Jennings & Gates: Notes from a Virginia Country House

Best in Class 4: Carafes

2012-03-01T08:23:00.001-05:00

The Rolls-Royce of thermal carafes. If you're looking for the best, this is it, the Alfi Juwel.

Originally crafted in 1918 for the Pullman cars of American railroads, this vacuum pot has adorned tables for generations.

You've probably seen it in movies, European hotels, and in establishments known for impeccable service.

The hinged lid seals tight, and the double-wall vacuum glass liner creates a vacuum between the walls to keep liquids hot or cold for up to 12 hours.

The Juwel ranges from 0.5 liters, to 1.5 liters and comes in chrome, lacquered aluminum Ivory Creme with a chrome-plated handle and lid,

Velvet Burgundy red,

Midnight Black

and gold plated brass. Juwel looks great in traditional or contemporary interiors.

Alfi has been manufactured with precision German engineering since 1914. The Opal, in chrome with wicker was designed in 1930. This is a great look for a country home, for a guest room, or summer serving.

The Achat carafe, designed by Tassilo von Grolman in 1986, was awarded the Busse Longlife jury award in 2002 for products expected to hold their market value for many years.

The Albergo has plastic wicker on the exterior, and an integrated tea filter inside.

I love the ease and graceful one-handed perfect pouring operation of the Alfi carafes. No dribbles, no mess.

Jennings & Gates has received no compensation for this post.

and George...

2012-02-29T11:02:00.003-05:00

I am in an organizing fervor right now and just ran across Christy Ford's business card. I had stopped in to say Hi before Thanksgiving at her gorgeous shop, And George, on Ivy Road in Charlottesville.

The shop is a mother-daughter effort, brimming with antiques,

one-of-a-kind finds,

great furniture like this custom American Black Walnut table,

William Yeoward crystal,

art from Abby Kasonika,

an array of captivating textiles and accessories

and of course, George.

Visit And George by clicking here. You can also visit And George at the on-line shopping street, Taigan by clicking here.

Jennings and Gates has received no compensation for this post.

Not-so Plain Vanilla

2012-02-23T20:21:00.006-05:00

I love good vanilla. Did you know, it is actually one of the most expensive spices in the world? Only saffron is more precious. Thomas Jefferson began our love affair with vanilla when he brought back 200 vanilla beans with him to the United States from France in the late 1700s.

Vanilla comes from the vanilla orchid.

The plant must be hand pollinated for cultivation. The flower opens in the morning and closes in the evening, never to reopen again. If it is not pollinated, the flower will shed the next day.

When the vines are about 10 ft. long, the plant will begin producing pods, which are hand picked and cured in another labor and time intensive process until the resulting bean

looks like this. Then the beans are graded according to length, color, sheen, the presence of blemishes or splits and moisture-content. The entire cultivation process can take 5-6 years.

Mexican vanilla is derived from a thicker, darker bean and is known for its stronger, creamy, spicy flavor. It complements the flavor of cinnamon, and can help reduce the acidity of tomato-based dishes.

Tahitian vanilla is lighter and very aromatic. I love its light, fruity flavor with cherry overtones. I use it when I'm making fruit-based desserts and sauces. Prized by pastry chefs.

Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, is sweet, smooth, and mellow and is great in ice cream, rich custards and batters. For greater staying power in coffee or chocolate recipes, I use a mix of Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla and Indonesian Vanilla. I also like this blend when I'm making cookies because I've found that under high heat, it keeps the best vanilla flavor.

Ever wonder what to do with those little vials of vanilla beans you see in specialty markets? One bean will go a long way. I use the entire bean.

First, cut the vanilla bean in half length-wise, and scrape out the oily seeds to use them in recipes. When you are making a cake or cookies, drop the seeds (or add liquid vanilla) into your mixture at the point where you are incorporating the butter. The beans will mix better and the fat encapsulates the vanilla so it holds up better in the baking process.

The remaining pod can be tossed with sugar to create vanilla sugar, which is heavenly in coffee or tea, or almost any recipe calling for sugar. In the Lemon-Vanilla Cake recipe below, you can substitute vanilla sugar for the granulated sugar.

Then, make your own vanilla extract. Place the vanilla bean in a glass jar with an airtight lid with 3/4 cup of good vodka. Let it sit undisturbed for a month. When the liquid looks golden and smells like vanilla, remove the vanilla bean and strain the liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth into a bottle or jar. Use this extract in any recipe calling for vanilla extract.

Then, rinse off the bean and let it dry completely at room temperature. When it has dried, grind it in a coffee grinder or food processor and stir the grounds into 2 cups of confectioners or granulated sugar. Strain out the grounds and save them, and use the vanilla sugar as above.

In the morning add the vanilla grounds on top of the coffee in your filter. As the hot water passes through, your coffee will be infused with a wonderful vanilla aroma.

Nielsen-Massey, a family owned and run business in Waukegan, Illinois, USA has been making vanilla products since 1907. Consumers, thankfully, are becoming insistent about not putting pesticides and chemicals into our bodies through the foods we eat. The company has responded by offering their Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla in an Organic form, using organically grown vanilla beans and organic alcohol. The vanilla is produced using a cold extraction process, instead of a chemical extraction process. The result is creamy, sweet, smooth and healthy. You can find it by clicking here.

Lemon-Vanilla Cake

1/2 pound of softened unsalted butter

2 3/4 cups granulated sugar or vanilla sugar

4 large eggs at room temperature

1/3 cup grated lemon zest (about 6 large lemons)

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice (please use fresh lemons not bottled juice or the kind in the little plastic lemon. It will make a huge difference in the flavor of this cake)

3/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature

1 teaspoon excellent quality pure vanilla extract or paste.

For the glaze:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla and also set aside.

Cream the butter and 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and the lemon zest.

Now add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a cake tester just comes out clean. Do not overbake.

While the cakes are baking, combine the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar with the remaining 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves and makes a syrup.

When the cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon the lemon syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

Make a glaze:

Combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the cakes when they are completely cool, and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides

Jennings & Gates has received no compensation for this post.

A Department of Peace

2012-02-21T10:55:00.005-05:00

"No, first we need a Department of Peace. If we are going to develop expertise only in War, that is what we will have."
George Washington, 1776

"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable."

John F. Kennedy

Posted by Marianne Williamson at www.blog.marianne.com-

A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE: To Dream, Then to Act

On February 18, 2011, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced HR808 into the 112th Congress, calling for the establishment of a US Department of Peace. The crux of the DOP would be the establishment of an Executive level department in the US government, whose purpose would be to investigate, articulate and facilitate non-violent solutions to both domestic and international violence. It was President George Washington who first argued that in addition to a War Department we should have a Peace Department. In honor of his birthday, let's be as forward thinking in this area as he was.

Given the current make-up of the US Congress, the passage of the bill this session is somewhat unrealistic of course. But that does not matter; no true warrior for peace and justice ever let "realism" stop them. If that were the case, there would have been no abolitionist movement, suffragette movement or civil rights movement. When it comes to doing the right thing, it doesn't matter whether the status quo is with you yet. You just keep on keepin' on. We're building something in the ethers here; when the tipping point will get here, no one knows.

The idea of this bill getting out of committee this year is almost laughable, but so what? Let's not let laughter stop us -- let it propel us. Laughter is a powerful thing, as long as it's a laughter in anticipation of what you know in your heart is bound to become reality someday, rather than the cynical laughter laced with inner tears at the sight of what already is.

For two per cent of the current Dept. of Defense budget, this bill would celebrate and honor and -- most importantly -- support with actual resources the extraordinary peace-making efforts of Americans both here and abroad. It's not enough to simply fight violence with violence. We must do more than that; we must proactively create a world in which violence has no room to breathe. This is hardly some pie in the sky idea; it's an idea that would institutionalize the drive towards peace creation. Whoever wants to laugh at that can laugh. There is already enough support given to a war machine in this country; it could be argued that were we in our right minds, we would cry all day just thinking about it. So why shouldn't we create a peace machine? As John Lennon said, "Let's give peace a chance." One of the ways to do that is by giving it some political heft.

On President's Day, let's remember these words of President John F. Kennedy: "Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." Today, let's take a stand for peaceful evolution, despite the extraordinary material forces arrayed against it. The ways of violence and brute force have always amassed material power, but don't let that stop you. Love has cosmic support.

This President's Day, do something that you might do if you were President. Take a stand for peace. Write your Congressperson and give support to the Dept. of Peace bill. Tell him or her you'd like them co-sponsor it. Find out more about it at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-808. Write an Op Ed, attend a Town Hall meeting of your Congressperson, send this information to your mailing list. Make a beautiful noise about a beautiful idea.

We won't eradicate war until we more deeply embrace peace, and that takes more than just a wish or even a prayer; it takes spine. One of the leaders of the Egyptian protest movement said something remarkable after the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. He said, "We're dreamers and we made it happen." We're dreamers too, but dreams must do more than dream. Now we must do the "make it happen" part.

What better day to do that than on President's day. And who knows? If our noise is loud and powerful and beautiful enough, even our President might hear....

Outdoors In

2012-02-18T19:58:00.001-05:00

I love this Anthropologie mural wallpaper. Have any of you tried it yet? I would be very interested to hear about your experience with it. This would be a spectacular solution for a foyer, hallway, bedroom or above a chair rail in any number of spaces, if it indeed works.

A roll is 144" x 108" and covers 60.75 square feet. It has a Sure-strip backing so it can be applied without paste and is apparently, easily removable.

What do you think?

Design tip Friday: Home as a garden

2012-02-17T10:17:00.008-05:00

"Is there anything as sensuous or as beautiful as being outside in a garden in full bloom? We can think of our home as a lovely garden that we enjoy cultivating.

Houses, like gardens, need our watchful eye, sunshine and nurturing. The houses where we live don't thrive on benign neglect. Living abundantly requires lots of loving energy."

"Your home as a garden is a private refuge. This is the tiny space you occupy and maintain on earth, your soil to cultivate. It is sacred. Make your home a garden so breathtakingly beautiful that you inspire happiness in everyone you welcome in."

"We might not have Monet's talent for painting masterpieces, but we can transform our personal environent into a sensuous, happy, colorful retreat, a place that is so pretty, so cheerful and pleasing, that our personal environment becomes our sanctuary."

"Plant your seeds and cultivate your own garden. Everyone who does so is wise, because happpiness is centered here. Our house becomes a home when we love it. Our home can always be in bloom, full of springtime, fresh beginnings, plants growing and happiness flowering. Paradise is right here, right now, day by day."

"Our homes are our ideal earthly paradise. Give your home your all, feed it with beauty, color and light; treat all your objects with respect and dignity, knowing you are only a temporary caregiver."

All quotes are from one of my favorite books, Choosing Happiness by Alexandra Stoddard. Click the book to learn more about it.

I don't know who this is, but this gorgeous arrangement of Joy is played by ear with no score.

To all of you who follow our blog, or have taken the time to leave kind, funny, insightful and heartfelt comments, or have sent Jennings or me e-mail, thank you very, very much. We appreciate you, and are happy and grateful to have had the pleasure of meeting you. Have a beautiful weekend!

Images: 2. Via www.designamour.com 4. Alexandra Stoddard via Country Living, Photographed by Keith Scott Morton 6. Alexandra Stoddard via Country Living, Photographed by Keith Scott Morton 7. Veranda 8. Veranda 9. Roger Muhl 10. Martha Stewart

You've Got Mail

2012-02-13T12:53:00.012-05:00

I watched a movie last night in which our modern-day heroine finds herself transported, shag hair cut and all, into Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The story frequently moves forward with the delivery of a letter. [Edit: My stationery above is from Crane & Co.]

I thought about some of history's famous letters- Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley, Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt, Walt Whitman to Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the same to Henry David Thoreau.

How fortunate we are to have the perspective left to us by first-person accounts of events through letters.

Leo Tolstoy to Valeria Arsenev

Do you write letters? Do you have a favorite pen or paper? Paper is classified by its thickness, either pounds per ream (lb.) or grams per square meter (gsm). An ink-jet or laser printer can generally process paper up to 28 lb., so stationers suggest that personal writing paper be weightier, 32 lb. or more, to distinguish it from common copy paper.

100% cotton paper is more durable and long lasting than paper made of wood pulp, and is the best possible paper for social stationery. Crane & Co. Stationers has been providing the 100% cotton paper for United States currency since 1776.

Victor Hugo to Adele Foucher

Beautiful pens, stamps, letter openers, and a letter rack or antique toast rack, can turn the process of writing and receiving letters (and other mail) into a graceful ritual. Find this handsome Pewter Letter Openerhere.

The post office has some very pretty bonsai stamps right now. I try to stock up when they have a pattern I like.

Elizabeth Barrett to Robert Browning

This travel writing desk in calfskin and cherry wood is from Pineider, and contains 14 fountain pen nibs of various sizes, a dip pen, a black ink well, a leather notebook, Pineider writing paper, envelopes and water-cut cards. It is available in 3 leather colors, with or without personalization.

Pens come in such a vast array of sizes, shapes, colors and ink types, sometimes it's less overwhelming to just use whatever plastic disposable is handy. Since it isn't an essential purchase, however, why not have fun being on an unhurried hunt for the pen that is most "you?" It took me years to find a pen that I liked, wrote smoothly, and felt good in my hand. Expensive isn't always better. One famous designer buys Skilcraft Alpha Elite gel pens in blue by the dozen at the drugstore.

You'll narrow your options considerably if you first discover whether you prefer a fountain pen, a rollerball or ball point for your lifestyle and writing style. Then decide if a fine, medium or broad line looks best with your handwriting, and finally what color ink you love. If you like to change colors with your outfits or mood, fountain pens offer a wide array of ink colors.

I tend to look a boringly long time for something I like, then keep it ad infinitum (or, in the case of sunglasses, until I sit on them) so I have just one pen and use one ink, Levenger fountain pen cartridges in Empyrean. It's a rather sober blue/black color, but it feels warmer to me than pure black, and is still functional for all day, every day writing.

Images: 1. Jennings & Gates 2. Mont Blanc "Ingrid Bergman" pen 3. Crane & Co. 4. Levenger 5. Tiffanys 6. Amazon 7. Mrs. John L. Strong 8. Pineider 9. Antique Pens 10. Mont Blanc

Virtual Wine Tasting

2012-02-09T12:26:00.005-05:00

One day last week Jennings stopped at Paradise Springs Winery to talk to Rob Cox, their charming and knowledgeable winemaker, about growing Petit Verdot grapes at Poplar Grove. I tagged along because it was the perfect opportunity to complete our assignment for the Wilson-Kelsey Design Virtual Wine Tasting, and learn more about Paradise Springs.

The winery is normally packed with happy wine drinkers, and in warmer months, picnickers on the lawn outside. However, it is probably a good sign for the economy that the winery looked like this at one o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon.

Wild grapes once grew throughout the Mediterranean, and cultivars of vitis vinifera, now form the basis for the majority of wines produced around the world. In about 160 BC, Cato (not that Cato, the other one) decreed that the winemaking notes of conquered nations would be translated into Latin, and wrote The Agri Cultura, the first survey of Roman viticulture. Interestingly, it is also the oldest surviving work of prose in Latin.

It is also why anything having anything to do with wine is peppered with Latin.

2,270 years later, Jennings and I chose the 2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 13 months in 1-4 year old French oak barrels. If the picture looks slightly blurry, it's probably because this was our second bottle. Usus magister est optimus. Practice makes perfect.

Color notes: Garnets, rubies, rare orchids, a luxury SUV.

Cymbidium

I asked Jennings what the wine sounded like, and he picked this song right away, "You know," he said, "Mozart, that song from Out of Africa." Then, as if on cue, it played over the sound system. In vino veritas.

Tasting Notes: Young, friendly, Summer, an unstructured garden, polished, moss, walnuts, pepper, cassis, raspberry, complete...

Oscar de la Renta

William Hodgins

Tiffany & Co.

William Hodgins

Warm, leather, cedar...

Photographed by Gordon Beall

Hermes

We really enjoyed this wine- full-bodied with a great tannin structure and a big mouth feel. We discovered later that it won a silver medal at the Atlantic Seabord Wine Competition.

The United States is the 4th largest wine-producing country in the world. Virginia has been cultivating grapes since 1607, and is now the 5th largest viniferous grape growing state in the U.S. We'll talk more about wine in later posts, both because we drink a lot of it, and because Jennings will be planting a vineyard at Poplar Grove this spring. Planting grape vines is extremely labor-intensive, and we are looking forward to lots of pictures of the process. Stay tuned for that...

Thanks again to John Kelsey at Wilson-Kelsey Design for inviting us to participate. John, we apologize for the delay. Canis studia domestici devoravit (loosely, the dog ate our homework.)

Pup-links

2012-02-07T17:02:00.001-05:00

I fell in love with these cufflinks from Rebecca Ray as soon as I saw them.

I would wear them with a blue and white striped French cuff shirt and jeans, tucked into brown riding boots, and a long-ish suede vest

or maybe some comfy, soft, frayed khaki pants. Of course, they would add discreet country charm to a man's traditional gray or navy suit, if your work calls you into town.

Choose from a nice selection of in-stock images,

or ask about custom work by clicking here.

Jennings & Gates has received no compensation for this post.

Design Tip Friday: Counting Sheets

2012-02-03T22:39:00.011-05:00

Walker-Simmons Designs

If you can stay awake long enough, I'm going to tell you a bedtime story, filled with intrigue and suspense, wealth and betrayal- and some pretty sheets.

D. Porthault

There are many types of cotton in the world, but Extra Long Staple cotton or ELS, is a luxury fiber that is universally revered for its smooth strength, its superior softness, beautiful silken luster and exceptional durability. ELS cotton fibers are an inch and three-eighths or longer.

Hermes

Because it has longer, silkier fibers, ELS cotton absorbs and retains vibrant colors better than short staple cotton, and most other fabrics.

D. Porthault

"Pima" is a generic term for ELS cotton grown in the U.S., Peru, Israel, and Australia, and accounts for about 3 % of cotton grown in the United States.

Nancy Boszhardt, Designer

Unfortunately, as is often the case with laws designed to protect unwary consumers in America, manufacturers lobbied to loosen them. Corporations wanted the profits brought by selling fine "Pima" products, but didn't want to actually have to put 100% Pima in the product. Those pesky honest and forthright business practices can really cut into the profit margin.

Via Pinterest

So gorgeous United States Pima began to get a bad rap because lawmakers allowed labels to say "Pima Cotton" even if the product was only manufactured with 60% Pima and the rest short staple cotton.

Sferra

The unsurprising result is that corporations made a hefty profit by confusing consumers who thought they were buying something they weren't, and U.S. cotton farmers lost out too, as people began to think that perhaps U.S. Pima cotton wasn't that great.

Eleanor Cummings

Cotton farmers responded to protect themselves and consumers, by creating a non-profit organization with the trademark, Supima. A manufacturer may not use Supima on the product label unless what is inside the package is, in fact, 100% American grown ELS Pima cotton.

Frette

If a product says Supima, it is made of 100% ELS cotton grown in America, of the g.barbadense species, considered to be one of the finest cottons on earth. It has been followed through every stage of the growing, shipping, processing and manufacturing process to ensure that consumers (now here's a crazy idea) actually get what they pay for.

Pratesi

So what about Egyptian cotton? Egypt also grows many cotton varieties, including ELS cotton. However, it is important to note that any cotton grown in Egypt can be called "Egyptian Cotton" regardless of the staple length.

Nancy Boszhardt, Designer

In other words, "100 % Egyptian cotton" in extra fancy lettering on a package of sheets, means the cotton was grown in Egypt, but it doesn't necessarily mean the sheets are 100% ELS.

Pratesi

Thread count is where it gets more complicated. You may wonder, is it possible to make this more complicated? Hey, it isn't the USDA's fault if you frittered away your youth without getting a degree in Botany, now is it?

Megan Yager, Designer

Thread count is the number of threads of yarn per inch for each direction of woven fabric. Despite the hype, thread count (TC) is actually less important than the quality of the cotton. 100% Extra-long staple cotton will likely be stronger, feel finer and have more sheen, even woven at lower thread counts, than regular short staple cotton. 400 TC Supima sheets may cost more but look and feel better longer than say, 600 TC regular cotton. Weaving and finishing practices do play a large role, however in the finished sheet.

Percale, a closely woven plain weave, both combed and carded prior to spinning, is considered to be one of the most desirable fabrics for a sheet, especially if it has a high thread count and is made with ELS cotton. If you like sheets to feel cool and crisp, percale is the weave you'll like best, particularly if you iron your sheets. High quality percale feels divine, but wrinkles intensely. Don't buy percale and then complain about the wrinkles, they come with the territory.

Sateen is woven with more yarn surface on the face of the cloth. If you like your sheets to feel heavy, floppy and soft, with a rich satin sheen, you'll love sateen. You can iron all day and they won't get crisp. All cotton not treated with chemicals for wrinkle-resistance, or blended with polyester will wrinkle. However, sateen will generally wrinkle less than percale.

Jersey is woven like your favorite T-shirt, using circular, warp or flatbed knitting techniques. Drapey-er than sateen, it will wrinkle least because the weave is more elastic.

Flannel is woven in a plain or twill weave and napped on one or both sides. 600 TC Supima flannel, brushed on both sides feels like heaven on cold Winter nights.

Sweet Tartan

2012-02-01T14:20:00.002-05:00

If you love tartan plaids, but can't find a color to match your room, Linda Clifford offers authentic Scottish lambswool tartans in gorgeous and uncommon color combinations.

Baird

Wilson Ancient

New York City

Glasgow

Isle of Skye

Campbell Ancient

MacLeod of Harris

MacLean of Duart Weathered

She carries the classic colors that we know and love, as well as a few patterns in weathered, antique hues. This one is my favorite. See more Linda Clifford tartans by clicking here.

Jennings & Gates has received no compensation for this post.

Design Tip Friday: Elegant Decrepitude

2012-01-26T00:37:00.028-05:00

Photographed by Peter E. Lee

Nancy Mitford once famously said, "All nice rooms are a bit shabby."

There is something welcoming and warm about interiors that are lived-in. Designers and editors know this intuitively, which is why so often in magazine shoots, rooms (and fashions) are styled to look elegantly thrown together. A reader e-mailed recently and said, "I guess what I want to know is, why do some houses look lived-in, but still somehow so wonderful? When my house gets messy, it just looks messy."

What makes one interior (or outfit) look charmingly déshabillé, and another just look disordered? Good question.

Want a soundtrack while you read this post? Click above.

Ralph Lauren

What similar characteristics do you notice in each photo of (seemingly) off-hand glamour?

Eat, Pray, Love

The details and techniques may vary, but the principles remain the same:

Ralph Lauren

For one, cleanliness. Elegance may be many things, but it is never foul.

We may allow the place to run to ruin and the silver to go unpolished, but we still must dust. Unless we are Mario Buatta.

A little louché here and there says the house is alive, that vibrant, busy people live there. However, style (and sanity) will suffer if everything is messy all of the time, at the same time-- that doesn't say alive, it says overwhelmed.

If the rest of the bathroom is fabulous, a towel on the floor won't look like a school gym locker.

Make sense? Consider something like, oh I don't know, maybe one-third mess to two-thirds neat?

Domino

So that is the second principle- localize the disarray.

Next up, the principle of symmetry. In Furlow Gatewood's glorious house, a symmetrical backdrop makes his collection of treasures look special, not cluttered. One reason English country houses are so appealing is that the requisite blowsy country house chaos is organized by the ordered structure of Georgian symmetry.

Great bone structure always helps.

Sharyn Bromley

In other words, the architecture of your home matters, because great architecture supports (literally and figuratively) the life you live there.

Ralph Lauren

Hotel Danieli, Venice

The principle of quality: As cheap products age, they just look old. Quality products not only demonstrate their good sense daily, they last longer and look better as they age. Our homes look better through the daily hub-bub of living if we buy less, but buy quality. Since quality sometimes costs more (at least initially), one way to afford it is to simply slow down and take more time decorating.

The single most important thing we can do to make our homes look better day in and day out, from the day we first set up our households to the day we leave it all to our children, is to resolve to stop buying junk. Before we bring something home, we might ask ourselves, would I want to live with this forever? Owning less, but better quality things will cut down on clutter and make a house look so much better when it does get messy.

Roman & Williams

Paulus Theodorus van Brussel

The principle of quality remains the same, even in contemporary interiors.

Jill Morris

Principle five: Like Audrey's classic white shirt, build a wardrobe of classic furniture and accessories. As they age, they'll make whatever they rub shoulders with look profound, genteel, aristocratic even.

via Decorpad

Ralph Lauren's study

Ralph Lauren's study is a mishmash of styles and eras but it looks like the charming and personal lair of a sophisticated vagabond. It works because everything is quality, and classic, even the classic modern Eileen Grey table and Tizio lamp on the far right.

The beauty of choosing an antique French desk for your work space, is that it will still manage to look distinguished when covered with late-night Twinkie wrappers, take-out cartons and piles of papers.

Books, boots, kids, basket balls, dog leashes- no problem. Antiques have been there, done that. With aplomb. Quality pre-loved furniture and accessories can add a lot of style on a budget and hold up well for many years of rigorous living.

Photographed by Ricardo Labougle for World of Interiors

You know how people wish for a personal chef or a celebrity trainer? I wish for a Sherpa. Some strong and patient soul to follow me around and carry the stuff that I am constantly carting from here to there. Until then, bags will collect by my door and on my kitchen counters as I pass through.

Natural organic materials are green and attractive, and that is principle number 6. Plastic bags are ugly and horrible for the environment. Plunked on the floor or counter, filled with groceries, beach gear, toys or garden tools, natural straw or organic cotton or linen canvas bags look prettier than plastic. Treat yourself (and the earth) to baskets and bags that are reusable and are better for the environment.

Michael Bastian for Domino

Cleanliness

Great bones

Localized

Quality

Timeless classics

Collected over time

Natural materials

Great books from our library:

Pearls Last Night

2012-01-24T07:43:00.000-05:00

Can people recognize quality? Can they recognize it out of context? Does beauty for its own sake matter? What would happen if the world's greatest violinist, playing one of the world's most famous and expensive violins were to give a solo performance incognito in a subway station? In 2007, The Washington Post talked violin virtuoso Joshua Bell into doing just that, and everyone was surprised by what happened. Gene Weingarten, a Washington Post humor columnist, won a Pulitzer Prize for his article, Pearls Before Breakfast. It is very much worth your time- read the article by clicking here.

I always read Gene in the Post because I happen to like his particular blend of ridiculousness and lowbrow humor, so when I settled in with my coffee and the paper one Sunday morning in 2007, I was expecting typical Gene. Instead, I was so blown away by his experiment, by his insight and those who participated, and his fantastic writing, that I made copies for practically everyone I knew and then proceeded to hound them until they read it too.

Last night, I am thrilled to report, I was invited to see Joshua Bell at the Kennedy Center! (!!!!!!!!!!) He was phenomenal. I couldn't stop smiling. He is fire and finesse. The violin is rich, lush, soulful and so precise. He makes the instrument soar, and whisper and yearn and sigh and laugh. When he played the shimmering, powerful Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, I believe Johannes Brahms himself would have wept with delight.

How anyone could walk past this man playing a violin, is beyond me. Plus he's cute.

The Kennedy Center itself always feels glamorous to me. Thanks to Jacqueline Kennedy's grace and vision and dogged determination, it's one of the largest performing arts centers in the world. The Kennedy Center is a public-private partnership, which means that while it is the National Center for the Performing Arts and a monument to President John F. Kennedy, it is self-supporting through ticket sales and donations from corporations and private individuals.

Just outside the main waiting gallery, there is a terrace with a fountain and several quotes from John F. Kennedy carved into the stone walls. One inscription, above, says, “There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts...”

And this one is my favorite.

And finally from Gene Weingarten:

In his 2003 book, Timeless Beauty: In the Arts and Everyday Life, British author John Lane writes about the loss of the appreciation for beauty in the modern world. The experiment at L'Enfant Plaza may be symptomatic of that, he said -- not because people didn't have the capacity to understand beauty, but because it was irrelevant to them.

"This is about having the wrong priorities," Lane said.

If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing?

From Our Library:

Darling, There's a Giraffe in the Hallway

2012-01-23T09:29:00.000-05:00

Just two random treats for Monday. One of my favorite photographs by Helen Knorr

and a surprisingly cool video: 4,000 years of style in 4 minutes...

Have a great day!

Video: via cocochanel-blog.com

Design Tip Friday: Craving Color

2012-01-20T17:23:00.002-05:00

Leonardo scribbled some of the first notes about color theory in 1490.

Mary Douglas Drysdale

But it was Isaac Newton, more than 200 years later, who incited general interest (and controversy) about color theory, and in particular, the nature of primary colors.

See Tobi Fairley's Rothesay lantern here.

Nancy Boszhardt Design

David Jimenez

Intense color accents work well in traditional decorating because they are so unexpected. Relax, I promise not to say "you-know-whats" of color for the entire post.

Hallways, stairways and passages are important transitional spaces. We like to use them as low-key "eye-rest" places in colorful or pattern-filled houses. However, in predominantly white or neutral schemes, we'll often use colorful walls, doors, rugs or accessories in passageways or powder rooms to create a certain mood, add excitement and fun, or reinforce a design message.

Photgraphed by Evan Sklar

If you have a contemporary spirit but a traditional heart, a great idea is to build your classic "wardrobe" of furnishings with beautiful antiques upholstered in colorful fabrics. This room by Fiona Newell Weeks plays the timelessness of traditional architectural elements, furnishings and patterns against a sophisticated palette, fresh as a citrus grove.

Mary Emmerling, Designer

Nancy Boszhardt, Designer

Buying art in colors that you love, will make a neutral traditional space seem much more confident.

And if your sofa matches your lipstick, so much the better.

See this c. 1810 yellow tole tray, at Spurgeon-Lewis Antiques, here.

Mary Douglas Drysdale is a genius at creating traditional interiors with a clean, modern vibe.

Painting a door is so easy to do, easy to change, and makes such an impact it almost feels like cheating.

If you are on the fence about which color to use, test drive your ideas for a week with colorful bouquets. Swatch some paint, inexpensive fabric or wrapping paper, or try a few pillows and a throw. You might be surprised at how much you love a certain color, or how tired you get of a color that you think you really like.

Recommended From Our Library:

Antique Tubs

2012-01-18T13:17:00.000-05:00

I'm working today on an inspiration board for a classic bath project with a clawfoot style tub.

This beautiful 76" tub by Waterworks, the Beaumont, in traditional cast iron and enamel, runs from about $ 9,000, unpainted. See it by clicking here.

Clawfoots have a way, unlike any other bathroom element, of adding vintage glamour. Love this spa tub.

Jenna's house

via Elle Decor

One of my favorite bathrooms of all time is in Darryl Carter's gorgeous Embassy Row townhouse. Twin soaking tubs in a beautiful room- the ultimate romantic getaway. The basic black and white scheme, contrast of textures, warm antique wood, cool white porcelain, linen and stone create a space that is rich, sexy and serene.

If you don't have room for two tubs, these fabulous 84" authentic antique cast-iron tubs are roomy enough for two. They were made in 1927 and installed in the Berkeley Springs, West Virginia town spa in 1929.

They have been completely refurbished and restored to their original splendor, offered by Berkeley Springs Tubs, and at $5,000, won't break the bank. Contact Shawn for more information at 703-249-8501. Shawn tells me that he has three remaining. If historic authenticity is important to you, he has one additional tub in gorgeous original (un-restored) condition, that he'll sell for slightly more.

Love this geranium colored tub in the cozy bath of Corbin Lee Gurkin.

via Decorology

Kate Spade via World of Interiors

Scott Snyder via The Enchanted Home

Eric Prokesh

Design Tip Friday- Creating Polished Rooms

2012-01-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

The Jefferson Hotel, Richmond VA, Photographed by Patricia Lyons

Jennings and I were talking yesterday with Rob Cox, the winemaker at Paradise Springs winery (more on that later) and I commented that the wine we were sipping tasted uncomplicated, but not unfinished. Rob said the term in winemaking is "polished."

Barbara Howard, Photographed by Keith Scott Morton

The same concept applies in art. Have you ever wondered why one very simple painting seems beautifully complete and professional, and yet a similar painting looks amateurish and unfinished? Same concept- polish.

Brie Williams, Photographer

Polish also applies in decorating. Some rooms, no matter how simple, just feel good. One secret to making a room feel complete is to pay attention to darks, mid-tones, and highlights. Beginning artists tend to make one of two mistakes. Either the entire painting is done in medium values, ie., the dark areas are not dark enough and the highlights are not light enough, or, the entire painting has too few midtones and your eye bounces back and forth crazily between darks and lights.

Even this elegant "all-white" room from the Traditional Home showhouse has lights, mediums, and darks

Color actually matters less in this instance than you would think. An all medium-value room will likely be dull and monotonous to look at and live in, even if it is orange. Even a monocromatic scheme needs highs and lows. Imagine listening to a song composed of only middle C, played over and over. On the other hand, rooms that are only dark and light might dance with life, but can be exhausting or even distressing over time if there is no place to rest the eye.

The most graceful rooms, just like pleasing paintings and beautiful songs, have deep darks, light lights, and mid-tones to rest the eye and act as a transition between the two.

This room is a great example.... Nice use of mid-tones on the beagles, by the way.

Thomas Jayne, Photographed by Brie Williams

How do you check your design? Look at your room with squinted eyes, this will reduce the effect of colors and make tones more pronounced. This is a masterful composition by Thomas Jayne.

Another way to check, is to take a photo of your room in black and white, or take a color photo and convert it to grey scale in a photo-editing program. This will help you understand how the eye moves around your room. Your eye will naturally be drawn to the area where the darkest dark meets the lightest light. You might be surprised to discover that the focal point of your room isn't what you thought it was.

Photographer Miller Mobley

Designers use darks, mediums and lights to create rhythm and "flow" around a room just like a professional artist draws the viewer through a painting. We also use dark, medium and light values to create excitement or repose. It is possible to have a relaxing chartreuse room and an exciting beige room, if they are skillfully composed with the correct balance of values.

Sometimes just changing the tone of a lampshade or rug can make all the difference in the world.

Want more drama? Turn up the contrast slightly.

Amelia Handegan, Photographer: Pieter Estersohn

Want more serenity? Add more mid-tones. More next Friday on Color.

Happy Weekend!

Snow Day

2012-01-12T09:08:00.000-05:00

Winter pretty. Tuesday morning walk to the barn.

Best of Class 2: Sunglasses

2012-01-10T11:27:00.000-05:00

I looked for years for that perfect pair of sunglasses- durable and classic with high quality lenses that wouldn't give me a headache. No hype, jingle-jangles or rhinestone logos. I finally found them at Randolph Engineering.

Made in the USA (!) and famous for their quality and durability, Randolph Engineering makes (in my opinion anyway) the best sunglasses in the world. These are the sunglasses worn by NASA astronauts and military fighter pilots. If you can fly an F-18 in them, they'll probably work fine for carpool.

Each pair goes through more than 200 production stages, mostly by hand. In fact, RE is so confident in the integrity of their hand soldered joints that they guarantee them for life under normal wear. The mineral glass lenses are distortion-free and tempered for impact resistance that exceeds ANSI Z-803 standards. They also offer terrific polycarbonate lenses for lighter weight.

They offer 10 frame finishes, 8 frame sizes and 6 lens types. I especially like the tan lenses for driving or riding on overcast days. Polarized lenses significantly cut the glare in extremely bright, high glare conditions, such as when light reflects off of snow or water. Since this glare (or horizontally polarized light) is 7-10 times stronger than ambient light, it can be extremely harsh on your eyes and cause headaches. However, RE suggests considering non-polarized lenses if you spend a lot of time viewing gauges or instruments. Because many gauges and devices are already polarized for view in sunlight, viewing them with polarized lenses creates a double polarization that will make them nearly impossible to read.

Temples come in cable (above), regular "skull" style (second from the top) and bayonet (top and below). I prefer the bayonet because they are comfortable under a hat or riding helmet. I can also yank them off quickly if I need to.

Each pair comes with a roomy hard clamshell case, lens cloth and a repair kit with extra screws, bridge pads and a teeny tiny screw driver. If you need to spend $300 on sunglasses to feel cool, you probably won't like these. But if the idea of creating your perfect, customized pair of military-grade sunglasses is appealing, you can visit Randolph Engineering by clicking here.

Or just follow me around for awhile, I'm bound to leave a pair somewhere.

Note: Jennings & Gates has received no compensation from Randolph Engineering for this post.

Book 2: Cowboy Ethics

2012-01-09T09:38:00.000-05:00

Photograph by David R. Stoecklein

What kind of person does it take to get up in the middle of the night, saddle up his horse, and go out into a raging blizzard to rescue a calf he doesn't even own? This photo, titled Hero of the Storm shows a cowboy doing what needs to be done, without regard for his personal comfort and safety, because he lives by an unwritten code, with principles like honesty, honor, courage and loyalty at its heart.

I think though many Americans "have it all," professional success and a comfortable lifestyle, there is a sense that something is missing, and a yearning for a simpler life- without corporate greed and scandals, the endless and useless maneuvering for power by politicians, and a materialistic media-driven culture. I believe that at heart, Americans know that no one can legislate morality, civility or ethical behavior. At the end of the day, we know the same thing cowboys know- that rules are a poor substitute for real personal ethics, and a fleet of lawyers is no substitute for an honest handshake.

Cowboy Ethics by James P. Owen is a fantastic book, now in its eighth printing, that highlights the values that are our heritage, regardless of our politics, religion or economic status. I love it because the message of the book is simple, and it has power and hope. Although it was originally written for Wall Street, the idea at its core is that movements start with individuals who want a better, truer, more heroic life.

These awesome kids will make your day (week? month?) promise! Click below.

To play video mouse over the screen and click the play arrow or click here.

Watch an inspiring video about how these high school students have created their own 11th Code by playing the video or click here.

Favorite Books

2012-01-08T18:53:00.000-05:00

Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship: Establishing Respect and Control for English and Western Riders
by Clinton Anderson with Ami Hendrickson

As recipients of the Blog on Fire! award, we've been asked to list five things about ourselves. I can't think of five remotely interesting things to tell you about myself, and Jennings (who is occasionally interesting) is working on a project, so I've decided to tell you about five of my favorite books.

Clinton Anderson is a funny, good-looking, brilliant horseman and clinician from Australia, who has enhanced the lives of thousands of horses and humans with his training methods.

He achieves amazing results with the simple, essential logic that in order to communicate effectively with a horse, you must learn something about how horses think, then speak to the horse in a language the horse understands- the same language horses use with each other- body language.

For me, the method had an effect not unlike cracking a secret code. It was like getting a visa to another, fabulous, planet.

The beauty of Clinton's method is that it applies to life outside the horse world as well. We can be better spouses, parents, salespersons or CEOs if we learn about the priorities and values of our intended audience, and then communicate with them in language they understand.

via www.apple.com

Take Apple for example. For the non-geek, a home computer used to be hard to shop for, a pain in the neck to set up, and complicated to use. Apple is now the worlds largest company because they thought about the priorities and needs of their intended audience, then created devices and a shopping experience that met those needs. Apple devices are fun to buy, easy to set up, and simple to use. Oh, and they're pretty.

Book number one is That Winning Attitude by Clinton Anderson, filled with inspirational, uplifting sometimes funny quotes from Clinton, and his mentor Ian Francis.

Blog on Fire!

2012-01-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

Many, many thanks to John at Wilson-Kelsey Design for tagging Jennings and Gates: Notes from a Virginia Country House, with the Blog on Fire award. His kind words about our blog:

"I came across Nina's blog only recently, but was immediately captivated by her class, style and at times very thought provoking posts. Her recent post about entertaining and todays culture was superb!"

Jennings is bowled over and so appreciative, and I am grateful for John's thoughtfulness and support. It is flattering to be singled out by such talented and respected designers. To visit Wilson-Kelsey Design, and see their beautiful work, click here.

We've been asked to say a little something about ourselves and pass the award along, so please stop back in a day or so, and I'll name the next recipients!

Thanks again!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T08:27:00.000-05:00

Warmest wishes for a merry Christmas and a happy New Year from our homes to yours.

Coffee time!

2011-12-23T21:21:00.001-05:00

Photo by Gordon Beall

Congrats to Penelope Bianchi, selected by random number generator from comments on our Have Coffee with Me post, here. Please e-mail me your info, and we will get your gift cards in the mail pronto! There were so many great comments about the post at Southern Bourbon Mountains. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. So, how did the story change my week? I've noticed this week that I've been a more thoughtful driver, more patient, less rushed, leaving myself more time to get to appointments, paying better attention to the road, not talking on the phone. How many accidents will this prevent for me down the road, it's hard to say. But these small changes have led to changes in my thinking in other areas as well.

Every story of patience, and generosity, paying it forward and random kindness, even on the most miniscule scale, cracks the door open just a bit, so a little more light shines into the human psyche. We adjust our thinking, we evolve on a personal level, and the world moves forward one. more. teeny. tiny. step. toward peace.

Image: Jennings & Gates

A Country Christmas Dinner

2011-12-21T23:26:00.000-05:00

Jennings & Gates: Virginia Country Christmas Dinner

Many thanks to Scot Meacham Wood for the opportunity to participate in his fun Christmas decorating contest. To the judges Grant Gibson, Megan Arquette, Tobi Fairley, Ronda Carman, Michael Devine and Kathryn Greeley, and to Kathryn Greeley for the wonderful autographed book. What a delight to see so much talent in one place! See the pictures here.

Christmas at Poplar Grove is a day filled with outdoor shenanigans- horseback riding, splitting wood, walking in the woods and ice skating, so for our contest entry, we were dreaming of a white Christmas- and a warm, relaxed and inviting dining room.

We chose antique Blue Willow dinnerware, because we wanted to use china that many people already collect. We selected Spode "Consul" for chargers, added air twist crystal wine glasses and flutes for fun and sparkle, antique rubyware and Jennings' 18th century cobalt salt cellars for rich color, and a pair of 18th century Sheffield Silver candlesticks. The quail wing was given to Jennings by a hunting neighbor many years ago.

Then Jennings grabbed his nippers and headed outdoors for plant material. Florist foam is magic. Just plop a block of it in an attractive bowl, tape it in place with florist tape, and add water. He clipped foliage with a variety of textures and colors, choosing: Sulphur Heart Ivy, Nandina foliage and berries, Leyland Cyprus, Winter Berry, Variagated Eleagnus, Frasier Fir, Holly and Magnolia foliage. Then he made spicy pomanders with oranges and whole cloves, and added apples, pine cones, "sheds" (naturally shed antlers), and pheasant feathers.

Evergreen arrangements are long-lasting, smell heavenly, and the foliage is easy to grow. Consider adding one or two new trees or shrubs to your landscape each year, to provide yourself with a sustainable "cutting garden" for Fall and Winter.

Have coffee with me

2011-12-20T08:39:00.000-05:00

Sending you over to Southern Bourbon Mountains today. A reminder that the gladness of Christmas is hope and love. A great post you really must read. Click here.

Then pop back here, and share with us whether the post changed your week at all, and Friday, December 23rd, I'll send a randomly selected guest a gift card for a cup of coffee for you and a friend at Starbucks. How fun is that?

An Entertaining Manifesto

2011-12-19T13:05:00.000-05:00

Wonderful Little Augury posted recently about an article from a magazine on "Comfort." Read it here. One definition of comfort in the clipped article, was that comfort is about relaxing and enjoying oneself when being entertained by others." Oh dear, this got me musing....

Some time ago, I read an article that entertaining and being entertained has fallen out of fashion in lieu of events in which one must either contribute or solicit contributions or sometimes both. Please don't misunderstand, I believe in the effectiveness of the charity ball for raising sometimes tremendous funds for great causes.

My lament is that dances for which one must buy tickets, have become substitutions for purely social dances and dinners. Grant you, social dances mostly no longer exist, because people mostly no longer have ballrooms at home. But it is also the case, that selling tickets allows for a pseudo-social activity on a grander scale than would be otherwise possible privately. And today it is assumed that bigger is always better.

But balls aside, even dinner parties have morphed into odd events. It once was the case that one's role as a guest was to accept or decline an invitation immediately, send flowers to the hostess the day before, show up on time, in the appropriate attire, with only those specified on the invitation (not three extra people, your toddler and your dog) and send a thank-you note immediately afterward. Upon accepting an invitation, it was commonly understood that one also accepted the obligation to entertain the hosts at a function of one's own in the near future. If one felt unlikely to entertain the hosts except over one's dead body, one did not accept an invitation from them.

This resulted in a happy circuit of parties where turnabout ensured that everyone entertained, and everyone was entertained. If you accepted dinner at eight, you could work until seven, shower, dress and show up in a blithe party spirit. A small but necessary contribution to overall good will and planetary peace. Nowadays, however, accepting a dinner invitation to someone else's house means you must bring not only your well-dressed, relaxed self, you must also bring a dairy-free, gluten-free dessert, or a vegetable or an appetizer.

Which means you must find a recipe that fits the host's menu. The responsibility of this will lurk above your head for a week and then it will slip your mind, until the day of the party, when you must abruptly end a meeting to leave work early, run to the grocery in the rain, find parking, shop, unload the bags, make the artichoke dip or green beans or whatever, re-do your hair and get yourself dressed, and then figure out how to transport the offering to your host without getting it all over your Loro Piana cashmere coat and your car. Or in my case, prevent the frosted cupcakes from being further decorated with bits of hay and horse hair as they cheerfully loll about on the passenger-side floor of my Jeep.

Hosts should consider the possibility, when they complain that nowadays guests do not arrive at a party in the proper spirit, or folks act as if attending a dinner is an inconvenient duty, that perhaps it is.

Yes, I've heard all of the reasons that entertaining lines are being crossed, but few of them are good. Although I'll admit a certain empathy for those who constantly entertain friends who rarely entertain in return, thereby asking for contributions purely as a defensive measure.

I've heard the argument that friends must band together to help each other entertain in tough financial times. Fiddlesticks. Entertaining and being entertained is all the more important when one must stay at home more. Lavish repasts are not necessary. From a guest's perspective, take out pizza and beer on the floor in front of the fire is wonderful if I don't have to plan it, order it, pick it up on my way, stop for beer, or clean up.

From a host's perspective, my friends have certainly been the benefactors of more than one dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese, albeit served with fanfare and lots of love.

So, having written a manifesto, I now propose a revolution. No more inviting unsuspecting guests to a "coffee" and then attempting to sell them Tupperware. And by the way, stop getting miffed when you don't receive a response for those invites either, they are retail marketing in sheep's clothing, no matter how fancy the paper they are printed on.

No more accepting invitations that you have no intention of returning. Entertaining is one of society's great pleasures. It isn't obligatory, but if you reap, you must also sow.

Stop helpfully asking to bring something to other people's parties, and stop asking people to bring things to yours. Let hosts have the pleasure of entertaining you, and you simply concentrate on being the perfect guest.

When you entertain, do it in the place and style you can handle, with the budget you can afford. If that means a restaurant dinner, fine. If that means hot dogs so be it. But do it with effort, love and pampering attention.

There is something decadently delicious about looking forward to a fun evening out that I don't have to lift a finger in helping to produce. And there is something gratifying and addictive about being a host and taking good care of my friends. Just as the forward pass made football a lot more fun (bring this up at your next dinner party, the guys will be impressed) these ideas will make entertaining and being entertained fun again also. Now, someone please pass the gherkins...

Check out Cards That Give.org for your holiday cards, or

Images: 1-3. National Wildlife Federation Holiday Cards 2012, 3-6. World Wildlife Fund Holiday Cards 7-9. Guide Dogs for the Blind.org 10-12. The Humane Society of The United States 13. The Marine Mammal Center 14. The National Arbor Day Foundation where Every Card Plants a Tree 15. Animal Protective Association of Missouri 16.-18 National Audubon Society

B is for Barbour: Virginia Country from A to Z

2011-12-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

It had been cold and rainy for two straight days, when a very wet Jennings came in from the garden and called me on the phone, suggesting a field trip to Orvis.

He was off the fence about a new Barbour.

Folks have been wearing Barbour jackets since 1894.

Don't they look happy?

What could possibly prompt a hundred years of outerwear devotion? The 6 oz. waxed cotton jacket is rainproof, thorn-proof, comfortable three seasons a year, and works just fine for making the morning mailbox trek in pygamas, bringing home the Christmas tree, weekend antiquing, or over a suit jacket on the Monday morning commute.

The rear game pocket on the Beaufort jacket is the perfect size for holding a dead duck, a newspaper, a dogleash, an extra sweater, or for sneaking a split of champagne and two plastic cups into a movie on girl's night out. I've heard.

The Bedale is the Barbour jacket you will see most around Virginia barns, in part because it is shorter in length than the Beaufort. Instead of the game pocket in back, it has gusseted double inverted pleat vents to make it easier to sit in the saddle, as the tails will flop over the cantle. If you are an avid rider (or just want to look like one) then this is the jacket for you. It has the same double rolled seams, and other nifty features as the Beaufort, and if you like to ride your horse in the rain, you won't get your saddle wet.

The Barbour Liddesdale Down Gillet

The jacket has a distinctive waxy smell when it is new, the same smell, I imagine that it has had for 117 years. But we're okay with that.

Items found by Barbour in the pockets of jackets sent for re-waxing

Of course, we also like it when the our trucks have that particular hay/wet dogs/hot coffee/muddy Wellies smell too, so bear that in mind.

Interesting then, that Barbours are getting so much fashion press these days.

Who would have thought that the same boxy, functional coat worn by the British royal family to walk the dogs, would one day be considered sexy.

It isn't that people who live in the country don't want to look nice of course,

and this is purely philosophical speculation, but it is possible that with living, growing things all around, and the whole circle-of-life thing happening right under our noses constantly, that looking sexy seems fairly redundant and quite unnecessary.

In any case, you will need to re-wax your Barbour yearly, or send it back to Barbour and they'll do it for you. Yes, this is a hassle, but as a very wise man once said to me, most things in life are a hassle anyway, so what's one more thing?

We liked that Orvis is committed to donating to projects that advance research to protect, treat, and cure companion animals, horses and wildlife worldwide. Dylan, a Golden Retriever, is the Orvis poster dog who has raised $500,000 for the Morris Animal Foundation's program to fight canine cancer. You can donate online by clicking the link here.

Note: This post is purely informational for the two or three readers (Hi Mom) who actually follow our blog. Jennings & Gates received no compensation from Barbour, Orvis, or the Morris Animal Foundation.

Great reading from our library:

We think that country life is more a state of mind, than a state of, well... State.

Whether your home is the city, by the sea, in the mountains or Farm town, USA, country life is about how you approach living your day, how you feel about your home, and how you care for yourself and your neighbors.

Virginia Country Life from A-Z is a new series inspired by our homes in Virginia. It's about some things and people we love, and some ideas for making your life a little more country- wherever you are.

Next post... C is for...

Portrait in Progress

2011-12-08T08:48:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth day 5

I have been advised, probably very wisely, that posting work in progress might not be a good idea. Which reminds me of that line in Under the Tuscan Sun, "Bad ideas- don't you just love those?" Since I never show work in progress, this puts me waaaaaay out of my comfort zone.

When I was first learning to paint, I was fascinated with how an artist gets from an initial sketch to the finished product. This is a portrait that I am working on, of a beautiful client, Elizabeth, and her yorkshire terrier, Charlie. While this work is only about 1/4 finished, I thought you might enjoy seeing how a painting develops. Day 1 and 2 is spent working with my subject, doing sketches from life if possible, and shooting several rolls of film. Day 2 or 3 is spent in my studio, sketching out possible compositions and deciding the general direction of the painting. Day 4 is roughing in the chosen composition with charcoal, acrylic paint or graphite on a sheet of Arches Hot Pressed 100% Cotton paper. If the finished work is to be completed in pastel or oil, I often do a quick under-painting in watercolor or acrylics to rough in the form. The photo above is at the end of Day 5 of this commission, after laying in color with soft pastels.

Elizabeth Day 6

On day 6, the background began to develop, I began to work out details on her face, and Charlie started to become more yorkie-sized.

Day 7- More background work on the sky and developing the trees on the right. Yorkie a little smalller again. Her hair is developing, and I'm starting to develop the sofa.

More later. Have a great day!

Christmas Past

2011-12-06T07:29:00.000-05:00

2009

Each year in Middleburg, Virginia, the Christmas season begins the first Saturday in December with a parade through the center of town. In 2009, it snowed!

The Bad Boys of Art

2011-12-03T13:15:00.000-05:00

Frederick Childe Hassam, born in 1859, became arguably, the most important American Impressionist, and was a terrific example of pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps.

Street in Portsmouth

The son of a prosperous banker, he was forced to leave school and get a job in 1872 after a great fire ruined his father financially.

He was apprenticed to a wood engraver, and learned to draw, eventually creating illustrations for Harper's and the Century. Meanwhile, he attended classes at night at the Boston Art Club, studied with William Rimmer at the Lowell Institute, and took a few private painting lessons.

At the age of 24, Childe visited Great Britain and the European continent for two months, to get a look at the Old Masters, and do a little watercolor painting in the English countryside. It isn't difficult to imagine his desire to return after arriving home. In 1886, he moved to Paris to study at the conservative school, The Academie Julien.

Today, Impressionism as a style of painting is well known and appreciated by a vast number of people, even those who might not be particularly interested in art. In 1874, however, Impressionism was a derogatory term for a revolutionary insurrection.

And it was that incredibly avant-garde style of those bad boys of painting, Jean Claude Monet, Pierre-August Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Edward Manet, and Frederic Bazille, that changed Childe Hassam's ideas about art.

Impressionism was about the relationship between form, light and color. It used loose brush strokes, ordinary subjects and sometimes unusual compositions or visual angles, and the artist's emotional responses to show movement, and fleeting passages of light and atmosphere. It was a radical departure from the realistic, polished paintings of the French school.

Childe moved back to the United States, to New York, in 1889. His mastery of the techniques of the Impressionists, and understanding of correct structural form and composition, eventually got his paintings noticed, and he became well-known for his landscapes and New York street scenes.

We're used to artists today who paint to shock. But what is important to note about this particular revolution, is that shocking as it was, that wasn't actually the intent. The intent of the Impressionists was to capture light and beauty in nature for its own sake.

Previously, art had been mostly religious, allegorical and political, and the creation of art had been directed largely by the rich and powerful. Art was used to teach lessons, promote the moralizations of the church, threaten, show the vast riches and superiority of those who could afford to commission it, titillate with veiled references to things one wasn't supposed to talk about, and portray things the average person couldn't have.

The Impressionists painted to show light, and life and the beauty of a rainy night, or a snowy morning, or a garden. Simple things. Things in life that were free and available to everyone. Why? Just because.

Beauty. Unconventional, natural, free, and for no particular good reason. Now that's revolutionary.

From our library:

If you happen to be in Williamsburg, VA between now and January 22nd. Do stop in at the Muscarelle Museum of Art, and see the show, "Seeing Colors: Secrets of the Impressionists." The fabulous Muscarelle is off of Jamestown road on the campus of the College of William and Mary.

The whole point of it

2011-12-01T23:19:00.000-05:00

For Parker

Click picture to view.

My all-time favorite book (small but mighty) and soundtrack:

Favorite Products from C.O. Bigelow

2011-11-30T21:30:00.000-05:00

C.O. Bigelow, the oldest apothecary in America, was established in 1838. If you have never visited one, you're missing a beautifully merchandized shop filled top to bottom with unique and unusual products for beauty and home. To add to our Best of Class List, here are a few of our all-time favorites from C.O. Bigelow. Rose Salve is amazing stuff for chapped kissers. Beloved by both men and women for about a zillion years, it goes on smooth with a faint rose and vanilla scent and completely eliminates dry, chapped lips with no waxy, menthol smell.

I love, love, love these blotting papers and keep them in all of my evening bags. Gently pat one small, thin square to your face, anywhere there is excess shine. They have no powder or fragrance. My skin is actually dry, not oily, but after a few hours at a party, I press one of these little miracle workers to my nose and forehead to restore my makeup to perfection without disturbing it one bit. A model's secret weapon.

I discovered Diptyque's little shop on the Boulevard Saint Germain the first time I visited Paris ages ago. Now, of course, Diptyque has been discovered by magazines and celebrities and the brand is famous everywhere for clear, true fragranced candles. My favorite scent is Tubereuse, a glorious, rich, unbelievably real tuberose scent. I get so many compliments on this, and I love that it comes in a deep, garnet colored glass jar for the holidays.

I searched forever for a comb with wide, smooth teeth for de-tangling, that would look pretty in my monogrammed travel bag or on the counter. The drugstore has only bright plastic versions (don't even get me started on the hunt for a decent toothbrush) so I ordered umpteen varieties on the internet each time thinking, "This is the One." But they always turned out to be disappointing. This handmade comb is a substantial weight and size, classic, attractive and doesn't shout. The One.

To receive 20% off purchases over $100 click here. Use code Big20 at checkout.

Mais Oui

2011-11-28T02:43:00.002-05:00

Feeling French this morning...

Want a soundtrack for this post? Click above...

and wishing for this gorgeous Louis XV desk. An antique bombe desk of rosewood and fruitwood with marquetry inlay and original ormolu and hardware.

French secretary desks like this, are timeless, current and surprisingly overlooked for the moment (and therefore affordable) and I have dreamed of one since

I saw this 18th century French secretary in the Alex Papachristidis designed living room of London-based jewelry designer Fruzsina Keehn in Elle Decor in 2006.

I love the sensuous way marquetry and antique ormolu provide rich subtext to rooms that are otherwise clean, spare or rustic. Because they can stand alone sans accessories, I predict that French Louis XV antiques will be increasingly collected by 20 and 30-somethings, perhaps in formal rooms the way their parents used them, but more likely as a bohemian masterstroke to eclectic, contemporary or monochromatic interiors.

Their playful curves and swirls add interest and intention to rooms with painted furniture.

Antique French secretaries are both multi-functional and splendidly sexy and mysterious, not giving away all of their secrets at once.

I could see it in a bath like this one by Brooke Giannetti. It would surprise and delight in a restrained, even modern white or gray bathroom, the open desk piled with fluffy white towels and the cubbies filled with soaps and bath salts. I would tuck a terry slipcovered stool underneath and use the drawers for extra storage.

How fabulous would it be as a bedside table in a crisp French blue and white bedroom with a silver buffet lamp on the open drop down desk, or between two twin beds in a guest room? I would use it in an entry hall with simple painted wood floors and stash dog leashes and hats and gloves in the drawers. I imagine it would draw guests to it like a magnet if it were used as a bar in a rustic room.

I also love the practical Russian leather writing surface. Get more information about this desk by clicking here.

Favorite Books from our library:

Photos: 1.2. Spurgeon-Lewis Antiques Old Town Alexandria, VA 3. Spurgeon-Lewis 4. Photographer Simon Upton 5. Spurgeon-Lewis 6. Kay O'Toole 7. Photographer Marina Faust 8. Kenneth Jay Lane via Elle Decor 2005 photographer Pieter Estersohn 9. Giannetti Home via Veranda

Virginia Country from A to Z: A is for Antiques

2011-11-18T08:21:00.000-05:00

Antique shopping in Old Town, Alexandria

Parker Jennings has been collecting antiques since he was 11 years old, and is known for his keen eye, and discerning ability to choose beautiful antiques for collections, and to add the perfect dramatic statement to a home. We sat by the fire with Winston, and talked about lessons he has learned and how beginning collectors might get started.

Q: Poplar Grove has a collection of museum-quality 18th and 19th century antiques. How long have you been collecting?

Parker Jennings: When I was 11, I purchased a sterling silver compass at a flea market with proceeds from plants I sold from a red wagon in Southern California.

With so many beautiful reproductions available today, why would anyone bother buying antiques?

Parker Jennings: Well first, I can almost always find a comparable antique for less. And second, because as carefully crafted and distressed as a reproduction might be, it will never have the patina of a piece that is 200 years old. That patina, the warmth of an antique, will raise the caliber of any room, traditional or modern, in one stroke.

Why is that? What causes the patina? Love?

Sure. Love, and life. Think about it- this is a secretary made in 1790 for a Maryland estate. George Washington was President. To have made it this far, means it has been cherished and survived through generations of use before it came into my possession. It has a warmth and resonance that no new piece can attain- or, at least not for a hundred years or so. You really don't own an antique, you're just the caretaker of it during your lifetime. Then, hopefully, it will be used, cared for and loved by a whole new generation.

Sort of the ultimate in living "green?"

Buying antiques is certainly green. Antiques shows have been trying to promote this as a way to interest young buyers for a while now.

Do you think that some of the appeal of antiques is that they make a home look more expensive, or the owners seem wealthy or intellectual? Are we talking snob appeal?

That is a good question. When I was younger, I was struck by a wonderful early portrait hanging above the mantle in a home I was helping to remodel. Yes, it was valuable, and it spoke of that, but I think the historical connection to the past resonated with me more. Serious collectors are purely passionate about their acquisitions. In fact, a few that come to mind are generally secretive, and share their collections with only a chosen few that share their same passion. On the other hand, as interior designers, yes, we are often trying to convey a certain look. That being said I don't think this is snob appeal. I do wonder where all these Swedish antiques are coming from.

If a love of antiques implies a certain level of education or awareness, will collecting antiques make me smarter?

Parker Jennings: (Laughs) However one can get it. Seriously though, I've known people who purchased a piece for the look, but then got hooked researching the provenance, and became quite knowledgeable about a particular era. Sometimes the tail wags the dog. [At this, Winston wags his tail and grins. He obviously thinks that is one of the funniest things he has ever heard.]

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in an apartment with no furniture, or a few hand-me down pieces?

Parker Jennings: To develop and become conscious of their aesthetic or their look, to gain focus. Look at the magazines to acertain what appeals to you. Try to become familiar with what key pieces will make the most impact in your room, and start hunting.

That sounds pretty straight-forward.

Parker Jennings: The thing is though, it is never really this simple. With antiques, the opportunities present themselves, usually at the least appropriate time, and you rarely get a second chance when you let that perfect piece slip by- and that can haunt you for years, trust me.

What do you think about fads in decorating?

Parker Jennings: It's important to be true to yourself and not get caught up following magazine cover fashions. You can end up with a very trendy look, but it ultimately won't mean much to you later because it won't reflect who you are.

What would you tell a beginning collector who doesn't have much money to spend?

Parker Jennings: Buy the best that you can afford, and follow your heart. Spending as much as possible on his home was Thomas Jeffersons mantra, and I follow it daily to a fault, drowning my guilt in Cabernet every evening.

You've said this to me before, to buy the best you can afford. Why is that? Why not just upgrade later?

Parker Jennings: Upgrading is not as easy at it sounds, as selling a piece and recouping your investment is challenging. Remember you are often paying retail, or some level below, but rarely at what would be considered wholesale. Additionally, the market is not appreciating as it once was. This is unfortunate, as many people considered their antiques part of their retirement portfolio.

What would you say to a collector that has $500 to spend?

Parker Jennings: Research, go to auctions, don't be impulsive. One almost always regrets impulse buys. Keep in mind that the better the condition of the item, the higher the price.

What if they have $1000 to spend?

Parker Jennings: Hopefully they didn't spend that first $500 and we can have a lot more fun with $1500.

You say "research," what is the best way to do that?

Talk to dealers, ask them to refer you to someone who specializes in what interests you. Read books. I highly recommend Albert Sacks' book, because it illustrates Good, Better, Best, Superior and Masterpiece.

What is the best way to integrate antiques into a contemporary interior?

Parker Jennings: Restrained use of larger scale pieces, especially utililized as the focal point of a room. Darryl Carter, for one, is brilliant at this.

How do I find a good antiques dealer?

Parker Jennings: Antiques dealers are generally part of a fairly close-knit community. It is a pretty small world. Go to a shop that interests you, and look around, ask a lot of questions. Are they patient about talking with you? The best really enjoy what they do, and will usually talk your ear off. Do they pressure you to buy? Good dealers want you to love what you're buying. They will encourage you to come back and visit the piece, maybe even offer to bring it over on approval. Ask for recommendations from other antiques dealers. Like physicians, they often have a pretty good idea of the skills of their peers.

Is it okay to buy something that has been refurbished?

An antique generally is considered more desirable the better, and more orginal the condition. There are always exceptions. For example re-lining a painting that has a warped canvas, and is sustaining paint loss is acceptable. The amount of restoration needs to be a consideration. This is where a good relationship with dealers is helpful. They are full of information, and generally love to talk about their passion. Another secret I might add is that they love being invited over for dinner. I have shopped from the trunk of a dealer's car more than once when they stop by for a casual country supper.

What is the biggest mistake a beginning collector can make?

Parker Jennings: Probably to purchase on impulse without knowing the true value of an item, especially in todays deflated marketplace. Having said that, we all make mistakes in the beginning. Almost everyone at one time or another overpays for an item or buys something that wasn't what they thought it was. Don't worry about it, just enjoy your piece and don't make the same mistake twice.

Can I have another piece of Pumpkin Bread?

Sure.

Great Books on Collecting Antiques from our library:

We think that country life is more a state of mind, than a state of, well... State.

Next post... B is for...

Hostess with the Most-ess

2011-11-15T19:13:00.001-05:00

via

I just took the most wonderful vacation-- at the Enchanted Home blog! Read it here. It began with a flight on a private jet, with a wonderful meal, and a chauffeur driven car which took me to the place of my choosing, to visit the friend of my choice, who lives in this beautiful house. How terrific is that?

via

It is a delightful post, so be sure to pop over and read it, if you haven't already.

Ralph Lauren

It feels glorious to be a pampered, adored guest, but being a graceful host isn't easy- it takes creativity, empathy, planning and practice. I can't take credit for the following ideas, because I've picked them up over the years from many great hosts. Here is what I've learned...

Mona Haj

Think about making your guest's arrival stress-free. Will you meet your guest at the airport, or can you arrange transportation? If not, consider sending clear directions and a map, even before she asks. This is also a good time to include a general itinerary for the visit and a weather forecast for your area, so your guest knows what to pack. I like the idea of a little packet, mostly prepped and printed on house stationery, that just needs to be personalized and dropped into the post.

Next, imagine how you may sometimes feel after a journey- perhaps a little tired, hungry, perhaps still a bit airsick from a rough flight. As you experienced the fantasy that Tina described at The Enchanted Home, how did you imagine that you were welcomed? For me, welcome means a warm greeting and being shown to my room right away. It's a delightful luxury to have a few minutes to compose myself, take a deep breath, and put on some lipstick before jumping into a whirlwind visit.

A bottle of cold water on a tray, or a glass of ice water with lemon waiting in my room is especially nice so that I can rehydrate a bit while I pull myself together.

Hostesses and guests are excited to see each other, but I find it feels more graceful and relaxing for both of us to keep the first hello brief, show my guests to their rooms, and leave them with instructions for where to find me when they are ready to emerge.

Most of us love the rooms and baths in luxury hotels. Why? Because they are scrupulously clean and they use simple, attractive materials. This is a guest room at the Hay-Adams in Washington. It has a comfortable bed, a chair, good reading light, a desk, a closet, a clock and a cd player. Luxury hotels have the amenities we crave as guests, including simple space.

via Veranda, Photo: Carolyn Roehm

Take a tip from a grand hotel, and consider keeping your own guest suite attractive but tailored, and neutral. Don't fill it with knick-knacks or cover every horizontal surface. Your personal photos and tchochkes won't have the same meaning for your guests, and may even give them the uncomfortable feeling that they are interloping in a private space. What is appreciated? What do you appreciate? A vase of fresh flowers or a potted orchid, a small silver tray with a note pad, pen, some chocolate mints, a box of tissues, and a stack of current magazines.

Photo via Veranda by Carolyn Roehm

If you can clear your guest room closet, that is best. Consider wallpapering it in a pretty paper or painting it so it is fresh and clean.

Designer Nancy Boszhardt

If you can, provide a pristine clean, new (or new looking) robe and some pristine slippers, plenty of hangers, a small sewing kit, a flashlight, a fold down iron and ironing board inside the closet door, a clothes lint brush, and a folding luggage rack.

These are the best hangers ever. They come in colors to match your guest room, take up little space and the flocking keeps clothing from falling off.

When you are a guest, what is your dream bathroom? What do you most need? For me, I hope the bathroom is surgically clean and has plenty of towels.

Have you ever visited a guest bath and wondered where to hang your robe, clothing or toiletry bag? The Lugarno Train Rack from Restoration Hardware is great for small spaces because it holds folded towels and hanging items in a compact footprint.

But even a few of these would be great. It is almost impossible to have too many hooks.

Important Note: Many people are allergic to dyes and perfumes. To avoid having a guest with an uncomfortable, itchy rash, be on the safe side and wash your guest sheets and towels in a scent and dye-free laundry detergent, avoid fabric softener, and if you use bleach, rinse sheets and towels in clear, cold water at least twice. I remember reading that when Queen Elizabeth visited Colonial Williamsburg in 2007, the wonderful Williamsburg Inn rinsed her linens 4 times.

The guest bath should have: Small scissors, a tweezer, new toothpaste, a water glass, aspirin, cotton balls and Q-tips, a blow dryer and curling iron, lotion, band-aids, a new emery board, a new bottle of shampoo and conditioner, a packaged toothbrush, a trash can, extra toilet paper, and a dark washcloth for removing makeup. Also, it is thoughtful to have a plunger tucked away so guests don't have to suffer the embarrassment of asking you for one.

Buy a half-dozen clear shower liners when they are on sale, to change at the first sign of grunge.

Resist the temptation to pile the bed with decorative sofa-type pillows, they just get dusty and dust is not relaxing.

Plus, guests are inconvenienced by having to do something with them at night when what they want most is just to climb into a crisp blissful bed, read a little and fall asleep.

A few assorted bed pillows for sleeping and propping (consider 2 Euros, 2 standards and a baby pillow or neckroll) in a selection of down and hypo-allergenic fill, are what a guest needs most. Make the guest room bed with linens that you can wash between each guest so they always smell and feel fresh.

Seriously, which feels more relaxing, this...

or this? When you are a guest, do you really care if the colors match the living room, or do you just want serenity?

The most important aspect of a guest room is a comfortable mattress and fresh pillows. Guest rooms don't have to be luxurious, but we all want a good nights sleep. I've slept on mattresses as hard as boards, and dipped as soup bowls. Almost every linen store sells 2"-4" memory foam toppers and reasonably priced down pillows that can make the difference between a happy, pampered guest and a crabby guest. Happy=good. Crabby=bad.

Watch the divine Bunny Williams and Martha Stewart discuss the perfect guest room here.

via Blackberry Farm

When your guest rejoins you after freshening up, provide a light snack and a beverage in a comfortable, low-key environment. Keep in mind that guests usually have that buzzed, still-moving feeling after traveling, so keep stimulation low for a few minutes, and allow them to get their bearings.

In warm weather, a glass of iced tea or lemonade in a shady spot, or in winter, a cup of hot tea or chocolate by the fire can revive the most weary traveler and help them prepare for a lively evening.

As a host, the visit will be more fun for you as well, if you offer guests a choice of 2 or 3 possible activities and let them choose from those, rather than an open, "What do you want to do?" It is a good idea to plan meals but remain flexible, and leave unstructured time for spontaneous activities and relaxing. Consider creating a place in the kitchen where guests can easily find fruit, cookies, a thermal carafe of hot coffee and the fixings for tea.

via Martha Stewart

And finally, it is fun to send guests home with an unexpected treat. A small memento of their trip, such as a miniature photo book or a charm for a bracelet or necklace is always appreciated, or it might be a yummy box lunch, or a package of homemade cookies for the road.

Good books from our library:

Other Images: 8.Bed, Bath and Beyond 9. Williams-Sonoma Home 12. Williams-Sonoma Home 15. Restoration Hardware 19. Martha Stewart, photograph by Chuck Baker

Pretty livable

2011-11-13T22:00:00.000-05:00

Boston-based Wilson Kelsey Design is the husband and wife team behind these graceful interiors. John always leaves thoughtful comments on our blog. Visit the Wilson Kelsey blog by clicking here.

John tells me that this award-winning project at Prides Crossing was the renovation of a large condominium in an old carriage house/barn that was part of the former Ayer estate.

General Patton married the Ayer daughter and used to keep some of his horses in the barn. Now Bella is going to see this and want crown moldings in her stall.

I want to curl up in that window seat and read all afternoon.

Sally is an accomplished pianist, and loves books, maps, museums and the opera. John is a wine aficionado, and enjoys fly fishing and racing Italian sports cars.

John says that this project was the renovation of, and addition to a 1780's era Colonial in Lincoln, MA

See more gorgeous Wilson Kelsey designs by clicking here.

All-time Fave's from our library: