Above, Below, Over, Under, and Beside

I spent the last eleven years teaching college freshman Composition and upperclassmen Writing for Publication and News Writing. Basically, I showed students how to manipulate English words to capture their reader's attention and make a point. A good designer does the same thing with space.

Remember the prepositions-of-place, words like:
above, below, against, behind, around, beside, between, in, on, over, under, through, without and within?

Well, good designers fill these spaces with interesting, artful objects. Wouldn't our homes be empty without pictures on walls and objects in shelving?

Often it is the "above" and "below" spots which are forgotten.


Below the sideboard and above the corner cupboard in my dining room are hand-painted Chinese wedding boxes. Chinese wedding boxes are the hope chests of the East. Actually, young women in the West borrowed the custom from their eastern sisters, because in China, the hope chest is over a thousand years old.

Although many Chinese wedding boxes were made from wood which was then lacquered, mine are made of a sturdy cardboard. I couldn't resist buying them when I spied them in an antique store window, because they are the colors of my dining room. I am not sure how old they are, but they are a set--one larger than the other.

Another room with "above" spaces is the kitchen. I hung antique copper molds in my kitchen to add a warm sparkle to the space above the cabinets. The small copper molds were used for making chocolate candy, while the larger molds were for steaming pudding. Below the copper molds is a copper sterilizer used by the first woman graduate of the University of Virginia medical school.

I think that the impact of these copper pieces is heightened by two larger copper containers on either side.

On the right, above my refrigerator is a large copper apple butter kettle. The large copper kettles held between 20 and 40 gallons. Needless to say, it took hours for that many apples combined with cider to slow cook until the sugar in the apples caramelized, especially over coals outside!

On the left of the copper molds is an English, covered coal hod or scuttle. These decorative receptacles held a supply of coal for a fire. Made of brass or copper, they came into vogue in the late-eighteenth century.


Below the coal hod, I display a collection of copper coffee and tea pots, as well as a sugar and a creamer. The whole vignette gives a warm glow to my kitchen.

In this Sunday post, let me share some biblical prepositions-of-place with you from the Psalms. I hope these truths give a warm glow to your heart as they do to mine.

King David, in Psalm 16, says, "...because the Lord is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." In Psalm 139, David thanks the Lord for being behind, before, above, and below him. "O Lord...You both precede and follow me, and place your hand of blessing on my head...I can never get away from my God! If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I go down...you are there."

How comforting to know the Lord is beside, before, behind, above and below us.

New Take on Old

Your grandmother's jewel-toned Tabris inherited by your mother...


probably isn't exactly what you had in mind as a topper for your seagrass or sisal underlay.
More likely, a muted, light-toned antique Oushak would be on your wish list.
However, don't let what is in vogue today tempt you to sell a work of art at pennies-on-the-dollar. Jewel-toned rugs will once again be sought after, when vivid colors are back in fashion. (And, this may happen sooner than you think!)

In the meantime, how do you bridge the dark, strong colors of antique orientals with your lighter interiors? Here are a couple of ideas:

First, use the jewel-toned rugs in rooms which can handle the color--say in a nursery designed around this creative felt globe from cupofcoco.squarespace.com.
Or, unexpectedly, place the treasure in a child's playroom. Actually, a hand-knotted, dark, patterned rug is durable and forgiving of spills. Couldn't you see a red and blue rug in this playroom with wall art designed by Word Candy Vinyl?
An antique jewel-toned rug would look fabulous in a basically white child's room with a touch of red.
Or, think outside the traditional dining room box, and by adding contemporary chairs (like these called "Nastro by Pianca" designed by Alessandra Pasetti)turn your formal space into a more youthful, casual eating area.
Or, if you are very daring, step onto a small jewel-toned rug when you climb out of a tub in a bathroom designed like this one found at: jobthinker.com/tag/touch-of-red-color/.
Ok, maybe this is a little too wild. Here's a second idea. You can still use the treasured heirloom in your living room while maintaining a light color scheme. Bridge the dark carpet to a companion rug with a white field and just a border of intense color. This antique isphahan would be an example.
Whatever you decide, don't e-bay something you will regret parting with later. Remember your history is your story!

(This post was written in response to a reader's dilemma.
She wanted a new lighter oriental in her dining room, but was trying to decide what to do with her dark rug in the living room. After careful deliberation, she decided to buy the lighter rug she loved and later move the jewel-toned rug to another spot.)

Those Special Touches

Living things make a house a home. When I come home and my husband is at work and even the dog is in the kennel, the walls seem like a shell.

But, add a kind husband

















and a friendly dog
and the lonely house becomes a home.

Beyond people and animals, plants and fresh flowers also bring vibrancy to a home. They add beauty and color wherever they are placed--a window sill, a table, a dresser.

For the last two weeks, lilies of the valley have been blooming profusely in my garden. On several occasions, I have clipped bouquets for my kitchen window sill.
The fragrance has been heavenly.


They have added a lovely, special touch to my whole kitchen.


Lilies of the valley are my mother's favorite flower. She carried them in her bridal bouquet, and they grace the center of her china. So, I picked oodles of flowers today, garnished my window sill and made her a bouquet.

Then I played Hermes, with wings on my shoes, and delivered them myself.

Interestingly, this petite, white, fragrant flower is also a favorite of another friend. She organized the Day of Prayer celebration which was attended by 14,000 people in our town yesterday. I knew she must be exhausted today, so I also dropped a bouquet by her home.

Arriving home from my deliveries, I came in the house and noticed a special touch on the piano--yellow roses, my favorite--a gift from my husband for Mother's Day.



I hope you give and/or receive a special touch yourself this Mother's Day.

(I wrote this post to participate in a "Those Special Touches" blog party being run by Richella at http://impartinggrace-richella.blogspot.com/. Go over and visit her site; she has some wonderful ideas to share! To participate, I needed to include my blog url as well: http://graciousinteriors.blogspot.com/2010/05/those-special-touches.html).

Original Paintings in Seven Easy Steps

After moving to new-to-you living quarters, blank walls often cry out for decoration. Oil paintings would be cost-prohibitive, but not if the paintings are your own originals!
You demure, "I couldn't...I've never taken any painting lessons...I don't have a summer to devote to sketching and painting...I don't have enough money, nor do I have supplies...I wouldn't know where to begin."

Excuses be gone.

Without lessons, in less than two days, for about one hundred dollars, my daughters and I created three very large canvases to add visual interest to a very large, blank wall.

Obviously, these are not Guggenheim-quality creations.


However, the three paintings are pleasing, very basic, geometric abstracts in my daughter's bedroom colorway.

Remember elementary school art classes and finger-painting? It's time to revive the child within, put away defeatism, and join "Art for Amateurs". You can do this!

Here is a step-by-step recipe for painting three contemporary, original canvases.

STEP ONE: Gather supplies. Look in your cupboards for paper towels, masking tape, and tupperware-like containers. Add whatever you don't have to your "to-purchase list".

At a craft store like Michael's or A. C. Moore or an art supply store buy:
1. pre-stretched canvases (Choose sizes that will fill your space, taking advantage of the frequent fifty-percent-off-specials on stretched canvases.) and
2. a couple of large, natural-hair flat or round brushes. (We used two-inch wide flat brushes previously used to paint walls.)
Next, visit your favorite paint store--Benjamin Moore, Sherman Williams, Ace Hardware, or Home Depot--wherever you purchased your wall paint. Ask for four water-based colors:
1. their smallest can of your wall color,
2. their smallest can of the shade or two lighter than your wall color,
3. their smallest can of the shade or two darker than your wall color,
4. their smallest can of white paint, and
5. a plastic drop cloth.

STEP TWO:Find a bright place to paint, large enough to spread out the drop cloth. Pick a place safe for splashing, and check the weather to be sure the sun will be shining while you work.

STEP THREE:Wearing old clothes, pour the darkest color into a plastic container. You may want to dilute it a bit with water--not so thin as to be runny. Paint each canvas entirely in the darkest color, include the side edges. (Remember the dark-under-light principle.)

Water-based paint dries quickly, so you should work holistically and quickly--follow the fifteen minute rule. Now is not the time for perfectionism. Use broad strokes, letting them show. Have fun like you did in kindergarten with finger paints.

When the canvases are covered, STOP. Clean out your brush with soap and water, while letting the paintings dry thoroughly. Depending on the humidity, this should take no more than an hour.

STEP FOUR: When the canvases are dry, use masking tape to divide each into sections--using the "golden third" principle you learned in elementary school art class.

STEP FIVE: Next, dilute with water the same-shade-as-your-walls paint; again, aim for a consistency not so thick as to be dark, nor so thin as to run. Layer this wall-shade lightly over the top two-thirds of canvas number one, top one-third of canvas number two, and bottom one-third of canvas number three. (See illustration below.)

Don't cover the dark under-color completely, but let it peak through, allowing brush strokes to show. STOP. Clean your brush thoroughly. Let the canvases dry thoroughly--again about an hour should be sufficient.

STEP SIX: Now it's time to remove the masking tape and dilute the lightest tone in your wall-paint color family. Again with broad happy strokes, layer over the bottom third of canvas number one, the bottom two-thirds of canvas number two, and the top two-thirds of canvas number three. (In other words, cover lightly with the palest tone what has not been painted in the medium shade.)

Smudge with paper towel the break lines between thirds. Remember to paint the border edges of the canvases. STOP. Clean brushes thoroughly. Let dry.

STEP SEVEN: Finally, for the last step of the process, take your white paint and dilute it until it is a very thin, runny whitewash. Lightly brush the whitewash over all canvases to provide a gentle haze over each entire painting. STOP. Wash out brushes. Let dry.

Voila. Original art, ready to hang!

I hope this tutorial, written in response to a question on a former post(http://graciousinteriors.blogspot.com/2010/04/sneak-peek.html,) has encouraged you to bury your insecurities and resurrect your God-mirrored creativity.

Sunday Afternoon Stroll

Come with my husband and me on a walk in the country and see if you don't agree that "the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places" (Psalm 16:6).

First, we pass the secret garden maintained by a retired college professor of British history and his wife. He coaxes plants to grow from his rock wall. The wisteria over the front-door arbor is pruned at just the right time to produce lush hanging blossoms.

A few steps further, my husband and I squeeze hands as we pass the cutest teenage, Amish couple emerging from the covered bridge, he in his black pants, blue shirt, suspenders, and straw hat; she in her long back dress, white pinafore, and sheer white head-covering. Black tennis shoes in hand, their bare feet enjoy summer's first warmth. Because they are reserved about having their picture taken, I refrain.

Once across the bridge, we gaze through flung-open doors into a side garden.


Onward and upward we walk, to the top of a hill overlooking Amish farms.

Lancaster County is appropriately called "the garden spot" of the country, because the rich soil fills many closely-spaced silos.

After taking in the panorama, we return down the hill, past the veterinarian's farm.

Just before we get to the covered bridge, we hear, "Voom, voom, voom." A wee Amish boy, about two and a half years old, in his black pants, blue shirt, suspenders, and straw hat is holding onto the front of his father's push scooter urging him to go faster. Even if engines are outlawed by the bishop, you can't eradicate a boy's craving for speed!

Still smiling, my husband and I cross the bridge.

We take in the field of wild flowers in front of Bridge Acres.
Just inside the property, the rock garden beacons us to enjoy the last of the tulips... and the season's first rhododendron blossoms. Lush spring-green ferns are a feast for the eyes.

Near home, we take a shortcut through our neighbor's drive, enjoying her specimen trees as we pass.

Home again.

From the front, I hear the clip-clop of hooves and race to capture the scene. The horse is coming at such a fast clip I don't have time to focus the camera, but it is a perfect ending to a delightful Sunday afternoon stroll.