I'm not familiar with heart pine except from your posts. I just LOVE the bench and sideboard!

This might be a silly question, but is it called heart pine because the wood is from the inner part of the tree trunk or--?

Hey Nancy...good question! Here is a link to a lot of answers...I was interested to see what the authorities say. Thank you !! c

Here is a link that might be useful: Definition heart pine

I'd love to see the whole room... More pics?
I love heart pine, so pretty.

I got dibs on those turned wood bowls if/when you ever tire of them....!!!!

:-)

It's absolutely gorgeous! I *heart* it!

prill here are some pics from this AM...I just love the sun but it is hard to get good pics :) Thank you !

cat_mom...just for you a pic of the best of my turned bowls. The center one with the top is camphor wood...the whole bowl and lid weighs a couple ounces ! It is a John Penrod. I got it in 2002.

aunt jen...me TOO !

we left the large builtin china cab that was salvaged and I use for family pics as it weighs a TON!

{{!gwi}}

heart pine doors. I had the carpenter cut the old door in half and then remount it to swing into this room not kitchen. I sanded it and then stopped as the china cab and walls go so well with the wood/paint..that's my story and I'm...LOL.

{{!gwi}}

maple china cab made for me by E.A.Clore Sons 30 yrs ago.

{{!gwi}}

side board and DR table. The table is a butcher block maple that we bought in SSLC 34 yrs ago and the chairs are made by E.A Clore to go with the china cab. They have rush seats that have held up to hard use for over 30 yrs.

{{!gwi}}

the only "pink" in my house. The chair is from the French Quarter and the Oriental Rug is an Animal Tabriz . We moved it from the other DR as it has the chocolate in it too as well as the navy from the other DR.

{{!gwi}}

This is the chair I found on the curb. I like it just the way it is...will upholster one day..maybe. Look at the light...

{{!gwi}}

for cat_mom DH's grand in the reflection. The mirror hung over our bathroom sinks before the remodel 5 yrs ago. It was my inspired idea to repurpose it . FIts perfectly.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I want those, too, thank you very much.

:-)

Now that's the kind of decorating we see far too seldom! Unique, beautiful, personal, creative, interesting mix of styles, functional, simple...

Looove the heart pine doors - you stopped sanding at the exact right time!

Also love the built-in china cabinet - it's the perfect place for family pics.

I believe in houses/rooms working for the way we live and you have obviously done that in your home. Great thread. Thanks!

Oh My!!! Beautiful. I agree, not the kind of decorating we see enough of.
That built in cabinet is amazing- and the doors.
Love, Love, Love.

I agree with the others. It's just beautiful, Trailrunner!
I would love seeing pics of your living room.

Very, very pretty trailrunner!

You guys are too kind. I have a habit of starting projects and then...well you know. :) I move on.

I collect " stuff" as DH says. He is always saying we don't need anymore chairs ! I can's seem to resist. They seem like orphans that need a home. Like the purple metal rockers that are planters for now. They all call to me.

I am glad you guys think it is decorating, cause sometimes I look around and then look at magazines and wonder what in the world I was thinking. Eclectic and collected are kind terms !

cat_mom: I have added you to the Will :)

lucky: Thank you. What sweet words. The china cab came from the same salvage place I used for everything 5 yrs ago to remodel the kitchen and the masterbath and the big soapstone sinks. It is called Nor'east Architectural Salvage. Everything was packed and sent on a Roadway truck. The cab had 2 glass shelves missing and was painted bright white. The paint had obscured all the decorative work on the top. I stripped all of the white paint and then started to get the cream off and discovered that it was solid cherry and that it had been stained. So I stopped and now the stain and cream paint match the room....lucky break for me. The sides were open and I had my carpenter make plywood sides and I painted them to match the room so it looks like it belongs.

prill: thank you , coming from folks whose spaces I admire it is nice to hear.

nancy: when I get a rest stop later I will be glad to get some. I have to finish the sanding. I am so glad you are enjoying the pics. It is nice to hear such comments. Thank you .

tina: thank you too. You all have really made my day in such a nice way. What a wonderful community of friends. c

Thanks for sharing the pictures of your home. Each item has meaning, history and tells a story. The chair without a cushion is like a work of art. Simply stunning.... I've been following your porch thread and am anxious to see it painted.

Beautiful furniture and rooms, but I really love your bowls. Are you still actively making pieces?

Two of my neighbors and another friend are turners, and belong to a local group ... I love to see their work. Unfortunately, the one friend who was just starting to turn a couple of years ago, was in a car accident a year ago (hit by a drunk head-on) and broke both her wrists. She's not sure when/if she'll get back to turnung again.

From a fellow pine lover here - your heart pine pieces are gorgeous! I have some leftover wide plank pine flooring in my garage and now I'm getting ideas for some DH projects :-D

Your home is also so pretty. I have to ask what color paint you used in your dining room - is it an eggplant/aubergine type color? We used a brownish green in our great room and I'm not loving it. DH wanted to use dark brown or red but your color seems much richer and I think it might complement the Believable Buff we have in other rooms.

Trailrunner, what color is your dining room painted. I'm in painting agony - picked a color for my dining room, but it looks dead. Don't know how else to describe it. It just has no life, looks mousey. BM Mount Saint Anne. I'm quite surprised. I'm usually really good at picking colors, but I'm not doing well this time around.

Have you ever stayed somewhere special on vacation and longed to take some of it home with you to incorporate into your own home? Silly question, I know most of you have. Jen just returned from England with that feeling. Just seeing these rooms with the sunlight softly filtered streaming in, makes me want to sit there and enjoy coffee on a wintry morning...sigh. Just sigh. Loving these pics!

val: I too look at it as a work of art. If you check out the book, The Way We Live, author Stafford Cliff, you will see lots of the same kinds of scenes on homes where real people live. The book is for sale used for $30 but I checked it out of the library first. I am taking pics of my favorite scenes. Thank you ...

pam : I don't turn bowls. I collected them but no longer do . I have bowls that spoke to me. When I would go to do a trail run, competitive , I would sometimes see one. I have them from all over the country. Each one has a story. I have really specific criteria. They have to weigh nothing when I pick them up. They also have to " fit" in my hands. I don't know how else to explain it. When I asked John Penrod how he got the camphor bowl so thin and so big he said, " all the others blew up". And that is how it goes. It is " easy" to turn a thick weighty bowl. The real art is one that has paper thin walls. Almost all of my best ones have no weight at all. I am so sorry for your friend. That is a terrible situation and I can only hope that she has a good recovery. I hope she is in therapy.

judd and prill: the room was a deep eggplanty purple color...yuk....my painter used Belgian Chocolate an Olympic paint color made up in BM matte. I love the color but am always amazed that others see the " purple". Me who LOVES purple...I don't see it LOL ! It is a rich dark chocolate, picture someone stirring a hot chocolate from Union Square in NYC at Max Brenner...ask cat_ mom...it is the same color and just as delicious. I will never change it. One of my best decisions.

judd: you get that DH to making pretty things. You will be so glad. Thank you !

leah: I am in AL> You stop in anytime...and that is a promise. Good coffee and conversation. We can sit in the rose garden by the pool too. c

I've always adored your dining room; it's so unique. Am I remembering wrong, or didn't it used to be a russet/orange, or was it only ever the purple you mentioned above?
Dee

dee: if you look on photobucket , just click on one of the pics and it puts you in the album. DR/now keeping room has been navy for 8 yrs. We swapped use of the rooms. My morning room /now DR has been chocolate for 5 yrs.

The tuscan/southwestern colors are in our Master bedroom and the bath and also our little half bath in the back hall. You can access the albums and have a " peruse" :) Let me know if you have more questions...I get mixed up too LOL ! c

Navy!!!That's it. I remembered it was a very unusual color. Thanks! I'm off to peruse....
Dee

Lovely...thanks for sharing your home!

Let's see Trailrunner... you run, bicycle, bake bread, decorate extremely well, garden, do carpentry work... wow!
You are inspiring!

dee...have fun and let's chat when you are done. c

lorribee...you are most welcome. It is a fun place at GW to hang out.

nancy...only if you squint LOL. You are very kind to say so. I think it is only to compensate for all the angst that would overtake me if I didn't keep doin.

I have a lot of trouble with depression. I have posted before about it on the conversation side. My family is great but this past year saw us having a lot of problems and heartbreak. I find a lot of satisfaction in setting short term goals with measurable criteria. I can then look at these " things" that I have accomplished and feel like I have done something in the + column today.

All any of us can do is one step at a time...one turn of the pedals , one step on a trail run ...one loaf of bread, I just try to take care of my little piece of land. thank you...it means a lot to have the GW family. c

That makes you even more of an inspiration. Thank you for sharing that, and take care.

Ditto what Nancybee said.
You have a great sense of style. it's centered, I think, and that is what makes it work so well- inside and out.

I love all of your din rm heart pine and accessories but especially love the din table! It is really gorgeous.

nancy: thank you. Didn't mean to sound too preachy . It is just a subject, depression, that is close to my family and I know to many others here on this forum.

Sue thank you too ! I " just know what I like" I guess.

Holly, I actually have 2 of them. I use the smaller one for my office upstairs. We got them in SLC at a Scandinavian store. My DH put the poly coating on it. It certainly has held up through a lot. We used it in our kitchen for a couple years before we had a DR.I am glad you like the wood. c

Thanks for the explanation ... my friend is and will be in therapy for a long time.

And I know what you mean about how certain things need to speak to me, or feel right ...

Trailrunner, I'm a woodma, so I love all wood...I just wanted to say that I LOVE all your pottery, as well as
the way you have it all displayed.
very pretty!

Also the curbside chair is wonderful, (I collect chairs
too!) You can re-upholster it yourself easily.
Take off the springs and cut a piece of plywood to the shape, then put on foam, then dacron,
building up the foam and dacron to the desired thickness, then
apply muslin or any other handy fabric (to smooth out the
foam and dacron.) Cut you fabric to fit and pulling it around very tightly -- staple it under the
plywood...then staple on trim or welting and screw the plywood from underneith to the bottom of the chair.

Of course (before cleaning and waxing the chair)you have to glue and clamp all the loose joints on the chair first.
After you glue the chair, if you don't have furniture clamps use bungee cords, to hold it together after glueing.

pam I would love to hear , in the future , how your friend does . It sounds like it will be a while.

Joann: Thank you !! I had planned on doing something like that when I first found the chair. But as the years have gone by I think it will just continue to be an " art piece" LOL. Not sure which pottery ???? There are some tiny flat pieces on top of the side board and then the china in the cab....the rest are all turned wooden bowls. Just curious what you are seeing :) c

On the second look, I see the wood bowls...beautiful!
Who did the turning? The only turning that we do is furnitue legs, we've never did a bowl.

Here is an example of how we use bungee cords...
ignore the furniture clamps, we could have glued up the
entire chair with bungee cords.

this is a chair we picked up at good-will...it was by the
back door, ready to go into the dumpster. We glued it up, (one legs was totally off, and it had no seat)
We refinished it, and cut out a piece of plywood...

note my measurements on the plywood.

this is the finished product...we also cut a piece of thin masonite (not pictured in the above photo) for the front,
cause I wanted the seat to have a thick
curve in the front as well...but you don't have to do that
on your chair. I made a thick contrasting tiger print welt for the bottom of the chair.

you have so much talent. The bowls were purchased over a 30 yr period as I traveled around the US. They are many different artisans. Each has a story about how/when I got it. Haven't purchased any in several years now. I have tried to limit " getting" of stuff in order to lessen the amount someone will have to deal with when I am gone . Thanks for the chair info. :) c

Trailrunner, your home is just so beautiful and it seems to be full of who you are as a person.

I don't know your story but I too have one of my own. The sentence that began "All any of us can do" really spoke to me today and I don't even know what words I can say to thank you for them. I don't mean for this to be an OT not by any means, but I try to surround myself with things that are attractive to me. The beauty might be in the character of your unupholstered chair or the unknown history of memazz's bowling pins or a painting that tells a story to me.

My family doesn't understand the importance decorating has in my life, and luckily doesn't really have any influence on what I do - I couldn't imagine that battle. For me, it is the desire to surround myself with things that I find beautiful and items that evoke happy memories that dictates what I do. My rooms would not be in any magazine and pale in comparison to rooms I have seen in this blog (like your dining room) but adding something or altering a room bringing it closer to being "me" is what I strive for. Sitting in a chair in my LR, with my coffee, watching the cat as she sleeps next to "my" chair - no one else likes the color but I think it is "gorgeous" - with the colors of the vase (which I picked out just knowing that it would cast the most magnificent shadow) in the window beginning to creep upon her fur is more beautiful than any diamond I could own.

So again, without meaning for this to be OT - I tend to look at people's rooms as more than what is "correct" as to how much of their personality is there. So many of your pieces from the stories you have told seem to tell some of the stories of your life. Do you like I, place what may be to most people, a greater desire to surround yourself with things that elicit positive thoughts. I find that not many people understand that it is more than just accumulating or matching "things". How much does ingesting your personality matter when you are designing a room?

lynn, a message straight from your heart to mine. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I have learned and must say am still learning to live in this very moment. My DH is a Buddhist and his outlook has helped me to try and achieve inner piece.

I have never gone out looking for "things" to fill my head or my home. I don't think of it as designing. Just living and surrounding myself with beauty in many forms. Sometimes it just happens. When it does I have always figured it was meant to be. I too get a great deal of pleasure in the movement of the light and shadows. it is one of the reasons i have the lace curtains. They make the light move and it catches my eye, I pause and enjoy that perfect second. Then move on. But those moments make up my life. I can go back to them when I need them . I visit when I need comfort or just to remember.

You are correct in saying that not many folks get " it". My BIL said some very unkind things to me when I was walking around in a wonderful wood craft store carrying a bowl. I was getting the feel of it. He was pretty harsh and thought he was very funny..."oh look she is feeling the bowl". Hmmm...his opinion matters not to me. I, like you , know wherein my peace lies...c