I finally got the chance to see the finished house I had decorated up in New Hampshire last year.It is on a beautiful lake-perfect setting for relaxing summers! We had a lot of fun picking out the fabrics and I think the client is delighted with the result-it is a very happy house and fun to spend time in,especially on beautiful summer days.
Architect,gardener,scientist,philosopher,mathematician,horticulturist,politician and spoke 5 languages…Jefferson was truly a man of the enlightenment. Beginning with entering the front hallway of Monticello you are told by the tour guide that he specifically made the entrance a “Museum” with relics from the Lewis and Clark expedition,maps, and antlers of animals both rare and native to Virginia.He felt that if anyone was waiting for him, they surely should be learning while waiting.
Also in the entrance hall there is a clock which not only tells the time but tells the day of the week. He ran out of room as the ball descends to Friday afternoon so he merely cut a hole and put Saturday in the basement! He also had extensive notes on the weather each day.
He thought about ease and convenience in many instances. He invented the swivel chair, a double door which when you open on one side, has a pulley system he invented to open the other. He had a dumb waiter that spins around for staff to collect dishes after a meal , a pulley system to the basement where new bottles of wine can be brought up,the empties taken away. His closet above his bed(which to his specification is 6’3″ to be 1/2 inch longer than his 6’2 1/2″ to not waste room) has holes for ventilation but is a clever way to hide his clothes and not take up room. His bed was conveniently positioned between the bedroom and the office so he could leap out to begin his day’s work and study.
Jefferson was very fond of the architect Andrea Palladio. He spent over 40 years altering and working on Monticello-always discovering something new that he saw when he resided in Europe several times. Even now there is much work going on-they are building cabins that would look like the slave quarters seen at Monticello in jefferson’s day.
On this topic,slavery, Jefferson never resolved his own personal feelings. He definitely felt that all men were created equal yet he had over 200 slaves on his property.
Jefferson stated in a letter to a friend “All my wishes end,where I hope my days will end,at Monticello”. He died on July 4,1826-just hours before his friend John Adams in Boston,and 50 years to the day of the enactment of the Declaration of Independence which he penned.
If you have not made it to Monticello which is located near Charlottesville, Virginia- you really need to add it to your list.
|
I just went to visit two friends who have quite a knack for collecting the neatest antiques for their cottages in New Hampshire. From the coffee grinders to the the tablecloths to the containers for sugar,etc….I just loved every corner of both of their homes!
This has been a really fun project that I am currently working on. My client had one couch that needed to be reupholstered and then wanted a second one to be made to match. Lawless Upholstery in Concord MA is where I always go.Shane does incredible work and is wonderful to work with. Pictured are the existing couch with the cushions about to be made amd the new frame(unlike most new furniture you buy in stores,Shane uses maple unstead of plywood!) ready to be upholstered. Also pictured is Glenn making the skirts that go on the chair we reupholstered for her guest room,and the ottoman that accompanies it. All fabrics are Duralee.
One last rock for this summer on these wonderful rockers-they are from Walpole Woodworkers. On to fall,school and so on!
Here are some ideas for summer sleeping!
The first is a bunk bed,made by the builder for a house on the Vineyard. What I loved was the rungs on the side to scramble up to the top bunk. I thought it was all very nicely done.
The second example is a set of twin beds on these big red wheels. This is so clever-the beds can be moved around easily to create a double bed or two singles. Great idea for the many visitors with different needs that arrive in the summertime!
Yesterday was my first day blogging and I already noticed a mistake. I said “my 5 kids don’t laugh”-of course what I meant was “my 5 kids: don’t laugh”! They always joke that I don’t know a thing about anything,especially anything related to the computer….any one else have teens and twenty year olds????
Today, I would love to start sharing with you chairs that have been saved by reupholstering them. The chairs you will see the next few days were also, as was my yellow stool, headed for the dump. Instead they were given a new life and used in places where the client thought of buying a new chair. Older furniture almost always is better than new -better made and sturdier than new.
This first one was given to the client by her Mom who was selling their beach house. I don’t even remember what it looked like before, but I do know that as it was in the upholstery shop window (after being finished) and he said he could have sold it at least 5 times!
Lauren Huyett Interiors 