Make Yourself at Home

Why Didn't You Think of That?

Putting It Together

Design for Living

Out and About:

To get a feel for the colonial lifestyle I visited the beautiful Phillipsburg Manor in Historic Hudson Valley. It was fascinating to learn how life really was for people back then. The site is still a working farm with everything done the way it was done when it was founded - one of the most fascinating aspects to the farm. From Steve Kozak I learned about wheat harvesting, and how to thresh and then to separate the wheat from the chaff and was given a tour of the barn with all the tools used to keep the farm running. I was astounded to learn that they still make all the tools themselves. I also learned that slaves originally ran the farm. They kept the entire property up for an absentee landlord. In the great house Michael Lord showed me some of the lovely items that made up colonial life and in the cottage I learned how they built a fire in colonial times. Fire was an extremely important commodity back then. You used it to keep warm, to cook and to heat water, your life depended on it. Kathy Browning showed me how to go about starting one. We began with char cloth. It's made by taking a piece of linen cloth and putting it in a tin box with a hole in the lid, then heating it over a flame (yes, it's sort of the chicken and the egg situation - you need the fire to make the char cloth, and you need the char cloth to make the fire) as the tin heats you'll begin to see a stream of steam come up out of the hole. When that stream stops the char cloth is done. When you open the box, the white cloth has turned pitch black, but still retains its flexibility. It's the perfect ground for sparks to land on because they don't go out on it. She then took a small square of the char cloth and put it in a nest of tinder (flax fiber - the fiber linen is made out of). Then it was time to make some sparks. We did that with striking steel and a piece of flint. It's much harder then it looks. Creating sparks large enough to catch the tinder was no easy task. I ended up striking a match. All in all it was a delightful experience getting an inside view of the working farm. And it was so lovely and very grounding being around so many beautiful old things. They have lots of programs and seasonal events. I highly recommend a visit!

Incidental Treasures:

Copper is one of the corner stones of the Colonial esthetic. The gleaming metal has been made into so many different types of vessels, utensils and decorations that it's easy to find at affordable prices. We assembled a variety of different items including a stock pot, a cheese dome, a pitcher, candle sticks, a fondue pot and even a copper clad deep fat fryer. These items can be found in thrift shops, auction sites and garage sales for pennies and antique stores for quite a bit more. They're the perfect finishing touch for a Colonial interior!

Random Thoughts

This was one of my favorite episodes. I loved the wardrobe, especially the needlepoint vest featuring the zodiac in the needlework segment, and the embroidered skirt worn in the manor house. That skirt was supposed to be the seat cushion for the white chair for the Garden Living episode (112) in season one. I also loved the model room in the Design for Living segment. Those Windsor chairs are just beautiful.

We shot at Phillipsburg Manor on a very cold day in March. It was brutal in that barn. My hands and feet were so cold. Despite the chill, the site is just beautiful, as you can see in some of the B-roll footage featured in the piece. I just loved the restful quality of the farm and the people were so welcoming. If you're ever in the area be sure and stop by.