This morning I did a post which…made y’all mad! Mad! I just felt crushed. I felt terrible. I felt devastated. It was not my intention to cause anguish. I just wanted to let everybody know why updates on the parlor had ceased. So, to make amends, rather than a Big Reveal next week, I will…

I have done a lot of posts about decorating the parlor. Then the posts stopped. This is because I had an epiphany, and…eek…started making some significant changes to the room. You will be shocked. Hell, I am shocked. But yesterday I sat in the revamped room and was filled head-to-toe with joy and pleasure. The…

I have been pondering the dining room. The parlor and library are kinda close to being done. So, maybe the dining room next? Perhaps I should do the room in period-correct papers? A wall paper, a frieze paper, and ceiling paper. So, I sent some inquiries to Bo. And he replied with some mighty tantalizing…

About once a year I get contacted by a production company. Would I be interested in having the restoration of the Cross House become a TV show? My first thought: Sure! My second thought: Hell no! The second thought is generated by two things: I know a couple who actually worked with a production crew….

Recently, I did two posts about being invaded by squirrels. The adventure was exhausting. Just when I thought the damn creatures were gone, they would make a mockery of my assumptions. One day, after opening the outer front door, I unlocked the inner door, opened it, and…stopped. A squirrel was standing in the foyer looking…

  All the picture rail in the Cross House was removed, I think, in 1950. There was never any question that I would recreate this feature. I found some large-scale picture rail, ordered it, and was quite excited when it arrived. Then, after talking with Bo, I realized that I had…was really boring picture rail….

    That nut would be me. Sigh. The ceiling was actually finished and primed over a year ago. Then I decided to resurrect the gas/electric sconces and had to pull some wires, necessitating punching a hole in the ceiling/wall (the patch to the lower right). Then I decided NOT to install ceiling fans to…

    After each stained-glass panel is restored by Hoefer Stained Glass, the wood sash itself requires restoration and glazing. So, there is always a lag between when the stained-glass panels return to the house, and their reinstallation. This is the second reinstalled stained-glass window in the dining room. Currently being worked on are the…

This morning I died and went to heaven. And it is all Bo’s fault. He sent me a link to his wallpaper website, which I have not looked at in some time. Normally, I add a URL link to Bo’s main website when I mention him. But Bo has a separate website for his vintage…

Anybody who has ever restored an old house will know of what I speak: the imprecise line. Few things are worse. For, no matter how beautiful the colors of your walls, no matter how luscious your draperies are, or no matter how artfully designed your decor is, imprecise lines will ruin everything. And what the…

  All the picture rail in the Cross House has been missing since, I think, 1950. After having purchased new picture rail, I thought I was good to go! Then Bo arrived. And I was astonished to learn that there was more to learn about picture rail than seemed possible, and I did a post…