On the Fringe. » My Projects

Good To Be Home

toddrichesin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 01:29:29 +0000

The new basement mantle. Still waiting for the glass top for the vintage lucite cocktail table.

Seating by the new basement doors overlooking the pool

Basement entry/laundry room

The basement cabinet filled with our treasures.

Our antique desk in its new home, along with a souvenir painting from Antwerp. The Russian sideboard was from the living room.

A re-purposed desk in the new office space

The new office space is amazingly comfortable. TRS made the sofas for us. The rug and zebra hide were repurposed from the living room.

New vanity, bowl, and plumbing.....as well as the wool plaid walls, in the basement bathroom

A simplified grouping of accessories on the foyer chest

The new dining room window looks fantastic from the foyer

Sideboard from the bedroom really gives us extra serving space in the kitchen

Kitchen looking toward the living room. Notice the counter top we honed, as well as the gleaming floors!

Chairs from the living room rest beautifully in the foyer.

The painting over the fireplace, a souvenir from Venice, adds new energy to the den

New floors in the den

Close up of the new den painting, and a couple of our favorites....hand made Staffordshire cats by a contemporary English artist

The den

The dining room from the living room

Chairs from the foyer look fresh in the living room

A new Louis XV lacquer desk and pair of antique Chinoiserie lamps add weight and drama to the living room

A new display cabinet holds treasures in the living room. John McGilvray built the pediment to add a little history to this room.

A new cocktail table continues the ebonized theme in the living room, and the re-positioning of some artwork adds a new look

The new rug provides a unifying backdrop for the room, and the addition of the cocktail table with a shelf helps to hold a collection of books.

Navy lacquered walls and a repurposed desk from my office add depth to the master bedroom

A simplified bed in the master bedroom. Still waiting on Sferra to complete our linen order.

New Sferra linens add brightness to the yellow bedroom

The green bedroom

A repositioned console and painting, as well as the addition of draperies really soften the green bedroom. The Scalamandre' linen was a perfect color match.....12 years after the original fabric was used for this room.

It has been a full four weeks since my last update on the progress on our home. After many tedious punch list items, we are fully complete inside, and have moved back in.

Home Choice came through! Marvin Windows sent one of their factory technicians to go through the entire house and tweak everything. They worked on every window to make sure that they were working easily and smoothly. All the screens work great now, and locks work perfectly. It is amazing the difference that this tweaking had. Home Choice has our replacement doors for the basement on order as well as one window that was not as ordered, and those should be here and installed soon. We are really happy with the finished product, and are glad that we have had a happy ending with the issues we were having with the windows. Schmid and Rhodes needs to be commended on their efforts to get all of this coordinated and making sure that it was all perfect.

The process went really smoothly….with a few minor hic-cups. The biggest time waster was the final coats of floor finish. The floor finisher did not ask what sheen level we wanted…..and considering that they installed our living room floor when we moved in 8 years ago, I didn’t think to tell them. The antique floors we have are finished with tung oil. I had put a touch up coat on the living room floor and steps a few years ago, and just used the basic Minwax tung oil finish. It renewed the floors beautifully, and gave them their original glossy sheen. Bobby and I, at the advice of Schmid and Rhodes, planned a short trip to Asheville duing the time the finish was to be applied so we would be out of the fumes. Well, the plan did not work as planned. When we came home, our floors had a matte finish on them, so ALL of the floors had to be re-coated with a glossy tung oil. Who knew that tung oil came in sheen levels? It was always shiny before, so I never thought about asking. Just goes to prove that the only stupid question is the un-asked question.

The wallpaper was installed in the basement, and it is lovely. Bill Armstrong did an amazing job on this. The stripes make for a really casual look that is perfectly appropriate as an area just off the pool, and the grasscloth texture makes it feel really cozy.

The new glossy navy paint in the master bedroom is amazing. It is one of my favorite rooms now. The paint, coupled by several re-purposed pieces of furniture, and a new grouping of art in this room have really given it a facelift.

Dan Border and his crew were diligent painters, and in the end re-coated every piece of trim in the house. Everything looks fresh and pretty…..but this is one of the things that added days to the process. The floor finishers got the tung oil finish on the base boards and stair risers, so then those had to be re-coated. Things like this just really slowed down the process. The paint is silky smooth, and now that it is complete, our door detail really pops.

Shoe molding was another pain that took time. You can’t put down shoe molding until the floors are fully finished….and since they all had to be re-done, we were late with that. The finish carpenters did a great job though, and the molding looks great now, and you cannot tell that the floors we just put down were not original. Even the trim around the kitchen island proved to add a beautiful detail to the island itself. Another molding detail was the mantle in the basement. The “wall” had been installed for a couple of weeks, but the installation of the completed mantle really dressed up the space, and gave new life to the fireplace. John McGilvray did an amazing job with this. It looks amazing.

The electronics installation proved to be more complicated than anyone imagined. We are using the RTI remote control on some of the lights, and we discovered that since we live in an older home…..not every switch was grounded, so we had to do a considerable amount of re-wiring to get the lighting controls to work properly. Now, we can control lots of lights in the house from the iPad and from the iPhone. It is great, and super convenient. The television in the basement works on these same iPad controls, as does the 7 Sonos systems that were installed to give us sound throughout the house and pool and deck areas. The sound is amazing, and the fact that you can control it from your phone is just….well….cool. Paul McKee and his crew at Audio Video by Design did an amazing job putting this system together, and it was a real trick to do in a house that was built as ours was.

Final installation of lighting trim kits was another punch list detail. It just seemed like that nothing was getting fully complete. The workers would do 90%, and then move on to something else. Maybe there was some logic in it somewhere, but it was hard for me to see. We got the counter top in the basement bathroom, and the sidesplashes could not be installed until the wall fabric was applied, so that was one more little detail that had to come later. The sink was installed with the Toto label showing…..I didn’t like that, so it had to be re-installed backwards to cover up the label. Lighting in the new cabinet was installed….but the color was wrong so it had to be re-ordered. Shelves were installed in the cabinets, and we discovered that with some of the electronics, we needed some modifications so those had to be made. John McGilvray did a great job with those final details, and everything is now fitted perfectly. A missing vent cover, a missing switch plate cover, a missing door handle…..all these little things just took time to take care of. We were 98% complete on Friday, February 17.

The next processes went very smoothly. I had scheduled Duct Doctor to clean all the ducts and HVAC systems in the house on the 17th. It had been 8 years since they had been fully cleaned, and with all the construction dust, I knew we would never get rid of the house dust if we did not do this. They did an amazing job, and at this point, we have little to no house dust. Over the weekend we started cleaning. We had the entire upstairs complete by Sunday, and on Monday I started working with our house keeper Janette on the main floor. We cleaned all the kitchen cabinets fully, and re-organized in the process. It is amazing what we were able to eliminate, and just pulling everything out lets you really see what you have so it can be put back together in a better way. We polished floors, washed walls and trim, and had everything on the main floor cleaned by Monday afternoon. The window washers came on Tuesday…..and were here for two full days. They say it won’t take so long next time…..just the construction clean was really involved. The windows are shining now, and they really look great. On Tuesday, Janette and I worked again and this time cleaned the basement, starting in the laundry room and storage closet. Those areas are also well arranged now and more functional. We washed all the moldings and floors. Carpeting upstairs was also cleaned on Tuesday.

Wednesday is when the house started coming together. The rugs that had been out for cleaning and repair all were re-installed, along with the new living room rug and repurposed sisal rug in the basement. Randy Vaden took care of the rug installation, and as always did a perfect, pristine job. Pads fit perfectly, and everything is perfectly square. He also did an amazing job applying the velvet border to our living room rug, and leather to the re-purposed sisal rug in the basement. Prestige Cleaners had taken our draperies out when we moved out, and stored them for us. I didn’t have them “cleaned” but they did thoroughly vacuum them and got rid of all the dust. They came on Wednesday and reinstalled them, so the rooms really started to look complete. Paul McKee and his crew spent all day Wednesday working on the audio video system tweaking it for final install. They worked until about 8:00! Less than 15 minutes after they left, we had a power surge, and the entire system went out in the whole house. No cable. No internet. No phone. This was just typical of the construction process……and it seemed like it was all related to the new system, but it wasn’t. Thursday, I had to spend the afternoon here getting the problems fixed with Charter Cable and TDS Telecom.

Friday, February 24, was really a great day. We started loading the trucks with everything that had been stored, and had the first load here by 10:00. We had 5 box truck loads and about 3 van loads to get everything back in the house. Mike Croft and his delivery crew were amazing. They are so careful with everything, and I don’t think we scratched one piece….or dinged any trim in the move in process. We knew where most things were going, but this was our opportunity to really think about where things would end up, and we did a fair amount of “trying out” on items to make sure we were getting them in the best place. As a result, there are lots of pieces with new homes within our house.

Saturday, Bobby and I spent all day working on the art. We pulled all the art that had been stored in the upstairs bath and powder room out, and started playing with where everything would go. There were certain pieces that went back exactly where they were before, but many others moved around. We hung, and hung, and hung. We tried things in different places….and edited the collection in the process. What we ended up with looks really great, and it showcases our collection better than it has been before. During this work, we were also placing lamps and a few key accessory pieces….but the main focus was art.

Sunday, Bobby and I worked on accessories. We really tried to limit the number of pieces that were on display, and what was left over, would go in either the new cabinet in the living room, or the new cabinet in the basement. This worked really well. We got to showcase some of our most favorite things, while at the same time being able to display virtually all of our treasures.

The process of installing rugs and draperies one day, furniture the next, then artwork, then lamps and accessories was really perfect. It allowed you to see the rooms develop. In a typical move, the house gets cluttered with empty and full boxes, art and accessories sitting everywhere, as well as things that should never be “on display” sitting out. By doing this move the way we were able to do it eliminated all of that and you could really see what you were doing. As a result, this project came togehter really quickly.

It was rewarding to do this for us. We install jobs all the time, and get to experience the joy that clients have with the finished product, but it is truly rewarding to do it for yourself….and when you are complete, be able to call it home. One of my clients told me a while back that her builder gave her words of advice years ago on the building process. You will forget how messy it was. You won’t remember what a pain it was. You will forget what the headaches were, and you will forget the things that had to be done two or three times. You will even forget how much it cost…..but you will never forget if you like it……so it is really important to LIKE what you are doing. In retrospect, I’m not sure there is anything I would do differently.

Now, the final phase of the project. The slate roof. We are having a bit of an issue in matching the existing slate, so it has been decided that instead of trying to match it, we will replace it. This has brought up an entirely new concern in that our custom color clad windows were designed to coordinate with the roof we currently have…..so color is very important. Schmid and Rhodes is working to find a solution to the problem, and hopefully tomorrow we will have the perfect sample for the slate.

Slowly but Surely!

toddrichesin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:16:52 +0000

Our beautiful new tv cabinet and bookcase in the office!

Progress is moving a little slowly since the last post…..but the work that has been done is amazing! We have our new tv cabinet in the office 90% installed…..minus about two days worth of electronics installation. At this point, in my opinion, BIGGER IS BETTER! Wow! What a difference 17′ of glossy black cabinetry can make in a space! Instead of shrinking the space, the floor to ceiling cabinet has truly blown the roof off our room! It is amazing the lift this cabinet gives to the space. This is going to house so much of our collection of antique accessories, it is unbelievable! Plus, it will hold all of the electronics for tv and sound for the entire house, as well as a fax machine AND printer for the office. I am so excited to be getting this piece in our home. It truly is a beautiful marriage of form and function. John McGilvray and his crew have worked tirelessly to complete this, and they have done an amazing job. The effect that the air conditioning soffit had in the room has been completely eliminated, and this room has started to feel larger, more cozy, and it now has details that are consistent with the rest of the house.

Guys from McGilvray Woodworks working on the cabinet installation. They were perfectionists!

So in addition to the nearly completed cabinet, the ceiling, crown, and base moldings are complete in the office…..so tomorrow, Dan Border and his crew will start putting the finishing touches on ceiling and trim paint. Hopefully by mid week we will be ready for wallpaper in this room.

Antique heart pine floors, nearing completion.

Max Wood Floors worked ON SATURDAY to complete the floors in the kitchen and den. The floors are fantastic, and they did a really great job of fitting them together perfectly. It really has given these rooms the patina they lacked before. We have trim work details like shoe molding in both the kitchen and the den to complete. In the kitchen, the trim work will be a little more difficult since we have to marry a slightly lower new floor to the position of the cabinets. This can be overcome with new base pieces on the cabinets, and a new molding at the base of the island. Once again, John McGilvray and his crew will be rescuing us from what could have otherwise been a tricky predicament.

Kitchen floors are complete.....and just lacking a little trim work

Dan Border and his painting crew are making steady progress. The upstairs bedrooms are in the process of getting their new colors, and windows still continue to be completed. They are doing a great job……and delivering a silky smooth finish. The former “green” bedroom, will still be called the green bedroom…..but the walls have gone from green to cream. The master bedroom is getting a much more dramatic treatment. We had a neutral tan tone in the bedroom that was matched to the toile wallpaper behind the bed, and a perfect blend with the carpet. I wanted to change the color to give us a fresh look, and really wanted to do a lighter color. What I realized…..as I lived in an empty house for the past two months…..it wasn’t the lightness of the color I disliked. It was the fact that the color was so blah. Just beige…..it wasn’t dramatic or exciting, and it really didn’t add anything to the room. I am not opposed to light wall colors, and we have lots of them in our house, but in the master bedroom, the color just seemed to be flat. Our solution……GLOSSY NAVY BLUE! Can’t wait to see this going up tomorrow. The painters are stealthy, and don’t make a huge mess, and are quite while they are here, so it is sort of difficult sometimes to tell exactly where they have been…unless they are making a major change in wall color, which they have done today.

Another shot of the new bookcase and tv cabinet

Home Choice continues to disappoint on the window front. Andy, the guy who has done such an amazing job installing the windows and putting up the window trim is M.I.A. He was here Wednesday of last week for part of the day, and it is now Tuesday and he is no where to be found and will not return Seth’s (our job foreman) phone calls. Sounds really professional, right? In an effort to get our job complete, Seth and Schmid and Rhodes have enlisted the help of John McGilvray to complete the window trim in the house. There isn’t a lot left to do….just a little bit of molding on the upstairs windows, and about half of the new dining room window. Seems like Home Choice would want to be finished with this job…..but that doesn’t seem to be the way they operate. John is anticipating completion tomorrow!

Another view of the office.....with the new V-Groove fireplace. Mantle should be installed this week!

This week, our goals are to complete painting in the office, finish electrical work and get all recessed lighting installed, get electronics installed in the office, get new counter top in the basement bathroom, get wallpaper installed in the basement bathroom and office, get trim work complete in kitchen and den, and hopefully get painting complete in the upstairs bedrooms.

A Bigger Mess….but LOTS of Progress!

toddrichesin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:23:20 +0000

New bookcase and tv cabinet in process of installation....and a COMPLETELY installed ceiling!

LOTS of progress over the past week. The mess seems to have grown today….but that is part of the progress. Great strides have been made in the former office space. The random width V-groove ceiling is completely installed, and the painting is well under way. We have crown molding now in the office space, and the backboards for the fireplace are installed. For the backboards of the fireplace, we used 8″ wide V-groove and installed it horizontally. I think this is going to be a great effect once the mantle is in place. Still to do is to paint the existing brick gloss black. John McGilvray of McGilvray Woodworks is responsible for building the beautiful cabinet as well as installing our wood ceilings and mantle. He has also done a fantastic job on the custom baseboard and crown in the office.

Paul McKee with Audio Video By Design has done an amazing job of getting all the wiring installed for house sound and the new tv….and my favorite new toy, CAMERAS! We will now be able to see what is going on all over our house from anywhere in the world that we have i-phone service!

All of the windows are installed, and window trim is nearing completion. Andy from Home Choice, and all the guys from Schmid and Rhodes are really doing a great job and making sure we are happy with every single detail. I have been a little disappointed in the window ordering process from Home Choice. Schmid and Rhodes is taking care of all the errors with the window order so that I do not have to deal with the vendor…..and I am most appreciative of that, but the owner of Home Choice did not listen to our requests, and several mistakes were made that will ultimately cost him money. There were no divided lights on the functional doors in the office, so those have to be replaced. Over the front door, the window panes are a different size than the ones on the rest of the front of the house, so those two panels have to be replaced. Our new dining room window was to be fully stationary, and the panels open…..this isn’t a big deal….just there was no need to have these functional, and now we have to take an extra measure to secure them. Our screens are fantastic phantom screens that slide from the side, and completely disappear into the window frame when open…..but that was a pricey detail. We had selected specific places where we thought it would make sense to use them, but we have ended up with them on almost every window….again, an expense we weren’t counting on. None of these things really make that much of a difference, and the quality of the product is amazing….but a little communication from Home Choice would have been appreciated. Still….even as I write….no call from the owner apologizing for the mistakes. My words of advice here…..go over your window order multiple times to look for errors. Our order appeared to be written correctly, but there were changes made to what we approved that we were never informed about.

Above is our new mantle back board made from horizontal V-Groove paneling…..partially concealed behind a mountain of bookcase parts!

My FAVORITE thing in the renovation thus far is the new dining room window. Schmid and Rhodes did an AMAZING job of removing brick from the outside of the house to be able to enlarge this window. I always felt that the dining room window shortened the view of the outside. We have put a lot of effort over the past few years into making the backyard really special, and it was simply disconnected from the main floor of the house. The new TALLER window really has made a huge difference, and just pulls you toward it so the backyard becomes a real feature of the main floor.

Our new dining room window.....partially hidden behind our kitchen appliances!

After living with no floor in the kitchen and den for a month now, the antique heart pine flooring started going down today….and it looks GREAT! This is what we should have done when we moved in 8 years ago. I think it is “aging” our house beautifully. This will be the perfect touch to make us feel like we have always lived here….and that the floors are original.

The beautiful antique heart pine flooring going down in the den!

The large cabinet in the office should be complete by Monday, and next week, we should be complete with painting in the office. Counter tops get installed in the office bathroom on Wednesday, and Bill Armstrong….our wallpaper installer, will start hanging the fabric on the walls in the bathroom on Thursday, and work until finished on the grass cloth wallpaper for the office. Painting should start on the walls in the upstairs bedrooms next week. We have a move in date set at this point…..TWO WEEKS! Keep your fingers crossed that we make it. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up before then, and a whole lot of cleaning….but I think we can do it, if we continue to see progress like was made this week!

Nothing like a refrigerator in the foyer to say "Welcome Home"!

toddrichesin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:30:21 +0000

Parquet.....gone

Lots of great progress today! The first “layer” of parquet was pulled up in the den. Evidently, the way this product was produced, there was a thin layer of wood over a plywood base……and this thick layer of black tar that joined the two together. It went down in one piece, but it comes up in two! Tonight, we have the black tar layer exposed, and tomorrow that should be gone.

We also discovered that part of the soffit in the basement can be removed without totally redoing all the duct work, so we will be able to get draperies in that room now and really add a great deal of softness to the space.

Four windows were pulled out and replaced…..at least positioned in place and secured. There is lots of trim work that has to be done at this point, but at least the new windows are in two of the bedrooms.

Paint on the door details continues to move slowly, but the result is fantastic, and we are really pleased with the look.

Marble fireplace covered for protection

January might not be the best month to change out windows

First stages for window removal.....take off the trim

Foyer chest all wrapped up for safe keeping

Another great day today! Schmid and Rhodes is doing a really great job, and they are being so careful with our house……even in its current state. Every day when I come home, my desk is uncovered, and the floor swept.

The floor came completely up in the den today, we got a real head start on wiring for house sound and for security cameras on the outside of the house, and the old tv cabinet in the office got removed. The rain definitely slowed the window installation process, but they did a lot of prep work in taking off trim on the windows so more will be ready to change out tomorrow.

Down to the subfloor in the den

We will be able to move this duct up to get a flat ceiling in the new media room

TV cabinet.....gone

One of the new windows....notice there is no "crank" All you have to do is raise the lever and push the window open

Push out handle.....ready to open

Easy to open!

The start of wiring......

Finish samples for the new tv cabinet/bookcase. The body will be the antique black with wood stained trim, and the back will be the antique white v-groove

Time For Change

toddrichesin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:30:27 +0000

My former office.....now a giant chunk of square footage we don't need

So after 7 years, our home, Casa Real was ready for a little facelift. Thanks to a horrible hail storm in April of 2011, we ended up with a long list of things that needed to be done. The major projects were to replace all the windows and exterior doors, as well as the slate roof. Our contractors, Schmid and Rhodes in Knoxville, TN, asked us if we would clear out some of our “stuff” to make the process a little easier for them…..and we thought that was a fantastic idea in order to provide the most protection for our artwork and antiques. It also opened the door for the list of things that needed to be done.

: The Den….all empty

The list grew, as most projects do, and now includes the following:

*Reconfigure the former office and create a media room, office, and entertainment area that services the pool

*Create a new storage and display piece for the new media room that will house part of our collection of antique accessories as well as new components for television and sound

*Create an updated mantle and overmantle for the new media room

*Eliminate the horrid track lighting in the office, and in so doing, create a sensible lighting plan, and install a new wooden ceiling

*Replace the marble floor in the kitchen….which continues to crack despite our efforts to correct it….with antique heart pine, and while in the process, replace the parquet floor in the den with the same flooring; thus unifying the entire main floor.

*Replace interior door hardware with lever handles appropriate to the style of the house, and add detail to the door painting

*Fresh paint colors for the green guest room, master bedroom, and laundry room

There are probably other things that will pop up along the way, but this is the bulk of the list. My goal is to document the project as it goes along, and provide before, during, and after photos of the work.

Our goal is to give our home a fresh look. As a designer, it is easy for me to look at a client’s home in a fresh light. Since I am so attached to this place, and spend so much time here…..it is really hard to do that with my own home. The repair work forced us to remove the majority of our “stuff” and it is giving us an opportunity to “re-think” exactly how we want spaces to function, and to really look at how things can be put together differently. We are adding some new pieces into the mix as we go along, mainly with the goal of creating more storage space for a growing collection of antique accessories.

Foyer into dining room

One of the first things we did was to remove all of the artwork and accessory pieces. We packed many of them, but there were two bathrooms that were getting no work at all other than fresh paint on the doors and trim….plus the new door hardware. A few weeks before we started on the major project, we had those areas completed, so we could start packing them with “stuff”. Next, the movers came and packed up what was left and we carefully moved everything to a climate contolled storage facility. Then, up came the rugs which have gone out for cleaning and any needed repairs, and finally, Prestige Cleaners came to get all the draperies to get them back into tip top shape and to store them for us until we are ready for installation. The process took time, but it was a well organized plan, and we worked on it a little bit each day for about a week, it became a manageable task that way, and it did get completed.

The above photo is of the upstairs hall bath filled with paintings and lamps. It is best to store paintings vertically, and when you can, put them back to back and front to front. This really helps minimize frame damage from hooks and wires rubbing on the finished part of another piece.

Today was the first full day of work, and most of what happened was protection for the surfaces we were not changing. The upholstered walls in the dining room were covered, floors were covered, and the few pieces of furniture we were able to leave in the house were covered with foam board to protect them. This will be an exciting process, at least for Bobby and me, and I hope that you enjoy reading about our newest adventure.

The Foyer

The living room

Old-World Style in a Farmhouse

toddrichesin — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 03:15:10 +0000

Traditional Home is one of my favorite magazines. I have had a subscription since I was in college. Their outlook on design is much the same as mine. Classic interiors that are timeless. There are ways to make them feel fresh, and that is exactly what we do at Todd Richesin Interiors! They have just published another one of my projects in the November issue. We are happy they liked it as much as we did, and hope you will enjoy it as well. This is a farmhouse I designed for a couple with grown children. They wanted a home that felt grounded. That it had been in the spot for generations. We accomplished this by having an incredible builder, and by using some beautiful and unique antique elements, including a set of antique windows from a house in Provence. It is a one of a kind home, for a one of a kind family. Debbie, my client, is an amazing cook among other things, and she loves for the entire family to be there at the same time…..enjoying each others company, and making memories in a house that will be around for generations. They also breed and raise the most amazing horses. Irish Draught Horses. These are majestic animals, and what a perfect spot to do it. The entire project fits together perfectly…..just like Debbie’s family and those beautiful horses. Enjoy.

Read the entire article at http://www.traditionalhome.com/design_decorating/howwelive/farmhouse-style-renovation_ss1.html

Closet Makeover

toddrichesin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:45:13 +0000

Storage is always a consideration when designing a home. We live in an older home where closet space is at a premium. Recently, we had Closet Solutions in Knoxville makeover our guest room closets with their closet organization system. It was a quick, easy, and affordable project. Within a matter of two hours, we had emptied the closet, installed the new system, and reorganized. With the new closet system, we were able to gain about 42″ of hanging space, and the additional shelves hold a variety of items neatly that were stacked on the floor in the previous closet. Check out their website http://www.goclosets.com and learn more about their process. Following are a few photos of our project.

Closet before with a single rack

After the installation of the new sheves and rods

The finished product. Notice how there is some empty rod space. We never had that before.

Christmas Centerpiece

toddrichesin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:33:19 +0000

Lemon cone centerpiece

Traditions are a huge part of my family Christmas celebration. My mother and I have made a Williamsburg style cone arrangement every year since we visited Williamsburg when I was 10. This is an easy and versatile centerpiece, and a great Christmas Eve tradition. To start with, you need the green painted wooden cone that is available from Colonial Williamsburg. We have the 10″ one, which seems to be the perfect size. We never can remember how much fruit it takes to do this, and this year, we fell a little short….but part of the point of this is that there are no mistakes with this decoration. We used 20 fresh lemons for this and several bunches of fresh holly from the yard. In about 10 minutes, we made this decoration. All you have to do is position the lemons on the nails that are included on the cone, and fill in the spaces with holly. Sometimes, we use this as a table centerpiece, but this year, it stayed on the kitchen counter. We ran short about 10 lemons….and the back side is without fruit. This is a perfect example of how a little error in judgement actually worked out ok. The position of the arrangement doesn’t allow you to see the back side, so it would have been a waste to have the lemons there. This same arrangement can be done with oranges, apples, or a mixture of fruit. It is so easy and quick to do, and will last about a week in a cooler spot in the house.

Back of fruit cone

Quick Room Change With Pillows

toddrichesin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:04:46 +0000

Sofa after new pillows

An easy way to really freshen a room is to update a few decorative pillows. I always encourage investing in quality pieces of furniture that will stand the test of time. When it comes to upholstery, I want to use materials that will be durable as well as beautiful. Our den sofa was custom built for us about 17 years ago. It is a classic English arm sofa with small turned legs on the front edge, and upholstered in black suede. Through the years….with daily use….the suede has softened into a buttery leather with suedey areas still visible. It has a great patina, and is still in perfect condition. The decorative pillows were not so well for the wear. We added a new rug to the den a couple of years ago, and never updated the pillows. The ones we had worked, but they weren’t great. We had a pair of pillows made from an old Turkish rug, and a pair of pillows in a Kirk Brummel velvet plaid with tassel trim. The colors were dark on the black sofa, and it really needed brightening up. My solution, Christopher Hyland’s silk tiger velvet on two giant pillows and a pair of kidney pillows in Brunschwig and Fils Savonnerie Velvet fabric with a Lee Jofa tassel fringe. We did a simple construction on the pillows so they didn’t get too fancy. Just pleated corners and no trim on the tiger velvet; and the same pleated corner detail on the others, combined with the simple gold tassel fringe. The gold of the tiger velvet pops the gold in the Oushak carpet right out. This was a great update to the room, gave a fresh look, and was quick and easy to do.

Sofa before new pillows

Deck Railing Details

toddrichesin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:27:09 +0000

Completed Deck Railing with Decorative Screen at Bottom

: Rail Cap Detail

Plinth for Lantern on Deck Rail

For the perfect deck railing, you should consider how the deck will be used. Most decks are used for entertaining, and that involves drinks and food. Sometimes there is not enough seating space for guests on a deck, so the rail is a great extra spot for guests to sit drinks and small plates.

Make the top of the deck rail nice and wide. We used a 2×6 with a routed bottom detail and a rounded top edge. It is positioned on top of a 2×4 plain. Our deck railing is made from 4×4 material, so the 2″ pieces together equal the thickness of the rest of the deck material. It has a nice solid look; provides a place to put a drink or small plate, and feels substantial enough so that guests won’t feel like they are going to fall off.

I like the concept of porch lights looking like candle lanterns that have just been set on the railing. To achieve this look, we added a 12×12 piece centered on top of the hand rail. It got the same top and bottom details to make it consistent with the rest of the cap rail. We drilled the center of it for wiring, and placed a custom lantern from McLean Lighting Works on top of that. This is their Arts and Crafts lantern, which we felt had the same artistic design as a simple old French farmhouse lantern would have. The base of the lantern is attached to the plinth, and the top is removable for changing bulbs. Since the lantern was custom, we had the option of making the candles varying heights. This is a great touch which adds a sense of real candles to the lanterns.