FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS: After extensive restoration work on my Music Room (we jacked-up the wing), its two sets of Victorian pocket doors are now functional. The bad news? The first time I closed the doors, I discovered -- to my utter horror -- that the ancient mahogany panels were badly caked with mildew. Here's how I dealt with this fungal-issue and returned the doors to a state of lustrous beauty -- for less than $20. Read more » How I Restored My Victorian Pocket Doors
April 16, 2013
FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS: After extensive restoration work on my Music Room (we jacked-up the wing), its two sets of Victorian pocket doors are now functional. The bad news? The first time I closed the doors, I discovered -- to my utter horror -- that the ancient mahogany panels were badly caked with mildew. Here's how I dealt with this fungal-issue and returned the doors to a state of lustrous beauty -- for less than $20. Read more » Music Room Restoration, Part 2
April 1, 2013
I PROMISED to keep you up to date on the restoration-work in the Music Room. This is the 1850 wing of our house that had been built atop a dubious -- and downright dangerous -- foundation. Crumbling stone had caused the floor to sag, resulting in cracked walls and floors. Now, one month and 4,000 pounds of cement later, the room, for the first time in over 100 years, is secure. The dusty details: Read more » Old House Living: Restoring The Music Room
March 12, 2013
LONG BEFORE THIS ANCIENT HOUSE WAS OURS, its west wing -- which I use as a Music Room -- had begun to deteriorate. Would you like to see what my partner and I are doing to restore and save this piece of Victorian history? Read more » Floral Soup
February 11, 2013
WITH A LITTLE IMAGINATION, almost any water-tight container can become an elegant "vase" for flowers. Take, for instance, the soup tureen pictured up top. This antique vessel resides on a games table in my entrance hall. Normally it holds nothing more than air. But this week, florist Erin Brady filled the tureen with a delicious soup:
Read more » Old House Living: When the Power Goes Out
February 8, 2013
WHEN A SNOW-STORM THREATENS (and there is a mighty one brewing here in the Northeast just now), I always pray that the power won't go out. But I've learned not to panic when it does. For I live in a house that was built in 1826, long before electric outlets or generators were known. Would you like to see how my partner and I stay warm, well-fed, and yes -- even entertained -- when our modern appliances fail? Read more » Flower Arranging: July Blooms for a Cold January
January 25, 2013
THIS WEEK, in response to the frigid (sub-zero!) temperatures outside, I hoisted the big blue urn off my entrance hall table, and promptly delivered it to Erin Brady. Erin is an award-winning florist. Would you like to see closeups of the soul-warming bouquet she arranged for the hall? Read more » The Entrance Hall, Before & After Papering
December 18, 2012
AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, we recently redecorated our entrance hall. Would you like to see the before and after pictures? Actually, I can take you way back. Back, in fact, to how the hall looked in December, 2001, when we first visited this house with a real estate agent. Are you holding a stiff drink? Good. You're going to need it: Read more » 
