Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 46

The October Chatter

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 the October 2014 Issue

 

 

October Chatter

Five Beautiful Things

 

Ikebana by Toshiro Kawase

 

In its simplest definition, Ikebana is a traditional form of Japanese flower arranging. More than this, Ikebana seeks to employ the spirituality of its practitioners to achieve an arrangement that emphasizes line, form, texture and balance. Unlike Western flower arranging practices, which often encourage voluminous bouquets of blossoms and foliage in multicolored pairings, Ikebana seeks the opposite. It is a thoughtful and quiet approach that usually draws the eye to areas of the plant that may be considered unusual or unwanted: an unruly tendril, a woody stem, a giant leaf. The art of Ikebana lies in creating a form that is balanced and simple but that is never boring or predictable. Its execution should appear to be thoughtfully considered with unexpected results that evoke a sense of contemplation in the beholder.

One of the great masters of Ikebana is Toshiro Kawase. I recently found one of his books at a used book store in Toronto and fell in love with his work. He was born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1948 and studied design and theatre production in Tokyo and Paris. He currently teaches Ikebana courses at various education centers around Japan.

 

 

 

You can create your own dramatic arrangement with our ONE SINGULAR SENSATION vase or our IRON BLOCK VASE

 

SuperTarget Locations that carry Mortgage Lifter Sauces

You can find Beekman 1802 Mortgage Lifter Sauces at the following SuperTarget locations across the U.S.:

ALABAMA

Birmingham 4616 Highway 280 S

Birmingham 1654 Gadsden Hwy

Hoover 5611 Grove Blvd

Huntsville 6275 University Dr NW

Huntsville 2750 Carl T Jones Dr SE Ste 7

Mobile 790 Schillinger Rd S

Tuscaloosa 1901 13th Ave E

ARIZONA

Gilbert 3931 S Gilbert Rd

Goodyear 995 S Cotton Lane

Mesa 5110 S Power Rd

Peoria 24890 N Lake Pleasant Pkwy

Phoenix 16806 N 7th St

Phoenix 5715 N 19th Ave

Queen Creek 21398 S Ellsworth Loop Rd

Tucson 4040 N ORACLE RD

CALIFORNIA

Apple Valley 20288 US Highway 18

Atwater 1000 Commerce Ave

Hesperia 12795 Main St

Indio 42625 Jackson St

Menifee 30340 Haun Rd

Moreno Valley 27100 Eucalyptus Ave

MURRIETA 27818 CLINTON KEITH ROAD

Palmdale 38019 47Th Street E

Tulare 2195 E Prosperity Ave

COLORADO  

Aurora 14200 E Ellsworth Ave

Aurora 7400 S Gartrell Rd

Brighton 2171 Prairie Center Pkwy

Colorado Springs 3810 Bloomington St

Colorado Springs 9670 Prominent Pt

Denver 7930 E 49th Ave

Fort Collins 2936 Council Tree Ave

Glendale 4301 E Virginia Ave

Highlands Ranch 1265 SGT Jon Stiles Drive

Lakewood 14500 W Colfax Ave Unit B1

Littleton 9390 W Cross Dr

Lone Tree 10001 Commons St

Longmont 551 S Hover Rd

Parker 11150 S Twenty Mile Rd

Sheridan 3650 Riverpoint Pkwy

Superior 400 Marshall Rd

Thornton 1001 E 120th Ave

Westminster 10445 Reed St

Westminster 14451 Orchard Pkwy

Wheat Ridge 5071 Kipling St

FLORIDA

Boynton Beach 10201 Hagen Ranch Rd

Boynton Beach 650 N Congress Ave

Cape Coral 1890 Pine Island Road NE

Clearwater 2747 Gulf To Bay Blvd

Clermont 2660 East Hwy 50

Coral Springs 4400 N State Road 7

Davie 5800 S University Dr

Deerfield Beach 3599 W Hillsboro Blvd

Estero 8040 Mediterranean Dr

Fort Myers 13711 S Tamiami Trl

Fort Myers 10000 Gulf Center Dr

Ft Myers 15880 San Carlos Blvd

Jacksonville 6331 Roosevelt Blvd

Jacksonville 13740 Beach Blvd

Jacksonville 9525 Crosshill Blvd

Kissimmee 4795 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy

KISSIMMEE 3200 ROLLING OAKS BLVD

Lake Worth 5900 State Road 7

Lauderhill 7730 W Commercial Blvd

Lutz 1040 Dale Mabry Hwy

Miramar 16901 Miramar Pkwy

Naples 2415 Tarpon Bay Blvd

Odessa 16400 State Road 54

Orlando 4750 Millenia Plaza Way

Orlando 325 N Alafaya Trl

Orlando 2155 Town Center Blvd

Orlando 120 W Grant St

Palm Coast 5100 E Highway 100

Port Orange 1771 Dunlawton Ave

Riverview 10150 Bloomingdale Ave

Sanford 1201 W P Ball Blvd

Sarasota 101  N Cattlemen Rd

Sunrise 12801 W Sunrise Blvd

Tampa 11627 West Hillsborough Ave

Viera 8455 N Wickham Rd

Wesley Chapel 1201 County Road 581

West Palm Beach 10155 Okeechobee Blvd

Winter Garden 3343 Daniels Rd

GEORGIA

Acworth 3378 Cobb Pkwy NW

Alpharetta 2600 Holcomb Bridge Rd

Atlanta 100 Perimeter Center Pl

CANTON 2022 CUMMING HWY

Cumming 1525 Market Place Blvd

Hiram 5220 Jimmy Lee Smith Pkwy

Mcdonough 1850 Jonesboro Rd

Milton 13055 Highway 9 N

Roswell 1135 Woodstock Rd

Suwanee 2625 Peachtree Pkwy

Woodstock 140 Woodstock Square Ave

ILLINOIS

Algonquin 750 S Randall Rd

Broadview 800 Broadview Village Sq

Glendale Heights 175 W Army Trail Rd

HILLSIDE 130 S MANNHEIM RD

Mundelein 3100 W Hwy 60

Naperville 1951 W Jefferson Ave

Schaumburg 2621 W Schaumburg Rd

South Elgin 530 Randall Rd

St Charles 3885 E Main St

Streamwood 1001 Sutton Rd

Tinley Park 7300 191st St

Vernon Hills 313 E Townline Rd

Warrenville 28201 Diehl Rd

Yorkville 1652 North Beecher Rd

INDIANA

Avon 10209 E US Highway 36

Carmel 10401 N Michigan Rd

Fishers 11750 Commercial Dr

Granger 155 University Dr E

Greenwood 895 S State Rd 135

Indianapolis 4850 E Southport Rd

Lafayette 3630 State Road 26 E

IOWA

Ankeny 2135 SE Delaware Ave

Cedar Rapids 1030 Blairs Ferry Rd NE

Cedar Rapids 3400 Edgewood Rd SW

Davenport 5225 Elmore Ave

Mason City 3450 4th St SW

Urbandale 11148 Plum Dr

Waterloo 1501 E San Marnan Dr

West Des Moines 5405 Mill Civic Pkwy

KANSAS  

Lawrence 3201 S Iowa St

Olathe 15345 W 119th St

Overland Park 12200 Blue Valley Pkwy

Shawnee 15700 Shawnee Mission Pkwy

Wichita 10800 E 21st St N

Wichita 2727 N Maize Rd

LOUISIANA

Baton Rouge 6885 Siegen Ln

Baton Rouge 2001 Millerville Rd

Lafayette 4313 Ambassador Caffery Pkwy

Shreveport 7110 Youree Dr

MARYLAND

Annapolis 1911 Towne Centre Blvd

Baltimore 5230 Campbell Blvd

Cockeysville 9901 York Rd

Columbia 6111 Dobbin Rd

Ellicott City 4390 Montgomery Rd

Frederick 5437 Urbana Pike

Gaithersburg 25 Grand Corner Ave

GAMBRILLS 2384 BRANDERMILL BLVD

Germantown 20908 Frederick Rd

Laurel 3343 Corridor Marketplace

Pikesville 1737 Reisterstown Rd

Towson 1238 Putty Hill Ave

Waldorf 3300 Western Pkwy

Westminster 200 Malcolm Dr

Wheaton 11160 Veirs Mill Rd

MINNESOTA

Apple Valley 15150 Cedar Ave

Apple Valley 15560 Pilot Knob Rd

Blaine 1500 109th Ave NE

Burnsville 810 County Rd 42 W

Champlin 11990 Business Park Blvd N

Chaska 111 Pioneer Trl

Edina 7000 York Ave S

Fridley 755 53rd Ave NE

Lakeville 18275 Kenrick Ave

Lino Lakes 749 Apollo Dr

Maple Grove 15300 Grove Circle N

Minnetonka 4848 County Road 101

Monticello 1447 East 7th St

Otsego 15800 87th St NE

Plymouth 4175 Vinewood Ln N

Richfield 6445 Richfield Pkwy

Rochester 3827 Marketplace Dr NW

Rochester 4611 Maine Ave SE

Rogers 21615 S Diamond Lake Rd

Roseville 1515 County Road B W

Saint Paul 1300 University Ave W

Savage 14333 Hwy 13

Shoreview 3800 Lexington Ave N

St Louis Park 8900 Highway 7

West St Paul 1750 Robert St S

Woodbury 449 Commerce Hill

MISSOURI  

Kansas City 9220 NE Barry Rd

Kansas City 1201 W 136th St

Lees Summit 1850 NW Chipman Rd

NEBRASKA

Lincoln 8201 S 40th Street

Omaha 4001 N 132nd St

Omaha 17810 W Center Rd

Omaha 16959 Evans Plaza

Omaha 12500 K Plaza

Papillion 718 N Washington St

NEW JERSEY

Burlington 2703 Route 541

Cherry Hill 2137 Route 38

Clark 45 Central Ave

Clifton 30 Kingsland Rd

East Hanover 130 State Route 10

East Windsor 70 Princeton Hightstown Rd

Edgewater 543 River Rd

Evesham 751 Route 73 S

Fairfield 632 Route 46 E

Hackensack 630 Main St

Hackettstown 68 US Highway 46 W

Manalapan 55 US Hwy 9

Milltown 400 Ryders Ln

Monmouth Junction 4196 US Highway 1

Mount Laurel 4 Centerton Rd

Ocean 2331 State Rte 66

Princeton 500 Nassau Park Blvd

Riverdale 94 State Rt 23

Sewell 675 Woodbury Glassboro Rd

South Plainfield 5000 Hadley Center Dr

Voorhees 1139 White Horse Rd

Watchung 1515 US Highway 22

NEW YORK

Bay Shore 838 Sunrise Hwy

Colonie 1440 Central Ave

Copiague 1149 Sunrise Hwy

Farmingdale 100 Willow Park Ctr

Fayetteville 340 Towne Dr

Latham 675 Troy Schenectady Rd

Levittown 3850 Hempstead Tpke

Mount Vernon 500 East Sandford Blvd

NEW YORK 517 EAST 117TH STREET

Poughkeepsie 2001 South Rd

Rensselaer 625 3rd Ave Ext

Saratoga Springs 3031 Route 50

Spring Valley 50 Spring Valley Market Pl

NORTH CAROLINA

Apex 1 201 Beaver Creek Commons Dr

Charlotte 9841 Northlake Centre Pkwy

Charlotte 12830 Walker Branch Dr

Concord 6150 Bayfield Pkwy

Durham 4037 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd

Durham 8210 Renaissance Pkwy

Mooresville 594 River Hwy

Raleigh 7900 Old Wake Forest Rd

Wake Forest 12000 Retail Dr

NORTH DAKOTA

Grand Forks 3601 32nd Ave S

OKLAHOMA  

Edmond 1200 E 2nd St

Norman 1400 24th Ave NW

Oklahoma City 13924 N Pennsylvania Ave

Tulsa 10711 E 71st St

Tulsa 10019 S Memorial Dr

PENNSYLVANIA

Bensalem 800 Rock Hill Dr

EXTON 180 EAGLEVIEW BOULEVARD

Glen Mills 600 Hatton Dr

Homestead 360 Waterfront Dr E

Langhorne 2331 E Lincoln Hwy

North Wales 125 Witchwood Dr

Pittsburgh 600 Chauvet Dr

Pittsburgh 4801 McKnight Rd Ste 60

PITTSBURGH 201 S HILLS VLG

Plymouth Meeting 2250 Chemical Rd

SPRINGFIELD 1200 BALTIMORE PIKE

TENNESSEE

Cordova 475 N Germantown Pkwy

Knoxville 11100 Parkside Dr

Smyrna 803 Industrial Blvd

Spring Hill 1033 Crossings Blvd

TEXAS

ALLEN 150 E. STACY ROAD, BLDG 2400

Arlington 1600 W Arbrook Blvd

Atascocita 6931 FM 1960 Rd E

Austin 10900 Lakeline Mall Dr

Austin 12901 N I H 35 Ste 3-300

Austin 9500 S Interstate 35 Ste G

Balcones Heights 4522 Fredricksburg Rd

Cedar Hill 739 N Highway 67

Cedar Park 1101 C-Bar Ranch Trail Lot #2

Clear Lake Shores 255 Marina Bay Dr

Dallas 16731 Coit Rd

Dallas 6419 Skillman St

Denton 1801 S Loop 288

Dickinson 1801 Gulf FWY

El Paso 1874 Joe Battle Blvd

Euless 1401 W Glade Rd

Flower Mound 5959 Long Prairie Rd

Fort Worth 5700 Overton Ridge Blvd

Fort Worth 301 Carroll St

Frisco 3201 Preston Rd

Frisco 4885 Eldorado Pkwy

Garland 5301 N Garland Ave

Grand Prairie 5270 S State Highway 360

Houston 8500 S Main St

Houston 2700 Eldridge Pkwy

Humble 20777 Hwy 59 N

Hurst 1400 Precinct Line Rd

Katy 23710 Westheimer Pkwy

Lewisville 725 Hebron Pkwy

LEWISVILLE 4760 SH 121

Mansfield 1801 Highway 287 N

McKinney 8900 State Highway 121

Mckinney 2025 N Central Expy

Mesquite 3504 E. Emporium Circle

Missouri City 6000 Highway 6

North Richland Hills 8532 Davis Blvd

Pasadena 5757 Fairmont Pkwy

Pearland 3045 Silverlake Village St

PFLUGERVILLE 18700 LIMESTONE COMMERCIAL DR.

Plano 2200 Dallas Pkwy

Richardson 601 S Plano Rd

Rowlett 4701 Lakeview Pkwy

San Antonio 18255 Blanco Rd

San Antonio 11311 Bandera Rd

San Antonio 22832 US Highway 281N

San Antonio 5355 W Loop 1604 N

Spring 19511 I H 45

Sugar Land 16300 Southwest Fwy

Watauga 8000 Denton Hwy

Webster 1801 W Bay Area Blvd

WYLIE 3440 W FM 544

UTAH

Centerville 200 N Market Place Dr

Layton 815 W 2000 N

Orem 175 W Center St

Riverdale 1135 W Riverdale Rd

Salt Lake City 7025 Park Centre Dr

Sandy 10130 S State St

VIRGINIA

Alexandria 3101 Jefferson Davis Hwy

Alexandria 6600 Richmond Hwy

Chantilly 14391 Chantilly Crossing Ln

Fairfax 10301 New Guinea Rd

Fairfax 13047 Fair Lakes Shopping Ctr

Fredericksburg 9785 Jefferson Davis Hwy

Gainesville 13301 Gateway Center Dr

Leesburg 1200 Edwards Ferry Rd

Manassas 9900 Sowder Village Sq

Reston 12197 Sunset Hills Rd

Springfield 6600 Springfield Mall

Sterling 46201 Potomac Run Plz

Sterling 45130 Columbia PL

Woodbridge 2460 Prince William Pkwy

WISCONSIN

Eau Claire 3649 S Hastings Way

Fitchburg 6321 McKee Road

From Seed to Jar – The Making of Mortgage Lifter Sauces

Our primary challenge in creating our Mortgage Lifter Pasta Sauces was to create an amazingly delicious product that helped support small American farms, yet could be produced in large enough quantities to find its way onto national grocery store shelves. And it also needed to be at a price point most folks could afford. It wasn’t an easy job (if it was, someone else would’ve done it before us) but we got it done. And how.

25% of all profits are set aside to help small American Farms. In the first year of sales, we raised over 13k to give back to small farms. But with success comes new challenges. We calculated that we would need over 3000 lbs of heirloom tomatoes in 2014 to supply the exploding demand for the sauce.

We began desperately searching for a local small farm to to grow out the huge amount of Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes we needed. There were significant logistical challenges. The farm needed to be near where we made the sauce (Schenectady) so that the cost of shipping wouldn’t make the sauce too costly. But tomatoes are not a standard commercial crop in NY. With our short growing season, it would be a gamble for any small farm to take on.

That’s when we met farmers Justine and Brian, of Denison Farm in Schaghticoke, NY. They became our farmers in shining armor. Follow along to watch how we all worked together over this season to bring Mortgage Lifter to a store shelf near you…from seed to Jar.

Here’s Denison farm, in early spring. Beautiful, right?

Meeting Brian…and the farm dog.

Mortgage Lifter seedlings were started in greenhouses in March.

Justine and Brian wisely decided to grow some other delicious heirloom varieties of tomatoes as well. If a disease, pest, or fickle weather negatively impacted the Mortgage Lifter harvest, at least we would have other heirloom varieties to supply the demand.

Brian is very precise and scientific about his planting and potential yields. Farming isn’t as simple as hobby gardening. There are livelihoods at stake…from his own farmhands, to the folks who make our sauce, to the farmers the sauces will help. A crop failure would be a failure for all of us.

Justine and her daughter, Maggie, had already moved some seedlings out to a hoop house in a gamble that the earlier planting would result in an earlier crop. It was risky, though. There was still a month or more of frost possibilities.

 

Here we chat with Justine and her daughter about which fields the rest of the seedlings will be transplanted to.

A month or so later, the seedlings were off to strong starts.

Denison’s Farm’s has a few secret weapons in their arsenal…several million of them in fact. They live here:

By August, it was clear that the gambling (and strategic farm practices) had paid off. 





Justine and Brian called to let us know that we on track to have our first Mortgage Lifter harvest by the end of month. They would be harvested in three rounds, about 10 days apart. Hopefully we could get the full 3000# by the first frost, which could come as early as mid September.



Success! The first Mortgage lifter..

Mortgage Lifters are gently loaded into crates to be taken to the weigh-in station.

Good looking’ bunch of ‘maters…





Some of the heirloom romas that were also grown to help insure enough harvest…





Walter holds a handful of beauties…we were all so happy that the harvest was bountiful

The weigh-in station was bustling. Each box was weighed precisely before being sent to be turned into sauce.

Justine and Brian saved the day! Actually, they saved the whole year…Denison farms not only produced the 3000 lbs we asked for. They wound up harvesting 1000 lbs extra!!!!

Mortgage Lifter Sauces are made at a 2nd generation, family-run, state-of-the-art “big kitchen” in Schenectady. Here is Adine Viscusi, the daughter of the founder, and Dave Garrison – Production Manager. (Don’t we all make hairnets fabulous?) They’re culinary geniuses, making sure the recipe is perfect every batch.

Of course the main reason Mortgage Lifter is so popular is how it tastes. And it tastes great because of the fresh tomatoes. Most processing plants can’t handle fresh tomatoes. They just buy barrels of tomato sauce from China or wherever. But Adine, Dave and their team prep Justine and Brian’s 4000 lbs of Mortgage Lifters by hand. Anyone who cans their own tomatoes knows that it is messy, hard work.

Adine wore a special shirt to the office for the occasion…

Much of the Mortgage Lifter harvest was flash frozen so that we can use it throughout the year. We want to make sure that all batches of Mortgage Lifter are made fresh, right before shipping.

Another reason Mortgage Lifter tastes different than other grocery-store brands is that we use only whole ingredients, prepped by hand.

The onions and garlic are sautéed in olive oil.

Here is fresh cut zucchini for our Garden Style variety…

Fresh cut mushrooms and peppers…

Anyone who’s purchased the sauce knows that the likelihood of finding a whole basil leaf in your jar is pretty high. Why? Ummm… because we use whole basil leaves!

Mmm. Starting to smell really good.

Okay. Here’s the real secret to why Mortgage Lifter tastes so much better than other sauces. Brace yourself. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

You see, most of the sauce that you find on your grocery store shelf is never cooked. At least, not by your and our definition of cooking. Even the super fancy sauces (we won’t name names) are simply pre-cooked barrels of tomato sauce, stirred together with powdered spices and corn syrup  …and then…

you won’t believe this….

shot through a super heated tube into a jar.

That’s right. They’re not even simmered. Just superheated and shot into a jar. But Mortgage Lifter is made just like the first batch we made on our stove. All of the ingredients are simmered for hours and hours and hours. (Granted, we use much larger pots now.)

Dave is a stickler for safety and efficiency. All of the jars are carefully washed & sterilized. (We use real Mason jars…if you buy new lids you can re-use them for your own canning at home.)

The equipment used to fill the jars is complicated. There are safety scanners, and codes, and computers, and logs…we won’t even try to explain it. (Cuz we can’t.)

Here’s a jar getting its label.

 

The jars are actually put into the boxes still warm. Depending on where they’re going, they’ll sometimes hit the shelves within a day or two. When we’re backordered with online orders, we ship them the same day they’re made.

Even before the jars are cool, Brent and Adine are discussing the next batch.

 

 

We’ve Got Something to Show You

Why would someone create a high-end furniture showroom in one of the poorest counties in New York State?

This is the question that we’ve been asked before and expect to get asked again.

When we first started remodeling a 150 year old building on Main Street, our goal was to recreate a retail experience that rivaled what a customer would see in any large city in the world. In doing so, we wanted the store to be a destination in and of itself, similar to the way the LL Bean and Stonewall Kitchen shops draw people to Maine and Orvis and Vermont Country Store to Vermont. We wanted something that could lure people to our part of upstate NY.

Now, after 3 years of planning and making, we are so pleased to debut our collection of bedding and home furnishings at the flagship Mercantile in Sharon Springs.  The showroom will be open on weekends and by appointment (tel. 518 284 6039).  The collection will also launch simultaneously on Beekman1802.com and with Bloomingdale’s.

We know that buying a piece of furniture is not like buying a bar of soap or a pot of jam.  Hopefully you will only buy a great bed once or maybe twice in your entire life.  Knowing that our customers appreciate quality over anything else, we hope that the next time you have to make an important furnishings purchase (or hear that someone in your family is about to), that you’ll think of Beekman 1802.

 

 

 

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Five Beautiful Things

 

Within Reach

Open cupboard. Take out cereal bowl. Close cupboard. Darn, forgot the juice glass! Open cupboard again. Take out juice glass. Close cupboard. Again.

If this sounds anything like your usual morning routine, you may want to consider open shelving in the kitchen. It may not be the most inconvenient thing in the world to open and close a cupboard a few times a minute, but how nice it would be to avoid it if you could. It took me a few years to embrace the idea of open shelves in the kitchen, but I am now fully on board – at least for the pretty things in my kitchen. My previous self enjoyed the notion of having everything tucked away, out of sight. As my interest in attractive dinnerware increased, however, so to did my desire to display it and, in turn, use it more frequently.

Open shelving allows you to keep the dinnerware, glassware, flatware, cookware and bakeware you use often within easy reach. It makes putting dishes away a cinch and also looks quite attractive, giving your kitchen a modern, functional look. Counter tops, too, can provide surfaces for a collection of canisters and containers that proffer wooden spoons, spatulas, whisks and cutlery, making it so simple to grab the utensils as you work. Below are five beautiful images of dishes within reach.

 

 

 

Five Beautiful Things

 

 

Living with Collections

 

I’m really excited about a new book that comes out this week called “Collected: Living With the Things You Love.” It was written by two former editors of Martha Stewart Living magazine; Fritz Karch was the Collecting editor for the magazine for many years and Rebecca Robertson was the Home editor. It is the perfect pairing for a book that aims to get our gathered and curated treasures out of storage and into the spaces we live in every day.

 

The book teaches readers the basic principles of the hunt while exploring the thoughtful and inventive ways people display their various collections, from the accessible and affordable to the aspirational and extreme. The featured collections range from dice to café au lait bowls to 19th-century-French sewing tools to sand from world travels—illustrating collections as expressions of personal style. It is divided into 16 chapters by collector type (The Modest, The Minimalist, The Exceptionalist, The Maximalist, etc.) and presents rooms filled with peculiar, elegant and awe-inspiring collections from around the world that suit the specific type of collector. Make sure to add this volume to your book collection! Below are five examples of collections that have been integrated into the home – beautifully.

 

 

1. Brent and Josh have a table in their bedroom at Beekman 1802 farm with a collection of silver and silver-plate candle sticks that they have collected over the years. “Most we paid very little for but when placed in a collection such as this the end result is very luxe,” says Brent.

 

2. This abundant collection of English transferware looks gorgeous in an antique hutch.

 

3. These antique hat forms are an unusual collection, but they look curiously stylish in this display case – without their corresponding hats.

 

4. My friend Ronnie Elgavish in Tel Aviv collects spoons of all sorts from around the world. He carefully photographs and catalogs them, documenting their histories and anecdotes. He has many of them on display in his home.

 

5. My mother has a drawer in her coffee table where she keeps the shoes her father wore as a baby, as well as some keys to rooms in the homes where she grew up.

What do you collect? Tell us in the comments section below.

Five Beautiful Things

 

Living With Photos

 

I have met a lot of creative people online – often, they are people I have never met in person but whose artistic passion and talent have influenced and inspired me. One such person is David Jimenez. I got to know David through my blog, Martha Moments, after he contacted me regarding a post I had written. I soon discovered that David was an extremely talented designer – at work and at home. David is the Vice President of Merchandising for Hallmark and has also worked as a design director for firms such as Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn. He lives in San Francisco and also has beautiful homes in Palm Springs and Kansas City. I have learned a lot from David over the years, despite the fact that we have never met and live on opposite ends of the continent.

One thing David is passionate about is photography and creating galleries at home.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve been passionate about photography,” he says. “As a teenager, I would buy those inexpensive large calendars, the kind that are filled with black and white photos of European cities, tear them apart and use the prints as artwork on the walls of my small bedroom in the Bronx.”

He has come a long way since those thumb-tack and tear-sheet days. His rooms are now filled with his collections of photographs, all beautifully framed and distinctively arranged. David has kindly provided these photographs, which showcase how he has used frames in his own homes. Click here to visit David’s website.

 

 

 

A Grand Dame

Last year, when I visited Brent and Josh in Sharon Springs, I toured one of the most beautiful homes I had ever seen. It belongs to Michelle Curran, the most intrepid real-estate agent in town. (Michelle was responsible for handling the sale of the Beekman mansion to ‘the boys’ in 2007.) On this particular trip, I was traveling with a companion – my friend Jessica Hodgson, who is a very talented photographer. Brent raved about Michelle’s house and her legendary parties. By all accounts, we had to see this place.

Michelle’s house once belonged to Dr. John H. Gardner and his family. Construction began in the 1850s and was completed in 1860. The house sits at the summit of a hilly, 88-acre property just outside of town on a high promontory overlooking the Mohawk Valley. The seven-bedroom, 8000 square-foot, Italianate-inspired mansion is faced entirely with limestone, much of it quarried on site. It stands resolute: stately and tall and proud.

Indoors, Michelle has left the house with much of its rough-hewn patina. Worn wood floors and chipped plaster walls catch the light beautifully, adding a rustic, cozy charm to the vast spaces. To counteract the effects of time, Michelle has used vibrantly-hued wallpapers and paint to lighten the rooms, which have 14-foot high ceilings and tall windows. It all works beautifully to create something that is utterly unique.

Michelle has been living in the home since 1990 and currently has the property up for sale. Jessica took these gorgeous photos of the home and I was eager to share them with you. We were both so impressed by this home and its owner’s decision to leave much of it intact, embracing the patterns of time rather than trying to scrub them away. I hope you enjoy these photographs!

To see more of Jessica’s photography, please click here.

 

 

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Fall in Love with Vintage

FALL IN LOVE WITH VINTAGE!

 

Photograph by adammilliron.com

 

Jodi Hilliard is the official curator of the Beekman 1802 Vintage Collection. She shares regular posts about her finds and using them in your lifestyle.

Autumn is here so that means pumpkin everything, cooler temperatures and colorful leaves—my favorite time of the year! And it’s a great season for decorating with vintage because fall hues + vintage pieces = rustic love.

“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.” ―  William Cullen Bryant

Now is the perfect time to transition your decor by replacing your light and sunny summer pieces with more autumn appropriate ones. This fall assemblage from the Beekman 1802 Vintage Collection contains items the will help you easily make this seasonal conversion. Simply adding a framed art print, filling a vintage wire basket with freshly harvested apples or placing fall flowers in a pitcher can freshen up a room. You don’t have to completely redecorate your home to celebrate the new season, just make a few simple changes to set the tone.

I am currently obsessed with vintage stag horns and have been decorating with them in my home. The natural beauty of the antlers on a mantle, as focal point in a centerpiece or hanging on a wall makes lovely autumn decor.

Be sure to check out the fall pieces in the Beekman 1802 Vintage Collection as inspiration for your autumn decorating needs. If you fall in love with anything, be sure to act fast before it’s gone!

 

                   Vintagely yours,

 

                   Jodi