An Eclectic Country Bedroom

A bedroom vignette seemed long overdue, especially as we’ve yet to do one since moving to the country.


A private space like the bedroom is a wonderful opportunity to create a completely personal environment filled with ones favorite things. Here unique keepsakes and other pretty things, including an antique French candlestick, an inlayed wood cigarette box, and one of a pair of lions fill the side table.


Flowers are a welcomed addition to any bedroom. Just a few fresh hydrangea blooms tucked into porcelain bud vases lend a seasonal charm. Useful accessories such as the enameled brass bowl and art pottery trinket box are both handy and aesthetically pleasing.


The exposed hand hewn beams provide yet another display opportunity for favorite items, such as an antique silhouette, a small folk art print, and a carved gilt wood scroll molding propped against a butterfly display. Shimmering above the bed is an intricately hand embroidered Thai wall tapestry lavishly depicting the signs of the zodiac, while a sculptural pair of vintage moose antlers adds a dramatic crowning touch.

Photos and styling by KS&D.

The Other Newport Mansions

It’s been ages since we last posted a favorite book, and with summer now officially underway it seems the perfect time to steal away to one of the country’s most extravagant watering holes.


Blessed with a wealth of architecture, history, natural beauty, and well…wealth, Newport, Rhode Island has always fascinated. While there are countless books dedicated to the palatial summer “cottages” now preserved as historic house museums, “Private Newport at Home and in the Garden” by Bettie Bearden Pardee features many private estates never before seen by the public. The photography of Mick Hales beautifully captures the interiors, gardens, and stunning natural vistas of Newport, bringing to life a world of exquisitely appointed homes among expertly maintained gardens.


While less opulent than Vanderbilt showplaces like The Breakers and Marble House, the homes featured here even include some actual cottages, like this charming shingled cape overlooking the sea, where an elegant Wedgwood inset mantel is surrounded by framed family photos, fine antiques, and stacks of books and albums. With the fresh salty breeze blowing in off the ocean what better place to pass a summer afternoon?

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Cuddling Money Bags

As promised in a previous post here’s a look at what we did with those old canvas bank bags.


Running them through the wash a few times softened the canvas enough that we decided to keep it simple and stitch the bags up into a set of fun throw pillows perfect for the outdoors. We made sure to stuff them firmly, after all who doesn’t prefer a plump money bag even if the filling is just feathers?


Don’t they look quite charming here on a weathered old chair in the sun with iced tea and a good book at the ready?

Photos and styling by KS&D.

Old Money Bags

When we came across these old canvas bank bags on a recent buying trip for our online emporium they were too much fun to pass up.


We’ve got a few ideas for these unique vintage finds, but you’ll have to check back next week to see what we come up with!

When Not to Resist Temptation

It happens to the best of us, usually when we least expect it.


On buying trips for our online emporium we’re often forced to resist the temptation to pick up a thing or two for ourselves, but seeing the thrice-slashed clearance ticket on these French Regence style chairs with leather upholstery on just the right side of “broken in”, there seemed no point in resisting.


We really loved the fine hand carved details along the cabriole legs, especially when accented with those handsome lines of old brass nail heads. In early eighteenth century France the Regence was a transition style between the heavy classically influenced baroque styling of Louis XIV and the lighter curvilinear lines of Louis XV.


The pair make a charming vignette flaking this eccentric old birdcage mixed with classically designed candlesticks and a distressed antique marble bust. The potted orchid lends some life and color, as do the stacks of books that make a convenient perch for a framed Mid-Century print and replica of Michelangelo’s David.

Photos and staging by KS&D.

Spring on the Historic Delaware Canal

The forsythia and daffodils are a sure sign spring has finally reached Bucks County, with the warmer weather providing the perfect excuse for a stroll along the Delaware Canal.


Delaware Canal State Park is one of the great treasures of the Delaware River Valley, with a towpath running 60 miles along both riverbanks, as it meanders past historic villages, rural farmsteads, and quaint country houses. The last surviving fully intact towpath in the country, it provides a rare glimpse into a lost world of nineteenth century America. After all what more better way to experience the longest free flowing river east of the Mississippi than on foot much as it was seen over a century ago.


The charming sign on this stately residence reads “The Boathouse”, alluding to the buildings original function in the days of the canal. Known as quarterboards, such fancifully carved and gilded signs are a nautical tradition especially beloved on Nantucket. Originally designed for display on sailing ships, the sign would be removed when the captain retired and placed on the exterior of his home.


Here another beautifully maintained historic building from the heyday of the canal sits right along the waters edge. The tiny historic village of Uhlerstown where these photos were taken was once a bustling commercial hub that now boasts the finest group of nineteenth century canal related buildings in the country.


This charming covered bridge at the heart of the village is one of several still to be found on the back roads of Bucks County. The towpath, which often runs directly along the river, diverts here to the west, allowing for a wide swath of farmland that isolates the village from the river road. These fields coupled with towering cliffs to the west have done much to help preserve the nineteenth century atmosphere.


This romantic old Victorian Gothic mansion boasts a porch richly ornamented with lacey cast ironwork. With only the occasional car rattling virtually unseen across the bridge, it’s easy to forget the modern world as you stroll the towpath through this well-preserved rural village.


Here a closer look at the facade reveals another pointed Gothic Revival window while allowing a better view of the frothy metalwork of the porch. The beautiful old slate roof has achieved a wonderful aged patina.


This view of the bridge as seen from the road gives a hint of the cliffs running along the west side of the canal, but these photos are just a small sampling of the miles of historical, architectural, and natural treasures that Delaware Canal State Park has to offer, in spring or any other season.

Photos by KS&D.