure prism' of the apartment block. A ribbon of glass consisting of horizontally sliding windows extended across the full length of the building. All partitions inside consisted of prefabricated storage walls, and all furniture, apart from chairs and tables, was built in also.

Villa Savoye was part of the central concept that Le Corbusier first developed in the Citrohan house in 1922. It revealed the same language traced as far as Villa Stein, but rearranged in a slightly different way. The villa at Poissy was also a realization of the 'five points'. As well as demonstrating these, it also has the characteristic elements such as the entrance ramp (which cuts through the middle of the grid), the curving walls of the solarium and, the pilotis and slab construction.
Once inside the ground floor, one can promenade through either by a ramp or a curving staircase. The first floor, surrounded entirely by a ribbon window, consisted of the complete lining accommodation wrapped in the open terrace. Light and air penetrated everywhere. Direct contact with the surrounding landscape is achieved by various openings, views are framed like a picture.

Color Theory: Elements of Color

2008-06-29T12:45:00.001-07:00

Chroma

As value controls our perception of light and volume, so chroma control defines their quality. Chroma, or intensity of hue alleviates the stress of viewing a world of pure hue. We use control of chroma to make our humble abodes more livable. Try to imagine sleeping in a room decorated in day-glow green. Chroma works hand in hand with value to portray surface quality, dimension and depth. It slows down the natural vibrations of pure hues and aids in the digestion of the beauty of color.

Conjure up your color tree for a moment. Visualize the leaves on the hue branch called red. Now look at you color wheel. We have painted it a highly intense red; the red that is the last leaf at the tip of our red branch. I have explained previously that as the leave sprout closer and closer to the tree's trunk, they progressively become duller, grayer less like red on our color wheel. But ,how does that happen? Not with magic, I assure you. It occurs naturally in some colors and through manipulation with others.

To manipulate a highly intense red, we can add the color that lays directly across the color wheel, namely green. When combined together, they become a tertiary or gray. This is indeed another function of our color wheel, in that it enables us to quickly identify any hue's chromatic opposite i.e. blue/orange, yellow/violet, etc. To this end, there exists a perceptual phenomena called Successive Contrast. If one stares at an intense red for about thirty seconds then looks at a piece of white paper, the chromatic opposite will appear as an after-image.

Another method in manipulating chroma is to add black or white to the hue. This time we are also altering the value of the hue, although this may not become apparent until a combination of black + white is added to the hue. This method illustrates how value and chroma work hand in hand in color harmonies.

Two final alternatives in manipulating hue remain. They are achieved by mixing a hue living next door to our chosen hue (need to use your color wheel again) or a hue from the same color family that is naturally duller by adding a choice from a group of toners called the earth colors. The latter receive their descriptive name from the fact that the pigments come from soil.

Color Theory: The Value Scale

2008-06-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

The Value Scale

Perceiving Values

Identifying values can be a horrifying experience when working with hues. A comfort level can be attained by working with a gray scale and performing various exercises to reinforce your perception of the scales.

The importance of using value comes into play when one wishes to express an object's volume in relationship to the two-dimensional surface it lays upon. When viewing a black and white photograph, the viewer is able to determine the roundness of a teapot or the sharpness of the edges of a baby's block by the gradation of tonal values. Value tells our eyes if any particular part of an object's surface is in lightness or darkness. When the gradations of values from light to dark are slow and smooth in traveling across an object our brains perceived that form as a sphere, cone, cylinder or block. When the change in value is abrupt, we perceive the object as a cube.

Tonal quality of value also describes the atmosphere surrounding any particular object therefore affecting us emotionally, perhaps by triggering memories of past experience. In respect to perspective, value also describes distance. Think how value might also describe surface textures.

Perhaps most importantly, value control enables the artist to achieve harmony. Manipulating and choreographing value changes in the HUES we are using on our palettes not only describes form and volume, distance and atmosphere, but guides our eyes in traveling through a still -life or stroke piece with rest stops along the way for reflections and relevations!

Your exercises:

1. You can make yourself a grayscale using ColorAid papers in the grayscale selections of their package. These are papers that use paint as opposed to being printed with inks. The paper assortments are available in fine art stores, and at University bookstores.
2. Paint a wooden ruler my mixing your own grayscale from Black and White acrylic paints.

The Old Masters often started a painting with an underpainting of values. This technique is called a Grisalille. This exercise can be performed as a finished pencil drawing, which I employ when mapping my CDA and MDA board studies.

Color Theory: The Color Wheel

2008-06-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Color Wheel

At this point, I had originally planned to review the color systems of Goethe, Ostwald,Itten, Chevreul, and Munsell. However, in the interest of avoiding the noisome sounds of snoring, I reluctantly edited the paragraphs out. You may wish to study them on your own someday.

So...back to the subject of this chapter. The definition of a color wheel could be: "a visual representation of standardized hues." Another definition could read: "3 primaries with 9 colors spaced in-between going around in a circle." I think the latter definition sums it up pretty well. A color wheel is not mystical, it does not impart secrets not known to mankind heretofore. It is a tool for using the knowledge we have and a standard method of communicating. It can be a very personal too., in that you may choose the red, blue and yellow that means RED, BLUE and YELLOW to you, or it can be a tool that you purchase from the art store. Whichever you choose, it remains a tool, an artist's device for visualizing the natural progression of hues from one to another and determining natural harmonies in combining them together in your art.

The color wheel illustrates hues at their highest chroma or intensity. For most students, this can be a drawback in that it is difficult to envision these hues in different values and chromas when using it as an aid to determine color harmonies. How do you solve this dilemma which didn't even exist until I mentioned it? Answer: make more than one color wheel. There will be exercises to teach you the effects of color mixing and visualizing chromas and values.
Three Primaries and Nine Colors Spaced In-Between

As previously mentioned, we use a standardized 12-color wheel. Please keep in mind that this is a standard for communication. There are various theories which expound on color wheels containing as few as 6 colors to as many as 30 colors. The study of color will never cease throughout future histories, it remains purely theoretical. Some theories may prove out more consistently than other,however no one theory is the end-all, be-all of color study.

The color wheel consists of 12 colors which we call HUES. We begin with our three primaries of Red, Blue and Yellow. These colors are placed in an equidistant triangular format around the circle. Laying at the halfway mark between each primary are the secondary colors. They are derived by mixing two primaries together in an orderly fashion around the circle. The secondary colors are named Orange, Green, and Violet. On each side of the secondary colors lie the intermediary colors. They exist as a result of mixing a primary and secondary color together, again orderly traveling around the wheel. These colors are named Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow_Green, Blue-Green, Blue-Violet, and Red-Violet. Thus arranged, you travel from Red, composed of the longest light rays smoothly traveling from hue to hue, arriving via violet and red-violet, which corresponds to light's shortest rays, at red.

Please make an important note at this time. The noun, intermediary, is sometimes interchanged with the noun, tertiary.This may lead to confusing conversation with other people who are studying or teaching color. Barb Watson uses them interchangeably in her color book. I have been schooled in the theory that tertiary is the mixing of two complementary colors, which we will discuss later. It is therefore helpful to discern your conversant's definition of the word tertiary to avoid the 'crazed-person' look.

Color Theory: Elements of Color

2008-06-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hue, Value, Chroma
Elements of Color

Isn't it interesting how three little words: hue, value, and chroma, can instill so much fear into the heart of a decorative artist? That's why I printed them as BIG words. Everyone likes to use big words in their vocabulary; big words are often a measure of intelligence. So, let's all get intelligent!

To effectively study color, we must first understand what color is. We know scientifically that color is made of our visual perception of light rays. We verbally define color in terms of hue, value, and chroma. For our study of hue, value and chroma, I have chosen the theories of Albert H. Munsell partly because his system is straightforward and still in use world-wide, but mainly because David Jansen told me to study him AND understand his work.
Albert H. Munsell - A Little History

Albert H. Munsell was born in Boston, in 1858. He was an artist, not a philosopher, rocket scientist or poet. He studied art at the Massachusetts Normal Art School and at the Academie Julian in Paris. While in Paris he won a scholarship to study in Rome. When he returned to America, he lectured in color composition and artist anatomy at the Normal Art School until 1915.

In 1879, he became more interested in color and in 1898 created his Color Tree (based on a sphere). After perfecting his system, he lectured extensively in America and Europe until his death in 1918 at the age of sixty.

His color system has become world famous and is still used world-wide as the accepted standard of color notation. In 1918, a group of his friends found the Munsell Color company to carry on his work in Baltimore. Today, it is part of the Macbeth company located in New York, where they continue to provide standardization and specification of color for commercial industries throughout the world.

Munsell's Color Sphere

Munsell's color tree is based on a three-dimensional solid sphere. Through the axis of the sphere running South to North is the tree's trunk. At the South end is the color black, moving through the value system to White at the North, with a Value 5 gray at the equator. Surrounding the equator are the hues of color from the color wheel as we know it: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple and the half-way points of their mixtures of Yellow-Red, Green-Yellow, Blue-Green, Purple-Blue and Red-Purple.

As each of these hues move either towards black or white (value) they are placed at the appropriate latitude around the tree. Simultaneously, as the hues gradually disappear into gray, they fill in the solid core of the sphere. Similarly, as the color moves towards stronger hues, they are placed along the radius of the sphere in a measured distance called chroma.

To thoroughly understand Munsell's system, you must now change your mental image to a tree. The trunk is our value scale, the leaves along the branches are our chromatic (intensity) scale, and the tips of the branches become our hues.Munsell further refined his system by assigning each color a defined position based on a decimal numbering system. This notation always remains constant: Hue , beginning with Red; Value, beginning with Black, and finally chroma, noted from the tree trunk outwards.

With the Munsell Color System, no new color can be discovered where there will not be a position available and waiting. Understanding this system will enable you to understand color relationships with more ease.

Hue, Value and Chroma - Defined

At this point, most of you know that Hue is simply the name of the color we are identifying. In discussing color theory, however we do not label color as having the hue name of Williamsburg Blue, Lime green, or even Maroon. We identify color by the hue family is is derived from: i.e. maroon is a color in he Red area of a color wheel. Williamsburg Blue is found in the blue area, and Lime Green is found in the yellow-green area. When you label colors by their hues, there is no longer any leeway for misinterpretation. Munsell goes a step further in identifying a color position within a hue family by marking its position with a decimal numbering system. He has assigned the number 5 to the hues of Red, Yellow, Green and Blue. Between these hues lie your secondary hues with 10 always falling on a secondary hue. Review the chart below:

1 2 3 4	5	6 7 8 9	10	1 2 3 4	5	6 7 8 9	10	1 2 3 4	5	6 7 8 9	10	1 2 3 4	5	6 7 8 9	10	1 2 3 4	5	6 7 8 9	10
	R		YR		Y		GY		G		BG		B		BP		P		RP

When identifying hue position on the color wheel, R would be noted as 5R. The notiation 6R would indicate a Red that is closer to 5R but moving towards Yellow.You will see these notations on every bottle of Liquitex® paint along with a visual chart that refers to the 12-color wheel.

Now, just to see if you are paying attention, let it be noted that Munsell's color wheel consists on only 10 hue divisions: Red, Yellow-Red, Yellow, Yellow-Green, Green, Blue-Green, Blue, Purple-Blue, Purple, Red-Purple. Now that I have your attention, we will continue to use a 12-color wheel when doing the exercises as most of us are accustomed to a 12 color format. Both systems are thoroughly compatible as we are not using Munsell's number identification, basing our observations on physical and visual identification.

Value

The distinction of value is probably a skill all of us have learned at this point. It is simply the act of determining the position of a color somewhere between Black and White. Be aware of the fact that an individuals's determination of value placement can be one-half to one step different from another individual's evaluation.

The value scale is divided into ten equal parts with Black in the number one position and White at the number 10 position. While hue indicates if a color is green or blue, value determines if that hue is light or dark.

Bring back to your mind our color tree. Visualize a tall tree banded in values starting with a black base and ending with a white tip. From this trunk, grow ten or twelve branches and "paint" the end of each branch a hue from your color wheel. Did you paint your lower branches blue and blue-purple moving up to yellow for the upper-most branch?? That's right, although the hues are placed at the tips of your branches, each hue is also assigned a value position. Looking at your color wheel, these values are quite obvious when compared with your value chart.

Munsell notates value position following the hue. This is not rocket-scientist material.. it is very straight forward. The color "Baby Blue" would be notated as 5B-8. A country blue might be notated as 5B-5 or 5B-4. This is pretty easy when you keep your tree picture in your mind's eye.

Chroma (aka Intensity)

Chroma is perhaps the hardest aspect of color to determine. It is a very important property of color and completes our mental color tree. Up to this point we have a nice tree appearing to be frozen in time during the winter season: we have no leaves!

Perhaps by mentally growing your tree's leaves the definition of chroma will make sense to you. Chroma is the measurement of a hues' strength. It relates to your value scale not vertically, but horizontally. This is often where confusion sets in. If we are determining how 'gray" a color is, are we not measuring it's value?? NO!!! Grow a leaf at the tip of you Red branch. It should look RED. This RED would be notated as 5R-5-10, It is RED at it's fullest vibrancy. The hue Red is a very high intensity color, and as we move inwards along our branch and grow new leaves, visualize the leaves moving closer to gray or a tertiary gray if it aids your visualization. A dull color is lower in chroma than a a bright color. A tint is higher in VALUE than a shade, but not necessarily higher in CHROMA.

Now with your tree fully clothed in leaves,you will have a simple mental picture of the three basic but very important elements of color. You have now combined these elements in measurable increments which is the basis of Munsell's system. Now, even as we produce separate charts of Hue, Value, and Chroma, you have your mental picture to tie them all together.. truly a tree of life!

Color Theory: History of the Color Wheel

2008-06-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

Introduction to Color Theory

In the past many men have dedicated their lifetimes to the study of color. This dedication has given us the knowledge we have today. We will study the different aspects of color theory from the ideas of Itten, Munsell, Birren, Chevreul and others. The wealth of information gained from these men could possibly take our lifetimes to thoroughly digest, therefore I will touch mainly on those aspects that pertain to our love of Decorative Painting. The following pages are not only going to strengthen your technical painting skills, but will strengthen the beauty of your painting and sharpen your sense of color.

Color theory is based on both scientific research and personal observations. As most of you do not come from a scientific background, we will forgo that end of color theory. For your personal research, you may choose to do additional personal study by reading books written by the above-mentioned men. A bibliography is supplied for your reference. This reading is NOT a requirement.

The next pages will concentrate strictly on identifying hue, value and chroma. These three little words are the very heart of color theory. We will do many exercises and make reference charts which will become a permanent file to refer to throughout you painting career. Do not despair over thought of drudgery the word "exercises" conjures up. The act of doing helps to cement ideas and the visual images help to activate the memory and understand concepts. So... Let's get started!

History of the Color Wheel

In order to begin study of hue, value, and chroma, we must have a starting point. The most natural point is the color wheel. Who decided colors come in a wheel, why are their twelve colors in the wheel, why is there a specific order of sequence??? Answers below!

From classical Greek philosophers up until around 1660, the accepted theory of color esteemed that all colors were based upon the elements of fire, air, water, and earth, mixed with lightness and darkness. Even Leonardo da Vinci held to this theory.

There were no attempts at organizing colors until Sir Isaac Newton bent white light through a prism and discovered the spectrum of colors. He chose seven major colors to relate to the seven planets and seven musical notes of the diatonic scale: red (C), orange (D), yellow (E), green (F), blue (G), indigo (A), and violet (B). He then twisted this straight bank of the spectrum into history's first color wheel.

It was not until the middle 1700's that the primaries were finally discovered. J.C. LeBlon published a written treatise on the fundamental nature of the primaries which simply states these colors mixed together in prescribed orders made what we now call secondary colors.

About ten years later (ca.1766), Morris Harris, published the first color chart printed in full hue. This chart appears in the book The Natural System of Colors . It discusses the primitive colors (red,yellow, blue), the mediate colors (orange, green, purple), and compound colors (tertiaries). This is the point I mark as the true beginning of color theory.

From the 1800's on, there is a flurry of activity in the study of color. The men who took up the study of color come from varied backgrounds of scientists, philosophers, artists even poets. Goethe arranged his colors in both circles and triangles, Runge used both the triangle and a solid color sphere, Blanc arranged his colors in a six-pointed star. I will not bore and confuse you with details of the many different theories at this point, however, it is interesting reading if you have the time. The amount of history I have given up to this point is simply to illustrate how long it took man to develop a logical system for studying color and to show how varied the methods can be.

Style Guide: Country Kitchens (Part VIII)

2008-04-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

Create a convincing "turn of the century" style kitchen using salvaged architectural elements and period reproductions like those featured here.

Before the homeowner undertook the year-long renovation of her early-1900's kitchen, she consulted books and periodicals, foraged through salvage companies for antique building elements appropriate to the late-Victorian era, and enlisted the expertise of Gordon B. Sax, an architectural designer specializing in the restoration of 18th- and 19th-century New England dwellings.

Using antique and reproduction building materials similar to those pictured here, you too can re-create a period-style kitchen. The original 10-foot-square kitchen was enlarged by expanding into a former back porch and mudroom. With the exception of a dishwasher and a new gas range modeled after a 1906 woodstove, all modern appliances were concealed in an adjacent pantry.

Honoring the spare layout of many turn-of-the-century kitchens, built-in cabinetry was kept to a minimum. Constructed of poplar, the custom cabinets are fitted with glass-front doors and reproduction hardware from The Renovator's Supply. Latex paint contributes a lustrous finish to the cabinetry walls and ceiling, as well as the new custom-milled window and door trim. A worn wooden chopping block serves as a work island.

The Gilford Surgeon's Scrub-Up Sink -- a deep, vitreous-china commercial sink produced today by Kohler for use in hospitals -- approximates the style of the period. It's outfitted with a vintage-style chrome faucet featuring porcelain handles and a mounted soap dish. The countertops are made of solid surfacing and suggest the look of soapstone.

A dado of white glazed ceramic tiles from Minton Hollins of England bolsters the kitchen's spotless appearance. To prevent the space from appearing too austere, a vintage window with colorful leaded-glass panes, purchased from a salvage company, was installed. New custom-milled maple flooring and rag rugs braided by the homeowner's father also add warmth. Brass lighting fixtures -- including the center ceiling lamp, culled from an old schoolhouse -- provide sparkle.

"The ceiling is fancier than originals would have been," admits Sax. "It resembles those embellishing Victorian parlors." The nine-foot ceiling features stamped-tin pieces from W.F. Norman Corp., which uses original dies dating to their 1892 founding.

While today's replicas capture the style of the period, they also offer the benefit of modern convenience, like the cast-iron cookstove that features such innovations as self-cleaning and convection ovens.

For information on companies offering vintage and period-style building materials, check out Kitchen Details.

Country Inns: Heart of My Heart Ranch

2008-04-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Filled with family heirlooms, Heart of My Heart Ranch, in Round Top, Texas, offers a sense of history, comfort, and fine Lone Star fare.

"We built this farmhouse in 1980 as a setting for our family heirlooms, not to open an inn," admits Frances Harris, whose husband's ancestors settled in the Round Top area in the 1830's. But several years ago, with collectors and concert-goers flocking to local antiques fairs and the nearby music conservatory and finding nowhere to stay, the Harrises began to welcome travelers.

With its six structures and guest rooms stocked with ancestral furnishings, Heart of My Heart Ranch has since become a historical destination of sorts in itself.

Home on the Range

The twin-chimney farmhouse was built by owners Frances and Bill Harris on their working cattle ranch in 1980. It is one of six structures on the property. Another guest favorite is the 1836 log cabin that still stands on its original building site.

The 200-acre ranch — considered small by Texas standards — combines pastures, orchards, a lake, a pond, and a wealth of live oaks.

Family Heirlooms

In one of the farmhouse guest rooms a bed, bureau, and nightstand crafted in the 1830's are distinguished by walnut and Oriental monkeypod woods and elaborate carved detailing.

The crystal figurines and Limoges containers displayed on the chest of drawers are some of the many treasures inherited by innkeeper Bill Harris from his great-grandmother. Rooms throughout the ranch are filled with personal photos and collectibles recalling the history of the property and its present owners.

A Soothing Soak

For ranchhands and guests alike, no day would seem complete without a soothing bath. In the 1900's structure known as "Granny's Cottage," a scarlet painted six-foot-long tub makes a dramatic statement. The cast iron tub, with its original turn-of-the-century brass fittings, is set against whitewashed plank walls and dark painted floor and moldings.

Country Inns: Auldridge Mead

2008-04-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Tucked away in the rolling meadows of eastern Pennsylvania, an 18th-century fieldstone farmhouse doubles as Auldridge Mead Inn.

Nestled in the rolling hills of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, this 18th-century farmhouse was turned into a bed-and-breakfast four years ago by co-owners Craig Mattoli and Karyn Coigne. Craig, a woodworker and craftsman by trade, spent six months combing the area for the antiques and art that fill Auldridge Mead's main house.

"A lot of people are curious about houses of this age," Craig says, "and friends kept saying, 'What a great place to open a country inn.'" So he set about restoring the 15-acre property's main house and stone bank barn to their original grandeur. When he couldn't find appropriate period antiques, Craig substituted his own handwrought wood-carved reproductions.

In the living room, a blazing fire welcomes visitors. A floor lamp offers illumination for curling up with a good book. The red china cupboard behind is original to the house.

Country Feast

The kitchen was added to the main house in 1810. To achieve an aged effect on the wood surrounding the period fireplace, owner Craig Mattoli used paint made especially for porous surfaces which crackled when it dried. Co-owner Karyn Coigne, formerly a chef at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia, created the autumn feast which features rabbit, fresh local greens, and a pumpkin pie ringed with cranberries.

Enjoying the Outdoors

The fieldstone house has 11 rooms (five for guests) and six fireplaces. Fall is the peak season at this inn; guests come to enjoy the outdoor activities that can be found nearby, which include horseback riding, bicycling, boating, and rock climbing.

A Cozy Spot

Another fireplace is found in this guest room. The mantel and doorway were sponge painted, then coated with a dark-red oil glaze. At the foot of the bed sits a Sheraton-style Maryland blanket chest dating to the early 1880's.

Country Inns: Springbrook Hazelnut

2008-04-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Just 20 miles from downtown Portland, Oregon, lies Springbrook Hazelnut Farm, a welcoming inn set amid 70 acres of hazelnut trees.

Pleasant stays in several country inns in Ireland inspired Ellen McClure and her husband, Charles, to open their 1912 Craftsman-style home to guests. Situated on the couple's working hazelnut orchard in Newberg, Ore., Springbrook Hazelnut Farm is part of a farm complex listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can tour nearby wineries, stroll through the property's gardens and orchard, fish the stocked pond, swim, play tennis, or simply relax on the porch.

All of the rooms on the first floor open off the 40-foot-long center hall, which features a vaulted ceiling, a gleaming oak floor, Doric columns, and its original 1920 light fixtures. In an effort to brighten the space, Ellen painted the elaborate woodwork the same shade of yellow used by Impressionist Claude Monet at his home in Giverny. The French doors at the far end of the hall lead to the back porch and the perennial garden.

Rise and Shine

Each morning, a multicourse breakfast is served in the airy sunroom that runs along the front of the house. A checkerboard floor, bright cotton seat cushions, and a wealth of nasturtiums set the cheerful tone. The wicker furniture was fabricated in the 1920's by a now-defunct Oregon manufacturer; the concrete architectural remnant on the window ledge was salvaged from a Portland building that was demolished in the 1960's.

Sleek and Glossy

Shiny Marlite from the 1940's covers the kitchen ceiling and walls. "It's funky," says Ellen of the lightweight surfacing material made in imitation marble, "but I like it." Streamlined and commodious, the room is outfitted with a chopping block salvaged from a meat packing plant and a pristine Spark stove Ellen found for next to nothing at a tag sale.

Peace and Quiet

For guests in search of privacy, the carriage house can be reserved separately. It features a bedroom as well as a separate living room, kitchen, and bath. The golden tones on the wall are picked up in the soft floral bed linens and the crisp checkerboard floor.

Country Inns: Centre Mills

2008-04-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

North of Harrisburg, a 19th-century mill owner's home named Centre Mills now welcomes visitors to Pennsylvania farm country.

Originally the home of a Pennsylvania German miller, this 1813 structure in the heart of Brush Valley's Amish farm community was converted into an inn several years ago. An early-19th-century gristmill and the distillery it housed still stand on the wooded 26-acre property.

Innkeeper Maria Davison, who furnished the interior with antiques purchased locally, pampers guests with puff pancakes for breakfast and delights in introducing them to the tranquil countryside, Amish shops, and trout-fishing spots nearby.

"City people come here and they think it's heaven," says Maria. "The area has not yet been discovered, so it's very quiet." Still, Penn State University is within 20 miles, offering activities and diversions. "If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle and hear your heart beat, this is the place," says Maria.

Good Morning!

Breakfast is served in the inn's dining room, where a brilliantly painted late-1700's Pennsylvania German cupboard vies for attention with doors that were painted to recall early regional versions. The green chairs that surround the late-1800's sawbuck table pick up the same rich hue used on the door. Underfoot, the structure's original wide-plank pine floors remain intact.

A Restful Sleep

In a guest bedroom, soothing colors create a welcome retreat. Tranquil shades of green lend character to the wall's tongue-and-groove paneling and trim. An Amish friend of Maria's hand stitched the Nine Patch quilt for the guest room's pencil-post tester bed. A c. 1740's Philadelphia comb-back Windsor, a gilded plaster mirror of the same vintage, and a snake-foot candlestand create an inviting ensemble.

Old-Fashioned Ways

"There goes our local traffic," says Maria Davison, as an Old Order Amish buggy rolls by the road behind the inn. Behind the picket fence lies a cheerful garden. Also on the property is an 1802 mill, which is the last standing stone mill in Centre County. Centre Mills is constructed from local limestone and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Country Inns: Zevely

2008-04-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Join us on a visit to the Augustus T. Zevely Inn in Old Salem--the historic center of Winston-Salem, N.C.

In 1950, concerned citizens formed a nonprofit organization, Old Salem, Inc., to preserve historic structures in the 1766 Moravian town of Salem, N.C. One such structure was the 1844 home and office of physician A. T. Zevely. Now restored and converted into a bed-and-breakfast, the Augustus T. Zevely Inn offers Southern hospitality, mid-19th-century ambiance, and a glimpse of authentic Moravian style.

Southern Hospitality

Plaids and floral prints mingle in the parlor, where overstuffed chairs invite fireside lounging. Furnished with pieces from the Old Salem Collection by Lexington Furniture Industries, the parlor and rooms throughout the c. 1844 inn re-create the feeling of a mid-19th-century home.

Elegant Dining

The dining room's mural, painted in acrylics by a local artist, captures the view Dr. Zevely would have enjoyed while facing east from his upper porch. Today's guests may notice several references to the present in the landscape. "The artist depicted our local free-running guinea fowls," comments Ann Johnson, who helped re-create the inn's 19th-century interior. "And then there's Rosie, a much-loved Irish setter that lives nearby." The chairs are reproductions of late-18th-century Edgecombes on display in Old Salem's Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.

Traditional Charm

Door pulls in the form of clasped hands, a characteristic Moravian design, distinguish a cherry armoire in this second-floor guest room, which Dr. Zevely long ago used as his master bedroom. A newly crafted North Carolina back-country bed and an upholstered Moravian-style chair pay further homage to regional design.

Country Inns: Puget Sound's Orcas Island

2008-04-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

A late-1800's farmhouse on Puget Sound's Orcas Island offers cozy quarters and homemade breakfasts in the countryside.

While scouting for a summer home in the San Juan archipelago, San Francisco Bay-area residents Susan and Bill Fletcher came upon a property that altered the course of their lives. They purchased a dilapidated turn-of-the-century farmhouse set on 80 wooded acres, then plunged into a thorough renovation, converting the former hay barn into Turtleback Farm Inn.

The Fletchers now devote themselves year-round to sharing with guests the tranquility, lush countryside, and homey, antiques-filled accommodations of their Orcas Island hideaway. Breakfasts prepared with eggs from Turtleback's chickens and jam from orchard fruits as well as guest-room comforters made of the wool from Turtleback's sheep celebrate the richness of the island's rural environment.

The Great Outdoors

Bill embellished the inn's exterior with Victorian green paint and fashioned a fence from California vineyard stakes. Near the entryway, an heirloom Rosa rubrifolia blooms. Located on Orcas, considered to be the most beautiful of islands in the San Juan archipelago, the inn overlooks 80 acres of forest and farmland in the shadow of Turtleback Mountain. It commands a spectacular view of lush meadows and duck ponds, with Mt. Constitution providing the backdrop to the east.

Relaxing Indoors

Bill's handcrafted creations -- an oak rocker reconstructed from salvaged furniture parts and a white-pine rocking horse -- distinguish the Valley View room. The room is made cozy by simple country touches: swagged drapery panels, a floral sprig bed cover, and an oblong floor runner. On the deck, guests can enjoy views of a venerable cork elm, valley firs and alders, and Mt. Constitution, which at 2,409 feet is the highest point in the islands.

Breakfast on the Deck

Weather permitting, homemade breakfasts are served on the dining deck, which affords a sweeping view of Crow Valley. Tables are set with china, silver, and crisp linens. Breakfasts include fresh fruits and juices, award-winning granola, home-baked bread and pastries, and fresh eggs and meats.

Toward the end of the day, guests are offered a glass of sherry before they move on to one of the island's fine restaurants for dinner.

Country Inns: Green and Gedney Farm

2008-04-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

Join us on a visit to the Old Inn on the Green and Gedney Farm in historic New Marlborough, Mass.

In this tranquil Berkshires village, the restored Old Inn on the Green and Gedney Farm lets guests step back in time to enjoy a sense of New England's rural past. Built in 1760 and later renovated in the Greek Revival style, the Old Inn on the Green originally served as New Marlborough's tavern, inn, general store, and, from 1806 until the mid-1940s, post office. Gedney Farm was established some 60 years later as a working dairy.

"This is God's part of the Berkshires," comments Brad Wagstaff as he describes the late-18th-century village of New Marlborough, Mass. As owners of the Old Inn on the Green and Gedney Farm, Brad and his wife, Leslie, treasure the gentle pace and architectural authenticity of the village.

Calling on Brad's restoration skills and Leslie's culinary talents, the couple transformed the property's historic buildings into an inviting Berkshires retreat . . . making The Old Inn on the Green the nucleus of New Marlborough even today.

Historic Charm

Formerly the village dairy barn, Gedney Farm is now one of four structures that provide guest lodging on the 60-acre propetry. Innkeepers Leslie and Bradford Wagstaff restored the buildings to retain a sense of history, yet provide warmth and comfort for guests. The entrace hall and lobby, shown here, combine natural chestnut timbers and wide-plank pine floors with newly wheat-tinted plaster walls and blue trim accents. Three patterned kilims line the 135-foot-long lobby, providing visitors with a most impressive welcome.

Country Comfort

The dormer window, support timbers, and wide-plank yellow pine floorboards in this room are remnants from the barn's original hayloft, now converted into simply furnished guest bedrooms. Since the room features the same wheat-colored walls as the lobby, the Wagstaffs chose simple furnishings--red swagged drapery panels, a Shaker-like bedside table and mismatched floor lamps--to create intimate, charming guest quarters. In addition to the decorative bedcovers and throws, most rooms feature a fireplace constructed of local granite. Antique Throw: Laura Fisher

Dining on the Green

The traditional Windsor chairs and candlelit table setting of the 100-seat dining room make the Old Inn on the Green a favorite of guests and locals alike. The mural that graces the wall behind the table represents the tranquil village green and is one of several local landmarks depicted in the primitive style. Local artist Bart Arnold painted the scene in 1984.

Country Inns: The Galisteo

2008-04-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Join us on a visit to The Galisteo Inn, a gracious 1740 hacienda in the high desert near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Built when present-day New Mexico was a Spanish territory, The Galisteo Inn remained a private residence for more than 200 years. Landscape architect Joanna Kaufman and landscape contractor Wayne Aarniokoski purchased the property in 1989, five years after its conversion to an inn.

Drawn by the high-desert setting and regional architecture, the couple now invites guests to share the serenity of their adobe hacienda, a half hour southeast of Santa Fe in Galisteo, New Mexico . . . "land of enchantment."

Tranquil Surroundings

A guest finds the perfect place for an afternoon siesta in a hammock strung between native cottonwood trees on the eight-acre grounds of the Galisteo Inn. The exterior of the 200-year-old hacienda reflects the true beauty of southwestern architecture, with its sun-baked adobe walls, terra cotta tile roof, and beam-supported veranda, which shades the dwelling from the intense heat of day.

The brilliant periwinkle blue used on doors and trim is a color traditionally thought to ward off evil spirits. Today it serves as the perfect complement to the weathered exterior and vivid New Mexico sky.

Hacienda Haven

The main entrance and reception hall -- or sala -- reflects the historic significance of the inn. Common to the area and the period in which the hacienda was built, the walls are made of double- and triple-thick adobe, and the ceiling incorporates a traditional beam and log construction technique known as "vigas y latilla."

Rustic furniture, colorful patterned Indian rugs, and various regional accents, including the rough-hewn bench and Indian drum on the left, provide a warm western welcome to visitors and overnight guests alike.

Western Charm

The warmth from a kiva fireplace keeps overnight visitors comfortable in the casual, intimate guest rooms. Like the rest of the hacienda, the rooms feature authentic beam-and-plank ceilings and adobe walls. In fact, the depth of the window in this room reveals the double thickness of the adobe construction.

Western-style pine furnishings and Indian blankets, rugs, and pottery complete the rooms. They are simple yet comfortable, for a restful night following a day of busy sightseeing, hiking, and horseback riding, or simply shopping in nearby Santa Fe.

Country Inns: Union Pier

2008-04-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

Nestled on Lake Michigan's shores, the Inn at Union Pier extends a warm Scandinavian-style welcome.

When it opened as a summer resort in the1920's, the Inn at Union Pier (then known as Karonsky's Hotel) offered visitors to Lake Michigan's shores a dining hall, cubicle-size sleeping quarters, and an outdoor shower. Over the years the property fell into sad neglect until rescued by an energetic couple in 1983. It was resurrected as Union Pier's first bed-and-breakfast.

Today, guests are drawn to the inn for various reasons: the artful renovation, the uncluttered Scandinavian-style interiors, the lake shore activities, and the warmth and hospitality of current innkeepers Joyce Erickson and Mark Pitts, who purchased the property three years ago.

The Inn at Union Pier also boasts another unusual highlight ... one of the largest collections of working Swedish ceramic fireplaces -- or kakelugnar -- in the country.

Decked for Enjoyment

The exterior of the inn's original building, known as the Pier House, features expansive double decks embellished with latticework and an attic dormer. The decks provide most rooms with access to the outdoors; some with views of the lake. The inn was in sad disrepair until purchased in 1983; three years ago, the property was bought by current inkeepers Joyce Erickson and Mark Pitts.

Kakelugnar Warmth

Guests are drawn to the inn for its artful renovation, uncluttered Scandinavian country style, and lakeside setting. The inn boasts the largest collection of functioning antique Swedish ceramic fireplaces, or kakelugnar, in America. One of these distinctive stoves is pictured here in Madeleine's Room (named in honor of the previous owner). Natural wicker furnishings offer casual comfort; the Scandinavian sleigh bed provides a restful night's slumber.

Country Inns: The Manor Borne

2008-04-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

The exteriors are elegant and the gardens unbelievably lush. Come along for an authentic tour through real English country homes.

"There is nothing quite like the English country house anywhere else in the world," wrote Vita Sackville-West. "It may be large, it may be small; it may be palatial, it may be manorial; it may be of stone, brick, stucco, or even beams and plaster; it may be the seat of aristocracy or the home of gentry -- whatever it is, it possesses one outstanding characteristic: It is the English country house."

Houses in England have continued to evolve in the years since Vita attempted to define them in a slim monograph she wrote on the subject in the waning years of the Second World War. Yet our fascination with the dwellings -- and the gardens that so many of us consider inseparable from them -- continues.

What would it be like to spend just a week living in the English country manner? We are about to find out.

First Stop: Sussex

A 19th-century sculpture provides a focal point in the rose arbor at Old Whyly in Sussex.
"Pull over here," I instructed the driver when I saw a sign for Peartree Pottery in the village of East Hoathly. "I'll go in and ask if they know how to get to Old Whyly."

"I'll go with you," he offered, in part, I suspected, to discourage me from purchasing souvenirs. (The man was my husband as well as my chauffeur, and well aware of both my passion for pottery and my proclivity for overpacking.)

Inside a cavernous studio adjacent to Peartree Pottery's tiny showroom/shop, Nigel Graham sat behind a potter's wheel, turning clay into a jug. "Let me know if you need any help," he called out.

I eyed shelves crowded with crocks, lamps, and tableware, and envisioned how charming Mr. Graham's slip-glazed drawer pulls would look on the doors of my bright-green kitchen cabinets.

"Actually, I was hoping to ask directions," I admitted. "Could you point us toward Old Whyly?"

"You mean Old Why-lye," he corrected, providing the traditional Sussex pronunciation. "Go left at the bend, then make the first right."

After a minute or two back in the car, we ventured down a tree-canopied avenue that ended at the circular drive of Old Whyly, the classic Georgian manor house where we were to spend the night. A shiny black cock announced our arrival to the hens in his company, and a slam of the rental car's hatchback brought our host, Sarah Burgoyne, and her whippet, Darcy, to the front door.

After a gracious welcome and a round of introductions, Sarah led us upstairs to a bedchamber about 1 1/2 times the size of our own master bedroom. She told us to make ourselves comfortable and invited us to tea in the garden whenever we liked.

Having spent some hours in transit, we found this most traditional of English rooms -- with its pink-and-green tulip-motif cotton curtains, eiderdowns, Staffordshire spaniel, porcelain tea service, and cut-crystal biscuit jar filled with heart-shaped shortbread cookies -- difficult to abandon, but we mustered enough strength to head back downstairs and out through the conservatory doors.

For our efforts, we were rewarded with the sight of a neat-as-a-pin landscape, complete with formal perennial beds ("We don't like annuals much," Sarah conceded), a rose arbor, wrought-iron urns cascading with pelargoniums, and a stretch of manicured lawn made magical by a quartet of towering yew topiaries clipped in the images of squirrels and songbirds. Yes, we were in England, all right.

A Garden Tour

It was tulip time when we arrived at Pashley Manor in the hilly, wooded countryside of Ticehurst, East Sussex. James and Angela Sellick were preparing for the Celebration of Tulips that takes place here the second week of May each year. Inside their restored manor house -- a half-timbered Jacobean dwelling with a larger wisteria-covered Queen Anne addition to the south -- Angela readied for an onslaught of tulip peepers and prepared ploughman's lunches of Stilton cheese, crusty brown bread, and pungent homemade chutneys for visitors who were about to partake of tea in the garden.

"It is always necessary to be doing something in a house of this age -- but not so much that it takes away from its true character. It is important not to overdo," explained James, voicing a philosophy carried out in the garden, as well.

A footpath wound its way around masses of mature rhododendrons and conifers.We walked with our host along a gravel path through the kitchen garden and past a row of espaliered red maples toward Pashley's colorful perennial beds. A footpath wound its way around masses of mature rhododendrons and conifers, and a natural tunnel formed by rhododendron branches led us toward a garden bench and an unexpected vista of the Sussex hills. In the distance, sheep tended to their daily mowing, apparently oblivious to any other activity on earth. On this day, only baaing, birdsong, and an occasional dog's bark (six live at Pashley) and baby's outburst (a 14-month-old girl was touring the garden on her father's shoulders) dared to break the serene silence.

Beloved Burdens

The granary at Woodside Farm in Oxfordshire has been converted into a guesthouse.
"Fortunate are those who inherit houses of manageable size, but what of those who carry the beloved burden of unreasonably spacious halls?" pondered Vita Sackville-West some 50 years ago. "A large house does not necessarily mean a large income, although many people seem to be under that delusion. The obligations, and the expense, however, are always large."

Vita, the daughter of the third Baron Sackville, welcomed men and women who shared her passion for plants into the gardens that surrounded her home, Sissinghurst, in Kent. Throughout England, owners of historic estates built for the wealthy -- yet lived in by smaller, heavily taxed 20th-century families -- have kept up the tradition.

"I wanted our home to be comfortable and inviting -- and I resolved that this place pay for itself," explained Caroline Eckersley, owner of Woodside Farm, near the village of Shilton in Oxfordshire. After completing a 10-year restoration of the former tenant farmer's residence on Woodside Farm, she transformed its granary into a private guesthouse. Attached to the 1850's stone farmhouse by a walkway draped in ceanothus (C. arboreus 'Trewithen Blue', to be exact -- a blue-flowered shrub regrettably too tender for cold-winter gardens like mine back in New York State), the private guest quarters overlook a tranquil water garden, an apple tunnel bordered by viburnum, and, in the distance, a pasture surrounded by a ditch and the mortarless, stacked-stone walls for which the Cotswolds are famous.

The Heart of the Matter

The lovingly tended gardens at Hill Farm include plantings grown from cuttings contributed by Vita Sackville-West.
We arrived at Hill Farm, near Twyford in rural Hampshire, late on a misty afternoon. Our hosts Belinda and Will Martin greeted us at the courtyard gate, offered to take our bags, and led us inside their welcoming brick home.

"I grew up in this house," said Belinda, whose parents bought and restored the dwelling some 50 years ago. "When it became Will's and mine, we changed things to meet the needs of our family." They added French doors that open onto the garden and enlarged and updated the kitchen to accommodate Belinda's passion for cooking, as well as her collections of pottery and cookware.

"When my parents moved here, there was no garden," said Belinda. "My mother was determined to have one, and she would go to Sissinghurst once a month to get ideas.

"One day Vita noticed my mother, walked up to her, and said, 'You come here often, don't you?'"

When Belinda's mother explained that she was "planning a garden from nothing," Vita contributed advice and cuttings to the cause. Today a Falkland shrub rose that Belinda's mother cultivated from a cutting given her by Vita thrives in the garden at Hill Farm, its foliage shooting off into the neatly trimmed boxwood hedge that surrounds the perennial bed, and its fragrant white blossoms linking the present with the past.

"If these English houses of ours were all to be turned into institutional buildings, schools, asylums, hotels, and the like, something of our national heritage of pride and beauty would be gone," Vita Sackville-West wrote 50 years ago. "A museum is a dead thing; a house which is still the home of men and women is a living thing which has not lost it soul."

Vita envisioned country homes in which "useful things" were practiced: homes in which jam was made, herbs dried, and buildings kept in good repair. One thinks she would have been pleased to learn that there remain a number of her countrymen who have kept her dream -- and her Falkland rose -- alive in the English country manner.

Country Inns: Morrison House

2008-04-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

The decade-old Morrison House in Alexandria, Virginia, evokes the refined elegance of 18th-century America.

Before the first brick of the Morrison House was laid in 1985, innkeeper Robert Morrison consulted a historian at the Smithsonian to help him design a hotel that could proudly take its place alongside Alexandria's many late-18th-century town houses. The result is a comfortable 45-room inn constructed with ornate woodwork and molding, decorative fireplaces, and fanlight windows.

The innkeeper's attention to detail is also made evident in the establishment's amenities, which include butler service, formal dining, and furnishings modeled after antiques from the Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

Stately Appeal

From the outside the Morrison House looks like any of the late-18th-century town houses that line the historic streets of Alexandria. Built in 1985, the 45-room house was constructed with strict attention to historical detailing, both inside and out.

The front entrance is enhanced by a brick courtyard, winding staircase, and stately portico. The yellow flag, emblazoned with a roaring lion, is symbolic of a Scottish clan and honors Alexandria's earliest settlers.

Old-fashioned Elegance

The Winterthur Museum in Delaware served as a historic resource for many of the furnishings and accessories incorporated into guest rooms and public areas alike.

In this room, a reed-carved four poster bed, spacious armoire, and comfortable upholstered seating clearly reflect the personal pampering that guests can expect while staying at the inn.

Two for Tea

Scones, petits fours, and other homemade delectables provide an irresistible enticement for guests attending afternoon tea, a daily ritual held in the parlor of the Morrison House.

Like the well-appointed guestrooms, the public areas of the inn continue to reflect the refined elegance of historic Virginia. Federal and Georgian-style furnishings, rich wood tones, and elegant fabrics add classic style to each of the rooms.

Country Inns: Frederick-Talbott

2008-04-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Just north of Indianapolis, the Frederick-Talbott Inn offers country comforts, pastoral calm, and a faithful look back at the region's past.

Two and a half years ago, Susan Muller and Ann Irvine opened the Frederick-Talbott Inn in Indianapolis, Indiana. Here, a mere six miles from the state capital, the creative pair converted an 1870's farmhouse and a 1906 cottage into a 10-room inn that offers visitors a taste of Midwestern farming life in the 19th century.

Located across the road from Conner Prairie, a living-history museum that re-creates an 1836 village, the inn is filled with regional antiques, auction finds, and reminders of days gone by. "Every object in the inn has a story," Susan explains. When the downtown Indianapolis department store L.S. Ayres & Co. closed down in 1992 after 120 years in business, the partners acquired the tearoom's tables, leather-seat side chairs, and place settings for their inn. "We probably sat in many of these chairs as kids," Susan muses.

"We thought a rooster print was an appropriate presence in the breakfast room where guests congregate to start the day," says Susan. "And we paid all of one dollar at an auction for our breakfast buffet table." Ann marbleized the two-tiered table for a low-key verdigris effect. The same color distinguishes the mantel, an auction purchase that replaced a decayed 70-year-old original. The armoire in the corner once served as a railroad employee's locker at Indianapolis's Union Station.

A Country Corner

The inn's Gothic-style farmhouse (foreground) has been enlarged to accommodate nine guest rooms with private baths. The new wing's tall, narrow windows echo those of the 19th-century brick structure. A 1906 cottage (in the background) that Susan and Ann moved to the property now houses the breakfast porch and a honeymoon suite. A courtyard connects the two buildings.

A Bright Room

The honeymoon suite is a charming, airy room, filled with light colors and lacy textures. A wallpaper border highlights the angles of the dormer window. Ann painted the bed's headboard, whitewashing its carved motif for a decorative effect. The history of the half trunk, which the partners bid for at a local auction, remains a mystery.

Attractive Amenities

Bathroom vanities were constructed by local carpenters who combined hand-carved dining-room-table legs and drawer fronts that Ann and Susan bought at auction. The dusty rose color on the wall is reminsicent of the strong colors Dutch and German settlers used to decorate their homes when they came to America.

Country Inns: The Brick House

2008-04-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Brick House welcomes guests to central Pennsylvania in gracious fashion.

Built on the town square in Aaronsburg, Pa., the c. 1810 Brick House Inn may originally have been designed as a government office building. Regardless of its previous incarnation, it remains true to its historical heritage, from the Federal-style exterior -- constructed with bricks hand-made on the property -- to the spacious interiors, rich with architectural embellishments.

Innkeepers Mary Vreeland and Ron Copenhaver transformed the structure's grand-scale rooms into a bed-and-breakfast and furnished the retreat with antiques, which Mary has collected for 35 years. The entry hall shown here provides a glimpse of the spacious accommodations, elegant furnishings, and architectural details to be found throughout the Brick House Inn.

Honeymoon Haven

The Bridal Suite offers a quiet elegance with its romantic color blend of rose and blue/grey, and repeating floral pattern in wallcoverings, draperies, upholstery, and bed dressings. The room features a selection of period furnishings, some old and some -- like the Italian corner cupboard -- reproductions. In addition to the drop-leaf writing surface with pen and ink set, the cabinet provides the perfect display for Staffordshire spaniels, a lusterware plate, and collectible tea cups. The oriental rug over wood-plank flooring anchors the room in both color and design.

Traditional Dining

In the dining room, off-white walls enhance a delicate stencil border hand painted by Mary's daughter, Susan Kinney. For additional accent, dining tables are covered with royal blue linens and surrounded by bow-back Windsor chairs. A framed sampler decorates the wall above the fireplace; the mantel itself is filled with a dried floral arrangement. Other accessories include miniature Staffordshire dogs on the windowsill and a straw bonnet, a cherished gift from Mary's Amish friend, Lizzie Zook.

Tableware: Potpourri porcelain china from The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Collection by Wedgewood. Order through Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Custom flag: Sonessa Flags.

Fragrant Scents

An enclosed porch just off the kitchen serves as a drying room for flowers. The dried bouquets appear throughout the inn -- like those hung above the mantel in the adjacent room -- providing a lingering scent until seasonal blooms can once again be collected. The kitchen presents a traditional image, with its oversized hearth, wall-mounted cooking utensils, and cherrywood trestle table and Windsor chairs. Oriental rugs cover the floors in both the porch and kitchen areas.

Country Inns: Lakehouse

2008-04-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

East of Rhinebeck, New York, the Lakehouse enchants guests with its Hudson Valley setting, waterside tranquility, and cottage-style decor.

In addition to its beautiful woodlands, lakes, and farms, the Hudson Valley in upstate New York offers a rich selection of antiques and collectibles. For Judy Kohler -- an innkeeper and avid collector -- the area's natural beauty and abundance of antiques shops, auctions, and fairs prompted her to construct The Lakehouse four years ago.

Today the inn is a reflection of the treasures found by Kohler during many happy hours scouting local sources for antique furnishings and unusual collectibles. A good number of the pieces displayed in the Inn have some local historical significance, which she is only too glad to share with interested guests.

The inn's inviting decor draws visitors from near and far. Because of its location on a private lake, the retreat has come to be known as the "Lakehouse on Golden Pond."

A Room with a View

The master suite's expansive windows offer soothing views of the lake and woods. Since antique beds are often smaller in scale than today's varieties, Kohler designed a king-size canopy bed for this room and had it crafted from oak by a local cabinetmaker.

Kohler's mother, Julia Medeiros, sewed the bed linens and the graceful lace curtains that drape from the canopy and four corner posts. A large pine chest, c. 1870, sits at the foot of the bed.

Comforts of Home

The warmth of a wood-burning fire, the simple charm of country style, and the special comforts of home make this room -- the "Prince's Chambers" -- a Lakehouse favorite.

The colors of the patchwork coverlet on the wicker sleigh bed provide a perfect complement to those found in the floorcovering. The scalloped lace panel on the fireplace mantel is a decorative treatment popularized during Victorian times. To the left is an Eastlake chair.

Dining Pleasures

The kitchen's newly crafted pine hutch, with its simple plank back design and raised panel doors, provides the perfect display for a collection of century-old majolica. To the right, an Early American pot stand displays another prized collection; pottery handthrown by the innkeeper's son, John.

The door frames an inviting view of the dining room, elegant with its Sheraton-style dining chairs and an oversized stone hearth.

Country Inns: Pioneer Homestead

2008-04-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

Pioneer Homestead, one of four guesthouses at Settlers Crossing, sits on 35 wooded acres of Texas Hill Country just east of Fredericksburg.

One of four historic guesthouses on Judy and David Bland's 35-acre Hill Country property, Pioneer Homestead was constructed in the mid-1860's by Texas pioneers. After transporting three other period homes to the bucolic site, the Blands created Settlers Crossing, a complex of guesthouses they have furnished with American country antiques.

At Pioneer Homestead, guests relaxing on the 40-foot-wide front porch enjoy views of oaks and rolling pastures as well as occasional visits from the property's resident sheep, native white-tailed deer, and a donkey named Buster.

A Warm Bed

White linens, a fluffy duvet, and a graphic Pendleton blanket from the 1940's dress an early-nineteenth-century brass bed as a bright fire blazes nearby. The pristine linens provide a compelling contrast to the rough log-and-stone walls. A c. 1850 American plantation desk stands beside the room's original fireplace, one of two in Pioneer Homestead.

A Bright Room

For period ambience, owners Judy and David Bland furnished the log-and-stone keeping room with such Early American pieces as a pine tavern table and a country bench that serves as a couch.

When they discovered the signed nineteenth-century oil painting that hangs behind an 1840's New England wing chair, neither the Blands nor the antiques dealer who sold it to them realized its roots in the Hudson River School.

Period Detail

Inside Pioneer Homestead, a bedroom ceiling shows off its still-vibrant 1865 stenciled border. In the nineteenth century, stencils provided an inexpensive and easy way for homeowners to decorate their rooms. Like the flowery vines show here, stencils often depicted leaves, plants, or animals in realistic or abstract patterns.

Gardener's Retreat Cottage

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Cottage View

This gardener's cottage -- first constructed as a storage shed and left unattended for many years -- appears as if from a storybook. Designers John A. Buscarello and Maggie Cohen approached the restoration by envisioning distinct areas for relaxing and working. The shingled one-room clapboard structure was treated to a wider front stoop, new window boxes, fresh paint on the trim, and a new stone path. In short, it became a gardening devotee's dream cottage.

Fireplace Setting

Brightened by the sunlight sifting through five windows and warmed by restful greens and blues, this cozy cottage was renovated with a gardener's needs in mind. Each object, from botanical prints and animal-motif fireplace tools down to the faux-stone floor, contains a reminder of the natural world -- and a bit of inspiration for days spent dreaming indoors. On the right, shovels function as the legs of the table desk, which provides a storage place for reference books as well as a flat surface for drawing up elaborate landscaping plans.

Tiled Shower

The blue-and-white-tiled shower area is handy for bathing large plants as well as for cleaning up after a good day's work in the dirt. Deep enough for filling watering cans, the original soapstone sink also has generous work space. The peg rail traverses two walls, providing places to toss a sun hat or two, hang tools and other accessories, and dry herbs and flowers.

Potting Closet

What to do with a sunny, windowed closet? Transform it into a potting area complete with shelves for displaying plants and botanical prints, and floor space for storing clay pots, aluminum containers, and other assorted garden equipment. Additional tools are kept in the corner of the main room, propped against walls or hung from above. The clothes tree takes its name literally, providing useful limbs for straw hats, aprons, and slickers.

Soapstone Sink

The original soapstone sink not only offers a basin deep enough to fill watering cans, but a generous work surface perfect for flower arranging. Fresh-cut roses and chrysanthemums are stored in aluminum containers awaiting the creative talents of the floral arranger. A simple yellow bouquet has already been created in a white ceramic pitcher. The two birdhouses on the shelf above are also waiting -- for installation outdoors and the return of their feathered residents.

Willow Chair

A willow chair and ottoman provide a comfortable resting and reading spot, particularly with the warmth of a fire on one side, and seasonal views through the window on the other. The chair's blue check upholstery fabric is repeated on the drapery lining. In the corner, a closet has been reconfigured as a built-in display cabinet, the top doubling as a garden library.

Style Guide: Country Kitchens (Part VII)

2008-04-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

A renovation opens up the kitchen of a 1912 home while bringing it Victorian charm

Bright Ideas

When a married couple bought their 1912 home on Long Island, New York, five years ago, they found it hadn't been altered much in the 80 years since its construction. "We considered that an advantage," says the wife. "Most of the houses in the area had been done over and over again." But that also meant the house was lacking modern comforts, such as a washer, dryer, and dishwasher. "We didn't want to change the place too much," she says, explaining why renovations were focused on the back of the house, opening the kitchen to the surrounding rooms and adding new conveniences.

To add Victorian detail, designer Greg Jordan replicated cabinets in the adjoining pantry, using handblown restoration glass to give an authentic appearance. Tongue-and-groove panels distinguish the lower cabinet doors and the wainscoting; beaded board sheathes the ceiling. Hand-glazed tiles form a backsplash and top the central food-prep island.

Smart Planning

Although the renovated kitchen retains its original dimensions, the addition of the island makes more efficient use of the large space. Beyond the island stands the range where an old coal stove once sat. On either side, the old walls and doors have been removed, affording views of the bright, open rooms beyond. The house's original French doors supply the room with abundant sunlight as the dining table stands ready for entertaining guests.

A Sunny Nook

The dining area, originally a series of smaller, closed-off rooms, was the site of several radical changes. The wall separating it from the kitchen was knocked out, and the entire room was extended 10 feet into the backyard. The result is a more open, airy space, filled with sunlight streaming through the house's original French doors. Rug, pillows: Shyam Ahuja. Shades: B-B Shades.

A Radiant Start

Yellow has long been a favorite color for kitchens due to its cheerful, eye-opening quality. Blue and white offer a crisp contrast to yellow. Here, the table is set for an inviting breakfast. An embroidered tablecloth and English plates repeat the yellow wainscoting and blue-and-white wallpaper in the kitchen and dining area.

Style Guide: Country Kitchens (Part VI)

2008-04-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Long after Christmas and holiday parties have passed, a joyous spirit lingers in this Pennsylvania kitchen.

Yuletide Colors

As an interior designer and self-described "redaholic," the owner of this 1756 home in Embreeville, Pennsylvania, had no problem deciding on the primary color for his kitchen. Settling on a pleasing second hue, however, proved difficult.

White was too bright, black simply not right. A stunning green hue was ultimately selected. The complementary colors are a perfect match, particularly during the holidays, when the homeowner hosts his annual Christmas party.

In preparation for the festive evening with family and friends, the kitchen shelves are decked with potfuls of holly, boxwood, and juniper, all of which are found on the five-acre property. The quilt rack holds vintage linens waiting to be called into action.

Festive Stripes

The kitchen cabinets are painted in a translucent green and red stripe finish. "My cousin came up with the idea of using green," says the homeowner, "and I thought the result was beautiful." During the party, the kitchen countertop acts as a buffet and the sink is transformed into an oversized ice bucket. An oyster trap on the floor holds beverages for the party. A green curtain conceals the pantry and helps keep cold drafts at bay.

Celebration of Color

This early-19th-century table exhibits its original yellow paint, a pleasing complement to the room's red- and green-painted pine walls. The salmon-colored chairs, which also feature their original painted finish, were crafted in Lancaster County, Pa., around 1840.

Over the mantel, a 19th-century clock not only keeps near-perfect time but also indicates the day and date. The homeowner found the small antique reindeer and fire engine toys on the property.

Holiday Finery

The Christmas tree in the kitchen provides a beautiful backdrop to the festive holiday table setting. The tree is decorated with vintage ornaments: one or two antique balls and stars bought annually by the homeowner, mixed with those received as gifts from family and friends over the years. "The ornaments are among the most personal things I own," says the homeowner.

The gold crackers on the table -- party favors -- were a gift from a friend visiting this holiday season from England.

Style Guide: Early American, Primitive

2008-04-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

In an antiques dealer's 1820's farmhouse, natural decorations harmonize with cherished furnishings, prized collectibles, and family heirlooms.

"An old house is the ultimate antique, and a way of life," claims the owner of this four-square Ohio farmhouse, an antiques collector of 20 years' standing. The loving care that he and his wife devoted to the restoration clearly bears witness to the claim.

The house is filled with furniture and accessories collected on cross-country travels in search of Early American treasures. The house, however, never seems more complete than when the couple's grown children and young grandson come to call.

In keeping with the traditional farmhouse lifestyle, the kitchen is the heart of the house and the center of family activities. With the aroma of Mom's holiday specialities filling the room, the fireplace providing its own special warmth, and the table dressed for Christmas Eve dinner, we have been called to supper.

Make yourself at home, and enjoy the simple pleasures of farmhouse living.

Family Room

The soft yellow walls and gold-colored sofa in the family room come alive with the addition of multicolored quilt throws, layered rugs, and a flame stitch seat cover. Tabletops and wall-mounted curio shelves also support the color themes with odd matched candle sticks and hand-woven baskets. The Albany stove visible on the far left bears the date 1858.

The traditions of Christmas are also featured with a full tree and even fuller cache of toys and gifts beneath. Each branch is tipped with popcorn. Toys underneath are corralled by a fence the owner's father constructed in 1940.

Parlor

To warm the parlor, the owners built a Rumford-style fireplace to fit within the surround of a mantel the son retrieved from a nearby dwelling. During the holidays it becomes a perfect repository for a still life of seasonal fruits, which frame a Seth Thomas pillar-and-scroll mantel clock dating from around 1825.

The traditional-styled furnishings, earthtone upholstery, and classics like the 1740's banister-back chair in the foreground add their own warmth to the setting. A loose cushion provides comfort as well as protection for the original cane seat.

Bedroom

Upstairs the bedrooms are furnished with both comfort and practicality in mind. The stark white walls provide the perfect backdrop to the mix of blues and reds found in the woodwork, furnishings, and floor coverings. A rail hung at window top height offers a functional display for collectibles and family keepsakes.

The owner's grandson makes quick claim to the trundle bed in the room his parents share when the family visits for the holidays. The wood-spoke wheel on the right, which once supported a country carriage, now provides a sculptural element for the room.

Buttery

The buttery occupies a newly built addition behind the farmhouse. The white-oak floor boards, taken from the attic and reinstalled in alternating widths of 16, 18 and 20 inches, are protected from winter trackings by a generous-sized rag rug.

A piggin on the floor alongside the Ohio water bench is filled with rosehips, which the owners gather in abundance during the holiday season. The bench now serves as a display for the butter churn and band box on top and clay jugs on the shelf below. Other collectibles crowd the shelf near the ceiling.

Stairway

Popcorn and cranberry strands festoon the staircase for the holidays. The paneling underneath still retains its original red paint finish. The slant-lid countertop desk with Shaker styling has been in the family for 40 years. An antique ladderback now serves as the desk chair.

Although the room was originally lit by candlelight, today an electrified chandelier captures the look and style of the period. A Wedgwood blue baseboard gives the room a decorative edge, uniting it with the blue painted chest in the dining room beyond.

Cupboard

A colorful display of fruit, including the hospitable pineapple, fills a wood-carved trencher on top of a red painted tap table. Both the trencher and table were lucky finds on a holiday visit to New England. A matched pair of ladderback chairs with rush seats and checked cushions fits comfortably under the extended tabletop surface.

The wall-mounted cupboard, c. 1840, is from Ohio. The age-worn and highly distressed finish -- so desirable in today's furnishings -- is natural here. In addition to its interior storage space, it offers a display area for the small objects perched on top. A collection of colored baskets is also displayed on the wall shelf above.

Style Guide: Early American Farmhouse

2008-04-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

Early American furniture, pottery, and textiles fill a 1734 Saltbox in Connecticut with tradition.

Antique collectors for more than three decades, the homeowners of this Connecticut home had always wanted to own an old house. When their younger son entered college, they began the search for their dream home in earnest. "The moment we pulled into the driveway, we knew this was the house for us."

The four-bedroom Saltbox, which dates back to an early-18th-century farmer, features wide-plank floors, thick plaster walls, and fireplaces made from local stone. Many rooms still have the original ceiling beams.

The rooms have been filled with personal treasures collected over the years -- decoy and pottery collections, folk art paintings, and Early American antiques. Now that the house is a reflection of the owner's personal tastes and lifestyle, it has become a "dream house" come true.

Join us as we tour this lovely Connecticut residence. Perhaps it will provide inspiration for the house of your dreams.

Living Room, Detail

In this corner of the living room, the homeowner's passion for Early American style is clearly evident. The traditional blue and white wood cut pattern on the upholstered armchair offers a rich complement to the solid red sofa fabric. On the wall, a pair of folk art portraits hold a watchful gaze.

The tea table is dated 1740. It showcases a lamp made from an old milk can, an 1816 redware bowl, and a bouquet of dried hydrangeas from the garden. The home has retained much of its historic character, including the exposed corner and ceiling beams shown here.

Kitchen

To introduce color and pattern into the commodious kitchen, the owners sheathed the stair risers and the base and hood of the indoor grill with hand-painted faïence tiles.

Purchased in Pennsylvania, the 18th-century cupboard near the staircase at right holds redware, stoneware, and slip-glazed crocks and jugs. The open door accesses a hallway now used as a utility area.

Kitchen, Another View

Exposed ceiling beams, cherrywood cabinets, and granite countertops further distinguish the kitchen. Trompe l'oeil morning glories ramble around the room, bordering the squat wooden door that leads to the root cellar, where the owners store wine.

On top of the center island, crusty loaves of fresh bread baked in the living room hearth's beehive oven vie for attention with fresh produce and a hand-carved holstein that was bought at auction. The dining room, with its stenciled wall border, folk art painting, and bow-back Windsor chairs, is visible beyond.

Dining Room

Two sizes of vines trail across the dining-room walls; a third, smaller rendition of the stencilwork edges the fireplace. The early-1800's painted panel that hangs above it once served as the center section of a fireplace surround. Mismatched Windsors, including four bow-back side chairs, surround a pine trestle table set with Blue Canton porcelain and crystal stemware.

The painted cupboard, found in Maine, houses late-19th-century textiles, including a fine c. 1870 Lone Star quilt on the bottom shelf. Two c. 1820 Hitchcock spindle-back side chairs flank the fireplace; a Shaker-style cotton confetti rug covers the floor.

Bedroom

A crocheted canopy, plaid bedskirt, and graphic Compass quilt dress the master bedroom's reproduction pencil-post tester bed. "When we moved in," says the owner, "we had to cut three inches off the bed frame just so that we could get it into the room."

An early-1700's blanket chest features flame-painted panels; the c. 1760 cupboard boasts brilliant blue paint as well as a tiny hole, the work of a mouse long since departed. An antique hobbyhorse with tin stirrups, leather bridle, and horsehair saddle was a Christmas gift.

Exterior

Painted in shades of historic green/grey, this two-story shingled Saltbox is beautifully sited on its Connecticut property, with lush ground cover and natural landscaping. A wooden bench below the draped American flag signals a warm New England welcome to those approaching on the brick walkway in the foreground.

In the back, the owners have planted an English perennial garden along a 60-foot-long stone wall that existed on the property. They have also restored a blacksmith's shop that was built near the dwelling during the 1800's.

Style Guide: English Country House

2008-04-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

An 1810 Connecticut Federal gets a sympathetic update with furniture adapted from the great country homes of Great Britain.

There's an art to updating an old house. You want to establish a fresh look, yet nothing should look too new.

That was the challenge in this 1810 house in southwestern Connecticut. "Now that my children are growing up, I wanted a redo," says the owner, "but as a working parent, I knew it would take me forever to refurnish the house piece by piece."

With furniture from the Royal Country Retreats Collection from Drexel Heritage, the house got the update it needed with a style that looks as if it has evolved over time. The collection adapts pieces from the grand country homes of England, where furnishings and collectibles were accumulated and then handed down lovingly from one generation to the next. This New England home now resonates with heirlooms old and new in a setting that is opulent yet inviting, comfortable, and relaxed.

As you explore each of the rooms, you will begin to appreciate the appeal of the English Country House style -- a perfect choice for this New England home, the perfect choice for today's lifestyle.

Living Room, Another View

The unusual blend of pattern and texture continues to be revealed in this view of the living room. The sofa, with its exposed legs and nail head trim detailing, is handsomely tailored in a combination of brown leather and tweed fabric. The galleried cocktail table in the foreground is adapted from an English Regency tray-on-stand commonly used for afternoon tea.

On the windowsill above, rosemary topiaries flank a silver punch bowl the owners received as a gift for their twentieth anniversary. Framed engravings are mounted on the glazed parchment-colored walls. The original plank flooring is complemented by the colorful pattern of the Chinese needlepoint rug.

Chest Detail

Charming nooks and crannies lend character throughout the house. This recess was the perfect place to tuck an unusual multi-drawer chest with carved detailing, decorative drawer pulls, and checkerboard sides.

A generous dish of potpourri, which rests atop a boxed antique chess set, perfumes the air with its delicate scent of rose blossoms. The heraldic table lamp provides its own unique accent, with a graphic plaid shade complementing the checkered paint finish of the chest. Resting on the narrow shelf above: a pair of Staffordshire lions.

Dining Room

A dining room with paneled walls was added to the house during the 1930's. Today Provincial-style reading chairs, upholstered in leather with tweed fabric backs, surround the dining table and provide a beautiful complement to the richly colored floral wool carpet. Additional arm chairs in tweed are positioned near the far windows.

The Georgian-style sideboard at right provides convenient storage for linens and accessories. Above it hangs a John Mecray print of the racing yacht Atlantic. The unusual ceiling-high topiaries, partially visible at left, flank the room's fieldstone fireplace.

Dining Room Detail

The oak-topped sideboard shown in this view of the dining room is actually a modern reproduction of a rustic Irish dresser. The Chippendale brass hardware and worn, distressed finish give it the look of an aged original. On top, a pair of rosemary topiaries in hand-painted tole cachepots frame an original oil painting.

While the rest of the house combines opulence with a relaxed, casual comfort, the dining room maintains a total sense of elegance. The table is set with antique linen napkins used as placemats, the owner's candlestick collection, and Chinese export plates that have been in the family for years.

Bedroom

A fantasy of floral bouquets abounds in the bedroom, with chintz fabric lining the walls, draping the windows, and slipcovering the various upholstered pieces throughout. The room features an eclectic mix of furniture styles, with a Georgian chest on chest, carved French side chair, Queen Anne side table, and English-style brass bed.

On the bed an array of antique quilts, shams, and pillows create a look of total comfort. The dark colorings of the aubusson-patterned needlepoint rug help anchor the room while adding to the richness of the interior.

Bedroom Detail

On cool nights the fireplace at the foot of the bed draws the owner to its warmth; on warmer evenings a pretty painted fire screen takes the place of glowing logs. The scallop-top lamp table, based on a Scottish design, provides a resting spot for a teacup, various family photos, and a candlestick lamp with butterfly lampshade.

A companion floral -- a near-match to the chintz-covered walls -- is shown on the chair upholstery and ottoman slipcover. For added color, a solid yellow fabric was used to upholster the exterior of the chair.

Style Guide: French Colonial Design And Native Indochinese Crafts

2008-04-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Traditional French Colonial design and native Indochinese crafts come together in a New York kitchen

"Imagine it is about 1900 and you are a Frenchman who is moving to Vietnam, which was then called Indochina," proposes Jennifer Ellenberg, a designer at Jane Victor Assocs., a commercial and residential design firm in New York. "Your trunks are packed and you think you're going to visit a crude culture. But when you arrive you find all the comforts and amenities you are used to, complemented by the pure simplicity and honesty of native design. It's like yang meeting yin." That's what the designer and her colleagues tried to achieve when redesigning this urban kitchen and breakfast room -- a blend of cultures, materials, history, and practicality.

Cultural Center

The breakfast room develops the themes established in the adjacent kitchen. Circa 1820's French folding chairs and formal French porcelain plates and glassware contrast with Vietnamese twig place mats, reed and flax window treatments, and reed area rug. The walls were treated to 11 coats of plaster slip colored with a pigment derived from reduced lemongrass, rubber-plant root, bamboo leaf, and green vegetable curry. The reed and wrought-iron wall sconce and painted shrimping basket -- both traditional Vietnamese objects -- add visual interest to a corner of the room.

Placid Tones

Soothing shades of green and gold create a peaceful feeling in this kitchen. At the sink, the gooseneck faucet with porcelain-sheathed handles replicates French designs from the turn of the century. The fresh and dried herbs on the counters and windowsill -- thyme, rosemary, lemongrass, and sage among them -- are essentials in both French and Vietnamese kitchens. Sink and faucet: Franke. Kitchen accessories: Grace's Marketplace, Dean & Deluca.

For Asian Cooking

In the cooking area, the Gaggenau range was devised with a simple addition so that a wok can be utilized on the stove top. Copper stockpots wait to be used; pots like these outfitted many a French Vietnamese kitchen. The reflective doors of the oven reveal the tumbled limestone flooring which was also typical in Vietnamese interiors

Style Guide: Early American

2008-04-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

A renovated 1970s home in Massachusetts adopts an inviting country character.

When we think of remodeling we generally mean one of two things: the expansion of living space or the modernization of an older home.

For the owners of this contemporary 1970s dwelling in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, however, remodeling became a way to make old what was new. The homeowners wanted to add architectural embellishments and traditional details to a home lacking in such traits, and to create an environment that reflected their personal love of Early American style.

"Now that we spend time in the country, I find myself enjoying older, more traditional things," the homeowner admits. Throughout the home, cream-colored walls and gray-green trim create a neutral backdrop to the charming mix of color, collectibles and architectural details. A stairway off the front hall entrance leads to a sleeping alcove above. Bold colors are repeated in the woven floorcoverings and floral-patterned upholstery fabrics. Collectibles -- from Roseville glass to a sculptor's iron trolley -- mix and mingle as display pieces and furniture accents.

We welcome you to step inside and enjoy what we felt was an artful makeover and beautiful example of Early American style today.

Living Room, Another View

The cherry-colored window frames and green-painted baseboards set the color theme of the living room. It is a color story that is richly interpreted in the woven plaid floorcoverings, red floral-patterned sofa, and dark green wicker side chairs. A 19th-century iron trolly serves as a unique coffee table, revealing the homeowners' fascination with industrial design.

The full height of the ceiling is made evident by the two-story casement windows, draped with swagged panels of woolen crepe. A pair of matching bookcases offer their own decorative accents while providing functional displays for glassware, collectibles, and family photos. A piano sits in the far corner.

Bookshelves

The living room bookshelves provide a practical and decorative display for a variety of collectibles. In addition to the odd grouping of books, decorative boxes, family photos, and Michael Graves pendulum clock, the shelves feature the homeowners' extensive collection of Roseville and Van Briggle pottery.

The bookshelves are unique unto themselves. They combine cherry boards in receding widths with maple geometric cutout supports. The similarity of the natural maple against the cream-colored walls gives the cherry shelves the appearance of being suspended without support. At the bottom of the photo, a detail of a modern wicker chair is visible, with green-painted finish and metal frame construction.

Fireplace

Attention to detail brings personality to every corner of the living room. An iron grate salvaged from a 19th-century Maryland home hangs above the 1800s North Carolina pine mantel. The fireplace, which is painted in slate gray, gives the impression of cast iron rather than wood construction.

The rustic pine drop-leaf table pictured at right displays more of the homeowner's collectibles, here red clay pottery and antique game boards. Although the metal folding chair is a modern addition, it seems a natural complement to the space. The floral frieze continues to provide the only wall-mounted adornment.

Dining Room

By mixing the old and the new, the dining area and kitchen blend warmth and comfort with contemporary conveniences. A local furniture maker crafted the table from 18th-century floorboards. The mismatched chairs -- some painted, some stained -- were purchased in New Mexico. They are unified by a stylized Indian print fabric on the seat cushions.

In the adjacent kitchen, cherrywood cabinetry with simple raised panel construction clearly reflects the appeal of Shaker style. For modern convenience, easy-care countertops and backsplash, industrial lamps, a commercial style range, microwave oven, and track lighting have been added.

Kitchen

Despite its traditional styling, the kitchen was redesigned with efficiency and convenience in mind. A geometric design motif accents the easy-care Nuvel Formica countertops and backsplash. The cabinets, crafted in solid cherrywood with raised panel construction and black door pulls, provide abundant storage. And, for the resident chef, the commercial gas range and oven meet every requirement.

A greenhouse-style window with side casements was installed to enhance the room's natural light. The enlarged windowsill offers an ideal place for additional countertop storage, ripening fruit and vegetables, and plants requiring full sunlight.

Bedroom

The cream-colored walls of the master bedroom serve as a neutral backdrop to the unusual red clay painted furniture shown here. The bed -- with its majestic scale, scroll detailed posts, and hand-carved arabesque headboard -- nightstand, and step stool were all pieced together from salvaged 19th-century furniture elements.

For added color, a tasseled pillow with gold accents and a boldly patterned bed quilt reinforce the red, brown, and black tones found in the painted furniture. Additional decorative accents include a hooked rug, iron wall sconces with brioche-shaped lampshades, and a Caribbean scene painted by the homeowner's mother.

Style Guide: Country Kitchens (Part V)

2008-04-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Center of Attention

Natural materials, an efficient center island, and a bay window with harbor views distinguish a welcoming refuge for an active family.

When the owners of an 1850s shingled house in Rye, New York, decided to move their cramped kitchen to a more spacious, west-facing room overlooking the Long Island Sound, the results were dramatic.

Combining abundant cabinet storage and counter space--including a center island--with a generous window bay dining alcove, the room was designed for efficiency and family mealtime solutions. Limestone countertops, oak flooring, wicker barstools, and other monochromatic finishes and furnishings were selected to play up the room's sunny interior. Plaid table linens and hand-woven kilims were added for color.

Brimming with Taste

A pot of soup simmers on the center island's gas cooktop, which includes a range and grill. Other modern appliances, built into cabinetry, include convection, microwave, and conventional ovens.

The island itself -- angled to maximize floor space and provide easy access to an adjoining family room -- is topped in a buffed Spanish limestone. The raised panels on the refrigerator doors are custom-made to match the room's oyster-colored maple cabinetry.

Side Bar Convenience

To enhance the functional kitchen layout, a display cabinet and a wet bar with sink and built-in icemaker are featured in an adjacent space. The same limestone countertop and cabinetry is repeated. The backsplash, however, is made of tumbled marble--a stone that is pulverized for an aged appearance.

The wall-mounted cabinets with glass-paneled doors provide practical and decorative storage for the homeowner's antique Waterford crystal. A French door provides easy access to the back patio and waterfront beyond.

Appetizing Style

The wrought iron table with its light pine top takes full advantage of the sunny window bay and views of the Sound. To complement the room's neutral color scheme, the homeowner selected Queen Anne-style chairs in natural finish with muslin-covered seat cushions.

On the table a bouquet of red dahlias, a chilled bottle of wine, creamware china, and a three-tiered fruit basket create the perfect setting for an autumn luncheon. Twig placemats and red plaid linens have been included for additional decoration and color.

Style Guide: Colonial Cottage

2008-04-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

Furnished with country antiques, a mid-17th-century farm cottage on Long Island, New York, serves as a peaceful weekend hideaway for a Manhattan couple.

In the mid 1600s, when Long Island was first colonized, it was primarily home to farmers and shipping merchants. Today the natural beauty of the North Fork, with its quaint village towns, views of the Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay, and accessibility to New York City, makes it an ideal place for city dwellers looking to while away summer days.

For one Manhattan couple, the challenge of blending the old -- a cottage built around 1647 -- with today's leisure lifestyle was met by creating an easy-care decor complete with country antiques, area rugs, washable slipcovers, and minimal window treatments.

Liberated from continual housekeeping, the homeowners are able to enjoy their personal passions: she the cultivation and care of antique roses in the cottage garden; and he the pursuit of sailing on the waters around the North Fork.

The homeowners have invited us to tour their seaside cottage and experience the simple pleasures of a summer's day on Long Island.

Living Room, Detail

The collection of mismatched, odd-framed botanical prints and chaise longue add a classic touch to the room's minimal details: bare plank flooring, cream-colored walls, and green painted chair rail and baseboard.

The hand-tinted 1800s Redouté botanical prints were found in London and depict the types of trees and flowers grown on the cottage property.

The chaise is given a fresh summer look with its loosely tailored slipcover in white pique fabric. "I usually collapse on this chaise after working in the garden," says the owner.

Dining Room

The dining room's built-in corner cupboard is original to the house and exemplifies the fine craftsmanship of 17th-century woodworking. The dining table and red cupboard (barely visible at left) were purchased locally by the homeowners.

Positioned around the table are 19th-century painted dining chairs. They are decorated in the Hitchcock style and feature traditional rush seats.

The English wrought iron chandelier, striped rag rug, and simple swagged draperies continue to reflect the home's casual, comfortable mood.

Kitchen

The mullioned glass panels and natural finish of the oak cabinets and countertops provide a natural harmony with the original character of the house. A dough bowl sits on top of one of the cupboards and a cataplana -- a Portuguese copper pot for cooking and serving shellfish soup -- stands on the other.

To maintain efficiency and meet the special requirements of the homeowners -- one a professional caterer by trade -- the kitchen is outfitted with the latest in modern conveniences. It was put to the test a couple of years ago, when a feast in celebration of their daughter's wedding was prepared for 120 guests.

Master Bedroom

In the master bedroom, the Shaker-style tester bed creates a dramatic focus with its clean lines, natural finish, and exposed canopy rails. It is complemented by a pair of matching bedside tables and a chest of drawers.

With the exception of pale yellow in the woven rug, the room is bathed in white; from walls, ceiling, and trim to the linens and Marseilles coverlet on the bed.

Rather than using lace or plain gauze, the homeowners created added texture and visual interest by hand stenciling the muslin draperies with white paint.

Guest Bedroom

Unlike the master bedroom, the guest room features a warm blend of color and pattern, including wheat-colored walls and brightly patterned bed linens. The rose and white striped drapery fabric and pastel-colored needlework rug continue to add a special country charm to this room.

One of the Victorian iron beds was from the homeowner's Manhattan apartment, the other a lucky find while exploring a nearby antique shop.

Garden

For most city dwellers, the enjoyment of the out-of-doors is one of the special pleasures of a weekend retreat. The property here combines the natural beauty of the location with manageable garden areas for weekend cultivation and tending.

Teatime often finds the couple in the garden, where a festive table is set with a mix of German porcelain and 1930s French platters and plates.

Some of the tantalizing high tea delicacies shown here include a grape-studded savarin, peaches poached in sauternes, and petits fours.

Style Guide: Berkshires Barn Conversion

2008-04-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Careful renovations revive a late-18th-century farm building in western Massachusetts.

When architects Andrus Burr and Ann McCallum were called in by fellow architect Nicholas Ohly to complete the renovation of this converted New England barn, the team took great pains to retain its inherent warmth and loftiness.

The historic structure was first dismantled and cleaned, then clad in cedar clapboard, given a shingle roof, and finally repositioned near its original site, facing majestic Mount Greylock. A breezeway was added to connect the original barn with a newly constructed guesthouse.

Dividing walls--finished from vintage timbers and beaded board--were added to partition the spacious interior into three bays of nearly equal size. Multipaned windows clustered throughout the barn infuse interiors with light, air, and views.

As you tour the renovated barn, notice how the architects were able to create comfortable living quarters--each warm, intimate, and inviting, despite the open space and lofty heights of the structure itself.

Living Room

In the living room, a bank of awning windows and two sets of single-pane doors occupy a wall originally fitted with an oversized barn door. Since privacy isn't a concern, the single length of fabric swagged along the top of double doors and draped at either side is a decorative accent. It unites the room's color theme and provides a sense of normal ceiling height in the otherwise open air space.

The simple country cocktail table, plush roll arm sofa, and mismatched arm chairs--one fully upholstered, the other carved with French detailing--reflect the homeowner's preference for eclectic style. The fabrics and painted surfaces draw from a deep, rich color palette of rust and earthy greens. An oriental rug anchors the living room arrangement and offers a beautiful complement to the tongue-and-groove cherry floorboards, removed and re-installed from a local mill.

Dining Room

The dining room offers the same window configuration and drapery treatment as the living room, taking full advantage of the Berkshire mountain views and the abundance of natural light. Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts, is visible most days in the distance.

Victorian oak side chairs purchased in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, surround a Shaker-style dining table. The table, bathed in glorious early morning light, is set for a casual breakfast with green enamelware place settings, decorative ceramic pitchers, and a country tin filled with fresh cut flowers.

Dining Room, Another View

From this view of the dining room, the lofty interior of the original barn structure is clearly visible. Chestnut framing and a dividing wall separate the dining room from the kitchen and adjacent family room. You can see how the minimal yet distinctive use of color, such as the painted dividing wall in gray/green and wainscoting trim in rust and green, highlights the earthy patina of the old timbers.

In the corner of the dining room, sculptures of an angler and his attentive companion, by New York artist Kay Ritter, not only add to the visual interest of the space but provide a unique conversation piece for dinner guests and visitors.

Wall Display

As any collector will attest, finding the proper showcase -- especially for a large collection of smaller items -- can pose special problems. Here a 1906 wall rack, originally used by a Kansas City barber for displaying his client's personal shaving mugs, offers the perfect solution. Positioned between two original barn timbers, the wall rack now showcases the homeowner's unusually large collection of new and old teacups with matching saucers.

A smaller collection of wood carved decoys fits comfortably in the space above the wall rack and below the cross beam timber. Tucked under the display is a sturdy trestle table made from rough hewn timbers. For those raised in the computer era, the item on the work table may be hard to recognize . . . it is a Corona typewriter from the early 20th century.

Kitchen

This freestanding wall unit/divider separates the family room from the kitchen and offers a practical solution for breakfast on the run and after-school snacking. In addition to the added storage offered by the three double-door base cabinets, the hollow side supports of the custom-made divider camouflage much of the kitchen's plumbing and electrical wiring.

A series of commemorative plates frame the open pass-through, revealing three mullioned kitchen windows, wall-mounted wood panel cabinets, and a suspended assortment of pots and pans. The unusual wood folding chairs are from the early 20th century and were originally used by line judges at tennis matches.

Bedroom

The master bedroom occupies the space once claimed by the hayloft and is accessible from the main floor via a sleek steel staircase and bridge, shown here. In addition to awning windows that illuminate the stairwell, a single mullioned window, top right, provides additional light from--and views into--the main barn interior. The two other mismatched window frames on the exterior bedroom wall are actually mirrors.

The bedroom itself is flooded with light from windows at the far end. The interior structure was left in its natural state with hand-hewn timber supports and cross beams, plank ceilings, and clapboard walls unchanged. A table desk with graceful cabriole legs is beautifully silhouetted against the brilliant light of day.

Style Guide: German Folk Art

2008-04-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

Wall murals, colorful folk art, and an eye-catching mix of antique and reproduction furniture distinguish an 1808 Maryland dwelling.

Like most restoration projects, this 1808 house is a work in progress -- with one thing leading to another. After transforming the barely habitable structure into a comfortable home, its owners set about adding period touches to the interior. The husband, a painter and craftsman, created panoramic 19th-century-style murals on the dwelling's walls and continues to restore antique furniture and produce replicas of the Pennsylvania German folk art and household items he and his wife admire.

In order to display his work as well as to capitalize on their joint passion for antiques, the couple opened a shop, Spring Blessing, in their home. The store specializes in primitive American antiques and reproductions of 18th- and 19th-century furnishings.

Have a look around this Maryland home, which has been lovingly restored both inside and out.

Living Room

Although the house was in disrepair when the owners purchased it, the living room's original heart-pine floor and vernacular Federal-style mantel, window surrounds, and chair rail had survived in fine condition. The wing chairs, which they design and sell in their antiques shop, are upholstered in colorful vintage wool blankets.

Paired with Queen Anne side chairs, a c. 1750 hickory tavern table occupies one corner of the room. Modeled after a common decorative item in the home of 18th- and 19th-century Pennsylvania Germans, the reproduction "bird tree" on the coffee table provides a perch for hand-carved songbirds.

Dining Room Fireplace

Before mass production made patterned wallpaper widely available, rural early-19th-century homeowners sometimes hired itinerant artists to paint picturesque murals on the walls of their homes. In keeping with this tradition, the husband composed an evocative portrait of a Mid-Atlantic seaside village above and around the dining-room fireplace.

The soft, modulating tones of the painted wall reflect the colors of the view outdoors. In the summertime the fireplace is filled with a large vase of flowers. Large wingback chairs beckon visitors to sit and rest.

Dining Room Wall

Painted by the homeowner in the vibrant, realistic style defined by such 18th- and 19th-century American muralists as Moses Eaton, Sr., and Rufus Porter, the dining room's maritime scene was modeled after an example the owners admired during a visit to the Shelburne Museum near Burlington, Vt.

Dining Room Detail

In addition to the painting of the wall's Maryland townscape, the husband crafted a diminutive stone springhouse and a clapboard Saltbox, displayed here on top of a 1780 dower chest.

The squat cobalt jar holds showy branches clipped from a Judas tree. The wall painting, miniature buildings, and flowering branches combine to create a wonderful vignette of American folk art.

Kitchen

Located at the back of the house on the basement level is the dwelling's original kitchen. It is furnished with a mid-1700's Austrian dough table and three-legged Moravian chairs.

Although no longer used for food preparation, the kitchen still has its original cooking hearth, which the couple restored using old bricks. A painted c. 1750 cradle sits in front of the window. The husband used Gilbert Stuart's 1795 portrait of George Washington as the model for his rendering.

Yard

Hand-painted Hungarian dinnerware dresses the picnic table, which has been positioned pondside for an alfresco supper. Home to an assortment of creatures, including bass, bluegills, and frogs, the hand-dug pond reaches a depth of 11 feet in some spots.

Elsewhere on the property, sheep graze lazily and an original smokehouse holds period smoking equipment. The bucolic, relaxed environment is a perfect setting for a country home that continues to evolve.

Style Guide: Victorian House, At Ease In Maine

2008-04-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

The pared-down interior of this renovated Victorian embodies the quiet charms of seaside living.

To lighten and brighten the exterior of this 1886 Victorian house, its owners replaced its dark-green aluminum siding with untreated cedar shingles and rebuilt a rear addition that had compromised the dwelling's architectural spirit. Inside, they removed patterned wallpapers, pulled up carpets to expose wood floors, and chose sunny paints and comfortable furnishings to create an unfussy, streamlined look that befits the house's coastal location.

Come inside and see how an authentic old home was updated in a modern style with bright colors and an uncomplicated decorating scheme.

Living Room

"This was the first room we tackled," the owner says of the bright living room. Working with designer Patricia O'Shaughnessy, they stripped its wallpaper, installed a beaded-board ceiling, and painted the floor a brilliant blue to achieve the crisp, fresh look they wanted. They opted for a mix of pale upholstery fabrics -- damask for the camelback sofa, heavy cotton for the matching armchairs and the slipcover on the rounded-back love seat.

A club chair that had been included in the house sale was rejuvenated by a vivid striped slipcover. Bordered by a gilded frame, billowy cumulous clouds rendered in oil by Connecticut artist Ralph Feyl reinforce the calming effect of the room's color scheme. Stars are used as decorative elements throughout the interior.

Kitchen

Even though it is in an old house, the kitchen has a sleek, modern appeal thanks to smooth surfaces and a palette that is limited to white with touches of yellow and blue. Situated at the back of the house, the newly rebuilt kitchen boasts pine floors, custom cabinetry, and a ceramic-tile backsplash with a contrasting diamond-motif border.

Glass-fronted cabinets display colorful dishes, and the commodious center island performs triple duty as a desk, cooktop, and grill.

Dining Room

"We bought the house as is -- with books, paintings, and furniture," says the owner. "We edited out some things, but we kept as much as we could." The dining room's turn-of-the-century table and chairs are but a few of the items the couple opted to keep.

Fresh-picked sweet peas, cosmos, and hydrangeas add color to the tabletop set with pink-luster-decorated teacups. A variety of taste treats await the hour of afternoon tea. The pale peach walls are nicely complemented by the pretty table cloth.

Bedroom

The couple converted four narrow rooms into a spacious master suite consisting of a bedroom, bathroom, and dressing room. Taking its cue from the seaside setting the dressing area is enlivened by graphic cockleshell wallpaper. A vintage photograph, a frosted-glass vase brimming with Queen Anne's lace, and a tea box discovered in one of the dresser drawers are displayed on the sturdy bureau.

Pickled-pine floors, white walls, and a ceiling painted in pale periwinkle create a sense of expansiveness as well as calm in the master bedroom, viewed through the door. The four-poster bed was constructed from weathered wood salvaged from a porch in the South.

Bathroom

The colors of the ocean and sky are reflected in the peaceful bathroom. Beaded board was used to create storage space along the wall behind the pedestal sink. Clustered on the ledge are silver-plated mint julep cups.

An engraved soap dish and an earthenware pitcher filled with hydrangeas sit behind the sink. The various blues and greens seen in the room are tied together in the simple woven rug.

Exterior

Pink asters, larkspur, black-eyed Susans, and towering sunflowers reflect the colors of the interior rooms, and bloom along a path that leads to the beach. The pale, untreated cedar shingles that cover the house replaced dark green aluminum siding. Pots of annuals line the steps, which lead down to the grass.

The owners can dine outside here and enjoy the expansive Maine views. Inside, the decor of this relaxing home reflect all of the colors found outside in the nature that surrounds it.

Style Guide: Mid-Atlantic Farmhouse

2008-04-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

Situated on lush Pennsylvania farmland, this stately historic dwelling was faithfully restored and updated.

One sleety day 36 years ago, a determined woman first laid eyes on the stone farmhouse that would ultimately become her home. Although her husband initially expressed misgivings about its leaky roof and the holes in the floors, the couple purchased the historic structure and established residence in it just prior to the birth of their first child. "We have never stopped working on the place," says the wife. In 1991, the homeowners restored the farmhouse, refitted the plumbing, and added on a new kitchen and family room.

Let's have a look at this rejuvenated country classic.

Front Door

The classic lines of this house are actually composed of several additions. The oldest section of the house lies to the right of the front entrance; the 1840 twin addition to the left. Subsequent lateral expansions were undertaken in 1928 and 1991.

The palette of the house's exterior was limited so that the colors would harmonize with one another; both the brick-colored shutters and white azaleas complement the stone facade. The house is gently nestled amongst dogwood, ash, walnut, and locust trees.

Living Room

Situated in the oldest section of the house, the tranquil living room is a sophisticated mix of antiques. Pale peach walls, polished wood floors, and Oriental rugs provide a perfect setting for the exquisite period furnishings.

The 19th-century Philadelphia antique pieces include a graceful c. 1810 sofa that features carved feathers on its crest rail and a c. 1810 card table (at right) with brass accents. Both pieces have been attributed to Joseph B. Barry, a celebrated Philadelphia cabinetmaker. Standing in front of the windows are c. 1805 mahogany side chairs.

Stone Room

The cool, rough textures of the "stone room" offer a marked contrast to the polished living room. A 1780 flintlock rifle, pewter dinnerware, and candlesticks turned from centuries-old Irish bog oak are displayed on the late-18th-century mantel.

A rounded-back side chair from the Orkney Islands and a c. 1790 comb-back Windsor flank the hearth, where the family shepherd, Elsa, rests. The wife created the colorful arrangement in the fireplace using flowers from her own gardens.

Dining Room

Sunny yellow walls and a blue patterned area rug make a dramatic statement in the formal dining room. Filling the space are a c. 1815 Philadelphia table, a c. 1740 walnut Queen Anne highboy, and c. 1810 Philadelphia side chairs and armchairs made by Joseph B. Barry.

Nineteenth-century Canton porcelain is displayed on the shelf above the windows and on top of the highboy. In the hallway, a copper urn rests atop a c. 1810 lyre-base worktable. Hanging overhead is a c. 1750 print by English naturalist Mark Catesby.

Kitchen

When the new kitchen was constructed in 1991, its cramped predecessor was converted into a pantry. Several people can now work in the new space, which looks as if it existed all along. The pine cabinetry was custom-made for the kitchen, and the work island was topped with granite for aesthetics as well as practicality.

Designed by Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), a proponent of the American Arts and Crafts movement, the hand-painted ceramic tiles that decorate the range hood depict tradespeople at work. The wife's home office lies beyond the Dutch door.

Guest Room

The guest room is decorated with fine antiques. The four-poster twin bed with pineapple carved detailing is dressed with a crocheted spread that was found at a secondhand store for $25. A handmade country quilt folded at the foot of the bed adds a soft range of color to the room. On the c. 1805 bachelor's chest sits an English shaving stand.

The gown hanging from the door was worn by the owner's elder daughter on her wedding day. It features a bodice trimmed with old family lace and an embroidered peacock-motif front panel that once served as the train on the owner's and her mother's wedding gowns.

Style Guide: A Grand Tradition

2008-04-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

On their farm in rural Maryland, a couple commemorates America's birthday with an all-day celebration for family and friends.

The owners of this home are sentimental about their farm, and rightfully so. The husband grew up just down the road; these 140 rolling acres used to be his grandfather's dairy farm. But the house the couple lived in, family-built in the 1960's, was a far cry from the country style that they had embraced in recent years. "Our architectural midlife crisis took us from chrome and glass to auctions, flags, and Uncle Sams in just two years," laughs the wife, recalling the change.

Rather than move, they countrified their home by trundling in two 19th-century log houses. The larger one adjoins their 30-year-old home -- since redone to recall the look of an 1850's farmhouse -- and a smaller cabin stands by the pool, where their annual Fourth of July picnic begins.

Let's wander around this country compound, decorated especially for America's birthday.

Dining Area

At the dining table, a bountiful Independence Day feast is served on the wife's collection of Blue Willow china. The antique table is covered with a cheerful checked table cloth and laden with summer corn, tomatoes, and other picnic staples.

A flag holder from a country store sees new life as a bouyant centerpiece. The Star-Spangled Banner on the bench is stitched with the names of its makers.

Pantry

This room looks just like a corner out of a 19th-century market, and the homeowners call it Brown's General Store in affectionate tribute to a lifelong friend of the husband. Nooks and crannies hold old-fashioned mugs, tins, and cans.

A window (not visible in photograph) drops down to create a pass-through so drinks and food can be served to friends outdoors. Cobbled together from various sources, the shelves, cubbies, drawers, and countertop look like one large piece of built-in furniture.

Guest Room

This guest room is referred to as the honeymoon suite, because a photograph of the wife's grandparents as bride and groom hangs on the wall. On another wall of the room hang photographs of the husband's grandparents in the early years of their marriage.

The lacy curtains, embroidered linens, and pristine 19th-century garments further enhance the ceremonial feeling. The rough textures of the log house contrast with the delicate white textiles of the room, and Winston the cat lazes on a pieced silk flag quilt.

Bathroom

Fluffy white towels and a cool tub of water beckon one to refresh and relax. A copper-lined dovetailed-pine tub from a Philadelphia hotel occupies the bath. On the wall is a framed Centennial banner and a blue and white jack, a flag flown from a ship usually used to indicate nationality.

Glimpsed through the doorway is the wife's 1907 Steiff bear on wheels, a Christmas gift from her husband.

Pool House Interior

A newspaper ad led the homeowners to a farm a mile away, where they bought this 1880 log cabin for $500 and relocated it next to the pool. Stripping the walls of brick, siding, plaster, and plywood revealed handsome log underpinnings.

Now it's the perfect place to enjoy some cool lemonade on the Fourth of July. Twin baldrics hang on the wall; these shiny sashes were worn by strutting politicians of yore.

Style Guide: Country Kitchens (Part IV)

2008-04-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

Stenciled borders, vintage pottery, and handcrafted furniture uphold the spirit of Early America in a renovated New England kitchen.

Farmhouse tradition

Built in 1757 by prominent Connecticut potter and dairy farmer Morgan Goodwin, this classic white clapboard farmhouse in West Hartford had fallen on hard times by the late 1980's, when its current homeowners came to the rescue. The couple overhauled the interior, transforming three tiny rooms into a kitchen filled with country antiques and handcrafted reproductions of 18th- and 19th-century furnishings.

With new wooden cabinetry, wide-plank pine floors, and an efficient layout featuring a central work island topped with rock maple, the kitchen once again serves as the heart of the home. Behind the stove, hand-painted tiles incorporated into the backsplash depict the property as it may have looked in its dairy-farm days.

Cheerful and Bright

The combination of pale yellow walls and ceilings and green/gray trim provide a warm and inviting atmosphere in the kitchen's dining area. To help delineate walls from ceiling and add visual interest to the room, a delicate stenciled border tops the walls. Although shutters are available for privacy, the 12-over-12 windows are simply dressed with traditional floral curtains.

The trestle table and Windsor chairs were handmade by Connecticut crafsmen Gerry Cunphy and Terry Wakeman. The sideboard to the right was built and painted by the homeowners.

A Relaxed Setting

The beauty is in the details as evidenced here by the tabletop setting. Traditional flow-blue china and Colonial Williamsburg stemware are the perfect companions for any occasion, from casual mid-morning brunch to formal late night dining.

The classic gingham check linens and bare wood table top clearly evoke a relaxed mood. Tiny pots of rosemary lend fragrance and a touch of greenery to the setting. And who can resist the mouth-watering appeal of ripe strawberries?
Table and chairs: Classics in Wood.

A Vivid Display

The late-19th-century cupboard holds a variety of well-used yellowware mixing bowls, pie plates, and custard cups. The yellowware collection, like the gray/green painted shelves of the cabinet, supports the room's overall color scheme.

On top of the cupboard, the homeowners have displayed their selection of band boxes, stacked in graduating size order. The cabinet door below offers concealed storage for additional tabletop accessories, china, serving pieces, and stemware.

Style Guide: New England Farmhouse

2008-04-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

A Vermont couple rehabilitated their 1792 home with attention to historical accuracy as well as health and environmental concerns.

Seventeen years ago, a married couple purchased this Federal-period house in rural Vermont. Once part of a large dairy farm, the 1792 farmhouse and 55-acre property represented the best of both worlds, since the wife wanted an old house and the husband wanted some land.

As time passed, however, she realized that she was getting sick fairly regularly and that her allergies were especially bothersome whenever she spent a lot of time at the house. After hiring an environmental engineer, the couple discovered that the damp, inadequately insulated dwelling was plagued by 200 years' worth of mold and other allergens.

To remedy the problem, the homeowners set out to make their house "healthy" as well as to restore it. In addition to disinfecting the entire structure and installing custom windows, they brought wiring up to code and installed cotton insulation instead of fiberglass. They also removed lead-based paint products from walls, floors, and woodwork, and then finished them with all-natural paints, sealers, and stains.

Let's go inside and see how a faithful restoration can also be a healthy one.

Front Hall

Stripped and refinished with water-based paint products that are free of fungicides and chemical additives, the entry hall's pine floorboards and pale, unadorned walls help to establish the understated, clean-lined look that prevails throughout this Federal farmhouse.

Nuetral shades of cream and white play off one another in the hall and the Vermont sunlight modulates the walls and floors. Oriental rugs lend a little color to the spare decor. The dining room is visible beyond.

Parlor

In honor of the wife's favorite author, the homeowners playfully refer to the comfortable parlor as the Edith Wharton Reading Room. The parlor's Federal-style mantel, designed by Weather Hill Restoration to replace one installed in the room during the Victorian era, supports framed antique botanicals and a luster-decorated pitcher.

The overstuffed traditional furnishings are covered in complementary florals and plaids. A striped rug underfoot pulls the decorative scheme together.

Kitchen

Designed by architect Jeffrey Barnes in collaboration with Weather Hill Restoration, the kitchen reflects the house's 18th-century roots without sacrificing the benefits of modern conveniences. The pine cabinets feature a rich forest-green painted finish. The cherry countertops are protected with a nontoxic sealer.

As in the dining room, the original rough-hewn ceiling beams were exposed; the multi-paned windows and plankwood flooring are also true to the period. In the room's center, local Vermont marble tops the island where the components for a wholesome picnic feast are arranged on a wooden dough board.

Garden Room

French doors form the outer wall of the garden room, which was added to the kitchen during the restoration. Pine ladder-back chairs surround an American hutch table found in Vermont.

Although the homeowners were told that checkerboard floors weren't common during the period their house was built, they decided to toss historical accuracy to the wind in this one instance. "No matter how much you consult with architects and interior designers, if you have a strong feeling about what is going to make you happy you should do it," the wife advises.

Bedroom

The bedroom upstairs has the airy, floral feeling of a garden bower. The wife combed design stores for nearly five months before she decided on the bedroom's floral-patterned wallpaper. "It's the kind of dreamy paper that looks as though its been there for 100 years," she says.

Cherry beds, a pine bureau, and a painted wire bench outfit the bedroom, one of two guest rooms situated on the second floor. Furnishings are kept simple to minimize dust and allergens. Antique quilts decorate the beds, and the windows are left unadorned, the better to admit the bright sunshine.

Exterior

Located on a quiet rural road, the three-bedroom clapboard dwelling features two brick chimneys. Built on to the rear of the house, the small pitched-roof addition off the kitchen functions as a mudroom. A flowering crab apple tree provides shade for a garden patio. A wrought-iron table with heart-motif side chairs is ready for outdoor entertaining.

During the restoration of the house, the old windows were removed and replaced with custom-made thermal windows fitted with vintage glass. The new windows not only look beautiful, they will last forever.

Style Guide: Colonial Cape

2008-04-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

Period furnishings and unveiled windows help imbue an 18th-century home on Martha's Vineyard with the breezy charm of island living.

"I love being in Vineyard Haven," says the owner of this home on Martha's Vineyard, an island just off the coast of Cape Cod. "It's a real town with real people who live there -- it's not just a summer community." An interior designer by profession, she became a Vineyarder 11 years ago when she purchased a 1773 three-quarter Cape Cod cottage in the center of all the activity.

The house was originally built by Vineyard Haven's first harbor master for his son and daughter-in-law. One of the few remaining survivors of a devastating 1830 fire, the structure has undergone various renovations over the years -- including a complete kitchen update and bathroom addition. Thanks to unpretentious arrangements of period antiques, a cool blue-and-white color scheme, and unobstructed windows and open doorways, the dwelling still retains much of its original Vineyard charm.

Now that summer is here, we thought the timing ideal for a trip to the Cape. We're glad you decided to come along.

Living Room

The homeowner chose to decorate her home simply. She created an airy, uncluttered space as a setting to showcase her antique furnishings and accessories. A peaceful blue-and-white color scheme, inspired by the surrounding sea and sky, fills the room with soft color and light.

The sofas are slipcovered in a blue and white striped cotton fabric, while a French blue floral decorates the footstool and throw pillow. The windows are dressed with drapery panels and valances in a classic blue-and-white bird-and-thistle toile from Brunschwig & Fils.

Living Room Detail

"I am interested in nautical things," says the homeowner. One of her prized possessions is the antique ship model displayed on a Queen Anne cherry drop-leaf table in the living room. A soothing background for the antique pieces is provided by the wainscoting and trim, painted in a hsitorical Wickham Grey from Benjamin Moore The walls are painted stark white to simulate plaster.

An antique tin reproduction wall sconce adds a colonial touch to the vignette. The homeowner sells these sconces and other decorative items, like dishes and cotton rugs, through her interior design business.

Dining Room

Adjoining the living room is a cheerful sunlit dining room. American ladderback chairs gather around the dining room's reproduction harvest table. The blue and white color theme of the living room is repeated here with Brunschwig's bird and thistle fabric covering the dining room settee, and Staffordshire plates decorating the wall.

A sisal rug underfoot provides a neutral base for the room. Through the rear doorway and past the kitchen lies the backyard -- and a barn where the owner plans to set up an antique shop.

Dining Room Detail

New French doors not only provide easy access to the rear garden, but help to bring the natural beauty of the Vineyard in. "They're not terribly authentic," says the homeowner, "but they really make the room lighter. When they're open, it's almost like you're eating outdoors."

Potted plants, woven baskets, and a tiger maple table further enhance the natural decor.

Bedroom

The master bedroom on the first floor features a hand-crafted pencil-post bed, decorated with a hand-tied fishnet canopy. To help create a romantic country look, the bed is finished in a rose-colored fabric dust ruffle, with floral bed pillows. A framed antique doll's quilt hangs on the wall.

A pair of gold-leaf birds tie back the Swiss organdy curtains. "The light is so pretty on the Vineyard that I was careful with the colors in the house," notes the homeowner. There are two additional bedrooms upstairs.

Outdoor Shower

Taking a shower outdoors after a day at the beach is one of life's simplest pleasures. It also helps to refresh the body and the spirit on hot summer days. The shower is located near the back door off the kitchen. "We even use the outdoor shower when it's cold and raining." notes the owner. "On those days the hot water is particularly wonderful."

Glossy bittersweet grows over the walls, and the blue-and-white color scheme from inside is carried out to the shower with a large fluffy striped bath towel.

Style Guide: Colonial Farmhouse With French Flair

2008-04-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

French country antiques and sunny cotton fabrics infuse a Connecticut Colonial farmhouse with European flair.

The rooms of this 1706 home reveal a passion for things French as well as a playful sense of style. "Nothing pleases me more than combining formal and country French antiques," remarks the homeowner. It is the unique combination of fabrics, furnishings, and collectibles that has enabled her to transform a New England home into a charming Provençal farmhouse.

French Souleiado fabrics are used throughout the house, from the cheery yellow and blue theme of the keeping room to the sumptuous red of the living room. Literally translated, Souleiado refers to the filtered light of the sun as it breaks through the clouds of an afternoon rain. The term is now used to describe a style of colorful French printed cotton fabrics.

"The versatility of Souleiado fabrics allows me the fun of juxtaposing patterns and colors," she adds. To share in the delights of Provence and the beautiful color and patterns of Souleiado fabrics, the owner has invited us to spend an afternoon.

Entrez vous, s'il vous plâit.

Keeping Room

The keeping room is painted a lively yellow ("A vist to Monet's home at Giverny inspired my choice of color," says the homeowner). She fashioned the same blue-and-ocher fabric on the dining chairs into curtains and upholstery cushions. The printed fabric contrasts nicely with the woven rug underfoot.

A tasty fireside treat has been set out on the walnut farm table. Other treasures include antique copper cookware and a 19th-century cherry bench.

Corner Detail

A built-in cabinet, original to the house, dominates a corner of the keeping room. The glass panel door has been left open to reveal a beautiful collection of 18th- and 19th-century majolica, jaspé, and faïence platters, milk pitchers, wine jugs, and mustard pots.

The homeowner scours France for these antique collectibles, which she offers for sale along with Souleiado fabrics at Country Loft Antiques -- a shop she maintains in the 1850's barn on her property.

Living Room

Lively patterns and expressive colors mix together in true Provençal style in the living room. A cozy armchair, extra-wide chaise longue with ottoman, and upholstered Louis XV sleigh bed are all decorated in a delicate floral pattern called "Madame de Maintenon." For contrast, it is paired with the "Princesse Grace" shown on the walls and drapery lining.

The oil-on-canvas panels on the 18th-century folding screen capture the bucolic charm of the Provençal countryside. For texture and harmonizing hues, toile fabrics and Aubusson petit point cushions have been added.

Fireplace Detail

The fireplace in the living room was painted to complement the rich red ground color of the "Princesse Grace" wallpaper.

Included among the mix of antiques, books, and bibelot is a French faïence bird-topped roof ornament. It perches near a Louis XV marble-topped console table. Hung above the mantel is a pair of 18th-century Strasbourg faïence plates.

Garden Room

A large early-1800's French table dominates the garden room, providing an ideal work surface for horticultural pursuits. Apothecary jars find new use as vases for fresh-cut flowers. They are available in abundant supply in the homeowner's shop.

The corner cupboard in this room is 18th-century American; the contents within include green and gold glazed confit pots. A lace window panel and delicate vine-and-rose patterned wallcovering soften the more rustic elements of the room.

Bedroom

Crisp blue and white patterns create a decidedly different mood in the bedroom. The homeowner mixed two Souleiado prints in the room: "La Petite Fleur des Champs" for the curtains, child's warming chair, bed skirt, and gathered panel, and "Les Vignerons" for the wall covering.

The Louis XV hand-carved headboard, which combines lemon-wood and ebony inlays, was discovered in a Breton dwelling. In addition to the Souleiado bed skirt, the bed is dressed with a 19th-century Marseilles coverlet and French pillow slips.

Style Guide: Country Kitchens (Part III)

2008-04-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

A rejuvenated 1920's Tudor honors the fine craft tradition extolled by turn-of-the-century architects Greene and Greene.

Like many Tudor-style houses of the 1920's, this dwelling in Bedford Hills, N.Y., had a kitchen that was dark and forbidding. Architect David Graham removed walls to an adjacent pantry to create an open and light-filled work space.

For architectural interest, he added handcrafted elements evocative of the works of the early-1900's Craftsman architects (and brothers) Charles S. and Henry M. Greene, including cherry woodwork with exposed joinery, oak flooring, leaded-glass casement windows, and amber-glass lighting.

Builder: Mark Benko. Cabinetry, woodworking, and stools: Geoffrey D. Warner. Refrigerator: Traulsen. Stove: Aga. White restaurant ware and mixing bowls throughout: Wolfman-Gold & Good Co.

Island Splendor

"Greene and Greene believed that by revealing -- not hiding -- the joinery and construction of furnishings, you convey honesty in your designs," explains cabinetmaker Geoffrey Warner. He devised the center island, which features a stainless-steel preparatory sink, exposed copper plumbing, open shelving, and a polished-granite countertop.

Wire carriage with clay pots in work island: Wolfman-Gold & Good Co.

Crafted Cabinetry

The Arts & Crafts movement celebrated the artistry of the individual craftsman. Here, square inlaid ebony pegs -- a signature detail of Greene and Greene designs -- punctuate the trim of the pantry's cupboard doors, which have leaded glass panes on top and curly cherry panel doors below. Even the door and drawer pulls contribute to the design aesthetic.

Stickley Original

A generous fireplace highlighted by cherry paneling, dark-brown ceramic tiles, and a wide strap of brass aged to resemble copper, provides an inviting backdrop for casual family meals. The early-1900's oak dining set is a Gustav Stickley original. The reproduction Stickley chandelier was crafted of hand-hammered copper and molded glass panels by craftsman Michael Ashford of Olympia, Wash.

Goblets: Simon Pearce. Metal chargers: Wilton Armetale. Table linens: Wolfman-Gold & Good Co.

Style Guide: Country Kitchens (Part II)

2008-04-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

The Warmth of White

Natural-fiber textiles and old painted furniture distinguish a Midwestern farmhouse kitchen.

Several years ago the owner of this Midwestern farmhouse, a longtime collector of colorful painted furniture, discovered the many shades of white. "It was as if I had had blinders on," she says. "Suddenly I became conscious of a whole new palette."

When remodeling, she and her husband selected antique painted furniture and 18th- and 19th-century collectibles to provide subtle color hues and textures. Today the room serves as a classic study in white . . . beautifully styled, artfully functional, and invitingly warm.

Subtle Hues and Textures

Although the owners spent three years transforming their Illinois kitchen into an oasis of white walls, furniture, and accessories, they realized that subtle, complementary hues and natural textures were needed to warm it up.

Collectibles Display

While the Windsor chairs around the antique hutch table are newly crafted, the cupboard that displays a collection of antique French and English conservatory pots dates from the 18th century.

A birdhouse with shingled roof and chimney creates an unusual tabletop centerpiece. On the wall above, newly made lard candles made to look old are hung from a peg rail in Shaker fashion.
Shaker peg rail: Constance Greer. Candles: Nancy Settel. Chandelier: The Seraph.

Room to Spare

In the adjacent sitting room the owners added the fireplace; the bricks are from southern Illinois, the surround and mantel were purchased at a flea market, and the fanlight hails from New England. "I always said that if I could have only one fireplace in the house, I wanted it to be in the kitchen, where I could enjoy it most," remarks the owner.

To that end they turned to the age-worn patina of antique painted furniture -- like the early-1800's cupboard at right and the old dry sink now serving as a center island. A collection of antique homespun towels and 18th- and 19th-century wood bowls and pantry boxes were also added for color and textural interest.

Topiaries and selected antiques throughout: Mary de Bhur.

Style Guide: Mexican Folk Art

2008-04-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Early American and Mexican treasures distinguish a 1920's adobe dwelling in Little Rock.

The owners of this 1927 Spanish adobe home in Little Rock, Ark., created a showcase that reflects their passion for antiques and folk art. It is the type of furniture styles and collectibles that makes this Collectors' Showcase so unique.

When remodeling their home, the owners drew inspiration from dwellings they admired on travels through Mexico. They created an interior courtyard, embellished surfaces with painted tiles, and selected an expressive color palette.

What they found when they began mixing New England antiques with authentic Mexican pieces was that the two styles actually complemented one another, with the simplicity and warmth of one playing off the intriguing forms and colors of the other.

Although sombreros are not required for this home tour, they would hardly seem out of place. Olé!

Courtyard

Looking at the interior courtyard, you would think you were in Mexico rather than Little Rock. Tropical plantings frame the space occupied by an umbrella-shaded iron table and chairs. The umbrella -- made of burlap and featuring a graceful hand-crocheted edge -- was made in the Mexican village of San Miquel de Allende.

As in the kitchen, hand-painted decorative tiles appear on the tabletop and the wall beneath the windows. A jardinaire, now brimming with the tendrils of a lush fern, complements the blue and white design. The "lacey" porcelain candlesticks on the table were handcrafted nearly 100 years ago by Mexican artisans.

Dining Room

Displayed in an early Welsh cupboard, contemporary Mexican ceramicware from the village of Delores Hidalgo carries South of the Border spirit into the dining room. The Sheraton drop-leaf dining room table is surrounded by Rhode Island Windsor chairs. As a centerpiece, purple sage from the garden provdes an unusual look and unusually fragrant scent.

Keeping Room

Hung above the keeping room's faux marble mantel is an 1820 portrait and hand-lettered meeting hall sign, both from New England. A century -- or pilgrim -- chair claims one corner of the hearth. On the opposite side, a New England drop-leaf table displays a variety of collectibles, including a tin maple-sugar mold. A floral painted firescreen is mounted on the wall above.

The sofa's flame stitch upholstery complements the color and design of the oriental carpet, table linens, and decorative throw. The coffee table at center is a c.1800 tilt-top table, cut down and valued for its original blue paint.

Corner Cupboard

Collections require display space, and the antique corner cupboard in the living room provides a beautiful showcase for patterned tableware. Made in New York and dating from 1820, the cabinet is unusual for many things, not the least of which is its original blue paint finish.

Guest Bedroom

In the guest bedroom a profusion of floral blooms and vines decorate the vintage fabric used for the sumptuous bed hangings and linens. Deep green-colored walls and dark wood floors add a dramatic richness to the setting. On the windows, embroidered panels serve as decorative valances, with sheer draperies providing a translucent filter for natural light.

The room showcases a number of treasured family heirlooms -- like the Victorian taffeta-upholstered couch and feathered hat. Other unique vintage textiles include the early patchwork quilt on the bed and 1840's silk taffeta dress hanging in the corner.

Three bandboxes sit atop the cupboard, each featuring a primitive American scene in shades of blue and white. To complement the rich texture of the whitewashed adobe walls, drapery panels are stenciled with repetitive vertical patterns and hung from branch-like metal rods.

The yellow-painted adobe walls complement the room's furnishings and architectural details, like the exposed ceiling timbers and wood-plank flooring. During the evening a tin chandelier -- which the owners claim is of "mysterious date and origin" -- gives the room a special ambiance.

Master Bedroom

From the checkered bed linens, toile patterned table skirts, assorted blankets and throws, and buffalo plaid drapery panels, the master bedroom relies on shades of blue and white to unify the rich interplay of texture and pattern. The solid blue coverlet and painted louver doors add balance to the pattern-rich scheme, and contrast to the cream painted walls and ceiling.

The room features a number of early American country accents, including the spinning wheel and child's Windsor chair shown in the foreground; both were handed down from the owner's mother. An unsual lace canopy dresses the Shaker-inspired pencil-post bed.

Scandinavian Chests

2008-04-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

Most surviving Scandinavian immigrant chests date from early in the 19th century through the early 20th century; the most coveted examples predate modern machinery. Because not all chests were dated, the following tips may help the alert collector spot an early-19th-century example:

Examine the chest's surface

Early examples appear somewhat bumpy and have notches and irregularities not often seen on those made later in the century, when machines were able to achieve a smoother, more even surface.

Run the tips of your fingers over the wood

Hand-planed boards have thin grooves running in the direction of the grain. Boards planed by machines that cut across the width of the wood have faint ripples going against the grain.

Inspect dovetailed joints

Corners with small gaps and slight protrusions are more likely to have been joined before the age of machines, when mortise and tenon construction could be done with more precision.

Count the number of boards in the lid

As forests were harvested, trees large enough to produce wide boards became scarce. Therefore, while only two boards may have been needed for an early-19th-century lid, four or more may have been necessary by the end of the century.

Look for mellowed colors in the painted decorating

Chests decorated late in the 19th century and beyond have colors that sill appear bright today and do not have the same arm patina that collectors admire.

The 'America Chest'

Before the 17th century, when cupboards and chests of drawers first came into use, standing chests provided storage for linens, documents, and other household valuables. In Scandinavia, the pieces remained popular long after other forms of storage were available.

The most elaborately decorated chests were generally wedding, or dowry, chests. Made for prospective brides by their fathers or fiancés, these treasured heirlooms were used to store linens and other household items. The painted designs that covered the exterior of the chests often included the intended wedding date and initials of the young woman for whom it was made.

This dowry trunk dated 1845 features female figures in Victorian dress surrounded by rosemaling.The strong sentimental value these handcrafted trunks held for their owners made it almost certain they would have been packed and brought to America. Other chests made specifically for the transoceanic journey often resembled wedding chests in size, construction, and purpose but generally lacked their intricate, allover designs.

Author Vilhelm Moberg described the importance of immigrant chests like these in The Emigrants*: "It was the roomiest and strongest packing case they could find — five feet long, three feet high, wrought with strong iron bands three fingers wide. The four oak walls of this chest were for thousands of miles to enclose and protect their essentials; to these planks would be entrusted most of their belongings. The ancient clothes chest which was about to pass into an altogether new and eventful epoch of its history was even given a new name in its old age. It was called the 'America chest.' "

Construction and Decoration

Long winters and an abundance of natural woods gave Scandinavian craftsmen much opportunity to make furniture. The want of sunlight throughout much of the year also led Scandinavians to rely on color and painted surface decorations to brighten dark interiors.

While some early examples were made of oak, most Scandinavian chests were made of pine and featured simple dovetailed construction and measured about three to four feet in length by about two feet in height and depth. A flat or domed lid extended slightly over the sides.

Chests were often strengthened by the addition of hammered-iron straps, bands, and corner braces. A lock was sure to have been attached and sometimes featured a wide iron backplate. Iron handles at either end of the trunk made it easier to move. These handles were especially important on chests that sat directly on the floor rather than on feet.

Linens, clothing, cookware, and books numbered among the items transported in 19th-century immigrant chests.

The amount of painted decoration on a chest often depended on the piece's intended use. Simple toolboxes or those chests made specifically for the trip to the United States may have been finished with a single coat of paint or false graining and a minimum of decoration. Wedding chests and immigrant chests made by a father or grandfather as a parting gift for a beloved child, on the other hand, generally displayed elaborate painted decoration.

Decoration on Swedish chests tended to be more subdued than that on Norwegian examples. Norwegian craftsmen favored bold, undiluted colors, intricate carving, and the detailed painted decoration known as rosemaling. One popular Swedish design, by contrast, featured a solid background of robin's-egg blue with a simple painted circle of flowers. Typical features incorporated into the overall design of both Norwegian and Swedish chests include the date the piece was made or the date of the event it was intended to commemorate and the name and initials of the owner.

Collecting Today

Although immigrant chests from Norway and Sweden can be found in antiques shops around the country, the majority of these pieces surface in the Upper Midwest and other regions where Scandinavian immigrants settled in large numbers.

Prices range from about $500 for a small chest with little or no painted decoration to about $3,000 for a large chest covered with intricate rosemaling that incorporated a name and/or a date into the design. In addition to size, age, condition, and degree of detail, a knowledge of the maker or the family history can also favorably affect the value of a chest.

Depending on their own family heritage, most collectors tend to concentrate on either Norwegian or Swedish chests. There are those, however, who appreciate the chests more for their painted finishes than for their historic or sentimental value; these collectors seek the most visually appealing examples, whatever their nation of origin. Chests with flat lids are thought to be more versatile in home decorating, as they can double as small tables, but if all other factors are equal, the shape of the lid will not dramatically affect a chest's price.

Style Guide: Country Kitchens

2008-04-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Bold color and custom detailing define a kitchen inspired by painter Claude Monet's home in France.

In 1883, when Impressionist painter Claude Monet moved his large family to Maison du Pressoir ("House of the Cider Press"), a rambling farmhouse in Giverny, the kitchen and the room that was to be his studio were the first areas subjected to major renovation.

Well known for his bold use of color, the artist painted each room in his farmhouse a different hue, creating a vibrant escalation of color as one progressed through the dwelling.

Inspired by this house in the Gallic countryside, our newly designed kitchen includes an adjoining dining room, pantry, and laundry room. It features rich shades of blue on the cabinetry and walls as well as on window frames and mullions. Graphic tiles in five patterns add visual interest to the room.

Cabinetry, kitchen island, and woodworking throughout: Heritage Custom Kitchens. French doors and windows throughout: Andersen. Kitchen fixtures and faucets throughout: Kohler. Major appliances throughout: Jenn-Air. Color Passions Flooring throughout: Armstrong. Gibraltar solid surfacing: Wilsonart. Ceramic tiles throughout: Ann Sacks. Painting throughout: Gliddens. Beaded board and wood trim throughout: Georgia-Pacific. All task lighting: Hera. Mixer: KitchenAid. Scale and weights, egg timer, book stand, egg rack: Chantry. Knives: J. A. Henckels Zwillingswerk. Bottled vegetables: Morgan & Co.

French Customs

Well suited for entertaining, the spacious kitchen features a stainless steel commercial style cooktop, a double sink, a freestanding island constructed of cherry, and a wealth of copper molds and cookware. The easy-to-maintain inlaid vinyl flooring was custom designed to mimic the pattern of the large octagonal tiles Monet used to pave the floor of his kitchen. Following French custom, the cooktop hood is decorated with tiles.

Stainless steel cooktop: Jenn-Air. Copper pots and cookware: Old Dutch. Basketry throughout: Vintage Baskets. Wooden salt and pepper mills: Chantry. Japanese print: Ronin Gallery.

Decorative Utility

Decorative yet practical, this brass gooseneck faucet services a small utility sink built into the kitchen's center island. The round sink is under-mounted -- set below -- the countertop, giving it a more finished look. Although the countertop appears to be granite, it is actually a solid-surfacing material that offers the look of stone, but the benefits of easy cleanup and lasting beauty.

Sunburst plates: Holdenby Designs.

Architectural Style

Fitted with crystal knobs and painted in intense, saturated hues of blue, a freestanding cabinet unit serves as a partition of sorts between the kitchen and the bright yellow dining room beyond. An arched cutout above the cabinets adds an interesting architectural detail, contrasting the angular pitch of the ceiling with the linear elements of the cabinets and suspended lighting.

Brass lighting fixture: Original Cast Lighting. Recessed beam light: Juno.

Style Guide: American Folk Art

2008-04-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

An evolving collection of hand-crafted works enlivens a 20-year-old Illinois farmhouse.

When the owner of this welcoming Illinois home first began collecting, she gravitated toward unusual antique accessories. Through the years, however, she developed a special preference for the odd pieces of American folk art that now fill her home -- inside and out.

Throughout the dwelling, collectibles of every size reflect the owner's fondness for animals as well as her sense of humor. A cow weather vane and polka-dotted wooden chicken honor pets that reside on the five-acre farm. In addition to the rustic charm and hand-crafted quality of the pieces, the owner simply explains, "I love things that make me smile."

Although we wouldn't normally welcome you through the back entrance, we thought the patio was an ideal starting point for this home tour. Shaded from the afternoon sun, it seems to capture the essence of our story: the appeal of rustic styling, the beauty of natural surroundings, and the unique charm of American folk art.

Great Room

Cypress-twig garden furniture and abundant greenery integrate the great room with the woodsy patio located just ouside the multipaned glass doors. During the summer, the room becomes a natural extension of the outdoors, taking full advantage of garden parties and garden views. In the colder months, the room is a natural for combating the winter blues.

A 1920's wooden horse that once stood in a Maryland saddle shop now keeps company with a folk art couple created by a Georgia carver. Other unusual collectibles include a carved totem pole, a wood and iron plant stand, and various weather vane designs.

Family Room

Traditional upholstery, earth-tone fabrics, and cherry occasional tables set the backdrop for the family room's display of folk art figures and flags -- all dating from the early part of this century to the present day.

The beige and white flag, framed in gold and hung to the right of the fireplace, was made by the homeowner using cotton remnants for stripes and rhinestone buttons for stars. The homeowner believes the wooden V may actually date from the First World War.

Corner Detail

In this corner of the family room, Old Glory makes additional appearances in everything from pillow cushions to window displays. The framed poster represents a commemorative work by Jasper Johns celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Even the floorcovering mirrors the flag motif with its alternating stripes of red, white, and blue.

Among the more unusual art pieces is the airplane visible in the corner. It was ingeniously fashioned from soda-can tabs by an unknown artist.

Dining Room

The homeowner had the table custom built to fit the dining room's generous dimensions, then surrounded it with caned chairs she collected one by one. In front of a Log Cabin quilt in the Barn Raising arrangment, a papier-mâché eagle from Virginia surveys the room from its birch-log perch.

The copper horse-and-rider weather vane, manufactured by A. J. Harris & Co. of Boston, Mass., was salvaged from the homeowner's grandfather's barn. Pantry boxes, a wooden moose head, and a reproduction copper chandelier from Connecticut reflect the owner's eclectic eye.

Guest Bedroom

The guest bedroom, with its painted beams and high angled ceiling, features an unusual mix of colors, textures, and collectibles. The dark-stained wicker bed is dressed in floral and plaid linens and a colorful Beacon blanket -- much to the liking of Foxy, the owner's pet Corgi. Additional linens are stored in and above an antique pie safe near the room's entrance.

The room features an assortment of carved wood folk art, from miniature houses to a wall-mounted steer's head. The unusual horse and rider was carved from an evergreen root by a Canadian folk artist.

Exterior View

The exterior of the farmhouse is picture perfect with its weathered clapboard siding and wood-shingled roof set against a lush landscape of black-eyed Susans, bee balm, winter clematic, and tall natural grasses. A sign from a Girl Scout camp in the Adirondacks provides a clear message of welcome for guests.

In the foreground, the owners have provided a welcome for feathered friends as well: A lodge-like birdhouse made of weathered logs and wood shingles is mounted on an existing tree stump.

Style Guide: Colonial Farmstead

2008-04-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

A restored 1740's dwelling near Valley Forge exhibits an artistic mix of old and new.

In 1968, a single owner -- an artist by profession -- moved into this 1742 farmhouse in Audubon, Pa., with a vision and penchant for restoration.

She took on the project of reviving the old house wholeheartedly, doing it over one room at a time. She made numerous visits to Washington's 1777-1778 winter headquarters in nearby Valley Forge, where she borrowed ideas for restoring architectural details and the historical accuracy of her color palette.

Ten years ago, she met a fellow devotee -- a restorer of furniture and crafts accessories -- and rallied him to her cause. In the barn that now houses the art studio, the couple work together to arrange antiques into room settings, which they either incorporate into the house or sell at antiques shows. They also tend to five acres of gardens.

Living Room

To offset the massiveness of the 20- by 40-foot living room, the owner divided the space into sections based on activities. A trio of wing chairs -- two with matching blue moiré upholstery and one a classic check fabric -- is grouped with a Chippendale sofa to form a cozy sitting area. A piano and desk, not visible here, provides balance to the other end of the room.

Despite the dark wood tones of decorative moldings, ceiling beams, plank floors, and furniture, the cream-colored walls and large mullioned windows make the room bright and cheery. The stepback cupboard provides useful storage for collections of copperware and pottery. A bird's-eye maple Queen Anne gateleg table is positioned in front of the Boston rocker, just left of the fireplace.

The property has been named Colonial Yard. Join us on a tour of the house, and see how one homeowner combined two loves -- art and restoration -- to transform a mid-1700's farmhouse into a comfortable home for today.

Dining Room

Like the living room, the dining room features a wonderful blend of cream-colored walls and dark wood antique furnishings. A seven-drawer walnut Sheraton chest, still with its original brass hardware, serves as a sideboard to the 18th-century three-board pine hutch table. Four restored spindle-back chairs surround the dining table, while a single bow-back Windsor occupies the far corner.

Given the depth of the original plaster walls, the windowsills provide a deep display space for welcoming candles and special pottery pieces. The jabbots and side panel draperies -- made by the homeowner -- help to soften the graphic grid of the mullioned windows. Together with the tabletop homespun linens, they provide visual interest and historical accuracy to the room.

Master Bedroom

The bedroom features an unusual mix of pattern, color, and design. A black and white plaid wing chair keeps company with an 18th-century pine hooded cradle. The Queen Anne Highboy -- a 19th-century piece -- gives a dramatic design focus to the room, while providing plentiful drawer storage.

Although the fireplace mantel is a standard height, Wilson (the owner's Boston Great Dane) makes it look small by comparison. A Chinese rug unites the room, with its intricate pattern and rich color theme.

Bed Detail

The portraits mounted above the headboard in the master bedroom reflect the artistic talents of the owner. Even though they are contemporary interpretations, shown here on the aged plaster walls, they look very much like the Early American originals. In addition to portraits, the owner also paints bucolic pictures -- rustic, pastoral scenes -- of animals.

The headboard itself offers a unique design statement. Crafted of mahogany wood and featuring a rich red finish, it combines top-capped corner posts with a graceful arabesque scroll cut-out and double-ended finial top detail. The navy and white coverlet was woven in the 1860's.

Child's Room

In one of the children's rooms, dark wood paneled walls and sand-colored painted floorboards create a perfect setting for the furnishings and collectibles contained within. The vintage clothing hung on the wall and on the door of the antique red cupboard, c. 1850, fits life-size dolls that the homeowner makes. The hand-painted bridebox on top of the cupboard was also made by the owner.

For childhood amusement, a wheeled Shetland pony, partially visible at right, keeps a watchful eye on the woolly bear seated in the 1880's wicker baby carriage across the room. The coverlet on the four-poster rope bed is also from the mid 1800's. A hooked rug continues the color theme at the foot of the bed.

Chair Detail

The house offers a number of unique antique furnishings and accessories, among them this 19th-century plank bottom chair. Simply crafted with only minimal carved detailing on back supports, the chair is enhanced by authentic hand painted embellishments. The stenciled designs appearing on the plaster walls and painted floorboards are more recent additions -- hand-painted by the home's resident artist. The framed portrait resting on the chair seat is another example of her work. It is only one of several original portraits featured throughout the house.

A Brief History of Medieval European Joinery

2008-03-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

The techniques used to join pieces of wood together evolved significantly between the 12th and 15th Centuries. This evolution was in response to both the technical problem of making strong joints that would resist wood movement and the demands of the customer base. This evolution in technique was part of the general evolution of woodworking from the relatively crude and utilitarian objects of the early Middle Ages to the highly decorated furniture in use at the dawn of the Renaissance.

The Technical Problems

Wood is a living material composed of a mixture of cellulose, which makes up the cells, and lignin, which joins the cells together. As the cells absorb or release water from the environment, they expand and contract, causing the wood to move. Due to the orientation of the cells, movement perpendicular to the grain of the wood is usually several times that parallel to the grain. When end grain is joined to long grain, the differential wood movement can cause the joint to fail. (see Figure 1)

A second problem is caused by the need to make a mechanically strong joint without the use of external fasteners. Medieval hide and casein glues were not especially strong and metal fasteners, such as nails, were expensive. Complicating the matter is the fact that nails do not hold well in end grain.

The Butt Joint

The Butt Joint, shown in Figure 2, is the simplest way of joining two pieces of wood together. It is also one of the weakest since is prey to the greatest amount of wood movement. Due to the lack of mechanical strength, the butt joint needs to be nailed. Despite the presence of more sophisticated joinery techniques, the butt joint persists due to its inherent simplicity and ease.

The Mortise and Tenon

One of the earliest solutions was adopted from the timber framing used for large buildings. As shown in Figure 3, the tenon fits into the mortise providing a mechanically strong joint. Wood movement can be coped with by leaving the mortise slightly longer than the tenon, thus giving the tenon room to expand. Mortise and tenon joints used in the Middle Ages are frequently pegged. This technique is found on furniture pieces starting in the late 11th Century.

Dovetails

While the mortise and tenon works well on relatively narrow pieces of wood, this technique becomes cumbersome when attempted on wider pieces. The medieval joiner�s solution to this problem was the dovetail joint shown in Figure 4. While somewhat demanding to cut, dovetails provide a mechanically strong joint that is unaffected by wood movement. More advanced forms of the dovetail can be cut so that the joint is concealed from one or both sides.

Frame and Panel

An alternative to dovetailed joinery is the frame and panel technique shown in Figure 5. This provides an elegant means of covering a large area. The panels "float" in grooves in the frame, allowing them to expand and contract as necessary. Medieval craftsmen frequently used simulated frame and panel construction on chests, covering a dovetailed or butt jointed frame with thin pieces of wood to simulate the presence of frames and panels.

Sources

Blanc, Monique. Le Mobilier Fran�ais: Moyen �ge Renaissance. Paris: �ditions Charles Massin, 1999.

Boccador, Jacqueline. Le Mobilier Fran�ais du Moyen Age a la Renaissance. St. Just en Chausee, France: �ditions d�art Monelle Hayot, 1987.

Eames, Penelope. Furniture in England, France, and the Netherlands from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century. London: The Furniture History Society, 1977.

Hoadley, R. Bruce. Understanding Wood: A craftsman's guide to wood technology. Newtown, CT: The Taunton Press, 1980.

Style Guide: Oriental

2008-02-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

The Oriental style is mystical, meditative and calming, from ornately decorated palaces and temples to minimalist interiors of the common man. Though the Orient spans countries from China to Indonesia, certain elements are common to the diverse styles of each. Materials are natural, bamboo being a staple. Craftsmanship of furniture, ornaments and textiles is splendid. Lacquerwork and batik are distinctive. Colors are subdued or vibrant. And there is a respect for spirituality inherent in the symbolism for patterns, colors, artifacts and placement of objects.

Accessories

Minimalism
Modern Variations

Less is more when accessorizing a minimalist Oriental dcor. Ruminate on the grace and beauty of each piece. Carefully select them for elegant, dramatic, even artistic impact. Stand larger pieces alone so they make their own statement. Group together smaller pieces, like Japanese lacquered, miniature furniture.

Pieces
Blue-and-white porcelain, red or black lacquer ware, painted mask, shadow puppet, bamboo-handled teapots, carved jade, boxes with mother of pearl inlay or stoneware pottery with painted imagery are common.

Some special items include Chinese bamboo wedding baskets, 18th-century chinoiserie, fan-shaped lacquered stacking boxes. Mirrors with ornately carved frames that hail from Burma or Bali and look almost Indian, are a fusion of colonial and native styles.

Sculpture
Modern Variations

Don't forget a sculpture or two, uplit for extra effect, such as a Lahu hill-tribe musical instrument, essentially a primitive harp. Choose also a cho-fa roof ornament on a pedestal or a Japanese netsuke, a carved belt toggle used to secure pouches through the sash of the kimono.

Screens
Screens can function as a backdrop to a statue if they are solid colored, laminated surfaces or simply designed. Or they can be accent pieces unto themselves if more elaborate. Consider the 18th-century carved-jade table screens or axonometric cityscape on an eight-paneled screen.

Wall Hangings
Modern Variations

On walls, hang framed hand-made paper or, for higher style, the striking black brushstrokes of Chinese calligraphy. For drama, place an antique Japanese kimono or embroidered Chinese shawl.

Other Dcor
Modern Variations

Enhance a calm aura by displaying a statue of Buddha, a vase with a lone plum or cherry blossom branch, a bonsai tree. Use Chinese "scholar" rocks – a flat circular basket filled with pebbles, medium-sized rocks and one large rock.
Achieve balanced energy and promote good fortune with such feng shui artifacts. Try a pair of carved-wood mandarin ducks to enhance marriage prospects, fish for prosperity, and a small water fountain for luck.

Floors

Materials
Elegantly plain, the Oriental floor is made of wood planks, stone, terra cotta or natural fabrics like jute, coir or sisal. The Japanese are noted for covering floors with tatami mats – rice straw outlined by black linen tape or brocade.

Modern Variations

Create the same visual effect using small matted rugs with bounded borders.

Coverings
Modern Variations

If every other element in the room is without pattern, including furniture, walls and accessories, employ an Oriental rug as a design element. Symbols of lotus flowers, dragons, tigers and snow lions typical of a Tibetan rug can add a little spice to an otherwise austere room.

Furniture

Materials
Less is more when it comes to furniture. The pieces themselves are simple and unadorned, with woods color-stained or varnished. Small pieces like screens, chests, trunks and cabinets are lacquered and/or inlayed with very elaborate designs of nature or trade themes.

Modern Variations

Keep furniture low for the minimalist modern style. Long benches, plain stools, large floor cushions and large coffee tables should be as close to the ground as possible. Upright furniture is more in keeping with a traditional style stemming from colonial and native influences.
Include typical materials like hand-carved teak and tropical hardwoods, especially rosewood. If painting is desired, do so only with layers of black lacquer, though traditional Chinese lacquer-makers use richer colors of cinnabar red, yellow, crimson, vermilion and olive-green.
Use bamboo or rattan furniture as an alternative. Woven cane is popular in the Philippines today and China is producing bamboo and split cane furniture.

Screens
Screens can be simple, for example, a bamboo frame and rice paper sheathing. Elaborate screens have wooden fretwork panels. Eight-paneled lacquered pieces sport nature or cityscape designs.

They use space more efficiently by filling up an empty corner or creating intimacy in a seating arrangement.

Storage Cabinets
Oriental storage cabinets and chests are solid, rectangular forms with inventive detailing and workmanship. Designs include light-relief carvings of dragons chasing pearls or lacquered surfaces with asymmetrical designs of nature themes.

One standout piece is a Japanese storage chest shaped like steps to fit under stairs. When not stowed away, the chest steps become shelves for displaying of accessories.

Futon
The Japanese futon, a soft cotton mattress, epitomizes simplicity and comfort. Used as a bed, it is spread out directly on the floor.

Highly adaptable, it can be rolled and stored in a cabinet during the day or serve double duty as a sofa cushion on a sofa bed frame.

Modern Variations

Enterprising Western manufacturers have designed a rectilinear "four poster" futon – a mattress on a very simple four-poster metal frame draped with simple white fabric.

Lighting

Paper Lanterns
The classic lighting for Oriental style is also the most widely recognizable and popular decorative piece: the paper lantern.

Modern Variations

For an upscale look, check out the powerful modern designs of Isamu Noguchi.
More affordable pieces can be found in chain stores and lighting shops. Choose from spherical, cube, beehive, drum and box shapes. Natural parchment is preferred to capture a soft glow and carry out the overall subdued feeling of an Oriental room.
For unique effects try red or different colors. Other lighting options: metal lanterns with tea caddy base, lamps with ceramic ginger jar base, coolie-hat shades and any sleek modern design with hidden lights.
A low-level rectangular, box floor lamp with white shade, accented with slender metal perpendicular stripes functions perfectly in rooms with low furniture – or as an uplighter with more traditional, upright furniture.

Walls

Treatments
Walls are typically understated for the minimalist Oriental style. Plain colors, usually white or beige, though sometimes spice tones like jade green, offer a nice contrast to furniture and accessories.

Modern Variations

For subtle interest, create texture by mixing sand or fine grit with paint, or "stipple" the job by applying the paint in small brush strokes. Try tactile hessian or rice paper as wallpaper, too.

Accents
Modern Variations

Achieve a little drama through sheer simplicity. Display a colorful kimono hanging from a pole pushed through the sleeve. For more daring dcor, hang wallpaper with motifs of pagodas, flying cranes, bridges or waves in separate panels.
Make walls the focal point.Mount an antique lacquered screen in brilliant and resonant colors with an elaborate design, such as an overhead view of an Asian palace.
Use screens to divide rooms or space within a room, thus acting like walls.

Style Guide: Art Deco

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The quintessential 1920s and 1930s style for skyscrapers, homes, cinemas, even cruise ships, Art Deco is glamorous, modern and dramatic. French designers mixed classical and contemporary elements, including the passionate colors of Fauvist paintings, sensuous fabrics, exotic artifacts of Egypt, Mexico, and the Middle and Far East, and Cubist painters geometric shapes in round mirrors, floor treatments and barrel-shaped chairs. American designers streamlined the style with modular and built-in chrome and aluminum furniture, while British designers contributed sleek materials like Bakelite and commercialized motifs like zigzags and chevrons.

Accessories

Style
Accessories are plentiful, vibrantly colored and briskly designed.

Anything shiny or metallic adds allure, such as silver-painted coffee tables or silver dressing table sets.

Pottery
Pieces of pottery are plentiful, especially those by Clarice Cliff, whose prized, "Bizarre" crockery collection is distinguished by angular, almost Cubist shapes with bright reds, oranges, yellows, greens and black.

Mirrors
Mirrors sport circular shapes, ziggurat tops or other engravings, and are especially striking over fireplace mantels.

Modern Variations

One elaborate treatment: Sheathe an entire fireplace and chimney with mirror-glass.

Other Accessories

Oriental-style screens – richly lacquered
Glassware – vases, fruit bowls, perfume bottles and lamp bases made from affordable opaque-pressed glass or exclusive Lalique-like crystal
Wall ornaments – sunburst-decorated stained-glass windows or plaques shaped like faces, fans and feathers
Exotic touches – large palms, lacquered boxes or trays and African tribal masks or other artifacts
Final touches – silk tassels and fringing on lampshades, seats backs and cushions

Colors

Main Colors
High, contrasting color fuels the glamorous, theatrical Art Deco style. Pale main colors of cream, beige and eau de nil, offer sedate, peaceful backgrounds for passionate accent colors.

Accent Colors
Vibrancy predominates in orange, lime green, mauve, crimson and yellow.

These dramatic colors were inspired by contemporary Fauvist paintings and the exuberant, joyful costumes and sets of Sergei Diaghilev's exotic Ballets Russes, the rage in Paris during the period.

Drama is heightened with black and metallic shades in glass, mirrors and metals.

Floors

Materials
Flooring is streamlined and striking.

In living areas, pale wood is preferred as a base – boards, block or parquet – though wall-to-wall carpeting works if colors are light, like cream or taupe.

In halls, kitchens and bathrooms, linoleum reigns supreme. Entire areas are simply done in one solid color, such as green, beige or brown.

Patterns
The patterned floor is more representative of the Art Deco style. Inlaid linoleums can be made to order.

Modern Variations

Create your own design, including fake marble, a trendy material for the period.
Try checked patterns or go wild with bold designs – large circles intersected by straight lines, for instance.

Coverings
Rugs with vibrant geometric patterns, like checks, are popular. Or try rugs with one overall color and contrasting borders or circular area rugs with target striping.

Modern Variations

For dramatic contrast, throw down animal-skin rugs. Zebras are a good choice. Try polar bears and leopards, too.

Furniture

Materials and Designers
Chromium-plated metal and bakelite were featured in Gilbert Rhode-designed tables of the 1920s. Later, he tried tubular metal and wicker furniture.

Russel Wright designed modular furniture, introducing the three-piece sofa that could be arranged in any number of ways.

Paul T. Frankl created "skyscraper" bookcases and cabinets with stepped silhouettes echoing New York City's ever-rising buildings. Kem Weber adapted the style for fireplaces, bed headboards and built-in side tables.

John Duncan Miller designed veneered furniture with rounded edges, as did Betty Joel, whose pieces were marketed as being ideal for working women because there were fewer corners to dust.
Photo courtesy of Karl Kemp.

Built-in Furniture
Fitted furniture came into vogue during this period.

The built-in, private bar was a new domestic interior element. Desk units with cupboards and shelving are tucked into walls. Sometimes L-shaped designs fit into a corner and span two walls.

Laminated wood allows for fitting walls with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, display shelves and hidden cupboards.

In bedrooms, false walling disguises two wardrobes, with a built-in vanity unit between them.

Kitchens sport built-in breakfast niches with benches and fixed table.

Modern Variations

For a truly authentic Art Deco interior, take the time to shop for original furniture or have it built.

Alternatives
All these options can be pricey. Alternative designs made for the middle class sport geometric outlines and rounded corners.

Try chairs shaped like barrels or boxes, upholstered in fabrics or leathers. Round sided tables and drink trolleys with circular sides befit the Art Deco spirit.

Look for period, mass-produced tubular steel chairs.
Photo courtesy of Karl Kemp.

Other Pieces

Coffee tables and cocktail cabinets – oak, walnut, ash, sycamore or other pale woods
Other materials – same designs in wood also in chrome, aluminum, steel, glass or mirrors – or coupled with these materials
Bathrooms – black-white-pastel color schemes done in checkered tiles and linens, plus splashy chrome towel rails, taps and sink legs
Mirrors – beveled-edge mirrors common in bathrooms
Boxed tubs – emerged in the 1930s to replace baths with cast-iron legs

Lighting

Materials and Characteristics
As electricity filtered into the mainstream in the 1920s, Art Deco designers produced fittings with gentle glows. They reveled in newly available materials – aluminum, tubular steel, plastic, pressed glass and plywood.

Starkly angular fittings also define Art Deco style.

Pendant Lights
A common fixture, the pendant light features a marble glass bowl hung upside down by three chains. The bowl is often round, though occasionally hexagonal, stepped or cone-shaped and is sometimes patterned with animal, flower, fruit or geometric designs.

Figure Lamps
A classic Art Deco style, the figure lamp portrays a coquettishly draped glass female figure holding a globe. Reproductions of original Parisian and Viennese models are plentiful today.

Modern Variations

For extra elegance, construct wall-to-wall ceiling light panels with geometric designs. Even more dramatic are corniced lights at wall tops, casting indirect light.

Other Fixtures

Ceiling lights – sandblasted, glass-diffusing rings with clear borders
Wall lights – glass-and-chrome with ziggurat, shell, step or fan shapes
Table lamps – on columnar bases with above shapes in shades of plastic, silk, parchment or molded-glass
Wall and table lights – dressed up with sunray, gazelle or borzoi dog motifs

Walls

Treatments and Colors

Wall treatments are simple or bold – or boldly simple. Both are fashionable and sophisticated.
Walls in a plain white, off-white or beige set off vibrantly colored furniture and accessories.

Wallpaper and Mirrors
Borders or corners are adorned with stencils or paper with sunray, ziggurat, lotus blossom or scarab designs influenced by pharonic times.

The look also favors wallpaper filled entirely with embossed geometric or botanical patterns, or paper that captures the effect of wood.

Modern Variations

Cover entire walls with metallic paper (glazed silver was popular) or mirrors, two highly dramatic looks in vogue in the late 1920s.

Paneling
Luxurious paneling abounds in lacquer or wood, stripped and waxed or possibly stained.

Murals
Mural paintings made a comeback during the period.

Modern Variations

Display cut-out sections from wallpapers with trompe-l'oeil or abstract designs by Art Deco artists or paint murals yourself.

Fireplaces
Step designs are popular and provide shelving at different levels – mantle, mid-level at the side and base.

Or the steps might climb along the top of a one-dimensional face made of mottled tiles framed by wood.

Modern Variations

If your pocketbook can take it, create a wall design by renovating fireplace faces.

Style Guide: Medieval

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Mobility and warmth defined decorating choices in various cold, dark, communal strongholds where large households moved in and out often to avert danger of warfare. Most things had to be transportable, from furniture to service ware to adornments. Rich, deep, vivid colors on walls, in paintings and in textiles gave life and comfort. In particular, tapestries, cushions and carpets provided warmth as well as visual excitement.

Accessories

Sign of Wealth
Modern Variations

Display on cupboards and side tables colorfully exotic dishes and vases resembling those from Moorish Spain and the standard medieval tableware of metal plates, cups, goblets and dishes. Often of gold or silver centuries ago, the plated variety suffices today.
Dress up walls with flat-sided metal bowls, small convex mirrors and medallions with Gothic or heraldic motifs of lions, crowns, shields and gargoyles of wood, stone or bronze. Consider religious items, such as ornamented crosses.
Frame and display illuminated manuscripts or prints of pages from these books found at museums and art stores. Find and frame classic medieval prints of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus.
Seek statuettes reminiscent of those in the period's churches and chapels, such as long, elegant ivory figurines of the Virgin Mary and Child from the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Use in a corner or as a space divider, a large wooden screen, painted and carved with Gothic motifs. (Such screens in front of doors blocked winds during medieval times.)

Fabrics

Textiles
With constant medieval warfare, households, including European courts, moved frequently to avoid danger. Only easily packed and transported belongings were kept. Thus, textiles were the heart and soul of medieval-style interiors.

Textiles could be taken down and hung anywhere: on walls as decoration; over beds and windows for warmth and comfort in drafty structures; as room or space dividers in communal living arrangements; as large embroidered or woven floor cushions for additional seating and lounging; as canopies over the chairs of important people; as a ceiling by suspension under a high roof; and as drapery over chairs, divans and tables.

Materials
Fabrics included canvas, wool, silk and velvet in luxurious hues of russet red, deep green, royal blue and chocolate offset by stone and accented with black and gold.

Origins
In the early medieval period, rugs and tapestries were imported from the Orient. In the 9th century, a sea route between the Persian Gulf and China allowed textiles from those regions to make their way to Europe via Venice and Genoa. By the Norman times of 1066-1189, textiles were a staple in most medieval households.

Tapestry manufacturing centers sprang up in Paris and Arras in northern France, and Crusaders brought back wares from the Middle East.

Modern Variations

Ready-made tapestries – search for floral patterns or scenes of courtly love, battle, Bible stories and history.
Stitch your own – use tapestry-prints and kits.
Stained cloth – paint a fabric with scenes or patterns of flowers, Latin text or heraldic motifs.
Walls – use metal rings or wooden or metal polls to hang textiles.
Beds – use textiles as bed covers or hang from wooden rails and gather into bags at corners.
Curtains – construct from large pieces of luxurious velvet, brocade or silk damask and gather a single panel to one side – attached to the wall with a large tassel. Hang from rings on a wooden or metal pole with fleur de lys or spearhead finials.
Over furniture – drape fabrics over chests and backs of chairs. Linen tablecloths, originally introduced in the 15th century, are fine for tables.
Cushions – use damask or velvet with medieval patterns for chair or large floor cushions. These can be embroidered with metallic thread or adorned with gold braiding.

Floors

Materials
In the early Middle Ages, floors were beaten earth covered with sawdust, rushes or aromatic wild plants, frequently watered to control dust. Flooring became more sophisticated in homes as the centuries passed and class status elevated. Hard plaster floors to stone slabs progressed to oak boards to Islamic tiles.

In the 14th century, the use of red tiles inlaid with white in various patterns became widespread.

Modern Variations

To capture the look today, use wall-to-wall modern matting of rush, sisal, coir or jute. Broad reclaimed boards that show age can simulate the period's wood flooring. Flagstones recreate the slab effect.
Lay down exotic Middle Eastern tiles or plain square, modern unglazed tiles colored in the period's popular hues: black, red, white, yellow or blue. Forget rugs. Carpets imported from Persia and Turkey by the Crusaders, considered too valuable for treading on, became wall and furniture decorations.

Furniture

Portable Furniture
Due to the mobile lifestyle of the Middle Ages, furniture was light and portable. Later on, pieces were permanent built-in fixtures of a house, hall or castle. Styles were basic, except for carved Gothic ornamental work on chair backs and buffet doors in wealthier households.

Pieces
The storage chests or coffers, brightly painted and adorned with ironwork, were the chief pieces, transporting possessions in wagons and later used for storage when in a new home.

Other simple, moveable furniture included stools, benches, tables of long wooden boards placed on trestles and folding chairs, such as the Roman curule chair, usually made of local timber.

More substantial chairs with high straight backs and seats and arms, sometimes stuffed with rushes, were rare, used only by heads of households.

Cupboards of substantial size and different styles were standard household fixtures, among them the hutch, armoire and buffet.

Beds for peasants and yeomen were easily transportable, straw-filled mattress or take-apart items. The huge bedsteads of wealthier households could hold six couples and the favorite dog. These sported carved posts and canopies, which evolved into the four-poster bed.

Lighting

Fire
Small windows to keep out cold and drafts and scant use of expensive glass meant little natural light during medieval times. Hence, fire from a central fireplace, candles, oil-soaked brands or tallow-covered rushes provided the main internal light.
Photo courtesy of Malmendier Art Metal Works.

The main fire burned in the center of the great hall with smoke rising through holes in the roof.

Modern Variations

Today, wall fireplaces can serve the same illumination purposes for a medieval style, as can candles in a variety of holders.
Wall lanterns can best emulate the effect of oil-soaked brands mounted in cressets (iron baskets) on walls.

Candles
Pricket candlesticks, standing wrought iron or bronze candlesticks, and candelabras with a tripod base and spikes onto which candles were forced were the norm.

Modern Variations

Tall wrought iron, bronze, pewter, brass or even wooden candleholders emulate the pricket today.

More Candle Holders
Torchéres, contraptions for overhead lighting and the chandelier's forerunner, held up to 20 candles in iron rings of decreasing sizes. Later, candles on iron spikes in a wooden beam were replaced by a square or circle of iron hung by chains from the ceiling.

Modern Variations

These styles can be found in antique shops, now wired with electricity and fit for flame-shaped bulbs. Or recreate suspended oil lamps with pendant lanterns.

Walls

Materials
Colorful wall treatments livened up cold, dark, sparsely furnished one-room halls of the early Middle Ages, living quarters for entire communities. Castles succeeded these during the later medieval period.

Tapestries, painted cloths and murals decorated timber and stone walls early in the period and covered tiles and paneling during the later Gothic phase.

Modern Variations

For a rough-hewn effect, plaster the wall lightly, then paint with chalky white, off-white or stone. For the appearance of stone, mark the plastered-and-painted surface with thin red lines or lay stone blocks themselves on the wall.

Paneling
Another option was wood paneling, an insulation widely used throughout northern Europe.

Paneling was painted. Though little of the original paneling survived European wars, remnants in northern Europe show blood red, gold and green. These colors, plus ochre yellow or blue, brightened up both paneled and plastered walls.

Decorations
Modern Variations

Cover a wall with exotic Middle Eastern tiles, emulating the fashion of wealthier houses, especially those in Moorish Spain, which imported Islamic tiles inlaid with different colored clays.
In stone or wood paneling around doorways and windows, carve repeat patterns of Gothic motifs: stylized heraldic eagles, coats of arms, rampant lions, crosses, roses, shields, quatrefoils and griffons, monsters with eagle head and wings and lion body. Or in lieu of carving, stencil the patterns.
Apply in gilt and black paint at wall tops, Latin words in Gothic lettering found in illuminated manuscripts. Get more artistic with a bold touch of murals illustrating Biblical, pastoral or historical themes on an entire wall.
Hang Oriental textiles and tapestries or painted silk or canvas cloths with European medieval floral patterns or scenes of battle, courtly love or the Bible.

Style Guide: Victorian

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The Victorian style of 19th century England and America revived elements of several styles, including classical Greek, Romanesque, Tudor, Gothic, Elizabethan, Italianate, Egyptian and Oriental. Eclectic rooms are dark and cluttered with such hallmark features as boldly patterned and colored wallpaper, Oriental rugs, ornate fringe and tassel trimming on luxurious curtains, artistic arrangements of knickknacks, stained-glass windows and solid, bulging furniture with deep-buttoned upholstery.

Accessories

Collections
Artistic arrangements of knick-knacks, objets d'art and collections are a hallmark of Victorian style.

Collections include scent bottles, samplers, family photographs in silver frames, wooden toys, Oriental fans and 19th-century kitchen implements such as spice graters, fruit slicers and apple corers.

Modern Variations

Create a grouping on a decoupage screen, box or tray with images cut from magazines, books, old prints or wallpaper, covered with a layer of varnish.

Other Victorian Touches

Brass and china door knobs
Gilt-framed, Old Masters landscape paintings
Stained-glass windows
Wooden or brass clocks (mass produced since the mid-1800s)
French-plated glass over mantel mirrors
Sculptured busts, bronze or alabaster statues
Elaborate silver settings, silk embroidered Oriental screens, scimitars (curved, single-edged Oriental swords) and potted ferns and palms

Colors

Vibrant Colors
Strong, vibrant colors in uncommon, arresting combinations characterize the Victorian style.

Rooms
In sitting rooms, dining rooms and studies, intense shades of crimson, claret, bottle green, sharp yellow, purple, mahogany, terra cotta and Persian blue are favored.

In bedrooms, colors are lighter, but no less dramatic when mixed together: pink, gray, pale blue and soft green.

Floors

Materials
In living rooms and dining rooms, hardwood floors and a central carpet dominated. Wood, usually pine, was often darkly stained and polished, though occasionally bleached.

Later in the century, parquet came in style, covering wooden sub-floors with designs ranging from geometric to floral.

In kitchens, plain quarry tiles or stone flags appealed to the period's newly developed interest in cleanliness. Linoleum, introduced in 1860, was often found in bathrooms, hallways and pantries. Popular colors were plain brown or green.
Photo courtesy of Burrows & Company.

Coverings
Floral, swag, festooned and geometric designs, all big and bold, were showcased in carpets. Preferred were Oriental, Persian, Rococo-designed or needlework rugs.

Economical substitutes existed, such as floorcloth, parquet, tiling or canvas sheeting printed to simulate rug patterns.

Straw, coconut or cloth matting replaced rugs, which were taken up in summer. Decorative encaustic tile, laid in geometric patterns covered hall floors. Staircases were dressed up with runner carpets secured by brass stair rods.

Fabrics

Materials
Victorian era fabrics, lavish to touch and behold, are truly a "luxurious" style. Velvet, satin, silk damask, wool, chintz and chenille were used for draperies and upholstery.

Patterns
Elaborate designs of Gothic, classical, Middle Eastern and Oriental origins enhance the visual richness.

Floral patterns are the most common, especially roses and dahlias intertwined with ribbons or accented with birds. Cottons with complete scenes of children, animals or landscapes also are popular. The era's improvements in printing and dyeing made such designs readily accessible.

Trimmings are just as ornate: deep fringes, large tassels and ropes for window treatments and portières (room-dividing curtains), plus embroidered and laced-edged pillows or cushions.

Furniture

Solid and Large
Victorian homes overflowed with furniture of various styles including Rococo, Near and Far Eastern, Gothic, olde English and "fat classical," a neoclassical form with carved ornamentations.

In general, pieces were solid and bulging, made of mahogany, walnut, rosewood or satinwood. The invention of the coil spring in the 1820s made upholstered furniture commonplace, especially styles with curving shapes and deep buttons. Fluted and cabriole legs commonly supported such pieces.

Scrollwork on chair and sofa rails featured carvings of flowers, leaves, vines, acorns and grapes.

New forms included the classic caf� chair, created after Austrian Michael Thonet refined the bending of beech wood. Ornate brass-and-iron bedsteads were introduced to Britons at the Great Exhibition in 1851.

Cozy Corners
Settees often were found below stairs and on landings in the Victorian home's combined living and stair hall. Cushioned extravagantly, they provided domestic respite from the industrialized world.

Modern Variations

For a more elaborate Victorian touch, construct below stairs a charming stylistic specialty, a "cozy corner," an intimate arrangement of built-in seats. Or situate cozy corners next to a fireplace or in room corner.

Rooms
Free-standing pieces, open shelving and marble-topped pastry tables defined the 19th-century kitchen.

Bathrooms featured wooden washstand with bowl and pitcher and tin bath before the advent of indoor bathrooms in 1870. With indoor plumbing, large, colorfully decorated basins and enameled tubs on ball-and-claw or scroll feet came on the scene.

Victorian Period Pieces

Marble-topped tables and chests
Armoires – prior to the invention of constructed closets in Victorian homes
Renaissance-like bed pediment with arched cresting and carved cartouche
The meridienne – a short sofa from the Empire period with arms of unequal height connected by a back with sloping top
Balloon-back chairs
Corner cupboards
Rectangular dining tables with rounded legs
Small writing desks
Piano
Long case clock
Ornate coat, hat and umbrella stands

Style Guide: Tudor

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Stylistic freedom colored England's Tudor period from 1485 to 1603. Fueled by political stability, international trade and prosperity, a building boom of multistory individual manors and townhouses introduced signature design features for long-term living and comfort: the wall fireplace, wall and ceiling ornamentation like strapwork, and ornate permanent furniture. Other decorative elements are a hodgepodge of influences from Gothic Europe, Italian and German Renaissance, the Orient and the Middle East.

Accessories

Service Ware
Tudor interiors exhibited a host of goblets, spoons, plates and bowls made of pewter, brass or silver. They were displayed on buffets, cupboards even tables. Beginning in the Tudor period, thick green, cast glass was being produced.

Modern Variations

Choose some items with medieval roots and others with a Renaissance flavor to best capture the spirit of the Tudor style.
Simulate the cast glass today with vases and glasses of modern recycled glass.

Oriental Touches
Islamic pottery and Chinese porcelain were first imported by Europeans during the early Middle Ages and continued to be valued in luxurious Tudor households.

Modern Variations

For a very special touch, put out a few pieces of Islamic pottery or maybe a Chinese porcelain tea set, some candy dishes or plant holders. A screen with Oriental ornamentation would not be out of place, either.

Portraits
The Renaissance began to embrace the beauty, power and intelligence of man, demonstrated in the rage for portraits of historical figures. Hans Holbein was the official painter at Henry VIII's court, while Isaac Oliver became renowned for his miniatures at the end of the period.

Modern Variations

Search for paper- and poster-sized reprints of the period's famous portraits at museums, antique stores or art shops and display them in dark-wood frames on walls, tables and shelves.

Books
Books and other reading materials were introduced after the 15th century invention of the printing press. The Guttenberg Bible in 1456 was the first large book printed using moveable type.

Modern Variations

To acknowledge this historical revolution, stack thick, leather-bound books or track down a modern, Guttenberg Bible reprint and cover it in leather.

Colors

Main colors
Stylistic freedom in decoration as well as architecture characterized the Tudor period and colors broke barriers, too. Crimson, orange, yellow, turquoise, indigo, sky blue, pink, purple, green and mid-brown, alone or in powerful combinations in fabrics and paintwork, made for highly flamboyant interiors.

Accents
Decorative elements, touched up with gold or silver, plus gilding, threading, fringe or paint, make rooms appear magnificently royal and dramatic.

Furniture

Tudor Prosperity
With peace and stability came prosperity during the Tudor era as a building boom swept through England. Households, no longer temporary shelters, were multi-room and multi-storied structures to live in permanently and furniture no longer had to be portable, as during the Middle Ages.

Furniture became more substantial in shape and weight, plus sophisticated in ornamentation. Carvings, painted patterns, curving, gilding and strapwork were popular.

Beds
The most valued piece was the bed, a wooden four-poster with ornately carved footposts in bulbous cup-and-cover shape and wainscoted headboard, holding up a canopy and curtains.

Built-in Furniture
Fitted furniture is a key feature of all Tudor houses. Hinged bench seats double as storage chests. Fixed seats are fashioned into window recesses, porches and within great fireplaces.

Storage pieces for clothes, silver and important documents were standard for households of all income levels. A standout was the wall aumbry, produced by attaching a frame and doors to a recessed masonry wall or wooden partition.

Modern Variations

Build trestle tables and benches into kitchen floors and settees with arms formed into walls.
Look for authentic carved and paneled, high-backed chairs, such as the "gossip chair," with trapezoid seat and wide arms to accommodate the full-skirted Tudor ladies. There is also the farthingale chair, armless but with padded back and seat.

Select traditional-looking pieces of oak, walnut, chestnut or beech with Tudor touches, such as

Carved chests with wrought iron studs and hinges
Long antique dining room table with carved melon shapes on the legs, distinctive of the Tudor era
Cupboards with open shelves for display of service ware
Dresser with spiral-turned details
Game table topped with leather

Lighting

Windows
The flood of natural light was the biggest change in interior lighting during the Tudor period. Glass, available to houses grand and modest, allowed for more and bigger windows with "lights" ranging from two to eight. Window types included:

Mullioned – vertical posts dividing square openings and creating a rectangular "light"
Mullioned and transomed – crossbar splitting "light" in half horizontally
Foiled tracery heads
Four-centered arch
Square heads
Bay windows

Candlelight
Candlelight remained the main and most versatile form of lighting. The medieval period's pricket candlesticks turned into the forerunner of the candleholder during the Tudor period. Candles were held within a stick set on a single circular base with a central support. Later, branched designs proliferated.

Modern Variations

To recreate the effect today, look for tall, standing candleholders or candelabras, like those in churches, made of wrought iron, bronze, pewter, brass or wood.

Chandeliers
Primitive chandeliers were used, too.

Modern Variations

Look for pendant metal coronets with holdings for candles or with flame-shaped bulbs, if the fixture is electrified.
Capture the Italian Renaissance ornamentation that influenced the Tudor period using any fitting – wall sconce, table lamp or chandelier – with classical designs of vines, acanthus leaves, urns or columns.

Walls

Fireplaces
The introduction in the 16th century of the wall fireplace brought the most revolutionary change in interior decoration since the medieval period. During the Middle Ages, fire burned in a hearth in the center of a grand hall, smoke escaping through ceiling holes. But by the end of the Tudor period, wall fireplaces were built in nearly all sizes of dwellings. They remained part of the decorative scheme well into the mid-20th century.

Simple fireplaces are brick or stone with timber or stone lintels – plain, molded or carved with designs such as quatrefoils. In grand houses, fireplaces made entirely of wood, brick or stone are spanned by the period's signature, four-centered arch with molded decorations.

A frieze tops the lintels. Overmantels bear a coat of arms, decorative panels or interlacing bands, called strapwork. Added spandrels often contain badges or mottos.

The white marble fireplace, a definitive English element, was influenced by Italian Renaissance classicism and introduced late in the period by architect and stage designer Inigo Jones.

Wall Treatments
Walls in most homes were flat plasterwork painted with lime wash. In more elaborate structures, timber paneling was the norm. THey could be full height or to frieze or dado level, with thin oak boards, 24 inches square, set into grooves of solid timber uprights with cross members.

Carved decoration on paneling included arabesques, strapwork, foliate forms, geometric shapes and the highly fashionable, linenfold pattern.

Modern Variations

Walls with full height paneling – leave a gap at the top for painted or plastered friezes or for carved timber with heraldic devises. Look for the Tudor rose, a coat of arms, your initials, strapwork or arabesques.
Partially paneled walls – hang with tapestries, painted cloth, painted or plaster friezes above the panels or use painted decorations that imitate fabrics or paneling.
Try painting with period hues of red, blue or green.
Other options – Find Biblical, classical or folklore-scene frescoes.

Style Guide: Modern

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The Modern Movement from 1920 to 1950 explored forms and materials of mass production in the machine age to fashion interiors that are functional and beautiful in their simplicity. Most influenced by the German Bauhaus design school and French architect Le Corbusier, the style uses plain and neutral-colored walls, geometric shapes of primary-colored accessories, streamlined space-saving modular furniture, vibrant polychromatic textiles with geometric designs, and materials such as glass, metal, concrete and steel. The look is of the moment, yet classic, the feel bright and spacious.

Accessories

Uses
Like textiles, accessories are often vibrantly colored. With undulating curves or geometric patterns, such as amoeba, boomerang and kidney shapes, they provide a perfect antidote to the plain neutral-colored walls, streamlined furniture and linear architecture of the Modern style.

Modern Variations

Accessories should be used sparingly for effect. Clutter is a no-no.

Painting and Sculpture
Modern Variations

Abstract paintings are distinctive of the style. Look for prints by Cubist painters. One key period figure is Dutch modern painter Piet Mondrian, who created black, white and primary-colored grid-like paintings.
Consider period sculptures, too. British interior decorator David Hicks produced distinctive marbleized or Plexiglas obelisks for desks and mantels. Alexander Calder's mobiles made of steel wire and colorful aluminum sheets would capture the eye as well.

Glass
The era's huge explosion in glass production opened up experimentation in shapes. Foot-long ashtrays adorned coffee tables. Art glass from Italy, Scandinavia and Czechoslovakia was blown into unusual forms and sported wild tones.

Translucent glass vases and bowls of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto are still produced today.

Tableware

Modern Variations

Search out Fiestaware, kitschy colorful dishes in reproduction now, or Russel Wright's spun aluminum torchéres, a design produced by many different companies as well as his own label.

Clock
A Modern-style home would not make the grade without American architect and designer George Nelson's ball clock.

Colors

Main Color
White – bright, reflective and clean – accents light, airy, spare Modern architecture.

Accent Colors
Gray, taupe and chrome add a slight contrast to white for a subtle dimensional effect on curtains, other textile accessories and furniture. Primary colors of red, blue and yellow are used sparingly on lighting fixtures, tableware and paintings.

Furniture
Upholstery, often leather, is black, white, gray or brown with, occasionally, stark primary colors for a lift. Most furniture is framed by chrome. Wooden tables and cabinets carry neutral tones of medium to light brown to blond.

Furniture

Materials
Space-saving, efficient, streamlined and light, durable industrial materials of tubular steel and chrome all define Modern Movement furniture.

Many pieces bear tubular steel frames or legs and are upholstered with neutral-colored fabrics or leather. Teak wood is fashionable for tables, shelving and dining room sets, especially by Danish designers.

Built-ins
Furniture also fits the movement's creed "form follows function." Living space is as uncluttered as possible with built-in furniture. Backs and bases of couches become part of walls or room dividers, if placed in the middle of an open space.

Other fitted designs resemble a ship's cabin with fixed seating around the fireplace, shelves beneath built-in beds and built-in bookshelves, cupboards, cocktail cabinets and spaces for radios and record players in walls.

Modular Furniture
Modular furniture, with inherent flexibility and efficiency, extends the built-in concept. Floating shelves can be on one wall one day, another wall the next. Storage shelves do double-duty as room dividers.

Marcel Breuer's Laccio side table, produced in different sizes, can be used separately or stacked together for a striking look. Arne Jacobsen's stacking chairs also provide versatility. George Nelson's platform bench works as seating, a coffee table or the base of a media center.

L-shaped sofas come in two parts, the short side as a chair by itself and the long side as a sofa without arms when separate.

Classic Pieces
For greater authenticity, search out designs by the period's best-and-brightest architects and designers.

Le Petit Confort chair – by Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret (still in production today)
Marcel Breuer's Bauhaus chair
Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona chair, leather day-bed and Brno chair (mass produced in 1960)
Arne Jacobsen's Ant, Egg and Swan chairs
Eileen Gray's Bibendum chairs
George Nelson's Marshmallow sofa
The Butterfly chair by Argentine architects Jorge Hardoy, Antonio Bonet and Juan Kurchan
Josef Hoffman's steam-bent wood chairs
Eero Saarinen's Womb chair
Designs by Charles Eames – the Shell chair or rocker, the leather and rosewood lounge chair and ottoman, surfboard-shaped coffee table, and molded plywood chairs

Walls

Treatments
De rigueur white walls complement the clean lines and open space of Modern architecture. Also characteristic are floor-to-ceiling windows with sunlight streaming through to cast abstract patterns.

Flat untextured, unpatterned plaster is the optimum covering. White tiles substitute for plaster in kitchens and bathrooms.

Mirrored walls increase the depth of horizontal space. Exterior walls of glass bricks let light in and enhance the open, transparent and fluid feeling.

Varnished plywood can dress up dining room and study walls. Partitions – of wood, though sometimes of thin prefabricated material – function as space dividers in open-plan layouts, as do cupboards and shelving systems, especially as designed by George Nelson.

Modern Variations

For a little pizazz, paint one wall a bright color or apply a plaster relief of an image. Or follow the trademark flair of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi and apply sinuous plaster curves for an organic balance to the straight-line furniture and architecture.
Consider murals in vignette style, including trompe-l'oeil surrealist styles, but use sparingly so they stand out. Hang period wallpaper in the same way, with vivid colors like orange, mustard and sharp green in splattered dots, narrow stripes and checks.
Go out on a limb yet stay within the style's minimalist parameters with walls of raw concrete, one of architect's Le Corbusier's tricks. Alternate sheets of glass, canvas and wood, a unique feature of architect Rudolph Schindler's house in Los Angeles. Use strands of bamboo to create a space divider, as used by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Or create the effect of a Scandinavian forest by putting the bamboo against a floor-to-ceiling window.

Style Guide: Baroque

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The Baroque style is theatrical and extravagant. Decorative elements are intended to startle, electrify – and flaunt wealth. This was also true for the European courts and aristocracy that embraced the 18th century style. Furniture is massive and opulent, textiles are luxurious and expensive, colors are royally rich and glittery, accessories are exotic and sparkling, floors are dramatic. The style was most magnificently showcased at France's Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.

Accessories

Collections

Displays of coins, medals, manuscripts, shells and precious stones were a 17th century craze.

Accent Pieces

Classical busts and andirons in the fireplace
Chinoiserie and other items of Far Eastern orientation, such as lacquered boxes or porcelain
Blue-and-white Delftware vases and ginger jars
Silver teapots, plates and urns for requisite glitter

Modern Variations

Hang pictures and mirrors with gilded frames so they lean forward for a low reflection of light.

Colors

Flamboyant and Intense
Gold was the quintessential color of Baroque style.

Modern Variations

Use gold generously as gilding in fabric threads, on ornaments and on walls.
Mix other intense colors in combinations that might shock. Choose among deep red, indigo, dark green, raspberry, ochre yellow, purple, strong blue and umber.

Floors

Materials

On lower levels of Baroque houses, stone flags, bricks or tiles combine in two or more colors to create an illusion of different depths.
On the upper levels, wooden floors are of oak, pine or fir.
Floors are sometimes painted with geometric patterns like those of a contemporary parterre garden, known as broderie.

Patterns

Dramatic patterns dominate floor treatments.
The very wealthy experimented with a host of geometric patterns of black-and-white marble, including squares, diamonds and cubes.
Wooden floors often combine several kinds of woods with different colors for elaborate designs.

Coverings

Rush matting is preferred in less formal rooms.
Woven carpets are placed under furniture because carpets considered too expensive to walk on.

Modern Variations

Recreate the look by installing linoleum tiles with marbled, brick or stone finishes

Fabrics

Materials

Newly introduced Indian cotton was reproduced in block-printed patterns of stripes, checks and flowers.
The wealthy hung wall tapestries of velvet, silk damask and leather, stamped, tooled or gilded.
Wall coverings, table linens and cushion covers were coordinated in fabric and design – tasseled and embroidered with silver and gold threads.

Patterns
Bold patterns and rich textures abound for sumptuous opulence.

Bedroom Treatments
Grandiose bed hangings and window treatments define the style.

Modern Variations

Capture Baroque wall-hanging luxury by using intricate crewel work with floral or arabesque designs made from twisted wool on a linen base.
Choose fabrics with big patterns, especially exotic chinoiserie designs of dragons, entwined trees, birds and butterflies.
Replicate coordinated wall coverings, table linens and cushion covers.
Festoon curtains with a plain rectangular pelmet or a wavy-edged pelmet with tasseled trim or braided ruffle.
Dress up bed areas with suspended hangings all around, including fringed or tasseled trim.
Use same pattern in washable linen to upholster headboards and cover dressing tables.

Furniture

Materials

Oversized and ornately carved, painted, gilded and inlaid wood with precious materials such as silver, ivory, mother of pearl and ebony
Intention to impress, possibly startle

Pieces

Knole sofa – high-cushioned arms that were raised and lowered to form a daybed
Oak cupboards – paneled and ornamented
Buffets – set into arched niches in dining rooms and displaying silver and glass
Bookcases – with open shelving, standard in libraries
Lacquered cabinets – often set on gilded or silver stands

Modern Variations

For purists with deep pockets, buy throne-like chairs and marble-topped tables, both with legs shaped as cherubs, mermaids, titans, dolphins or eagles.
Construct built-in furniture.
For limited budgets, achieve the look with one or two distinctive items and several plainer pieces.
Find wing chairs or chairs with low, wide seats, high backs and scrolled arms of polished oak or walnut; upholster with heavy, striking fabric in Baroque fashion.

Lighting

Candles and Lanterns

Candles and lanterns chief source of day-to-day lighting for rich and poor
Candle stands – wood, brass, or pewter
Lanterns when moving through halls or on stairs
Typical staircase lantern suspended from an iron branch hinged from the landing – lantern pulled across and lit from the staircase
Branch lights – brass with central globe enhancing light from candles resting in serpentine arms

Sconces
Wall sconces made of silver or brass with metal or mirror back contrive to reflect light.

Chandeliers
Carved or gilded wood, rock-crystal, silver or brass epitomize Baroque opulence.

Modern Variations

Recreate Baroque grandeur and richness with shiny and reflective light fittings.
If Baroque-styled chandeliers are used for lighting instead of decoration, hang low to get the most light from burning candles

Walls

Wood Paneling

Theatrical splendor characteristic of Baroque style is captured in grand style of walls.
Social events in the late 17th and early 18th centuries were played out against paneled walls.
Wood paneling, or wainscot, was divided into different shapes and units, such as small squares or larger rectangles.
Classical proportions in wood paneling, had clearly defined dado and simple cornice.
Panels often painted with geometric patterns.
Wood sometimes painted to upgrade its look: pine to resemble oak, oak to mimic walnut and other woods to look like marble or tortoise shell.
Extravagance was showcased with elaborate carvings of floral motifs or figures.

Wall Hangings
Gilded leather tapestries and other painted fabric hangings were fashionable.

Modern Variations

Attach moldings to a plaster wall, paint with a faux finish or wallpaper to create appearance of wainscot or marble.
Paint designs of curlicue, flowers, heraldry or classical architecture with iridescent colors on a dark background.
Display colorful and unusual tapestries or fabric hangings in separate panels or across an entire wall.
Add fringe to wall hangings for exotic touch.

Design Process: Principles of Design

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Although these basic principles deal with intangibles, they're very important for establishing a successful décor.

Balance

When a sense of visual equilibrium is achieved in a room, the design is balanced. To achieve balance, you need to think about the visual weight of the elements. Balance in a room may be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Few rooms are completely symmetrical, but there are often symmetrical elements, such as a centered fireplace or identical chairs facing each other.

Rhythm

The organized repetition of elements in a design scheme constitutes rhythm. This repetition brings a sense of unity and continuity as your eye moves easily from one motif or area to another. While the repeated elements must share a common trait, such as color, for a sense of unity they should also be varied to create visual interest.

Emphasis

Emphasis suggests making some elements in a design more significant than others. If a work of art is the focal point in a room, for example, the furnishings and wall coverings should be subordinate. Without emphasis, a room looks monotonous.

Scale

When the scale of a wall covering, for example, is in proportion to the overall size of the room, the room appears harmonious. If the scale is too large for the room, the effect will be overpowering; if it's too small, the design will look flimsy or weak.

Harmony

When both unity and variety exist in a room, harmony results. A careful combining of colors, textures and patterns produces a unified whole. Too much unity, however, can be boring. Variety – in just the right amount – contributes vitality and excitement to a room's design. It may be subtle, as in slight color variations, or it may be startling, as with sharply contrasting patterns.

Design Process: Elements of Design

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An understanding of basic design elements and principles will help you start the design process. Although the concepts may seem abstract, they need to be considered and applied as you develop your own style.

Elements of Design

Color may be foremost among the design elements, but space, line, texture and pattern are also critical to a decorating scheme. As you consider the many choices for furnishings, keep those elements in mind. A successful mix will help you achieve a balanced, beautiful room.

Space

Walls enclose and define the space called a room. How space is perceived depends on the way color, line, texture and pattern are used on and inside the walls.

To make a small room seem larger, emphasize openings to let the eye travel to the space beyond. Use small- to medium-size textures and patterns on walls. Employ light, cool colors on walls and ceilings.
To make a large room seem smaller, use a contrasting color, texture or pattern to define or create distinct areas. Use dark, warm colors on walls and ceilings. Introduce rough textures such as combed plaster on walls to advance them visually.

Line

The "lines" of a room refer to the room's shape or the dominant visual direction created by all the decorating elements. A room can incorporate many different lines – vertical, horizontal, diagonal, angular and curved. Directional patterns on wallcoverings, decorative moldings and window treatments can alter your perception of a room's size.

Texture

Rough plaster, velvet, the softness of drapery, and the sheen of marble or glossy paint are a few examples of texture. Patterns on fabric and special paint techniques, such as sponging, possess a visual texture. Whether tactile or visual, texture adds interest to a décor, and can make it feel warmer or cooler. Texture tends to fill space and can make a room seem smaller or cozier.

Pattern

Pattern brings rhythm and vitality to a room, unifying colors and textures with design. Thinking about how patterns appear on walls and how they interact will make the job of choosing and combining patterns easier.

Naturalistic patterns are realistic renderings of natural forms, such as flowers. Stylized patterns simplify natural designs to capture their essence; the fleur-de-lis, a stylized iris, is an example. Geometric designs such as plaids and checks are nonrepresentational. Abstract patterns are loose, artistic interpretations of realistic or geometric designs.
The size of a design motif when seen in relation to other motifs is referred to as scale. Some small-scale patterns are so small that they read like a textured surface. To keep a room from appearing too small, choose a pattern with an open, airy background; your eye will look through the pattern and beyond, making the room seem more spacious. A generously proportioned room will support large, brightly colored motifs, even when they appear on dark backgrounds. Because they have the effect of drawing the walls closer, large patterns can consume space and create the impression that the room is smaller than it actually is.