making candles pretty!

I love having lots of candles around.  

From votive to large multi-wick candles there's just nothing like candlelight that makes a room feel special at night.   I like my candles to be pretty even when not in use.

When I place a brand new candle they just always look too new because, well- they are!  I hated that, so I came up with a way to give them instant patina (see photo above) and wanted to share it with you.

I use a small propane torch and a striker to start.  

BUT, THIS IS DANGEROUS!!!  Use at your own risk.  If you're not checked out on how to use one I suggest you use...

this Kingsford flexible lighter  or a chef's torch- both which have an extra long (i.e. hot) flame.

I place a large piece of wax paper under the candle to catch any drips.  Then just slowly apply heat to the top outer edge to cause it to melt which creates drips and softens the look of the new candle.  You use the size of the flame and the distance of the flame from the candle to control the amount and size of the drips. You can see in this photo how important it is to use the wax paper!

Continue slowly heating and dripping until...

...you get to your happy place!  

Make sure the candle is cool before handling and then be careful when picking it up that you don't put your fingers on the drips as they can break off easily, so try to handle the candle from the bottom.  

And, there you have it- a pretty new candle with patina!

If you missed the story about the blue baluster you can read about it HERE.

polishing hotel silver...

It's polish the hotel silver day! Try as I might to like tarnished silver, I just can't quite get there. ;)  There's just something about the old silver-soldered hotel silver all polished up that I adore-  I love the contrast of the used, abused, old silver with a fresh, shiny surface.  This is just the hotel silver that sits out around the house- it tends to need more polishing, but it's really not too bad of a job as I only polish about once every 6-8 months.  The pieces in the cabinets don't oxidize as often and only need polishing once every year and a half or so.

Where's Alfred and Jimmy when I need them?!

I like to use silver cream to polish the hotel silver.  Wright's is my brand of choice, but apparently this is what the grocery store had the last time I purchased.  I use the sponge that comes with the polish cream and lightly go over the pieces.  I then wash them in dish soap and they're ready for use.  

It's actually a rather pleasant chore as I like reading the hotel names and wondering about what life was like during their glory days!

Question:  When watching Downton Abbey how many times do you say "I want a staff...." ?!  

Me,  I average about 4 times per episode!!!

 :)

So.... what are you doing today?!

baluster lamps

I have found that there are certain shapes that just make me happy.  

Round is one and I incorporate many "round" shapes into my designs (think fishing floats ;) and another is the baluster.  Wood, metal, stone, glass, or concrete... there is just something about the curvy shape that I find beautiful and classic.  Besides the fact that the shape makes me happy I like the repetition throughout the house.  

When I did the post on the ivory escutcheons that Dan made for the antique chest of drawers in the guest room (here) I was asked about the baluster lamp that sits on the chest...

The lamp is made from an antique green glazed-terracotta baluster from Singapore.  

(I see this term misused often, so for the record-  a baluster is a single, individual upright support in a rail whereas a balustrade is multiples of balusters topped by a rail.  This is not a balustrade lamp as I see them called, but a "baluster" lamp.  Pheww... I feel so much better now! :)

We purchased all of our balusters from a wholesale importer in Seattle (for those of you about to ask for the business name, he has since retired, sorry.)  He would travel the world and bring back the most wonderful treasures.   We first found him while living in Portland, Oregon and even after moving to Dallas we would fly up to shop his warehouse.  We would carefully pack and carry the balusters (two per person per trip) in our carry-on luggage to protect them and check our clothes.  (Just like carry-on now, yes?!!)

  Since they were all handmade, no two antique balusters are alike- they each have their own personality and color combinations and I love them all! 

  Unless you have inherited an antique and have the good fortune to have a family photograph that includes the item, you rarely know where an antique actually came from.  So, when I was presented with photographs of the building that was being taken down where the balusters were from I was ecstatic! We sold many of these baluster lamps in my business (Dan would make them into lamps) and I always included a copy of the photo so that the new buyer would also know the origin of these little gems.

Above the street light in this photograph you can see the rooftop balustrade made up of the glazed terracotta balusters.

Here is a closeup of what they looked like in the railing during demolition.  I'm so grateful that they were saved.

You might have noticed that I used them a lot around the house!  

As a candle holder in the master bath...

As a lamp in the living room...

As a candle holder in the kitchen (love all the oxblood red in this one)...

And, on the terrace table...

And then there is the beautiful, unusual much-coveted blue baluster; much coveted by me!  

The blue baluster has its own story....  I spied it early on at our importer's warehouse and I asked how much it was-  I was told it wasn't for sale.  Don't you hate that?!  He only had one blue baluster in all the years we bought from him .  It became a running joke that every time I was writing my check for all my new treasures I would ask the importer if he was ready to sell it yet.  And, for a good three years the answer was always no.  Then, one day- totally out of the blue, as I hadn't even asked, he asked me if I still wanted it and sold it to me!  I think I shed a tear or two and  I'm sure I looked just like

  THIS on the plane ride home!!!

And, just in case you're not totally convinced of my love for the baluster ;) here are a few more!

This iron baluster on Dan's bedside table was found at the Scott Show in Atlanta.  In Dallas it sat outside (under the eaves) on our patio.  This table was also found at said importer's warehouse!  It too comes with a good story (here)!

This wooden baluster with its original painted patina from an old estate in Highland Park in Dallas is in the South guest room...

And, its cousin is on the bedside table in the North guest room!

This vintage concrete baluster serves as a table base for a copper tray in the master bedroom.

Told ya... I love them everywhere!

kitchen drawers- the island

It's another beautiful "snow day" here in New Hampshire and that means I'm in the kitchen!

Awhile back my sweet, beautiful niece, Jenny, told me that she liked to imagine she was visiting us at the farmhouse and we were sitting in the kitchen having a glass of wine, talking about cooking and...

 looking in my kitchen drawers!!!

I figure if Jenny wants to look inside my kitchen drawers, then there are probably some of you who want to too!

[By the way.... If you live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and are thinking of putting in a swimming pool Jenny and her husband build pools- both residential and commercial gunite swimming pools.  They offer new construction, remodels, replasters, pool maintenance and consultation.   If you're in the area and the market, drop me a note and I'll send you their info!]





We got around 24-inches of snow during the blizzard last weekend!  We went from having no snow on the ground to 24"!




Years ago, well before we even thought of moving, I came across a kitchen that used all drawers instead of lower-cabinets.  I thought the idea was brilliant and functional and saved the magazine article for inspiration (remember the old days when you had to literally tear something out of a magazine instead of "pinning" it?!!! ;)  When designing this kitchen I incorporated all-drawers (well, almost "all") into the plan.  I couldn't be more happy with them and highly recommend them if you are designing or renovating a kitchen.

Since I have a lot of drawers I think it is best to break this topic up into a couple of posts.  I'll start with the island drawers.  

The marble top island is where most of the food prep takes place, so items inside these drawers are geared towards ease and convenience in cooking.  The island measures a little over 3 x 7 feet.  To keep from having to continually run around to get something in a drawer on the other side I have strategically placed duplicate items in drawers on both sides of the island.  It's a simple thing, but one that makes cooking more enjoyable.

The following are the drawers directly across from the sink.
I love to open a kitchen drawer and find "pretty"!  These little woven baskets ($5 each from Walmart) are the perfect holders for utensils.
One of my favorite kitchen tips is in the lower right hand corner- individual measuring spoons.  I bought several sets of measuring spoons,  took them off the ring they come on and can now pull the right sized individual spoon out for whatever I need instead of having to fold the spoons I'm not using back and then wash them all when I've only used one! When making a recipe I pull the appropriate spoon for an ingredient in a recipe and the ingredient itself and set them side by side.  Do you mise en plas?!

Next down is my "savory" herb and spice drawer.  The white polymer tiered-shelf drawer organizer
was cut to fit the drawer.

Below it are baking spices and ingredients, plus bulk bags purchased from Penzeys- I love Penzeys!

Flanking the ends of the other side of the island is the wine refrigerator and a cabinet for large items like my sheet pans, wire racks, cutting boards etc.  The refrigerator and the cabinet left a very small space to be accessed from this side.  I had the cabinet maker make shallow drawers so as not to waste any space.  I keep my papers and plastic wrap in one....

and measuring cups in another.

Below the measuring cups I store Ziploc and paper bags.

The following drawers are on the range side of the island.  As I mentioned, I store an extra set of measuring cups, spoons, scissors and a timer on this side so I don't have to keep running around the island to find items.  This drawer is right next to the wine refrigerator (right side of photograph) and is the wine opening station!

Love this drawer as it holds all things baking!  Oh, and my immersion hand blender- if you don't have one you need one, trust me!  It's a kitchen favorite this time of year when making soups.

This drawer is another favorite, holding my Cuisinart food processor, KitchenAid 9-speed hand mixer, and my chef's torch for making Dan's favorite crème brûlée!

I know it's not a "drawer," but I thought "Jenny" would want to see where I keep my sheet pans and cutting boards! :)

Hope you liked the Jenny-inspired post!

For more drawer organization and storage:
To see the drawers on the sink side click HERE
To see the drawers on the range side click HERE

everything has a story: ivory escutcheons

When I showed the South guest bedroom I mentioned that there was a story having to do with the antique chest-of-drawers that would convince you (if you weren't already;) of Dan's talent as a craftsman!

When we found this antique English chest-of-drawers in Dallas many years ago it had a big "HOLD" tag on it.  It was also missing one knob, an ivory escutcheon and another knob was badly broken and not usable.  (For those not familiar with the term, an "escutcheon" is a protective or ornamental plate or flange- as around a keyhole.) 

I loved the chest, the price was right and I didn't concern myself at the time at how we (i.e. Dan ;) would remedy the missing knobs and escutcheon.  I was more concerned with the big, ole "HOLD" tag that meant I couldn't buy it!  It was on hold until the next day at 5 p.m.  So, the following day we arrived at the antique shop at 4:45 and waited!  5 o'clock came and went and we asked the staff to call the person to see if they were going to take it.  The person decided against it because the width didn't fit their space and we snapped it up!  

Replacing the missing knobs turned out to be fairly easy.  As is often the case on antique chests, the hardware has been replaced over the hundred plus years of its life to what was the latest "style"- yes, they even had trends back then!  For example, when this chest was initially made it was designed to have brass pulls.  It later became fashionable for chests to have "wooden" knobs, so the brass pulls were removed, the holes plugged/patched and new holes for the wooden knobs were drilled.  It is rather rare to find an antique chest that didn't go through this type of modification over the course of its lifetime.
When we bought the chest there was a wooden knob in the top center drawer.  In this photograph you can even see the indentation from the knob around the ivory escutcheon.  It took a while to figure out that the reason this knob wasn't in line with the other two top drawer knobs (which can also be seen in this photograph) was because originally this drawer didn't have a pull of any kind and was only opened using a key. When we removed the knob in the center top drawer we found the hole that outlined where the original ivory escutcheon had been, but the escutcheon was gone.  They had used that hole to place the wooden knob which is why it didn't line up with the other two drawers.   So, now we needed to replace not one, but two escutcheons.  We removed this knob with the intention of leaving the center drawer accessible only via a key as it had been originally designed, and used the knob as the replacement for the one that was broken.  We then went to our go-to place for miscellaneous antique parts in Dallas: Uncommon Market  and found a replacement for the missing knob.  

In this close-up photograph you can see where the holes for the original brass pulls were patched- probably 100 years ago!  The other telltale sign that the knobs weren't original is how they overlap the ivory escutcheon- it would never have been designed that way.

  Replacing the ivory escutcheons proved to be more difficult. For the next month, or so, we discussed all the possibilities of what we could use to replace the missing escutcheons.  We had several antique ivory billiard balls that we had found in France, but if you've ever priced them they can range, on average, from $95-$195 each, so no one was going to cut up an antique billiard ball!

About this time our next door neighbor who had just retired and was preparing his home to sell called and said he was cleaning out his garage and asked Dan if he would like some boxes of old tools that had belonged to his father.  Well, of course Dan would like some old tools! 

The boxes contained years of accumulated random odds and ends, some wonderful tools AND, 

(now, hold on to your hat ;) 

as luck would have it.....

half of an antique ivory billiard ball!   

I can hear you saying "Get out"!!  No, you get out!!!! :):)

 Our neighbor had no idea why his father would have had an antique billiard ball, but you can imagine our surprise and delight upon finding it!  Something like a needle in a haystack, only better!

Then began the process for Dan to try to figure out how in the world do you get a paper thin escutcheon out of a round ivory ball?!  

Since each escutcheon was initially hand cut, no two of the shield shapes were alike.  Dan started by tracing the shield outline from the holes in the drawers on paper (those are the two paper samples on the left) and then transferring the pattern onto a piece of cut ivory (the two cut ivory samples are on the right).  But, that all makes it sound too easy- this is  not an episode of "This Old House" where everything is perfect the very first time!!  First he had to figure out "how to cut" the ivory...

  Keeping in mind that he only had so much material to work with, (i.e. only a partial billiard ball) there was no room for error.  Dan quickly found out that because the ivory was so brittle the cut couldn't be too thin or it would break the second he started working on it.  Just when he thought he'd have a perfect piece a chip would break off and he would have to start over .  After several failed attempts he realized to prevent breakage he needed to cut the slices thicker than what would fit flush in their respective drawer holes.   He made the initial slices using a coping saw (that's for all you men out there reading;) and then used a Dremel drill with a sanding attachment and a utility knife to gingerly shape the shield design.  Next, he turned a belt sander upside down and held the escutcheon down with his finger to get the shield down to the proper thickness so it would fit flush on the drawer front.  The last step was cutting out the keyhole in the now paper-thin center of the ivory piece.  Using the Dremel drill and making many small drills he eventually made the opening into the shape of a keyhole.

The finished product, though this was one of the culls that didn't quite make the cut!

After gluing the new escutcheons in place they were just a little too white, so I lightly oiled them in Old English (Dark) to age them and they were perfect!  So much so, in fact, that to this day neither Dan, nor I, can tell you which one (other than the top drawer) is the one he made!

(To read other "everything has a story" posts click HERE)