Patricia Poore

Products of the Week

Heartwood Fine Windows & Doors offers custom-made, high-quality wood windows and doors for classic homes

A central heating and cooling system using "aspiration" technology to warm and cool homes evenly and quietly with flexible small ducts that weave through ceilings, walls, and even floors.

Brass, Bronze & Copper Hardware

Classic-style door hardware, engineered for new construction or historic renovation, lacquer-coated, solid brass, patterned after original antique hardware, passage, privacy, mortise lock, or dummy sets and cabinet hardware and accessories.

Garden Design

Learn the best joinery techniques for a sag-free garden gate.

Interiors & Decor

Use our comprehensive guide to locate an architectural salvage store near you, or to browse the websites of stores across the country, many of which sell their wares online.

A cabinet for a corner; its warm wood patina suggested the peachy wall color, then plates in complementary blue. Photo: Duncan McNeill

Furniture

Furnishing a whole room, let alone a whole house, can be daunting. Here’s how to ease in.

New England itinerant artist Rufus Porter rarely painted murals that portrayed an identifiable scene. In this example, a stenciled frieze pattern seems to grow out of the sponge-painted trees overlaid on a rolling landscape.

Interior Paints & Stenciling

Stenciled designs and scenic murals were popular from around 1790 to 1850.

The room mixes painted and unpainted wood for an evolved feel that looks more like furniture than a modern kitchen. The beams were salvaged.

Old-House Kitchens

Inside an addition to an old house in Pennsylvania, this new but timeless kitchen is a simple room with all of its details well-considered.

Interiors & Decor

Restoration of this stone house has taken decades of respectful work by its owner, a designer who is inspired by Shaker design.

Digital

E-newsletters

In an 1840 house, a drop-leaf tavern table in original red paint sits on a natural-fiber mat.

Interiors & Decor

The country vernacular.

Flooring

The flooring you choose sets the style, period, and tone for the room.

Refrigerator drawer in an old-house kitchen

Kitchen Furnishings & Appliances

Modern machines are the anachronism in a period kitchen—here are 6 ideas for disguising them.

With their natural patina, the soapstone countertops beautifully complement buttermilk-color cabinets.

Old-House Kitchens

Situated at the rear of a 1760 Cape, a fitting addition holds a practical kitchen filled with hand-planed cabinets.

Used in both the entry and foyer, Pennsylvania flagstone floors connect indoors and out while introducing the textures and colors of nature. Continuing the indoor/outdoor dialogue, the use of natural stone softens the strong, modern statement made by the soaring fireplace.

Mid-Century Modern Houses

A predilection for Mid-century Modern leads to the perfect house.

Beadboard wainscoting and simple fixtures define the cottage bath.

Period Bathrooms

Style notes for a room that's comfortable when it's traditional.

A garland of dried bay is fastened to the mantel in a Greek Revival house; small apples and a homemade toy sit amidst boughs of pine and balsam with wax berries and silk leaves. (Photo: Franklin & Esther Schmidt)

Fireplace & Mantel

From simple to dramatic, here's a look at holiday mantels by period and style.

House Tours

The 1890 house had “all its integrity,” say its owners: stained-glass windows, a monumental staircase, fine woodwork, and even a dumbwaiter. But it needed their loving restoration.