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Bedroom Window Treatments
04/28/2008, 04:44 | Wood ShuttersHow do you know which window treatment is right in your bedroom?
There are 3 basic types of window treatments that can be used alone or in combinations. Here?s some tips on these basic types and what style of room you might choose them for.
Curtains and Drapes
Curtains and drapes are a style of window treatment that most of us can recognize but there?s many variations on this old standby. If your bedroom design is simple, you might choose just plain sheers as these will go well with many themes including a romantic theme, a modern theme and anything in between.
Valances can be used to soften the top of the window. They are great if you don?t want to cover up a great view but also don?t want the window to look too bare. Typically valances are made from fabric but you can build them form wood and decorate them with an aged or stencilled paint to go with your Tuscan or French country design. Fabric valances can go with almost any bedroom decorating theme depending on the fabric you choose and can be used in conjunction with sheers to give you a bit of privacy.
Drapes are an elegant bedroom window treatment. If you have a romantic, French or Victorian theme some heavy drapes in rich fabrics can transform your bedroom into one fit for a queen. Heavy drapes look best on tall windows, but if you short squatty windows like most homes built in the 60's - 80's don?t let that deter you from using great drapes. You can always just keep them closed to hide the window behind and no one will ever know the difference!
Wooden Shutters and Blinds
Indoor wooden window blinds are a great way to add privacy to your bedroom and can be used alone or with curtains, drapes or valances.
There are 2 styles of shutters - plantation shutters and café shutters.
Plantation shutters cover the whole window and have louvers which can be opened and closed to let light in or provide privacy. These shutters go great with a plantation style look, a country look or a coastal cottage look.
The café shutters are the kind that cover only the bottom half of the window and swing open to let light in. These also look nice in a country or beach style bedroom and are perfect for a Paris apartment style as well.
Fabric Blinds
Fabric blinds add a nice touch to any bedroom and can be decorated and embellished with whatever you want. Fringe, pom-poms and ribbon are just a few of the great ways to make these bedroom window treatments stand out.
Roman blinds work well for childrens rooms and informal styles such as cottage or beach style decor. These shades fold up to expose the window during the day and roll down at night.
Festoon blinds are puffy with lots of fabric. They are quite ornate and work best in a romantic style bedroom such as a Victorian, French or Italian motif. Festoon blinds look best on wide windows and might not be good for small rooms as they can tend to be a bit overwhelming.
Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.bedroom-designs-and-decorations.com where you can learn more about popular bedroom decorating styles.
Arch Window Shutters
04/28/2008, 04:38 | Wood ShuttersTraditional shutters, sometimes referred to as the colonial style, have a one-inch to one-fourth-inch wide movable louvers. These are normally used in colonial and traditional styles of American homes. You may want to order cafe shutters as coverage for the bottom part of the window to create that quaint, cottage-style mood.
On the other hand, plantation shutters have a three-inch wide movable louver and have a more modern design. They are versatile enough to be used in any window in almost all homes. They permit you to see more and allow for more closing of the panels most of the time. They can be made as café-type units or double-tier units.
You may also choose whether to paint or stain your window shutters. In general, paint colors include a variety of whites and other light colors. Stains can enhance wood grains by use of a number of tints and tones starting from a light natural tone to a tone close to black. Please note that synthetic and wood composite shutters should not be stained.
Remember that the quality of the finish is almost as important as the color. Window shutters that are finished with poor quality will easily deteriorate. A paint finish needs to be thorough, thick and smooth, and it should cover all surfaces. Stain finishes needs to have a sturdy protective coat finish.
Owing to various options in materials, window shutters come in a wide range of prices. A lot of suppliers calculate the price per square foot, a strategy that is not beneficial to consumers. Since sizes are normally rounded up, consumers end up paying more for what they actually got.
Estimating prices based on exact window size, the number of shutter panels, and the finish and style are better because the price will not shortchange the customers. You can also save some money by ordering the shutters directly and measuring and installing them yourself.
Keep these guidelines in mind to ensure that you will get the best bargain when looking for window shutters to install in your home.
Window Shutters provides detailed information on Arch Window Shutters, Custom Window Shutters, Exterior Window Shutters, Hurricane Window Shutters and more. Window Shutters is affiliated with Window Roller Shades.
Spinning Wheels - no not the song
02/12/2008, 04:40 | Norse WoodsmithThough it does show a little of the environment I grew up in - these were the first thing I thought they were singing about the first time I heard that song...
No, I'm talking about the real thing, which are used for making yarn from raw materials such as wool or cotton:
This one is an antique, made sometime in the later half of the 1800's, and was built by the brother of this man - my great great grandfather:
Jon Vium (my great great grandfather) was well known for his handmade spinning wheels, and he made dozens - if not hundreds - of them that he sold to neighbors and at market. He was an avid turner, and used a treadle lathe. He lost his leg when using an adze to flatten some birch - he missed and hit his foot. This was far out in the sticks, so doctors were several days away at least. A member of the family was sent to retrieve the nearest doctor, but by the time he was able to get there gangrene had set in. The amputation took place on the kitchen table, and the sterilizing agent and anesthetic used was whiskey... There's more, but suffice to say not many can say they have it so tough today.
Even after losing his leg, he continued turning - with the treadle lathe - until his death. I used the above picture of a whell his brother made because while there may be some of his spinning wheels remaining, I don't know where they are... There was one that had sat outside for many years, and though it was heavily weathered and missing pieces, dad was able to create a reproduction of the wheels that granddad made using it as a reference along with the wheel pictured above - here's his version, made in maple:
Dad was very proud of his recreated spinning wheel. It's as close a copy as he could come up with given what he had to start with. Here's a different view:
Spinning wheels are literally spin fibers such as wool (and other materials) into yarn for use in knitting. I don't think I can remember my grandmother when she wasn't halfway through another knitted quilt - she was prolific. She made hundreds of them... I still have several myself that she hand knitted - but she usually bought her yarn at the store in the later half of her life... though I remember telling her showing my mother how she would use the spinning wheel when she was younger - it was on a wheel much like these.
Fibers first need to be "carded", where a pair of "carders (wooden handled planks with a series of metal combs are used to literally comb the fibers straight - here's grandmother's pair, with a "rolag" of wool started next to it:
I won't go too much into the process of spinning yarn, but if you are interested there are other sites more with more experienced information than my own... including http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/ and some videos on YouTube. Basically, the fiber is combed straight and rolled up into a "rolag" like above, then one end is mounted in the wheel. Once you start spinning the wheel, it pulls on the fibers as you feed it, and it twists them at the same time, like a rope at the same time spooling them onto a bobbin. Twisting makes the thread stronger by intertwining the individual fibers into one continuous thread that you can't pull apart without a good amount of effort.
My uncle was so impressed, that he took dad's wheel and made his own version - his in walnut:
These are built as closely as we know to the originals great granddad made, and both of them work - as they have been used. But - not much, I think... just enough to prove they work. Most people these days don't knit, much less spin their own yarn anymore - but as with anything, there are still a few out there who are continuing the craft.
Most of the parts for each are turned on the lathe... These wheels were made using a jig and a router, though originally it would also have been turned on the lathe using a face plate and jig. The string you see around the wheel is the drive belt... it rides in one of a series of grooves directly above the wheel - each sized differently so different speeds can be used. The higher the speed, the more twists per inch are produced on the yarn.
This particular style of wheel is known as a "castle" wheel, which was popular for those who want to travel with the wheel, or have just a small amount of room for it - the latter of which would have been the case for most of my ancestors. The houses were not large, so if something could be made to take up less space, the better.
These wheels are an exersize in functionality and design - they are beautifully designed wooden machines that are truly an art form. I've always been drawn to them, as they are the most aproachable tool - they look like some sort of fancy furniture, but were one of the basics of life not so many years ago, when people used them to make their own fabrics, sheets, blankets, and clothing. There wasn't a Walmart on the corner, and if there was they couldn't have afforded it anyway. Their only choice was to literelly make their own - well, everything, almost... One simply has to respect that sort of independence. There are modern makers who have updated the design to work better and use modern technology (ball bearings!) - but most of the modern incarnations seem soulless to me, lacking that part of them that I see as art.
When I was younger, I always wondered how such a cool song could have been about a spinning wheel...
| Blood Sweat, and Tears - Spinning Wheel |
| What goes up must come down You got no money, and you, you got no home Did you find a directing sign Someone is waiting just for you Someone is waiting just for you |
Of course - when I read the lyrics, I realize that the song is really about a homeless guy in a Mustang... 
Williamsburg Woodworking Conference Trip Report
01/27/2008, 23:06 | Arts & Mysteries with Adam Cherubini - Blog This year's conference was a delightful departure from the so far typical furniture fare of Colonial Williamsburg's "Working Wood in the 18th Century" woodworking conference. This year, Williamsburg's interpreters teamed up with tool historians on both sides of the Atlantic to share with us their notions on Tools, Tool Chests, and Workbenches of the 18th century.
I attended the first session joined by several current and former interpreters from Pennsbury Manor. For me, the quiet conversations between the conference attendees are as interesting and educational as the presentations themselves.
Each year, I bemoan that fact that no videos or transcripts will be made available. As I sat in the gorgeous, packed yet comfortable auditorium, I couldn't help but feel privileged. This sense was heightened by the forced absence of my friend Paul and those of you who emailed me and really would have loved to attend but couldn't. But instead of continuing to bang a drum that know one cares to listen to, I'll only say this in consolation: I think the "back of the class" conversations and fellowship are so great and so useful, that a video just wouldn't be the same experience.
The conference began with short lectures by Jay Gaynor and Jane Rees. Jay talked about tools. Jane talked about tool storage. The most memorable bit for me was Jane's mention of the "bass" joiner's tool bags present in several period paintings of shops. I've been carrying a similar woven grass bag of the sort ladies take to the beach to Pennsbury Manor for several years. And I think for all those years, my friend Dave has been whistling at me. Finally, I am vindicated. As it turns out, English woodworkers, including Jane's Grandfather, have been carrying their tools not in cleverly constructed wooden totes but in "bass" bags for at least 2 centuries.
Jane Rees, along with her late husband Mark, wrote the fantastic introduction to "British Planemakers from 1700", "Christopher Gabriel...", and contributed to "The Toolchest of Benjamin Seaton". She's a fantastic scholar and valuable resource, having a breadth and depth of knowledge matched by few or none. Perhaps because of this, I was left wanting more from Jane. She did a good job presenting the evidence of tool storage and workbench placement. But I was hoping for a summary that explained the rationale behind such issues. Maybe its obvious, but it seems to me that tool chests are not primarily used to transport tools, but rather to safeguard them in a commercial shop that you don't own or live in. Like modern day auto mechanics, I suspect period craftsmen abhored lending or borrowing tools. Like modern day auto mechanics, having the right tool for the job can be a matter of maintaining one's livelihood. Like modern day auto mechanics, the tool chest and its contents were easily worth 6 months to a year's wages. So we see rural and family shops characterized by tool storage consisting of open shelves and racks on walls, like the Dominy shop. Urban commercial shops, like those depicted by Roubo can probably be characterized by rows of benches, left ends facing the light source, and the use of tool chests to store individual craftsmen's tools.
Thursday's conference began with a lecture by Jane on Benjamin Seaton. It?s important to note that neither the Seaton chest nor its contents were present. Somehow, I misunderstood "we'll be looking at the Seaton chest". We looked at pictures of the Seaton chest and Kaare Loftheim's informative reproduction. The main carcass is fairly typical. It has a nailed or screwed up bottom. The till is a bit more interesting. We speculated that the secret drawers were nothing more than a way to fill space behind the drawers, very likely shortened to allow their removal without removal of the till. I'm fairly convinced and Jane confirmed my beliefs that tills like Seaton's were not designed to be removed daily. But throughout the discussions, I failed to hear the Seaton chest placed in its proper context: It has many features we would come to see as typical of 19th c chests including its tall proportions, multi leveled till with drawers, and veneered interior. I can't help but question the appropriateness of using this chest for a "working wood in the 18th century" despite the date of its manufacture. If we could look into a third quarter of the 18th c commercial shop, I suspect we'd see chests that look more like blanket chests, long and low, and few simple tills and tools with unmatched handles. In short, I suspect we'd see something more like the Nixon chest.
My notes are a little sketchy, but I think late Thursday morning, Marcus Hanson And Ed Wright demonstrated the hammer veneer work on the till. This was a fantastic demonstration that I think would make a great 2-hour video. When I began volunteering in Pennsbury, I saw my role as technical. I felt I was able to build things with period tools, in an unheated shop without electricity. Talking to visitors, especially non-woodworkers, was clearly not my forte. But Williamsburg's Hay shop craftsmen are different. These guys are terrific woodworkers AND professional interpreters who are just plain fun to watch and listen to. While none of them are Underhill caliber, you can see that St. Roy is one of many folks in CW who are good at presenting information and making it fun.
Thursday afternoon, Garret Hack discussed workbenches. I had never met Garret before and I found him delightfully charming and down to earth. I was disappointed he didn't discuss 18th c workbenches though. In my opinion, there's something weird going on with FWW's participation at the conference. The FWW speakers don't seem to feel compelled to limit their discussions to Working Wood in the 18th century, which is after all, the generic title of the conferences and the reason many of us attend. I know some of the attendees felt stronger about this than I did. I liked Hack's presentation and felt the need to jot down several comments:
"[The workbench] is the most important tool in your shop."
"[It] influences the work that you do."
"[My workbench] represents me as a craftsman."
Friday featured Roy Underhill's presentation (driven by his macbook pro!). The opening slide is shown below:
Roy's presentation was on screw threads and it was everything one would expect from The Woodwright; It was hilarious and informative. A heckler (no it wasn't me, really) mentioned that this was the first time he'd ever seen Roy work and not cut himself. I had a similar comment in a PW article on Building Saw horses some years ago, and later regretted it. Now I see that mentioning cuts to Roy is a little like singing Roxanne to Sting or asking Ricky Gervais "Are you having a laugh?". So I was curious to take Roy's reaction. Would he be peeved or annoyed? Surely he wouldn't laugh like this is the first time he's heard that one. He responded quickly: "The Director kept yelling "Cut!" and I didn't know what he was talking about".
The presentation ended with a very cleverly set up joke of the sort only someone with Roy's superior intellect could muster. And as I finished my belly laugh with everyone else, a wash of disappointment came over me that would later characterize my feelings about the entire conference. Its was fun, but missing something. I felt Roy missed the opportunity to discuss the advantage (in my opinion superiority) of wooden vise screws that he'd just explained in detail how to build. It seemed like every lecture was great but with a few notable exceptions, needed a 5-minute summary or conclusion.
The conference closed with an informal poll indicating that more than half the audience was there for the first time. This made me wish more than ever that some of the lectures had a bit more resolution to them.
All said, I wasn't and have never been disappointed by the conference in Williamsburg. It was a great experience, as much for the fellowship as the lectures. You're going to leave the conference a better, more informed woodworker. So I recommend going and going back even if the last conference didn't meet 100% of your expectations.
Adam
P.S.
The annual woodworking conference in Williamsburg is like a Star Trek convention for period woodworkers. People dress up in funny clothes. You meet wonderful people who are strange in the same ways you are strange. Its validating. No one asks where you get the time to use hand tools or offers their ill-informed opinions on rococo style.
But as period woodworking geeks go, I'm probably the nerdiest. I have been working on my Mack Headley impersonation and fantasizing about Williamsburg trading cards. A typical card would have a picture of say, Kaare Loftheim on the front, and on the back his favorite tools, pitch and rake of his saws, and other fun facts like where he keeps his cabinetscrapers (anybody know?) and maybe a note worthy catch phrase like "dummy marks".
Black and White and Red All Over
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Skiving OffI have been very busy lately. My father called me Sunday, and wanted to make sure I was alive. When I asked why, he said, “Well, you haven’t called in at least a week, and you haven’t updated your blog either.”
It was good to learn that I have a dedicated reader, even if it’s “just family.”
So tonight I thought I would try to get something done on my workbench. I am almost ready to assemble the four legs and four stretchers of the base, and I need 16 pieces of 3/8” diameter pegs to use for drawboring the Mortise and Tenon stretcher/leg joints.
I’m going to come clean on this to the whole world (in advance). I don’t really know if I know what I am doing… I may be a victim of the right side of my brain. You see, I’m a little bit artsy. It’s okay. In the modern world a guy can be the proud owner of a bag full of smelly stuff bearing the names Bauer,
I have decided to accent my massive hard maple Holtzapffel bench with Ebony. I am using Gabon Ebony pegs for the drawboring, and I am looking forward to the contrast of the black circles on the white maple. However, I don’t know if ebony pegs will work. I think it will be okay because as I drive the pegs through my Lie-Nielsen Doweling Plate…(another shameless plug, Tom…come on…let me be a hand model in next year’s Lie-Nielsen Calendar) Sorry, I was saying, as I drive the pegs through the steel doweling plate they seem to have adequate toughness. They tear/shred as opposed to split. So I think they will be great for drawboring, but I won’t know for sure until I start driving them in.
Let me tell you the other ebony ledge I am venturing out onto…(this one might get bad): I am making Ebony Handles to go in the massive maple screws that Stephen Fee made me for the front vise. Wow, turning
Tonight I spent some time making more pegs for drawboring, and look what happened. How did I cut that finger, you ask? I picked up my drawknife. That’s it. I just picked it up. I didn’t juggle it. I didn’t swing it like a cleaver and try to catch it with my left hand. I just reached down with both hands and picked it up off the bench and apparently my left hand was a little too high on the handle and managed to get hold of some of the blade. That is almost as dumb as the fact that I cut my pegs into ½ x ½ x 3 inch rectangular blocks BEFORE I started any rounding. I now realize it would have been better to keep them as long as possible and spindle turn them down closer to 3/8” before driving them through the doweling plate. But no; I created way oversized rectangles that are too short to grab hold of, and I have to shave them down to a cross-sectional area just under 50% of their 0.25 square inches. Look at all of those shavings. I have little Ebony curls EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Right now in Holland, Michigan there is a moron standing in a mountain of Ebony curls who cannot lift a tiny little drawknife off of his bench without cutting his finger, thinks he can flawlessly tap Gabon Ebony, and believes he is the next great Lie-Nielsen Hand Model. Stay tuned to see how this turns out.