British Cottage

12 Days of Christmas from British Cottage

2011-12-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

On the 12th day of Christmas I wish someone gave to me:

12 Hayforks Hanging

11 Plates Displaying

10 Pots with Spotting

9 Buckets Standing

8 Cans a Watering

7 Dogs from England

6 Quail Escaping

5 GOLDEN THINGS

4 Trinket Holders

3 French Hens

2 Mailboxes

And a Large Print of Old London!

Time to Shop...

2011-11-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

For everything there is a season and now is the season to shop. You can wimp out and buy gift cards, take the high road and contact Heifer International (which we highly recommend) or you can man up and buy meaningful gifts that will not only bring delight to the recipient but will also last for generations. It's all up to you.
From the British Cottage collections come the following holiday gifting ideas:

1. Dough Bowls:

These wooden bowls were once used for mixing bread and then letting it rise before baking. Back in the days before supermarkets most bread was made at home and each family would own at least one of these. Hand-hewn, then ehanced by nearly a century of use, each bowl has its own patina, its own personality. Clearly (we think) not needed for its original purpose these vintage vessels lend themselves to many decorative and useful functions in the modern household. Fill with fruit, flowers, candles or all of the above and make a killer centerpiece. Line with plastic and make a planter, or fill with magazines, the dog's toys, your knitting, and you've cleaned up the clutter and decorated at the same time!
Or do nothing. Just let it be. A beautiful object from another century, it has a sculptural quality all of its own. Plunked in the center of a dining room table even the most decorating challenged can enjoy success. Sometimes less is more...

2. Glass Pickle Jars

Why not continue with the vessel theme? Originally used for pickling, these large glass jars have imperfections in the glass, different hues and wide openings. We've chosen to fill ours with dried artichokes on a bed of moss for a soft, autumnal vignette, but

anything would work: pine cones, vintage ornaments, sea shells, live plants, baked goods--even homemade pickles.

3.Oversized Maps

Our maps are reproduced in England by a master printmaker who enlarges the originals, then applies them to a linen backing. Shown is Stanford's "1859 Map of Italy". At 63" high by 55" wide it makes a bold statement on any wall, but also provides a way to remember that totally terrific journey through Tuscany or Bologna. Or the region your family came from. Or the best dinner you ever had in your entire life.
Besides Italy, we have Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Paris and lots of London views. How many gifts are educational and decorative, allow you to remember the past and look forward to the future? Not many.
Well that's it for today. As we head into the holidays I promise to come up with more gift ideas that recycle the past and beautify the home. So before you go to a big box store and load up with things that won't last a season, stop and think how something old can be something new again.
Happy Holidays!!

And finally Autumn has arrived!

2011-10-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

I'm embarrassed to see I have not managed a post since June. Alas, it was that kind of summer. Three funerals and no weddings-- but we did get a visit from the beloved grandchild. Who, his parents report, at 8 months and change has become a whirling dervish so we feel blesssed to have had him in a less mobile, more snuggle bunny phase.
I lie awake at night hoping they have been diligent in their baby-proofing and marvel that decorating around children--and pets--is no longer an issue for me. At one time, besides two children, we had a couple of lizards, something called an erf, gold fish, a lab mix, a sheltie and a pygmy African hedgehog. The challenge was to keep all those animals healthy and happy without the house looking (and smelling) like a barn. Now all I have left at home is a husband who is fairly low maintenance; as long as there's food in the fridge and I toss him a beer or two, he's happy.

But our decorating hasn't changed all that much, in fact, surprisingly, we still have a lot of the same stuff we had when the kids were toddlers. We've never had a formal living room or dining room. Our couch, bought second hand years ago, is a decidedly dressy camelback style with mahogany trim, but I upholstered it in a tone on tone blue denim so it was instantly more inviting. I can't show a photo of it because it is decidedly tatty and I can't come to grips with the idea that it could--after 20 years--be time to move on and get a more comfy couch that may be a little larger in scale than I would like. Want to vote family? The coffee table is a child friendly, cut down antique pine table with a big drawer for coasters and reading glasses and then there's a couple of slipcovered wing chairs.

I must confess there is another probem couch, a Biedermeier beauty bought in Denmark, not like anything else we own, but it was a good deal so we took it (temptation is a hazard of the trade I'm afraid.) This sits with a pair of bergere chairs, once gilt framed with green and gold upholstery but Keith painted the trim an antiqued white and we reupholstered them in linen so they feel much calmer. Then there is a Danish secretary in original buttery paint, a long Chinese sideboard, three or four end tables and that's my living room.

The dining room is open to the kitchen at one end and the living room at the other and in there we have a big, battle scarred pine hutch stuffed with old blue willow platters, and a farm table. There is a grandfather clock with peeling paint, (we do have one young visitor who comes once a year who I have to keep an eye on because she likes to peel it a little more), and a glazed cupboard from Spain that holds the spoils from years of buying antiques abroad. But these treasures are up high and behind locked doors, safe from little paws.

The beauty of buying antiques is that one more knick or scratch-- unless you are of the high gloss, Chippendaled mahogany crowd--generally is not a big deal. Signs of wear are to be expected. Do I use coasters? Yes. Do I go crazy when my family and friends don't? No. A little bit of furniture polish and the marks go away. Slipcovers are key--easily washed or dry cleaned when mishaps occur. Just not white slipcovers; but that is for another blog and another day. "My experience with shabby chic" to be continued...

It's Summertime and the Living is Easy...

2011-06-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Finally! Cold winters & wet springs make summer more worth the wait. Breezing along in the car with the windows down and the radio cranked--you can do this when your kids are grown up too--life doesn't get much better. Unless you are home and looking out the window to see your garden in bloom, or on your deck or patio looking in at your nice clean house because no one wants to be inside long enough to mess things up. Yes, summer is just about perfect.

I'm actually much fonder of patios than decks, but my deck is so much nicer now that I've added two vintage style wicker chairs to the mix. There was already a table and four chairs, an antique English garden bench and at least three little tables, but it definitely needed something soft.

But not as soft as this snow. My camera is acting up so I can't show you what my deck looks like now but how about this picture taken on December 27th after the Boxing Day blizzard? When I win the lottery I will make this deck a bluestone patio with mulitple levels stretching all the way to the river, but right now I have to work with what I've got.

Road Trip

2011-06-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

Keith and I just got back from a sweep around New England.

First stop was Bennington Potters in Bennington, Vermont. Just a four hour drive north from Red Bank, it was like stepping into another era, with its covered bridges, white clapboarded houses and beautiful gardens. However we couldn't linger; there were tables to unload!

The Bennington Potters store--or actually I should say complex-- is a combination of retail store and potters yard on a beautiful four acre site. You can tour the pottery works where beautiful and functional dishes have been produced daily for the last fifty years or so and then browse through the company store, where now you can purchase a British Cottage signature pine farmhouse table to go with your dishes!

We could have stayed in Bennington for a night or two, but the next stop was six hours northeast in Camden, Maine so we had to get cracking. Half way up the Maine coast, Camden must be one of the most delightful seaside towns in Maine. Far enough from Boston and the hordes of daytrippers found in southern Maine, people come to Camden to enjoy Maine the way Maine should be. Coastal views, deepwater harbors, delightful lodgings, great food and fabulous shopping. We went there to deliver an antique pine table to Amy O'Donnell, proprietor of Sugar Tools, a delightful shop on Bayview Street. (For those of you unfortunates not in the know, Bayview runs parallel to the harbor on the left when coming into town from the south.)

Amy sells a nicely curated selection of items in her shop: a little bit of garden, some vintage furniture, and the most beautiful handbags and accessories. Definitely worth a visit!

After visiting with Amy we strolled up the hill to the Hartstone Inn and some much needed R&R.

Owned by Chef Michael Salmon and his wife, this is a must stop if you are beating a culinary path through Maine.

Another not to miss culinary hotspot is the Brunswick Diner, an iconic bit of Americana conveniently located just outside of Brunswick, Maine just before you leave the coastal route to pick up the Maine turnpike. We especially loved the breakfast menu.

Of course I may be a bit biased because I have known the owner, Jane Douty Davis for probably 40 years.

Jane invited us for a boat ride to Boothbay but sadly it was time to get back to New Jersey and our own store and the gym!

Can you believe it is Memorial Day already?

2011-05-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Finally the longest, wettest spring ever is over and we are awash in sunshine. Normally in the light of day I would be fretting about my less than perfect housekeeping skills (it is amazing how fingerprints, dust and grime are magnified in the daylight and only recede at dusk along with an accompanying glass of wine, another blog entirely) but now that I can go outside I put on my blinders and race out the door into the garden--and suddenly what a garden it is. The grass is green again and my flowers are starting to bloom.

Normally it doesn't take much to get my green thumb fired up but this year it is the beautiful gardens at Holly Hill that are inspiring me. Holly Hill is the site of the latest VNA showhouse in Navesink and it is truly amazing. Perched high above the Navesink River amidst the tallest hollies you ever saw, the house is way cool but the grounds steal the show. We furnished the little admissions greenhouse with some British Cottage classics: a pine farmhouse table and a painted hutch, a cool chandelier and some unusual
(we think) accessories.

You can do this at home. It's an antique doughbowl I lined with tin foil and then planted with some white geraniums, fennel and then stuffed a little moss around the edges. Voila!

If you go through the showhouse, note how cool the antique hayfork looks on the wall in the kitchen. For $100. it may be the most affordable accessory item available and if it it is sold don't worry--we have a few more at the store.

Can you see the vintage British sailor's hat says H.M.S. Nelson?We bought the birdhouse in the background in England; it is made with vintage building material and sleeps 11. The polka dot jugs are made in Hungary and don't you love the green bunny lamps on the hutch? The chandelier is made from recycled wine barrels and adds a certain rustic chic to the mix.

Sweet Baby John

2011-03-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

So here is the new love of my life, John Richard Nelson, all of 3 weeks old. We visited for a while last week in his home town of Houston, while his Dad, my son, was on a two week training session for his new job. Sadly I did not get to do any shopping--there are totally great antique and home furnishing stores all over town--or check out some of the houses Joanie, the world's most thorough blogger ever explores in her Cote de Texas blog, but I did get to hang out with John for the 8 pm to 2 am shift and at the same time soak up a ton of home and life style improvement tv.

And lord knows I can use some improvement but with my daily schedule, sadly I am out by 9:30, ten tops, so I don't get much television time. Thus I was thrilled to be left with the baby and the remote while Mom got some much needed shut eye. Here's what I learned...

Let's start with Suze Ormonn. Her parting shot one evening was, and she really means things you can tell, when she lowers her eyes and does that shaking index finger thing my English grandmother-in-law did when she was making sure you paid attention and said, I paraphrase here, that your priorities should first be people, then money, then things. Which confuses me, where is art, nature, beauty, the intangibles that make living a life? It can't all be about having money and owning things, can it?

She had pared her priorities to the bone, I guess, but she sort of shook me to the bone there in the darkened tv room, guardian of the sleeping baby. Sure some people make me happy, (many do not) but beautiful rooms always make me happy, sunsets and rainbows and brisk walks make me happy, even hedgehogs and moonlight make me happy; but money and things just do not make me happy.

   Then I was watching the DIY channel count down ways to save money when renovating a bathroom. One hint was to use cheaper fixtures. Once again I thought you are so wrong. Crappy fixtures corrode at an alarming rate and way before you can ever dream of flipping your fixer upper you are calling your plumber. And unless you are married to a plumber--not a bad idea by the way--that is just throwing your money down the drain. My advice is to buy the best fixtures you can afford and you will be putting money in the bank.
   Basically I think it all boils down to quality. Quality counts; in relationships and in purchases--it pays to discriminate. Chose carefully and wisely. And I say that all the time at the store. Do you save a lot of money when you buy cheap chairs? NO. Down the road you will have to buy all new chairs. Do you need to decorate a whole room all at once? No, buy one nice piece a year and before you know it your house will be complete. Think outside the box; a beautiful tablecloth over a folding table, some candlelight and you have a dinner party. Maybe you don't need to buy a table this minute but it would be nice to have a hutch to display all those wonderful wedding gifts or the collection of creamware you inherited.
   Whatever you do, make it the best you can and then you will be happy.  Don't obsess over things matching perfectly; that is why decorators get paid, to mix things up. There are simply no rules when it is your own home. And sure, save for a rainy day, but don't forget to enjoy the sunny ones.

At the New York International Gift Show

2011-02-02T04:54:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update while I wait for Keith to get out of the shower. Today is the final day for us at the NYIGS; a to-the-trade only exhibition at Pier 94. This is our second time as vendors and it has been
a lot of fun. We've sighted the doyenne of decorating, Nina Campbell, (buying fabulous flower arrangements from the Diane James gang), bonded with the Sister Parrish group, and met many, many interesting retailers and decorators from all over the country--and even out of it. More to come when we get back home.

Laird's Apartment!

2011-01-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

Finally something cool to write about. Our daughter, Laird, moved to her new apartment yesterday and we were on hand to lend a hand. For many parents this is a nightmare but for us it is way too much fun. Particularly now that we have Boris's guys at the Green Line Moving Company to do the heavy lifting. (Google them, he's in Woodbridge, NJ--the price is right and they do a great job.)

Laird and the movers arrive at the new apartment, just blocks

from the park, the Museum of Natural History and--
most importantly I'm told--the subway!

Before:

A scary scene:

Much better.

Small apartments need huge closets.

Look how organized she is, finally.

Where will it all go?

We'll hang the pictures and think about curtains another day.

We are so cool!

2010-12-12T12:57:00.000-08:00

Note the chandelier in the centerfold of Elle Decor this month,

now look at this in the center of our British Cottage window:

Okay, ready for this?

This month's cover shot from House Beautiful:

What did we buy almost three years ago?

Let's put the thanks in Thanksgiving

2010-11-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

   Crunch time is here. Believe it or not we will be delivering dining room tables and chairs on the day before Thanksgiving...wow. It happens every year, but even I can't imagine waiting until the last minute to put my dining room together.
   But maybe it's because there are just too many options? Besides what is available in your own neighborhood, on line you can shop the entire world. Add to this the pressure people feel to chose something that will last forever, throw in the fact that there are usually two people who must agree on a design they both feel they absolutely have to love FOREVER and voila, gridlock.
     Actually that is why we don't try too hard to sell furniture over the internet.  In my heart I believe you have to see it, feel it, and touch it to understand what you are buying. Too many times I have loved, really loved a product on the page or on the screen only to feel mega disappointment when it finally arrives.
    So thank all of you who call me from Ohio and elsewhere. Probably you would really love my things, and I encourage you to buy them but I am uncomfortable guaranteeing there will never be a problem. I've had four people come in the store in the last month saying they returned dining room tables they ordered from Restoration Hardware because of color and condition issues. Actually it happened to me today. I have a customer who patiently (sort of) waited six months for her bedroom furniture and the color is off.
The fact is when you are dealing with a product that is handmade out of natural materials, there will be some variation in color and condition. Sometimes it can be a lot of variation--each piece of wood, particularly reclaimed timber, is different. The reason why our tables stay sold is you actually see the exact table you are buying and we explain how to maintain said table...
    For example, the worst thing in the world for old wood is a super hot house heated by a furnace that sucks all the moisture out of the air. In fact many times when we get a call that a table top has cracked we'll find a child with bronchitus--the air is just too dry and a humidifier is needed--stat. If a top does split, chances are it will come back together again when you turn the heat off in the spring. And if not it is an easy thing for us to run over, pop the top and clamp it back together again.
     The other major problem is finish. If you are buying a table with a raw wood top it needs to be protected from spills or else it will stain. A waxed finish lends a lovely patina to wood and will provide protection against spills, but a wet, drippy glass will leave a ring. We always provide a can of wax when we sell a waxed pine table so you can touch it up at home.
    For the last couple of years we have been selling hardwood tables (and some pine) with polyurethane finishes that provide more protection, but you still have to be careful about scratches. Because we usually start with wood that has been distressed, our fix is to fill in the scratch with a furniture touch up pen in a slightly darker color, hopefully making the the scratch look like it has always been there.
     Luckily for those of you who demand zero maintenance, we do offer a finish that is probably a resin and use it on our sandblasted trestle table. It is so hard I think you could probably drive a truck over the table top and not leave a mark.   However, I've been in this business long enough to know it is only a matter of time before a teenager somewhere, somehow manages to mess it up.
   But that is another whole blog--teenagers and furniture. Meanwhile let's just be thankful for our families and friends and remember fondly those who made our lives possible. Happy Thanksgiving!

Decorating is not hard to do!

2010-10-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

I am amazed when grown women, immaculately groomed, accessorized to the hilt and with nary a root showing lament that they are at a loss when it comes to decorating their homes. They can easily throw down the price of a small sofa for a big name bag, tie a scarf twenty different ways, and be coordinated head to toe but can't choose a dining room table?

    Me, I can find furniture in a vacuum. In fact when Keith and I were young and living in Philadelphia we furnished our apartment and most of our friends' simply by visiting my hometown of Rumson New Jersey on Junk Day, a twice yearly event when residents would park their unwanted possessions on the curb for the borough trucks to cart away.
   And years later when I could afford to buy my furniture I read that the designer Sister Parish (I think it was Sister Parish) was famous for finding more places for seating in a living room then you could ever imagine, I felt empowered and purchased two more armchairs that very evening. I now have six upholstered chairs, two couches, two coffee tables, an antique wooden Irish fools chair and numerous stools and benches and still don't feel crowded.
   And I could never live without the painted antique pine secretary we bought in Denmark, or the wonderful antique Chinese altar table anchoring a six foot painted Chinese panel of a lily pond and two beautiful white egrets that I convinced Keith would excuse him from having to buy me another anniversary gift ever ( I lied.)
    Does it go?  Of course it does; because the walls are calm, the floors are calm, and the furniture, although in abundance is not drastically overscaled but in proportion to the space. Is one couch Biedermeier and another Chippendale? Yes. But the fabrics compliment each other, there are lots of lamps to add warmth and decoration on side tables ample enough to hold both books and drinks, while beautiful paintings and a collection of vintage shorebird prints enhance the walls.
    Do you still think decorating is hard to do?

September Already!

2010-09-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

     Sorry, August clearly got away from me. Between exhibiting at the NY Gift Show, visiting with my son Colin and his wife, Melissa, who enjoyed a little r&r at the Jersey shore (cooler than Houston, but not by much) and just my usual days at the store, I missed my August blog. However, not to worry, I have great plans for September.
    Basically we have covered bedrooms and dining rooms, I think, but have we ever talked about the foyer? It's huge. If you haven't cleaned in weeks, there's dishes in the sink,dust bunnies reproduc-ing as only rabbits can, it doesn't matter--as long as your foyer is well designed and attractive.
   The reason I say this is strangers have no reason to go any further into your house. Play dates can be dropped, business can be
conducted, and neighbors can peek in without anyone knowing you haven't made a bed in weeks. All it takes is a little planning and some cunning. Banning the children and your husband from the area may sound mean, but that is why mudrooms and garage entries were invented. Put some hooks and a bench by the back door and only allow relatives and close friends access to that part of the house. They know you so there is no use pretending.
   Next you need to find a piece of furniture which is not too deep, unless you have a Mcmansion and then you have help so this blog really does not apply to you. In your case all you need is a gorgeous round table and a fabulous flower arrangement--I recommend my new best friends from the gift show, Diane James and her daughters, Caroline and Cynthia. They make the most beautiful flower arrangements you can imagine--their wholesale customers include Neiman Marcus and Gumps. Just go to their website, DianeJamesHome.com and you will see what I mean. They are not inexpensive but when you consider one arrangement could last a really long time (the flowers are all artificial but you would never guess unless you touch them). And Caroline blogs three days a week, clearly an overachiever, but it is fun to read.
     However, I digress. For those with moderate to small foyers, the answer is a table or a chest. Something with a few drawers to stash the bills, park your keys, and hold a hairbrush. Next comes a beautiful mirror, which not only makes the space look larger but also affords you the opportunity to make sure your hair is neat, teeth brushed, and zipper zipped before exiting your home or answering the doorbell.

Next some lamps, a basket, or a small flower arrangement to put on the furniture you selected. Try to leave very little of the top showing for two reasons. The first is beauty, second you prevent family members from leaving their junk on the top. And try to refrain from parking family photos here. Unless someone in the family is a supermodel, these belong in more personal spaces (like the backstairs or an upstairs hallway).

I quickly snapped some photos at the store so you can get the gist of what I'm saying but I will take some at home too (I actually have two of the vignettes I described because I could not figure out which one I liked best). It would be nice if some of you emailed me photos of your foyers and in theory I could post those as well.
Caroline and Cynthia where are you? Maybe we need to have a contest but that wouldn't work because I would make sure everybody won! Have a great day and enjoy this fabulous weather.
Cheers!
Tricia

Countdown to the NYIGF (New York International Gift Show)

2010-07-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

     As usual it seems it is the end of the month and I have yet to blog, which is amazing because I have so much to report. The big news is Keith and I have been furiously preparing for the New York International Gift Fair, which takes place in mid-August at the Javits Center and Piers in NYC. The show is designed to present the latest inovations in furnishings, tabletop, accessories and more to retailers and designers in the metropolitan area.
     We feel this will be a good opportunity to expose (there has to be a better word) our British Cottage products to a wider audience. For years we have been manufacturing our own designs, first in England, and now at our factory in Hungary. Bespoke, handmade, and hand delivered are our standard operating procedures, not a marketing ploy.
    So this will be a test to see if our British Cottage vision is viable out of our comfort zone in Red Bank. Our pricing has always been reasonable, partially because there are no middle men, we are direct importers, and also because we are committed to staying affordable. While we may have one or two rock stars and three or four moguls as customers, mostly we sell to people with tuitions and car payments and orthodontistry to worry about.
     Which brings me to my next point, one of the problems with selling a product that is built to last is that the customer only ever needs to need to buy just one. There is no built in obsolescence at British Cottage. A pine farmhouse table never goes out of style; it doesn't break. In fact, it can actually improve with age. So we are happy to widen our customer base. According to some reports as many as 35,000 will attend the gift show.

And we are not only bringing furniture but also one-of-a-kind antiques and accessories we have picked up in our travels to Europe. We'll have dough bowls and Staffordshire china, antique maps and botannical prints, authentic British flags, watering cans, you name it. The items in the photograph are just a few of the things we plan to exhibit. We'll be on Pier 94, booth # 43060, come see us if you get a chance. Or stop by the store; Red Bank is easily accessible by car or train if you are coming from the city.

The Last Day of June

2010-06-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

    When I first decided to blog I set myself a weekly target which soon ratcheted down to once a month; thus I better get cracking as it is the 30th of June already! But boy has it been a busy month...
much of it was spent in England, scouring the countryside for quintessentially British items to use in our booth when we exhibit at the New York International Gift Fair in August!
   For those of you who don't know what that means, the Gift Show takes place twice a year in NYC at the Javits Center and the Piers--it is enormous. Thousands of vendors, selling everything from candy bars to couches, present their wares to retailers in the tri-state area, all 35,000 of them. So what is British Cottage doing there? Hopefully branding ourselves.
    For at least 15 years we have been building our own furniture designs, first in England, now at our factory in Hungary. Always bespoke and benchmade, sometimes with reclaimed timber, sometimes beautiful, lovingly harvested new pine from a managed Scandanavian forest (but that is another blog, how we were green before we even knew what green meant). Anyway, we muddled along quite nicely, enjoying a very solid customer base in the the centrally located coastal community of Red Bank.
    But then things changed. Our cherubs grew up and away, the dogs went to heaven and instead of enjoying our leisure time we were working twice as hard for half as much money as the dreaded recession caused business to slow to record levels. So instead of packing it all in we decided to take it up a notch. We've had several wholesale relationships in the past supplying stores in Westfield and Nantucket, so why not the whole metropolitan area?
   So that is the plan. We've produced several items that we think are truly unique and would work in a variety of homes. We're going to layer those with all the British Country style accessories we all love, real Staffordshire, garden items, vintage maps and prints and hopefully we'll take New York by storm. As many of you know our pricing for our quality is extrememly reasonable and if all goes well hopefully many more will find out!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2010-05-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

    I'm so glad it is May.  April was a very busy month for the Nelson family. First Colin, our son, got married in Omaha, Nebraska. And even though we were parents of the groom and thus off the hook for much of the planning process, we still had to show up reasonably dressed and coiffed (it took Keith two visits to the gang at Hair and Company to get the beard under control) and then partake in all the festivities leading up to the blessed event.
     Fortunately Omaha proved to be a very hospitable city. Colin and Melissa (the bride) wisely chose a hotel, the Embassy Suites, convenietly located between the Missouri River and the cool Market area of the downtown featuring funky old warehouses converted into cool shops and restaurants, to house the out-of-town guests and host the reception.  The hotel staff made sure we all had a fabulous time; I was totally impressed by the service and attention we received. And get this: free shuttle sevice to and from the airport, the zoo, the art museum. Free cooked breakfast, even down to pancakes with mouse ears for the little ones--and get this--free happy hour!
     Clearly we were in heaven. But it gets better. We found the Upstream Brewery, a brew pub a block from our hotel, to hold the rehearsal dinner (one of the few things the groom's family gets to do) and invited everyone who was in town for the wedding to attend. And what fun we had--great hors d'oeuvres, then gormet pizzas and homemade brownies for dessert. And did I mention the beer--fabulous! The highlight, however, may have been Keith's outfit. Omaha is the kind of place where dressing up for men means putting on clean jeans and polishing your cowboy boots; Keith wore Edgartown red J Crew khakis with royal blue tuna fish embroidered on them, topsiders, no socks...
     I don't know if Omaha had been exposed to East Coast male cocktail attire in the flesh before...fortunately Melissa's family has a sense of humor. We know that for a fact because we finished off the evening and a cooler of--yes--more beer--in a hotel room with all her uncles and aunts who regaled us into the wee hours with stories about growing up on the family farm in rural South Dakota.
     Clearly by now you are wondering why all this information is on the British Cottage blog, but the point I am trying to make is how, once again, it is all about making people feel welcome.  While of course we always love pretty things and want our surroundings to be beautiful, it is ultimately about the people in our lives and in our hearts. Staying up late, laughing our heads off with all our new friends and relations, getting to know a new city and all the while hoping our daughter-in-law feels as at home with our family as we did with hers.

Why Do we Decorate?

2010-04-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

       I think most people have forgotten that the whole point of decorating is not to impress their friends or demonstrate a superior design sensibility. The whole point of decorating is actually quite simple--it's to make people feel welcome.
        Growing up in a crowded family with five brothers and sisters and a frugal mom meant we never had new furniture. Other people bought sleek Danish modern and we got their hand-me- downs. Enormous Victorian chests of drawers with carvings and inlay, one drawer enough to hold a small child's entire wardrobe, anchored our bedrooms. Colorful quilts handstitched by long gone relations kept us snug in our beds while couches were slipcovered in polished cotton, concealing worn springs and sagging frames. Bright and cheerful on the outside, the fabric line dried, and broken in like a pair of old jeans, they were perfect for curling up with a book or sinking into an afternoon snooze. All our rooms were for living, slightly worn, but always welcoming.
       Our kitchen table was scrubbed pine, donated, I think, by an elderly aunt. It is impossible to count the hours spent at that table throughout my childhood.  Baking bread, eating dinner, doing homework, sewing with my Mom's old Singer, and later, when we were older, having a few late night beers. Dinner was at 6:15 every night and friends were always welcome.
      When guests, which were frequent, pushed the number of diners over 8 then it was off to the dining room and the solid round oak table my mother found at an antique store in the early 60's, when we finally moved to a house big enough to have a dining room. With its two mismatched leaves in under the freshly ironed linen table cloth, we were ready for any festivity.The chairs were also mismatched, not by design, but by a kind of domestic Darwinism--only the strongest could survive in our household. And if sheer numbers meant the weakest chairs were called to duty, you made sure not to wiggle, or worse lean back and cause the chair to implode resulting in laughter that always stung more the floor.

    What makes a house a home is putting together objects you love with the things you need and then taking the time to enjoy them. Once we delivered a hutch to a fabulous kitchen, recently renovated with every imaginable appliance and an incredible river view. When I complimented the homeowner and asked what delicacies she had dished up lately she laughed and said none. The kitchen was too perfect to use so she and her husband ate at the diner every night. She's divorced now.

     I'm not sure what the moral of that story is except that kitchens and homes should be welcoming. In fact, I think that is why we have been so successful selling our pine kitchen tables. Even in the most modern of kitchens, a farm table is always appealing. It takes the edge off and makes you feel like sitting down and having a cup of tea and one more knick or scratch just makes it look better!

Back from Vacation

2010-03-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

       Spring is definitely here. I went to Florida for a long weekend with some of my oldest friends and when I got back to New Jersey the grass was green, the daffodils were up and the forsythia out. Thank god!  Finally we can open the windows, sweep out the cobwebs, literal and metaphorical, and get to work.
     How to freshen up for spring?

1.   EDIT! By edit I mean take a long look at what is where. If you absolutely have to post pictures and photos on the fridge--get rid of two thirds of them--you know what your children look like,  And if you still have Christmas photos up; shame on you. Next take a look at the desk in your kitchen--overflowing? Then dump or file but get rid or it.
2. Here's another radical suggestion. I know you love your children, grandchildren, etc but family photographs need not be displayed on every possible vertical and horizontal surface in the house. And wedding pictures...okay, maybe the first year but after that?
    The answer is a wall of fame. It can be in a hallway upstairs, a foyer, even a powder room--anywhere but all over the frigging house. You don't need to match frames, you don't need to tape out the wall; just get a hammer and some decent picture hooks and start banging. Not only will it be therapeutic, your table tops and shelves will look clean and fresh.
3.   You may have to spend some money.  I know, I know, times are tough, but guess what? If you prioritize, make some lists, and think about how you live, you would be surprised at what you can live without. For example, let's say you need a new kitchen table.  The old one came from the curb, your mother-in-law, Ikea, whatever--it looks like crap. But what to do? Start cooking.
Give up take-out, pizza nights, and a few dinners out.
      Not only will your spouse love you but you might shed a few pounds and teach the kids some manners (another blog topic) at the same time. Before you know it you'll have money for a new table, and now you will be such a great cook that all your friends and family will be clamoring for invitations. Or maybe not but at least you will have a beautiful new table to love.

It's time to love your bedroom

2010-02-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

Decorating is about making decisions and for many of us it is finances more than aesthetics that dictate the choices we make.

     You can easily spend $35,000.00 on a high end dining room or you can buy a folding table and some folding chairs, a table cloth and a funky flea market chandelier and you're in for under a 1000 bucks. Either way you get the job done. A little candlelight and a lot of wine and you have atmosphere no matter how much you spent.

     But the bedroom is another story completely.   Keith delivers all our furniture and comes home with horror stories about the way people actually live in their private spaces. Maybe in the heights of passion it is possible to ignore crappy sheets, lumpy mattresses, piles of clothes all over the floor, dust dinosaurs and gross wallpaper but this could also be why someone is not getting any.

     How can so much energy go into public spaces--like dining rooms--yet the marital bedroom is complete squalor?   And this goes for singles too, your bedroom is not a dumping ground on the way to the laundramat--it is the stage before sleep, it's the space that informs your dreams and launches you into the next day.

      Spend some money! There is simply no excuse for not having a decent mattress, a lovely bed, chests of drawers that actually work, closets that are organized and a soothing color on the wall. This cannot be faked!   In fact in Scandanavia it is not uncommon to spend $10,000.00--or more--on a mattress.
The reasoning is, we were told, is if you are going to spend at least one third of your life in bed--it should be a good one.

     And if you managed matching crib bumpers and comforters for the baby's room, you can apply the same effort to your own bedroom. After the mattress start with all cotton sheets--a dust ruffle is required only if you are hiding stuff under the bed--and then pile on the pillows and comforters. Mix and match, the more the merrier.  For great bedding go to Susan Fowler's Down to Basics in the Galleria in Red Bank. On a budget, try Marshall's, even Target has a wide selection of linens.

     Probably a coat of paint wouldn't hurt either. And that is the cheapest way to transform a room. In this day of not doing it yourselfers--anyone can paint a room.  BM's calming aloe, polar sky, swept away, winter wheat...are all fabulous colors. Calm, bright, and pleasant is what makes a bedroom special. Save the dramatic hues for the dining room; you are the drama in your bedroom so get to work!

In Retail Land it Always Snows on Saturday!

2010-02-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

This is what is going on outside as I type. It is just after noon and the snow is not expected to stop until 7 pm so it looks like a great day to get my filing done, but first a few thoughts.

Since I've been more attentive to my web site, people have been asking me for design advice. Although I am always quick to say I am not a decorator, I am always happy to express an opinion. After all there can be no wrong answer--if you like something then it is the right thing--even if I think it doesn't go. In fact that is what makes decorating interesting, taking what you love and making it work for you in your space.

Anybody can take a beige couch and two beige chairs

and put it in a linen white room with a brown coffee table and it will look just fine. What interests me is when the person adds grandma's old desk, a worn oriental rug and some oversized black and white candid photographs of the kids at play. Now that is what I call decorating. It is the icing on the cake, the stars on a cloudless night, it is what makes your house your home.

Like wearing a coat from Old Navy with your Hermes scarf, not everything has to be super expensive, and clearly function and style play a part. I have people balk all the time at paying three or four hundred dollars each for a kitchen chair; a chair they and their loved ones will sit in for hours every day all year long. Never mind that they spent twice that for the dining room chairs that see action exactly twice a year. What kind of sense does that make? None.

Dining rooms are an interesting topic in themselves. In fact, twenty five years ago when Keith and I started importing antique pine furniture I imagined we would be hugely successful selling this casual, yet classy European country style to our thirty something peers--no way. Instead we sold hundreds of pine farmhouse tables and hutches to fifty and sixty somethings who happily handed off their high maintenance formal dining rooms to the children.

Personally I've owned at least 14, maybe more, dining room tables and none of them have ever been high maintenance. Both Keith and I have large families and we like to entertain. The dining room in our old house was huge with a fireplace and many, many nights were spent in that room eating, drinking, playing games and doing projects, and never once did I worry about ruining a finish. They were all waxed pine and there was nothing a little steel wool and Briwax couldn't fix. Another nick or scratch? No problem there were so many already one more never mattered.

Over the years I've noticed a decline in sales of our pine tables. I think it is because this new generation of twenty and

thirty somethings cut their teeth on knock off, knock down pine tables from big box stores, that scratched and chipped and looked like crap after just a few years. The first thing they ask when they come to the store is how hard or soft my table tops are; then do they need pads, can they be scrubbed and with what. In the old days I would just hand the customer a can of wax and that would be that. Now we have polyurethane finshes that are water proof and scratch resistant, but the tops don't develop that special patina that comes from waxing a table regularly.

In my new house I have a fruitwood table from our new collection of French Country styles. It kills me not to have a big old farmhouse table but my dining room is a speck of space in a great room and my children have grown up and out of the house so for just Keith and me a 78" table is fine. When company comes we can turn it around, flip out the internal butterfly leaf and have room for 14. The table is made to look old; and has an almost industrial strength poly finish so finally I have a no maintenance table!

Time to go shovel some snow!

Restoration Hardware--Budget Envy

2010-01-31T10:34:00.000-08:00

It seems every other day I get another Restoration Hardware catalogue in the mail featuring some guy in blue jeans standing or kneeling in front of a cabinet or a table. It's making me crazy. It's not that I resent the attempt Restoration Hardware is making to transition from a retailer of mass produced, assembly lined products to one offering inovative items bench made by craftsman. After all it is something we have been doing at British Cottage for over 25 years. I just wish I had their budget!
But alas I don't. So I just had to make my own cover, one featuring Keith as the cool European guy in old blue jeans and tell the British Cottage story...

Keith Nelson

Artisan/Entrepreneur/Reproductionist

The US & the UK

In the mid-eighties Keith was traveling around England buying antique pine furniture to sell in our Red Bank, New Jersey store when he stopped at Anthony Clark's small shop in Ringwood, a small village just outside the New Forest. When he saw the farmhouse tables Anthony was making out of old pine floorboards, he bought the lot and immediately put in an order for 10 more.

Not long after that Keith and Paul Wilson, who owned an amazing antique pine furniture company in the North of England, figured out how to make tables from re-milled, centuries old pine beams. This was an improvement over the floorboard tables because this wood still had a great patina, but was not as likely to crack and splinter like the floorboard tables did. Over the years we must have sold hundreds of these tables. And when Paul expanded his production range of old wood furniture to include hutches and armoires...we carried those too in our Red Bank store. Most of these pieces are still being used today and will most certainly be the antiques of tomorrow.

Sadly, due to bad planning and worst luck, Paul lost his business but fortunately we were able to happen upon a wholesale warehouse that was selling antique pine furniture in Hungary. The borders of Eastern Europe had just opened up to the West and we were able to buy great antiques, and also have tables and cabinets made to our specifications in their workshop.

Handmade, bespoke, custom, one-of-a-kind is what we do at British Cottage. All day, every day. Come in and see for yourselves.

To be continued.

Baxter the Bear Visits British Cottage

2010-01-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

Clearly I am new to blogging, but I thought Baxter's visit to our store worth a mention. During the week he lives in a classroom at the Holy Cross preschool and then on the weekend he gets to go home with a student. Evidently Baxter comes with his own wardrobe and particularly enjoys going out and about with his young friends. So this is Baxter out shopping on Saturday.

Maidenform Shoot--Underwear and Armoires

2010-01-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

                   During the Shoot

     Earlier this week, Marty an advertising wiz at Connor Communications, called to ask if she could borrow British Cottage for an afternoon to shoot some background photos for a Maidenform Bra catalogue. She wanted a sophisticated, yet rustic setting and promised no nearly naked buxomy lasses would be running around the store depressing me and delighting Keith--we'd have undergarments sans the bodies.
     Next she collared Mike, the friendly and talented photographer from The Image Shop across the street from us and by golly on Thursday afternoon British Cottage was awash in underwear. To be honest it brought back memories of living with a teenage daughter--clothes everywear but in the dresser drawers.
     Marty is a no-nonsense kind of gal and she quickly had Keith shifting furniture around to accent the architectural foundations of the undergarments--who ever knew bras were architectural?   But sure enough, like furniture, they can have interesting curves and a variety of shapes and colors.

Are All Rooms a Work in Progress?

2010-01-22T12:24:00.000-08:00

I love it when people tell me they have finally finished a room...I don't think I have ever finished a room in my life. Or they say they hate modern, Victorian, stripped pine or you name it...life is just too short to get stuck in one period or mood. All Victorian can be a little depressing, too much modern cheerless, and all pine way too country, but a little bit of each can be just right.

     Decorating in the 21st century isn't about rules or absolutes.   And don't worry about matching so much--or size--buy what you love. I have a customer who bought a 9' antique English pine farmhouse table that had to be placed on an angle to fit in her suburban New Jersey dining room. Twenty two years later she has retired to a custom-built post and beam home on a lake in Massachusetts and her table is the focal point of an open plan and everyone raves how perfect it is.

     Part of the fun of owning a store is that our decor is constantly changing; we sell something and bring in another piece, then shift some of the artwork along with some of the furniture and the atmosphere changes completely.  Often people, who have come into the store several days apart, will ask if we got in totally new merchandise and the answer is usually no, we just moved things around.

     And you can do that at home.  One of our favorite customers moved her furniture around so many times her father suggested she needed therapy.   Her house is the sort of huge, open plan space we all think we want until it comes time to decorate. With room for three full seating areas, two dining tables and one baby grand piano it was a challenge to pull it all together.

     Somedays I would go over and the dining table would be in front of the fireplace and the piano would be where the table was and the next time it would all be put back.  The last time I dropped by the big comfy couches from the kitchen sitting area were in the formal living room, the formal living room removed to the upstairs sitting area off the master bedrooom and whew, the big table was back in the great room.

     No wonder her father was perplexed, but in the end it all worked out fine. The more casual couches from the first house are now in the kitchen area in front of the fireplace, perfect for lounging. A rustic pine farm table is behind the sitting area for casual family dining while the main dining table is back in the great room section.
The piano? In the large, mostly unused foyer.

     The flat screen moved from above the fireplace in the kitchen, along with the casual comfy couches to the formerly formal living room and now the whole family spends a lot of time there. They are all enjoying space that was rarely used when it was decorated with the more serious furniture--and no televison.

     And that is another great blog topic--does it really take a television to make a room?

     In this case the answer is yes. When it is time for entertaining other young couples with children, the adults can prepare dinner and enjoy cocktails in front of the fireplace in the kitchen, undisturbed by the television (or the children).. .Yet, when they have a formal dinner party, the TV is off, the kids in bed and the grown ups can enjoy the space.

    The point is to be flexible. If the dining room seems too small, and the living room is a larger space you rarely use because you have a great room or a family room where everyone always hangs out, consider switching the dining area with the larger living room space. The former dining room then makes a lovely office, or a sitting room, and the new dining room is large enough to entertain the whole gang.  It's your house, you can do what you want.

130 Shrewsbury Avenue, in brown!

2010-01-14T09:17:00.001-08:00

The Browning of British Cottage

2010-01-11T12:39:00.000-08:00

     For a while we have felt the 130 Shrewsbury Avenue store has not been living up to its potential. We don't know why; we think the furniture and lighting is just as cool as in the British Cottage store (for those not in the loop we have two stores next to each other). Anyway this being a new year, we thought we would go with a new look. And as we all know the most effective--and cheapest--way to transform a room is to paint it.
     But what color? When we first renovated the building we tried a vibrant yellow, which never even made it to opening day. Our next choice was a calm, pea soupy green which, now three years later, seems a little boring. We tossed around tons of ideas, got out our Benjamin Moore dueling paint fans, searched all the magazines and then went on line.
     Which was truely amazing. Google "cool blue rooms" and you come up with hundreds of photographs and comments about colors and paints. And that is why we felt confident to go with brown. Not taupe, not tan, not ecru, not mocha, but BM's Bittersweet Chocolate Brown!
       Keith is painting as I type and these are some photos of the work in progress. Comments anyone?

Mostly before--except for the bit on the left.

See what I mean about pea soup?

Bold is right!

Rooms to Treasure

2010-01-11T07:40:00.000-08:00

     While I was forced to strong-arm my friends to send photographs of their beautiful rooms; the results are well worth my bullying. I'm only sorry I cannot figure out how to transfer all the images from my email to this page but trust me I am working at it.

     With the third week of my blog comes an awareness of the difficulties of producing said blog. Uploading pictures, tending to layout and text issues is not so easy but hopefully, in time, I will become a wiz.

     And fortunately these pictures speak for themselves. Note the mixture of formal 18th century portraits, peeping fowl, stripped pine and comfy upholstered pieces. Does anything match? Not really, but it all goes together perfectly!

Mixing it Up

2010-01-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

Twenty years ago when we began buying antiques for resale, Keith and I were obsessed with age, provenance, and authenticity. We looked for original hardware and bases; stressed over the possibility of a marriage (a top and a bottom that did not start out life together) and looked for the earliest pieces possible.

What we found when we got our treasures back to the store is that our customers were often far more concerned with other issues. Size, function and condition out-trumped age and authenticity almost every time.

Thus over the years our focus shifted. While we still absolutely adore and treasure original antique pieces; we build and buy items that are sturdy enough to be used every day but also beautiful enough to stay with the family forever.

In the photograph above you can you see how we like to mix things up. A huge, family friendly trestle table with a sandblasted, rustic plank top, a country french style cabinet with

a distressed painted finish (adorable, practical and affordable because it is brand spanking new) and limed oak chairs with burlap coffee sack backs to lend a contemporary vibe.

Throw an over-the-top chandelier into the pot,

an architectural item like a birdcage, or a

funky terracotta dog for some whimsy and

you have the makings of a room. It is all about the

mix: function, beauty, humor, and charm are what

make a house your home.

We would love to see what you've done to make your home distinctive; you can email us your photos at bcapine@aol.com , reference the blog and we will endeavor to publish them on this site.

Tricia

Happy New Year!

2009-12-30T12:02:00.000-08:00

That's me, Tricia, and Keith, my husband, in front of our British Cottage store in Red Bank, New Jersey. You can see the BoBo intriguing Objects wine barrel chandelier in the window along with an 8' pine cupboard we have made for us in Hungary. Our store is a mix of antiques and reproductions--and most of those are original designs with a retro vibe and elegant style.

We started out twenty five years ago in England with 10,000 British Pounds and no clue about what we were doing. At an antique auction in the gritty seaside town of Gosport we met an American woman who had a store in Connecticut. When asked what she was doing in Gosport--I did say gritty--she told us that she was buying every bit of stripped pine furniture she could get her hands on and so, futhermore, should we. Evidently it was the new thing in America, the country look and this stuff was selling madly.

So we took our pounds and went shopping. To auctions, to warehouses, to antique shows from Devon to Dorset, Andover to Winchester and we bought all the pine furniture we could and had it packed into a container and shipped it to Red Bank where we had found just the perfect store, doors away from their rather reknowned antique district.

And now 25 years later we are still selling antique pine, albeit mostly from eastern Europe, England and Ireland having been largely picked over. And along the way we've expanded our inventory to include a wide assortment of French and Chinese country styles and also added chandeliers, lamps and pottery to the mix.

Our blog will be about that mix, the blending of beloved antiques with more contempory styles. We'll show you what we love now and tell you why. See the guys on the cover of Restoration Hardware? We found their stuff several years ago and think it is the greatest. Keep reading and we will keep you posted on not what is trendy but what we feel will be the next classic. Cheers!

Tricia