A few of my favorite Jamestown Lounge things

...for all you Jamestown Lounge fans out there.

It's all in the details. This carved arm was the first element of Jamestown Lounge Feudal Oak that caught my eye when I was looking for furnishings for this circa 1961 shoebox ranch. Our last house had such character in the woodwork! This carving, I was certain, would make up for that loss.

The seductive arm turned out to be part of a couch and there were pieces to match. These arms are also on a massive arm chair with a big ottoman. End tables, intricately carved and identical on both ends!

This chair came along later, and is Jamestown Lounge British Oak.
I adore the notched arms and the carving on the back.

Check out the carving on the side of this Jamestown Lounge Feudal Oak chair.
It's a great one for sitting and knitting by the window.

I love the effect the carvings have on this Feudal Oak drum table.

This coffee table has the massive carvings, too.

The tabriz looks a bit more rose colored than it really is, but I love the details.
Oh, did I mention that?

Here is the poster that scandalized the Pan Am Exposition in Buffalo, NY in 1901.


Well, okay, a copy of it.

Need a place to sit while removing your boots?

Next time? Maybe the rest of the British Oak collection, then on to Colonnade and then American Modern.

Old friend, new friend

My old friend, the Canon Power Shot A20 which I have used for years, meet my new friend...
The Kodak EasyShare Z612, which a brown truck delivered to my house, just today. I wasn't even expecting to meet a new friend. WH just told me that something was coming that brown would deliver and it was for both of us. I'm sure that once I get to know her better my new friend will bring endless joy and help preserve many happy memories.

The Great Outdoors

Yesterday was the last day of school. Loads of stuff that I brought home is freshly dumped in the living and dining rooms. It looks like a "before" picture for one of those home organization shows. So, here are some lovely views of the outdoors which WH has made look pretty great.

Part of the berm. You can see other neighborhood houses.

The patio is our summer livingroom.

The sundial spends part of its day in the shade. Who really cares what time it is in the summer?

A couple more things

These pictures looked quite appropriate together. The one on the right was probably taken in 1982 or so. The other was just last summer.
Chautauqua Institution -- All County Music Festival. Son2 is in the first chair euphonium seat. Not bad for a sophomore.

Spring Break! or Rippin' into the old house again

I love our livingroom. When I see this picture I want to go sit there. It is cozy and comfortable. This week we tore it all apart. Look closely at the second picture. It shows four little screws protruding down through the ceiling from the crawlspace. These were placed there by our roofer FIVE YEARS AGO when he installed a new roof and skylight for the living room. All we needed to do was cut and finish access to it. Simple enough, right?












Here is a shot of the hole cut and insulation added. See the blinds? Those are new, too, and work on a switch. They can open, close or completely retract.










This is the work in progress. No pain, no gain. Now there is sheetrock covering the insulation. Air circulation is not the greatest in these access chutes, so we rigged a box fan set across chairs blowing UP. Sorry, no picture, but I'm sure you can see it in your mind's eye.

Since all of the furniture was either moved out or covered in plastic I hauled this favorite chair off to the upholstery shop. Okay, this chair is nice, but you'd really be raving about it had you seen what it looked like BEFORE I took it there. However, since I am the Worst Blogger Ever I neglected to take a picture of it in its gold wide wale corduroy glory with the sunken seat. The best thing about that fabric was that it matched the cat who thinks it is Her Chair. Anyway, the red Jamestown Lounge Feudal Oak chair is great in the room.

The finished room! This picture may not show the beauty of the natural light that fills the room, even on a gloomy day (common around here) in the late afternoon it was lovely. It was four days of disruption and mess but our question was, "Why didn't we do this sooner?" Our next planned project is to refinish the livingroom floor. That will wait until summer. Our heavy Jamestown Lounge Feudal Oak livingroom furniture has taken a toll on the floor. It has rubbed off the finish and started marring the wood beneath. There was also an incident with a leaky Christmas tree that happened a couple of years ago that discolored a part of the wood. Meanwhile, we shall enjoy the latest improvement.

In the bleak midwinter

Our Ancestral Home, without its awnings, surrounded by snow and more snow. Saturday I left it to visit this lovely home outside of Atlanta with no snow.

Am home again, and the visit made it easier to face even more snow that is falling right now.

Christmas gathering

The A Cappella Choir performs their vespers concert in this beautiful setting, left, each year as they have for about 82 years. This was Son2's first year as a member of the choir and the grandparents took advantage of the balmy weather to venture out and attend. They seemed to be glad that they did.

Happy New Bath!

On the fifth day of Christmas we sent the Christmas cards... and on the odd chance that anyone will actually view the blog as promoted in the propaganda we enclosed about our family news I figured it was time to show the work we did back in September. It is no coincidence that blog postings ceased when school began, but we did put a few more finishing touches on the bath.

We really like the look of the heat cover that replaced the rusty/painted metal baseboard cover. The accessories are chrome and white porcelain. We like the way they look with the faucets, door handles and porcelain sink and shining tub. What a lot of work, but it sure was worth it!

25th day, part 2!

Isn't that nice? The backsplash needs trimming to size and permanent mounting but the sink is functional. The faucet is the Moen mate to the one in the shower/tub. The chrome and white thing on the counter is a soapdish/toothbrushholder thing that I picked up at JC Penney. I liked it because the dish would match the sink and was also an oval, plus it had the whole chrome thing going on and it took the place of three different pieces that we used to have on the counter in the pink bathroom. AND it wasn't too fancy. There is a lot of very fancy bathroom stuff out there these days.

What's left? Well, the backsplash, hang the medicine cabinet, some molding around the floor, one more strip of wallpaper on that particularly nasty section of wall behind the door, purchase and hang some hardware for towels, roll of toilet paper, and move the usual bathroom gear into those lovely new cupboards. Oh, and put the grab bar in the shower/tub. We would have done that by now but it hasn't come in, yet.

25 days into the project

Isn't that a great piece? And there it is, right up against the wall! Jon from Jamestown Kitchen and Bath came by right away and explained what we needed to do. The next thing I knew, WH had done it before I could tell it to pose and say "cheese." Right now he is at a hardware store getting the goods to complete the installation of the sink and faucet. The boxy shelf on the wall actually sits behind the mirrored medicine cabinet which is currently in storage under the bed.

The counter is a bronze color which looks absolutely great in the room.

I think I feel a whirlpool bath coming on....

A Mell of a Hess

This was fun, and not the mell of a hess part. This was the noon massed bands at the Jamestown Celtic Festival at JCC. WH and I attended, ate, drank and enjoyed the spectacle of it all.







Here is a picture of the Jamestown area pipe and drum group playing in a circle. Groups were there from Cleveland, Niagara Falls and Erie, PA as well.

We ate shepherd's pie, reubens, shortbread and enjoyed Guinness.


There were demonstrations of highland games, as well. Next year they hope to have a full competition.


The Celtic festival was a nice diversion on Saturday. Sunday we faced the new cabinets.



Here is the mell of a hess. First, though, notice how nice the cabinets look. They are very suitable for the house and the room.


We ordered two. The one on the left is 18" and consists of a drawer and a cupboard with an adjustable shelf. We chose simple chrome oval knobs. These cupboards will be so much more useful than the former one.

The one on the right doesn't have the hardware attached, yet. It is 30" wide and consists of two drawers on the left and a cupboard on the right. The upper panel is a false front. This cupboard is designed to hold the sink.





This next picture displays the problem.

This is looking down over the back of the larger cupboard and the two matching chrome extrusions are the water supply and the rag is hanging from the sink drain in the wall. Notice that the sink drain meets perfectly with the drawer support for the upper drawer. There is our problem.

Tomorrow we intend to have "Jon" from Jamestown Kitchen and Bath stop over to give us advice. Do we send this 30" cabinet back? Do we raise it? (I don't like that idea). Do we abolish the upper drawer? I don't care for that either. Do we relocate the drain? WH also is considering locating the cupboards a few inches away from the wall. That has its own problems.

We need professional advice!

A Great Day for the Bathroom

Welcome to the almost complete bathroom. Here is the view from the hall. Note the window curtain, new miniblinds and rugs. The window topper came from the local JC Penney store as did the rugs. I visited there with a piece of the wallpaper and counter sample. The sage green was nice and safe, but the crimson was very exciting. The local store didn't have a shower curtain I wanted to live with, though.

Look closely at the accessory on the toilet tank.






Yes! It is a hand knitted tissue box cover! I made that today thanks to an easy to live with pattern from MagKnits June issue. Any granny would be proud.





Late last spring WH and I stayed at a Hilton Hotel and loved the shower curtain rod design. It bowed outward at the middle to give the person in the shower more room. We were able to get the same curtain rod at our local True Value Hardware Store. We saw the same rod for sale at Home Depot for about $9 more. Go figure!

This picture shows the bow in the rod. The rod and curtain clips are chrome, in honor of that silver anniversary we mentioned a while back.



See the lovely cotton/linen shower curtain? It complements the window topper very nicely, being rather plain with a couple of bands of lattice trim set in. I found that at the local Sears.

This picture shows the shower curtain closed. You can see the simple detailing on the fabric and also see what the bowing looks like.


So far, the residents of this house approve of my decorating choices. I thought that red would really throw them for a loop, which is always fun. Son2 even helped me by attaching the drapery hardware while I pressed the goods. And he likes it. I am amazed.





AND, today the cabinets arrived! This is only one of them. They are Kraft Maid "Henley" style in a honey maple finish. This one is for storage, has a drawer on top and a cupboard with a shelf below. The finish is excellent, the drawers glide beautifully and they are anything but flimsey. The second one has drawers and a cupboard and will also house the drop-in sink. We also have cupboard hardware, but not in this picture.

This one is sitting here surveying its new surroundings.

Where I wanna be...

Here is WH caulking the new tub surround...









And this is where I wanna be! Alas, I must wait until the stuff cures. Tomorrow night!


Tomorrow is also the day we expect the new cabinets and sink. We haven't called to confirm that in a while. We would rather enjoy the present and deal with any disappointment later.

Papering around the tub

In my neverending quest to upholster the walls without the pesky interference of furnishings I have been papering around the tub PRIOR to WH's installation of the tub surround. He marked the layout of the surround and I made sure the lines were covered. That last strip after the window is wider than it really needed to be because only about 2" of width was necessary. Honestly, it is easier to hang a full strip than a narrow one, and the width was necessary for the top 22". The surround will cover a great deal of that particular strip. If I'm lucky, I'll never see that particular piece of wallpaper again!

The tub has power, water, paper and later today: the surround! Maybe we will finally get to use it.