How to Hang Pictures in a Group

I know I've been showing y'all Connie's home in Vermont.....

but today we're going to jump back to my bidness partner, Kris's home in Massachusetts.

Don't worry....

there's still a #$% load ton of stuff to see in Connie's house, but some things have been happening at Kris's that I want to show the class!!!!!

We've been working on her entry hall.

I had gone over how I hung the pictures and plates on the staircase here.

But we still had the walls around the hall bench to cover.

Kris and I thought at one time that we would do a collection of antique tole trays, and had started by just hanging one.

But all that black on the walls 

(from the trays) 

seemed to make the hall darker.

Soooooo.....

as we are wont to do.....

we did nothing!!!!!!

Then!!!!

Kris was out antiquing with someone else.....

(not me....jeesh.....some friend she is.....)

when she came across 12 framed herbiers.

Herbiers are dried flowers taped to paper and framed.

At least

that's what I think they are.....

Here's a close up of one of them.

Sooooo.....,

even though I didn't have the fun of finding them.....

I was recruited to hang them for her.

First I laid them out on the floor, to figure out how I was going to accomplish this feat.

Then I started rearranging them to see what was going to go where....

Kris and I had some serious discussions, and then I started putting holes in the walls!!!!!

First I had to take down the tray.

When I hang a group like this, I start in the middle with the one that will set the height for the whole dealio.

So I hung the first picture, and we stood back to see how we liked it.

I pointed out to Kris that with so much pattern on her wallpaper, my booboos would be hidden!!!!!

She's such a trooper.....she agreed with this assessment!

One down, eleven to go.....

Betsy's tip #384

When hanging pictures over a piece of upholstery.....

It is very important to take off one's shoes!!!!!

After the first piece is hung, then I go for the one that is going to be over or under it, next.

Then I start working out to the sides.

Because the top of the bench was curved, I staggered the pictures to follow the bench's outline.

At this point, I was measuring off the floor, to get the pictures to line up level.

I hadn't brought my laser level, so I was using a tape measure.

Please note.....

when working in a house that's over 100 years old, 

THE FLOORS SLANT!!!!!

DON'T MEASURE OFF THE FLOORS!!!!

IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!!

When I hung the fourth frame, even though it was the same distance from the floor as the one I was trying to match.....

It was wayyyyy off.

Luckily, the walls were wallpapered in a small pattern, so I was able to get the frames level by working from the wallpaper repeats.

If you have a good wallpaper hanger, 

he (or she) will make sure the paper is installed level to the earth, 

not to the house's floors.

Then I hung the next two, spacing them the same as the middle ones.

Then I hung the next two, matching the way I had staggered the middle ones.

Hung the 9th....

ALMOST DONE!!!!!

Then the last one.

The last two of the twelve, I hung on the adjacent wall.

I love the way these herbiers work with the hand painted prints that Kris and I snagged at one of our last auctions!!!

This hall is finally almost done.

We've only been working on it for the past 12 years. 

Now Kris wants me to make toss pillows for the bench.

My work is never done.....

but it gives me lots to blog about!!!!!

And it's all about the blog!!!!!

Here's a before and after.....,

When one fills one's home with lots of #$%, it takes time to find it all, and pay for it all, and hang it all.....

and then you have to dust it all!!!!!

One that note,

Latah, Gatah

Finishing Up with Connie's Yellow Kitchen

I just have a couple more things to go over in Connie's kitchen before I move on to a different subject/room/project.

The kitchen opens up onto the three season porch.

There is a dining area on the porch, but Connie also wanted a place to sit in the kitchen.

I designed the center island to accommodate three counter height stools, so when I come to visit, she can cook for me while I sit in comfort and watch her slave away.

A counter height stool has a seat that is 24" high, for a 36" high counter.

A bar stool seat height is 30" for a 42" high bar. 

A dining chair seat is usually 18" high, for a 30" high dining table.

You generally need about 18" of clearance between the seat and the table top for your lovely thighs to fit.

However!!!!!

The higher the seat, the less clearance room is needed, because your thighs angle down as the seat is raised.

I know this stuff 'cuz I be smahrt.

Because Connie and Chris have many grandchillens, I had the fabric on the stool seats coated in vinyl. 

This way spills are easy to wipe up.

When I think about how much time I spent choosing the grey color for the stools I have to laugh.

Who knew I would become the furniture painting demon that I now is???

The floor covering is a custom colored braided rug from Stark.

Choosing colors for a braided rug can be hard.

It's not as easy as choosing for a solid rug.

When two or more colors are combined the way they are in braiding,

 the tones visually blend to create something other than what the single yarns look like.

I wanted to bring some of the coral color from the dining room into the kitchen.

This way, when looking from one room into the other, even though the dining room is coral, and the kitchen is yellow, they still visually relate to each other.

I wanted a braided rug to go with the Americana feeling of the home.

I love braided rugs, I wish they would come back into style.

They don't have to be oval or round, but can be in rectangular shapes too.

I particularly like them with squared off edges.

My next few posts are going to be about some things other than Connie's home.

But I will be returning to it soon.

I want to share what's been up with my buddy Kris's house and my niece Miriam's living room.

I sometimes worry that I will eventually run out of @#$ to write about.....

but that ain't gonna happen in the near future.

I also have a couple more painting project I've completed.

However.....

I need to stop typing now, because I have done something to my wrist, 

and I have self medicated by putting it in a splint.

Typing ain't helping it, no way, I tell ya.....

so on that note,

Latah, Gatah

Antiques for Kitchen Storage

I have the answer to my mystery that I'll share at the end of this post!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But right now.....

I want to continue with showing off Connie's Vermont kitchen.

To refresh your memory.....

this is her kitchen.....

Traditional Home Magazine 2004

I don't like to line all the walls in a kitchen with cabinets.

If the room is large enough I like to use antiques as well.

It makes the room look more interesting than wall to wall built-ins.

Connie and I found an absolutely stunning sideboard that we just had to have.

I designed the kitchen around it, making sure there was room for it.

Les Brown, the architect I work with, wanted to do something different, but Connie and I took over.

A man that doesn't cook, has no right designing kitchens, so there..... 

The sideboard sits on the other side of the island from the main cabinets in the room.

You can just see it in this picture to the right.....

It's a Sheraton style piece from the middle of the 19th century.

We collected stuff to put on the top.....

Some Rosewood pottery as well as some yellow vases from the 1940's.

According to ebay's info page on Roseville.....

The American Art Pottery movement began in the late 1800s and produced some of the finest examples of ceramics. Roseville Pottery is American Art Pottery, representing the most widely known and most collectible art pottery ever produced till date. Founded by George F. Young in 1892, at Zanesville, Ohio, the company's first products were marketed under the names 'Rozane' or 'Rozane Ware'. Roseville started off with the production of flower pots, stoneware, cuspidors, and limited painted ware. They mostly produced highly glossed browns and blues, with hand painted animals, Red Indians, nature scenes, and portraits. 'Rosecraft', launched by Rozane Ware in the early 1920s, is termed the forerunner of the unique style of the Roseville line. Some of the all-time popular Roseville Pottery pieces were Dahlrose, Rosecraft, Ferella, Sunflower, Blackberry, Cherry Blossom, and Wisteria. Most of the best articles produced by Roseville Pottery were during 1920-1930. Some of the most popular lines produced by Roseville Pottery include Ixia, Thorn Apple, Luffa, Moss, Magnolia, Peony, Cosmos, White Rose, and Gardenia. Futura was one of Roseville's most sought after lines. Produced in 1928, it had an asymmetrical and stark look. Roseville produced a line of modernistic dinnerware called 'Raymor' in 1952. This was the company's last effort to compete with the age of plastic, foreign import, and changing selling techniques. Plant facilities were upgraded with high speed automatic equipment to produce the modernistic line, which, unfortunately, was not accepted by buyers. Roseville eventually closed down in 1954. In present times, Roseville Imitation pottery has become very highly collectible pottery. It is often used by many decorators to enhance modern decor.

Who knew that ebay had info pages?????

I found it when I did a google search.

WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!!!

Now, when you buy #$% online in an auction.....

you knows whats you doin'!!!!!

I found some majolica plates for the walls in colors that worked with the paper.

Once again I have a blurry image from blowing something up.

Well....

better to blow up a picture than a building.

That's Betsy's philosophy #521.

I really like the way all the pottery works together, even though it's all different types.

That's it for today for Connie's kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now back to the mystery!!!!!

Wednesday evening I got a phone call from my parent's next door neighbor, informing me that the recycling bins had magically reappeared in the garages!!!!!

She thought that Tyler, the property manager, had found them and placed them back where they belonged.

Sooooo.....

The next morning, first thing, I called him to ask where he had found them!!!!

Whereupon....he replied.....

That he had no idea what I was talkin' about!

He hadn't found them!

He hadn't returned them!

He hadn't touched them!

THE MYSTERY CONTINUED!!!!!

Well.....

I have a faithful following.

I knew you guys would need to know where they had been

 and how the @#$ had they come back????!!!!

Sooooo

I started sleuthing.

I thought.

I ruminated.

I puzzled.

I gazed into the distance.

AND THEN I SPRANG INTO ACTION!!!!!

I wondered if my neighbor Bud had somehow been involved.......

He is the most proactive when it comes to returning the bins.

He's also a man.

Men can be forgetful.

Absent minded.

Distracted.

Sooooo.....

I walked all the way across the driveway and rang their doorbell.

His lovely wife Shirley sweetly answered the door.

I gave her my best piercing detective glare and asked in my best 

just the facts ma'am voice.....

"Do you have any knowledge of the alleged lost bins and their return???"

Now,

 I'm sad to say, 

the women didn't exactly tremble at my authoritative query.

She actually had to nerve to chuckle.

Bud had driven down the driveway on his way out,

 put all the bins in the back of his car (to later put away), 

and then left for the day.

Now, 

(Since I know he's going to read this.....)

I would just like to point out, that he's very thoughtful for doing this in the first place.

I would also like to note that he had a lot on his mind that day.

But I had to share with the class that the mystery was solved!!!!!

I would like to thank Bud for all he does for us.

I would also like to thank him for giving me fodder for my blog.

On that note.....

Latah, Gatah

A Mystery at Betsy's House!!!!!!!

Something strange happened at my home today!!!!!

Now, most stories that have mysteries, have a conclusion with the answer in it.

NOT THIS ONE!!!!!

I live in a little cul-de-sac. There are 5 units on the cul-de-sac.

We all recycle.

We are good folks.

We have blue bins and yellow bins.

We usually just put out our blue bins because that's just what we do.

(Actually, my parents don't have a yellow bin.)

(They only have a blue one.)

(They are just squeaking by.)

(They like to live simply.)

We tend to watch out for each other,

 and the first one down the driveway after the garbage guys pick up the stuff.

 generally puts the bins back in our garages.

Sooooooo.......

Today, when I didn't see the blue bins at the bottom of the driveway, 

I didn't think any thing about it.....

I figured one of my wonderful neighbors had already put them away.

Sooooooo.......

When I went to dump some new paper and plastic in my parents bin.....

and I didn't see their blue bin.....

I was very confused!!!!!

I started scurrying around, looking in all the garages for my folks blue bin!!!!

THAT'S WHEN I REALIZED.....

ALL THE BLUE BINS WERE MISSING!!!!!!!!

No one knows where they went.

They have disappeared.

Gone.

Vanished.

I looked on thesaurus.com and this is what it had:

Missing, off-track

absent, adrift, astray, disappeared, down the drain, fallen between the cracks, gone, hidden, invisible, irretrievable, kiss goodbye, minus, mislaid, misplaced, nowhere to be found, out the window, vanished, wayward, without.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sooooooo....... I don't have an ending to this story. I called the property manager, and he doesn't have a clue. Who the hell would take our bins????? AND NOW..... This computer is acting up..... The words won't stay centered on the page. (See how they're slightly to the left, this is driving me nuts.) OY VEY. I was going to write more about Connie's kitchen, but I just had to share about our recycling bins. Now tell me the truth. Are you jealous that my life is so exciting????? Admit it, you are, you know you are. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On another note..... Yesterday,  my newest niece  (she just married my nephew Dan)  came to my house for the first time. Now this was slightly unnerving because she is also Martha Stewart's niece. Can you imagine the comparison????? When I am in the middle of one of my creative spurts,  there tends to be #$% all over my house. By my front door, just what you see when you enter my home, is a whole pile of stuff for my niece Miriam. I have her drapery rods and a lamp and lampshade and a box of toss pillow forms. All crammed in by the front door, waiting to go to Miriam's house. I'm sure my new niece Sophie's other aunt is much neater. However..... she won my heart, when she looked at my bedroom, and commented on how..... (wait for it......) NEAT MY ROOM WAS!!!!! So,  I now have a new member of my family who appears to be really nice. She even tried to laugh at my jokes. She's also not bad to look at!!!!! Not to play favorites, but my other niece, Julia, just got married too. TO A NICE DOCTOR!!!!! OY! He's also very handsome. And I'm not just saying that 'cuz he's now related to me. On my next blog post, I promise to go back to decorating, but sometimes life just gets in the way of toss pillows, ya know????? On that note, Latah, Gatah

More of The Most Popular Kitchen in the World*

*according to Betsy

Ho Kay Kampers.....

I'm back from my family reunion celebrating my parents 70th anniversary.

I am the youngest of 5 children, 

so with my inlaws and my nieces and nephews,

 there was a @#$ load of people at my brothers.

but.....

I'm not going to bore you with the details, 'cuz I am nice like that!!!!!

Let's continue with Connie's Vermont kitchen.

To refresh your failing memory.....

this is where we left off.....

Traditional Home Magazine 2004

I designed the cabinetry and the island.

Most stock cabinets have a wider board between the drawers and doors.

I like just a narrow piece of wood, 1 or 1.5" inches.

This way, I can stuff in more drawers in a stack.

Most stock cabinets will only do a couple of small drawers, and then a deeper one.

In the picture above, you can see that I was able to install cabinets with two silverware deep drawers, and then two more in varying depths, that hold pots and plates.

The plate drawers have vertical dowels to keep the stacks from falling over.

I didn't take a picture of it, so here's one I stole off the internet.....

Home Workshop.com

Remember.....

I did this over 10 years ago.....

I am very cool!!!!!

At least I think I did this in the plate drawers in Vermont.....

I know it was done for Connie's Florida home.....

(I can't remember.....)

OY!!!!!

Anyway, it's a good idea.

We chose beadboard for the backsplash, so had to come up with something flame proof for behind the stove.

I decided to keep it simple, and use stainless steel. I don't like having a million different materials in a kitchen.

There's so much other stuff going on, that I need to show some restraint 

somewhere!!!!!

I designed the island to look like the ends were shelving units.

Traditional Home Magazine 2004

Then I had it painted with the yellow detailing that picked up the color of the cabinets.

I like it when the island is a different color than the main cabinets in a kitchen.

There is a small prep sink in the island next to the dishwasher.

This way, Chris can be cleaning up while Connie is working her culinary magic.

It allows him to be somewhat out of the way.....

At least.....

that's the way it was supposed to work.

Who knows if it does.....

I'm afraid to ask.....

Over the island I had  two pendant lights hung with custom paper basket weave lamp shades that were made at Blanche P. Field in the Boston Design Center.

They have diffusers on the bottom for a softer, less glaring light.

Ain't they pretty?????

For the window valance, I designed a simple shape that has little pinch pleats tied to rings screwed into the ceiling.

Actually.....

the rings are drop pulls for furniture drawers that I found, 

and I had the installer use a double headed screw to stick them into the ceiling.

I am very, very, very clever!!!!! 

Like the blurry picture?????

This is what happens when you don't go back up to reshoot a job,

 so you have to blow up pictures you already have, 

and they get really really really blurry.

I am a professional blogger!!!!!

I make money at this!!!!!

At least 100 smackers a month!!!!!

Well now I have gotten you all over excited and hepped up.

Soooooo I better end here, soooooo you can calm down.....

On that note....

Latah, Gatah

The Most Popular Yellow Kitchen in the World*

*According to Betsy

As promised....

Here's Connie and Chris's Vermont Kitchen

Traditional Home Magazine 2004
When Chris and Connie bought their home in Vermont,
the kitchen was just a small room in the back.
There were lots of small rooms in the back.
And....lots of hallways.
Sooooo.....
Les Brown (the architect with whom I collaborated) reworked the whole back into the kitchen, a den and a back entry.
I wish I had before shots, because it is an amazing transformation.
But I didn't have my digital camera back then.
I don't even know if they had been invented yet. 
Traditional Home Magazine 2004
Connie didn't want wall cabinets, so the storage for all her plates and pots was in the drawers.
Then I drew the shelving unit for next to the stove and had it built.

I found a wonderful yellow and white damask pattern wallpaper

 (don't ask me the manufacturer, I can't remember.....)

and I matched the yellow of the  pattern to the paint for the cabinets.

We were able to fit in a wine fridge, a trash compacter, a dishwasher and a regular fridge, along with the range, so Connie got all the modern conveniences in her country kitchen.

I continued the use of wide plank pine floors into the space, loving the way the golden tone worked with the yellow.

We hunted for the whitest granite we could find, and paired it with a cherry countertop for the island.

The amazing thing about Connie, is that she is one of the few clients I worked for

 that wanted a big kitchen, and actually uses it.

The woman loves to cook.

And she ain't bad at it.

Over the next few posts, I will delve into greater detail and show more of what I did.

Today I am in the middle of a family reunion.

We are celebrating my parents (wait for it.....) 70th anniversary!!!!!

They've been married longer than I've been alive!!!!!

I pointed that out to my big brother, and he laughed at me.

So, I hope everyone has a great weekend.

It's going to rain.

Sheesh.

On that note....

Latah, Gatah