As we close out National Preservation Month, I thought Id spend a little more time discussing the old church conversion trend I touched on in my last post. Ive often sung the praises of old house enthusiasts who, through a combination of hard work and determination, bring their historical homes back from the brink of demolition. In many cases these homeowners do much of the restoration work on their old houses themselves, and if they have a project that requires a few extra sets of hands, family or friends are called in to help.

However, some restoration projects are a little too large for most homeowners to tackle unless they have the luxury of being able to devote 100 percent of their time to the job. Even then, the scope of work may be beyond their abilities. The

Read more…

• 0 Comments

Ever since I first laid eyes on the work of Adam Rogers, I have been a huge fan and admirer. One of my favorite pieces is Table A, the perfect melding of these two materials is simply stunning. I posted about Adam’s modern furniture before but this time we caught up with him to ask a few questions. Make sure to click “READ MORE” to see these pieces of art and read what Adam has to share.

Q: Who is?

Standardmade is a furniture studio I started when relocating to the Portland, Maine area in 2010. I intend to create objects whose properties are modest, but deliberate. I like to refer to this as my attempt to amplify subtlety.  Certainly the idea of establishing a harmony of a clean modern aesthetic and the apparent qualities of craft, are never without consideration.

Read more…

• 0 Comments

A few years ago, I tried to get into healthier cooking as a way to help lower the old cholesterol and try to keep the old ticker working for a few more years. Where we live fried chicken is a staple at every restaurant and is served up at least once a week in most kitchens.

The problem is that fried chicken can practically coat your insides with grease. Its also quite the fire hazard if the chicken isnt completely dry when you place it in the hot oil. Ive gotten more than a few burns from grease popping off of wet chicken. It seems no matter how many times I patted it down with a paper towel, it was never dry enough.

But the alternative to all of this, over-fried chicken, is a little bit healthier.

Read more…

• 0 Comments

Record hot temperatures getting you down?  Well if you live in an old house and have a basement and a second floor window then youre in luck.  Whether or not your have air conditioning you can follow these five steps and stay cool without raising your energy bill.

1. Close all of the windows and doors in the house,
2. Open one window on the uppermost conditioned space in your house,
3. Place a small window fan fitted to the window (optional),
4. Open one window in the farthest corner of the basement or the north side of the lowest floor,
5. Sit back and feel the cool breeze stream through your house.

Before you can naturally ventilate your old house, you must reactivate the original ventilation features of the house like the attic and basement windows. Ma

Read more…

• 0 Comments

Today I zipped on over to Schenectady to see what Experience and Creative Design had up their sleeves. The owners, Rudy and David, weren’t there. I bet they were at the Hall of Springs getting ready for a major event of some sort. They are always up to something, whether it is preparing for a wedding or a benefit, they are decorating and planning the events. Here are some of the hot items I found in their store. I was fascinated by the huge gorgeous blue painted floral and bird canvas they had built into the back of the wall for their display; the colors in it are unbelievable — you have to see it in person. I’m not sure it was for sale, but I love it. I Also found a pair of fantastic cream chairs, perfect in any spot in the house. The top of the chairs kind of bend over so you feel cozy when you sit in them. They are so chic. Experience and Crea

Read more…

• 0 Comments