Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 35
September 9, 2015
Five Beautiful Things
Five: Bedrooms
This compilation of advice on designing a happy bedroom was gleaned from my collection of too many design magazines. Let the bedroom be the sanctuary it was meant to be!
The Bed:
Never shove a large bed against a wall or into a corner; the room’s layout will look lopsided with such a weighty piece of furniture off to one side. The bed should be the room’s anchor. A single twin bed in a child’s room or guest room can be placed more casually against a wall and can often double as a daybed for seating. A pair of twin beds should be placed symmetrically in the room, linked between them by a table with lighting.
The Linens:
An unmade or unkempt bed will forever ruin a bedroom’s charms. If the bed is not made, the entire room looks messy. Take a few minutes each morning to make your bed. It’s a transformative act that can actually redefine the room and make you feel better in the process. Invest in good pillows, good sheets and a good duvet. We spend almost half our lives lying in bed, so make it count! Choosing a high thread-count for sheets is important, but any good bedding salesman will tell you that after 400 it’s kind of irrelevant.
Cushions, Bed Skirts and throws:
These dressing items can make or break the look of the room. Bed skirts often make a bed look more substantial and can add a formal, decorative element to the entire room. Keep the skirts simple and tailored for modern décor. Ruffled, pleated or scalloped bed skirts work better in traditional rooms. A general rule for cushions is this: more than seven on a queen-size bed is too many but fewer than four is too few. Large coloured cushions go at the back. In front of these, prop up two standard pillows in cases that match the sheets. For added luxury drop two more standard pillows in decorative cases and finally place a smaller, decorative pillow in front of these as a finishing touch. Throws should be folded lengthwise and placed neatly at the end of the bed. They are ostensibly there for impromptu napping on top of the covers but can add an elegant trim and contrasting texture to the bed when not in use.
Electronics:
I think Brent and Josh are with me on this, but I personally feel that most electronics have no place in the bedroom. Televisions and computers in the bedroom are particular pet peeves of mine. I realize it is a personal choice, but I feel that a bedroom ought to be that one sanctuary in the home where one can be at peace, not distracted by screens and monitors. Music in the bedroom, however, is desirable and I frequently fall asleep with my headphones on, listening to my favourite songs. A radio or small stereo system in the bedroom, discreetly hidden in a cabinet, can be instrumental in setting the mood for sleep… or other nocturnal adventures!
Throughout the months of August and September, stay tuned to this column as we go room by room through the house with design inspiration. Be sure to pre order the new book Beekman 1802 Style by Brent and Josh, out September 15th! Order autographed copies here!
September 1, 2015
Five Beautiful Things
Five: Bathrooms
Many unmentionable things happen in this room, which is ostensibly devoted to hygiene and sanitation, and yet it is central to our lives. Without these rooms, we’d be in quite a mess – literally and figuratively. For centuries, bathrooms consisted of just a hole in the ground, outside the home in a hut. There were chamber pots for convenience, which would be emptied later outdoors, and portable basins and tubs for quick washing. In the 1800s, with the proliferation of indoor plumbing, the bathroom became an actual room in the house with flushing toilets, sinks and tubs with taps.
In the mid-1900s, with the advent of Hollywood, bathrooms, like kitchens, became regarded as canvases to illustrate one’s status. People wanted the kinds of bathrooms the movie stars had. The number of bathrooms a house had became increasingly important. A private bathroom for mom and dad (or ensuite bath) was a true luxury. Modern fixtures and luxurious finishes turned the bathroom into a refuge and a retreat: a place to escape for a long soak surrounded by marble and gold taps. At least that was the ideal.
Below are five bathrooms – large and small!
Throughout the months of August and September, stay tuned to this column as we go room by room through the house with design inspiration. Be sure to pre order the new book Beekman 1802 Style by Brent and Josh, out September 15th! Order autographed copies here!
August 31, 2015
A Bird’s Eye View
Have you ever wanted to soar?
One of our neighbors recently started a new business called Aerial Solutions. We invited them to the farm to capture the view that the geese heading South were going to see.
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If a drone can come to Sharon Springs, then it can come to you. To learn more, speak to Aerial Solutions at 518.284.3311
August 27, 2015
August Morning Garden Walk
People who have taken our Farm Tours know that Brent cares for our flower garden, while I call the vegetable garden my own. It’s always my first destination of the day, from March through November. And usually before sunrise. I thought I’d take you with me so you can see how I start my day…
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Five Beautiful Things
Five: Kitchens
The first chapter of Martha Stewart’s first book, Entertaining, is called “Of Kitchens and Learning.” In it, she describes three kitchens that had an indelible impact on her as a home cook: her family’s kitchen in Nutley, New Jersey; the kitchen of her family’s next-door neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Maus, and her grandmother’s kitchen in Buffalo, New York. All three kitchens nurtured Martha’s interest in home cookery and each kitchen is connected to some of Martha’s fondest childhood memories.
For so many of us the kitchen truly is the heart of the home and where many memories are formed. It’s where we talk, where we cook, where we eat. It’s where guests gather for casual meals and where “washing up” after dinner can lead to either deep reflection or serious debate.
Up until the mid-1900s, however, the kitchen was reserved for the help – if you were wealthy enough to have staff – or was viewed as a utility room for housewives and the young women of the family. Men never ventured here. It was only in post-war America that the kitchen became viewed as a place where the nuclear family could sit down for breakfast and for dinner to discuss the day’s events. As a result, an entirely new ‘kitchen culture’ emerged: new-fangled appliances in all the latest colors and new surfaces like Formica began to appear in kitchens across America. The kitchen became a living space as much as a work space and its layout, decoration and function became serious considerations for homeowners.
Below are five kitchens (Martha’s tops the series) that reflect several different styles, both urban and rural.
Throughout the months of August and September, stay tuned to this column as we go room by room through the house with design inspiration. Be sure to pre order the new book Beekman 1802 Style by Brent and Josh, out September 15th! Order autographed copies here!
August 24, 2015
The Chatter of Late Summer
We’ve lobbied really hard for Garrison Keillor to give up life in Lake Wobegone and move to Sharon Springs, but thus far he has not answered our letters or returned our calls.
Sharon Springs has beautiful people and above-average children, too, so on to Plan B.
What is a small town village without a small town paper to keep track of what everyone is doing?
Nancy Pfau, the town historian, is now editor of our own little paper.
Each month you can check back here for a new issue and follow the lives of the real village people. If you pay a real visit, you may even want to submit a story idea of your own!
You may not live in small town, but at least you can pretend.
See below for Aug/Sept 2015
The Chatter for Late Summer 2015
August 23, 2015
Outstanding in the Field
Outstanding in the Field began over 15 years ago as a way for artist Jim Denevan to support his little habit of creating massive pieces of land art.�� This traveling culinary experience now sets the table around the world, uniting farms, chefs, and people who have the desire to connect their food to the land.
We’ve always said that the best memories are made sitting a table, so we were honored to partner with Chef John McCarthy from The Crimson Sparrow in Hudson, NY, to host an Outstanding in the Field dinner at Beekman 1802 Farm in Sharon Springs, NY.
Aug 20, 2015
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Photographer Adam Milliron has documented over 20 Outstanding in the Field dinners around the country. You can see more of his work by clicking here
August 18, 2015
Five Beautiful Things
Dining Rooms
A close cousin to the living room is, of course, the dining room. In most modern floor plans it is often adjacent to (or across the hall from) the living room and almost always connected to the kitchen via a doorway or pantry. Like the living room, the dining room (or dining hall) was born out of the aristocracy’s need to entertain large groups of important guests. Dining rooms date back centuries to Egyptian and Roman times but it is the modern European dining room that is most closely replicated in today’s home plans: a well-lit room large enough for a big table with chairs that can seat numerous guests with, perhaps, the addition of a serving hutch or cabinet to house fine china. In many ways it is the most basic room in the house.
This stark simplicity, however, eventually led to what amounted to dead space and the subsequent reevaluation of the dining room’s use and purpose. With square footage at a premium, and entertaining happening only on special occasions or weekends, many homeowners now use the dining room for purposes other than dining: sorting and paying the bills, household paperwork, homework, sewing projects and arts & crafts. It has become a multipurpose work room that can be easily cleared to accommodate family meals or guests for the occasional sit-down dinner.
How do you use your dining room?
Below are five dining rooms that dazzle and delight – including one dining room with a built-in office! You may recognize the second image as the Beekman dining room. The fourth is also in a Sharon Springs residence: the Gardner House.
Throughout the months of August and September stay tuned to this column as we go room by room through the house looking for design inspiration. You can pre-order the new book, Beekman 1802 Style by Brent + Josh out Sept 15! Order autographed copies here!
August 16, 2015
The Springs Gallery
We were so excited when Erreca Batchelor opened The Springs Gallery in Sharon Springs, New York this summer.�� The Springs Gallery��features her photographic work, as well as that of��local artists.�� (And there are topiaries!!!)�� The gallery is an elegant addition to Main Street and yet another reason to visit our little village.
A California native, Erreca hails from San Francisco. ��After��completing��her Masters��in Political Science at UCSB she��moved to San Francisco where she studied jazz��at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Jazz School in Berkeley, and Jazz Camp West.����Her mentors included��Madeline Eastman,��Kitty Margolis��and Faith Winthrop. ��She also studied photography��as an undergraduate, and at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. ��While cultivating her artistic passions,��Erreca served for 15 years as a hospital executive��in the Bay Area,��which included��directorship appointments at the��University of California��San Francisco and Stanford University.
Erreca currently��resides in Cooperstown, New York,��where she lives with her��partner Subashini Daniel, MD, a cardiac surgeon operating at��Bassett Medical Center and Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery with��Columbia University, their beautiful��daughter Surya, and super cute French and English Bulldogs, Lila and Dutch.
See some of Erreca’s�� beautiful work below:
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For more information on Erreca’s work or the gallery in Sharon Springs, click here
