New Picture Arrangement in My Living Room

 

It has been pouring rain for the last 2 days so I thought I would show you my back wall. The botanical print of a Jack in the Pulpit wildflower in top center is a rather new purchase and I like it there. I had a very large framed antique map there shown in my last photo. It had been there for 20 years and I thought it was time for a change to show more of my paneled wall.

The small oil painting underneath was taken from another room.

Closer view of both artworks.

This is an old photo showing the antique map. The new botanical is hanging on the same picture hook if I ever want to put it back. I don't think I ever will though because I like showcasing my custom woodwork. The first two photos were taken with a newer iPhone camera and the wall color is truer. This older iPhone photo has more of a green tinge. My woodwork is painted with Benjamin Moore Bennington Gray and it's a true putty color. 

April Showers are right on time this. I'm so glad Easter Sunday was a beautiful day and I hope you all enjoyed the day whether or not you celebrated. XO

Wonderful Framed Hunt Print Thrifted Today

I couldn't be more pleased with this Cecil Aldin framed hunt print. The original is circa 1910 and this is a very nice reproduction printed on heavy thick paperboard and it doesn't require being under glass. This is especially nice for me because glass would be too reflective in my kitchen. I came home and hung it immediately after a gentle cleaning. It's 26" x 14".

I really like the way it looks over my doorway into my living room. The size is perfect too.

I can't wait to see it tomorrow in the morning light. These photos were taken in very late afternoon light on a cloudy day. I saw my first tiny snowflakes today and we might have snow for Sunday.

Cecil Aldin -- The Whip. There is an annual hunt each year near my cottage with foxhounds and riders in red jackets conducted by The Spring Valley Hounds. I wasn't sure where this print would fit but I knew I would find a place for it and I did. Don't you love my $12.00 find? I got a nice sweater too. xo

Here is a Sunday morning photo that shows the hunt print very accurately. It's snowing lightly and the sky is overcast.

I don't think I have ever taken a photo from this angle. Now you see the whole wall that needs artwork with a sporting theme. Finding another Cecil Alden would be nice but that's almost too much to hope for. 

Stay safe if you have to drive in the snow. I am staying put until Mother Nature goes into melting mode. I don't need to go anywhere and I have a pot of soup simmering on the stove. xo

Bird Prints on A Gallery Wall

This wall of bird prints is stunning. 

I love the wide wooden frames and the further framing of the entire wall in natural wood. 

The <<<<>>>> border might be handpainted on fabric, it's hard to tell. It is on the ceiling too around a wide figural border wallpaper. This could be a bedroom. Photo found here.

Purple Martin Bottle Gourd Bird House

Purple Martin 

From Illustrations of 

The Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio, 1886

Illustrated by Howard Jones

I have a bunch of these bottle gourds I grew one year and they were so much fun. I need to make bird houses from them his year.

Open Shelves, Framed Botanicals, White Ironstone

This collection of ironstone and glass would not be very interesting were it not for the framed botanical prints in the background. I love the shape of the shelf supports and the wonderfully arranged collections. via Click photo to enlarge.

Dining Room Gallery Wall

I always love looking at framed art and the way it's arranged in private homes. Tour the house above here.

Etchings Exhibit at the Met in NYC

This creepy 15th-16th century etching is entitled “Death and the Devil surprise two women.” The antiquarian print shows Death and the Devil interrupting the lives of two wealthy women. Daniel Hopfer, 1470?-1536, is the artist. This exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum on The Renaissance of Etching opens on October 23rd. 

More Information here.

Artwork in My Bathroom

I am in the nesting mode again and this corner of my full bath got an antique etching of The Hague in the Netherlands and fresh flowers on an old walnut tray yesterday. I love the new look. I was up with the chickens this morning to get caffeinated and drove around before eight o'clock to put out my Open House signs early. Now I can relax before I have to leave at noon. Have a great Sunday and wish me luck. xo

Southport CT staircase

Harbor-view residence. David Scott Parker Architects, Southport, CT. Durston Saylor photo. I want to see more!!!

July is here. Let the summer begin.

Happy first day of July.

The year's half over.

Antiquarian Print: Rabbit circa 1809

Perfect 19th century Easter Bunny

Full size Natural History plate. Napoleon I, 1809-17, Description de l'Egypte: Histoires Naturelles Planches. Volume 1. Mammifères. Plate 6. Egyptian Mongoose and Lepus aegyptiacus from the rare book collection at Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri.

Spring Forward: Daylight Savings Time

Did you remember to set your watches ahead today? I still have to set my stove, my radios, and my tall case clock.

The moving chart above is a Volvelle or an early paper rotating analog computer.

Peter Apian, 1495-1552. Astronomicum Caesareum, 1540.

Houghton Library, Harvard University

Oscar Winning Documentary on NatGeo Tonight

I watched the Oscars this year all the way to the finish and saw this film win Best Documentary Feature. The preview intrigued me as I am fearful of heights. I can't even climb a ladder to clean my first floor gutters much less scale a vertical rock with no rope. That's what Free Soloing is -- rock climbing without a rope. I don't expect many of you will be interested in this film but maybe you can share with someone who might enjoy a free showing. This documentary appeared in theaters in 2018. The photo above is a screen shot from my phone via my Verizon FiOS app. Your channel number for the National Geographic channel will probably be different. 

{ click photo to enlarge }

IMPORTANT: Set your DVR tonight for this -- the final episode of VICTORIA, Season 3 on PBS. I'm looking forward to seeing Albert's project: The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park for the Grand International Exhibition of 1851. I will be so sad to see this series go. This is the last season Albert was in every episode. Sniff. Sniff.

Double Sinks: Bathroom Love

Swoon. I couldn't love this more. via

Be safe this weekend if you are in a snow zone.

Vintage Attic Storage Idea

I love this attic print storage and art room. I have something similar in the attic of my cottage and am always looking for new ideas. via

Over The Bed Artwork for My Cottage

It only took 14 years to find the perfect artwork to hang over the antique bed in my guest room used as my dressing room. I found it yesterday at a thrift shop and within 30 minutes of getting it in the front door, it was happily hanging on the wall. I was standing in the doorway to get this photo and you can also see an antique tile, a hogscraper candlestick with a brass "wedding band" and a miniature chest on the table next to my bookcase.

It was very hard to photograph too. The bedspread is not pink, it's white. You can see the blue and white curtains in my bedroom through the window in this photo. This lithograph was made from an original 1987 painting by a deceased local artist. I always thought her work was very much like a Wyeth. 

I found a photo of the print entitled: "Wild Rose Berries" circa 1987 by Pauline Eble Campanelli online by searching Google Images. Don't you think it's perfect for my room? It was worth the wait and I don't mind that it's a reproduction because everything else in the room is antique. The basket and cupboard that were the subjects of the painting were antiques and I bought the framed print for a song. The frame is stained a dark green and the matting is beautiful. Score!!

See you later. xo

Gorgeous Bedroom

This room is perfection. I love the painted floor and the rug that looks like a sweater. The artwork on the walls is gorgeous, the side table is lovely, the bed is spectacular, the chair is beautiful as is the upholstered headboard. It all works so nicely together. Found here.

UPDATE: I decided to search the original source for the first photo and found it was the Southhampton bedroom of Tory Burch. Here is another view. Isn't it lovely?

Lee Radziwill’s former Fifth Avenue bedroom, via the July/August 1975 issue of Architectural Digest. The central theme is Colfax and Fowler's classic chintz called Fuscia. The botanical prints are also a theme. Somehow Tory Burch found a very similar rug and duplicated this floor with a painted version.

You are in for a treat. There are so many more photos of rooms with this chintz fabric to study and love here. ENJOY!!!

xo

Gallery Wall in My Spare Room

I can almost declare this room finished. I still have to take out the screen and scrub it and clean the window inside and out. This is not easy. It is not a tilt window and I have to get out a ladder to do the outside. I have virtually torn this room apart, bit by bit. I got a new mattress for my bedroom months ago and took off my old Tempurpedic mattress. The foam mattress on my antique rope bed in my dressing room/guest room was rock hard and I had been wanting to replace it for ages but it was a custom size. It was a full size in width but 4" shorter in length. I knew the Tempurpedic could be cut down but I didn't have an electric knife. This week I decided to search Youtube for instructions and I found you could use a regular knife. The old mattress had been stored under this antique bed and the room was a mess. SO I decided to switch the mattresses. I easily cut down the one on the floor, took off the rock hard mattress and switched them. After I put on the mattress pad and fitted sheet, it was perfect and ever so much more comfortable. Success! Now I have a mattress that is virtually brand new standing up in my kitchen. Will I ever get the whole house together at the same time? I doubt it. Anyway, back to the photo above. I have cupboards under my built in bookcase and I could never open the door on the left side and was missing out on some excellent storage for pajamas and such. I had an armless leather chair there before with a small stack of leather suitcases on it. It was too bothersome to move to get in the cupboard so it was virtually empty inside.

I decided to move the chair to the other side of the bed and arrange some  artwork on the wall for interest. I like it. Here is another view of this room featuring the draperies I remade for the two front windows. LOOK HERE. Will I ever finish getting things just the way I want them?

See you later. xo

J is for Jasmine

The Jasmine Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker via

In heat of summer days

With sunshine all ablaze,

Here, here are cool green bowers,

Starry with Jasmine flowers;

Sweet-scented, like a dream

Of Fairyland they seem.

And when the long hot day

At length has worn away,

And twilight deepens, till

The darkness comes—then, still,

The glimmering Jasmine white

Gives fragrance to the night.

Since their first publication in 1923, Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies have enchanted both adults and children alike around the world. The botanically accurate drawings in the 170 original illustrations, coupled with the enchanting fairy images based on real children from Cicely's sister's nursery school still endure.

Big, Beautiful Bathroom

The black and white basketweave floor is my favorite tile. This huge master bath is quite wonderful, isn't it? You don't often see one that has walls with subway tiles up to the ceiling. Just think, these people will never have to paint anything in there except for the ceiling and the current paint might last forever. This classic design is timeless and will last forever too. The large antique bovine print in a black frame must have some personal significance. How very nice! via