Arranging furniture TWELVE different ways in the Same Room

Posted on September 15, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Some ideas about arranging furniture

When it comes to arranging furniture in a room, most people will come up with one or two ideas about how they want the furniture placed. Sometimes with a little extra thought, and some imagination a person can come up with a few extra furniture arranging options for the space. This post was an exercise for me, and I came up with Twelve Different Ways of placing furniture in the same room. I used the information I presented in my Sept 7th post titled Arranging Living Room furniture, so sofas talk to chairs, like the pros do to make the different groupings in the spaces. I hope after looking at what I have come up with, it will inspire you when it comes to placing furniture in your own home. Continue reading →

Posted in Arranging Living Room Furniture, Interior Decorating Principles | 57 Comments

Arranging Living Room furniture, so Sofas talk to Chairs, like the Pros do

Posted on September 7, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Grouping Living Room furniture to promote Good Conversation

When it comes to arranging furniture in a living room, most people really don’t think much about balance and that sofas should talk to chairs. Furniture is placed in the room with no thought about making it easy for seated people to have conversation. The two topics covered in this post are balance and grouping furniture. Continue reading →

Posted in Arranging Living Room Furniture, Interior Decorating Principles, San Francisco Chronicle / eHow references or resources | 32 Comments

A Return Visit to Spencer and Katrina Trask’s YADDO. Saratoga Springs, NY

Posted on August 29, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Yaddo Garden Saratoga Springs, NY

During the Summer months in the 1960’s my Mother and Father, along with my maternal Grandmother, Aunt Anna, Uncle Micky, and my Sister and I would all pack into our family car and drive to Saratoga. We would go from Grandma’s house in Mechanicville, NY on back country roads, traveling around Saratoga Lake and ending up on Rt 9P, which brought us to Yaddo.

My mother, her sister and grandma are/were garden mavens. The ladies just loved looking at all the roses, trees, and perennials growing at that place. My sister and I, being kids, were more attracted to three things on that estate. They were the fountains and man-made pools that were stocked with Gold Fish and exotic looking Coy, the woodland walks that looked spooky, but never the less, we wanted to explore those areas, and the Yaddo Mansion itself. The Yaddo looked like a place where Count Dracula, or the wicked Witch of West would live, and you could almost see them up on the Yaddo tower.
We made, many visits to Yaddo, back in the day, sometimes even bringing a picnic, but after Grandma died, we seemed to not go anymore.

On a recent August day (the 19th), my sister and I were in Saratoga and decided to make a return visit. Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Visits (Road Trips), The Spring Garden, The Summer Garden | 4 Comments

Got Grass growing out onto your Sidewalk or Driveway?…Edge it!

Posted on August 26, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Eliminating unwanted grass from along sidewalks and driveways

Are things not looking so neat around your house, especially when it comes to your sidewalk and driveway? Have creeping grasses started to take over? If so I have a solution to your dilemma. Continue reading →

Posted in LAWN Care, The Autumn(Fall) Garden, The Spring Garden, The Summer Garden | 6 Comments

BerkshireBotanical…A visit to the Berkshire Botanical Garden Stockbridge, Massachusetts, USA

Posted on August 10, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

The BBG, a renowned Botanical Garden in western Massachusetts

Sited at 5 West Stockbridge Road at the intersections of Routes 102 and 183 on the outskirts of Stockbridge, Massachusetts is the Berkshire Botanical Garden (BBG). Founded in 1934 as the Berkshire Garden Center, its public display gardens are among the oldest in the United States. The garden covers 15 acres of picturesque land which is divided into many individual gardens. Each of the different gardens provide visitors with tons of visual stimulation, and at the same time scattered benches across the BBG property provide places to rest and enjoy everything that is the Best in Gardening at that special place. Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Visits (Road Trips), The Spring Garden, The Summer Garden | 3 Comments

A look back at the July Garden, in the 1990’s, here at Whimsey Hill

Posted on July 28, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

The perennial garden, out front, along the driveway

When it comes to gardening, everyone starts somewhere, and what I started with was the way my Mother’s family planted their gardens. My Mother’s family could plant and get to grow just about anything, but like most people it was only about the flowers; not much attention was put on shapes of leaves, foliage color or mass versus specimen planting. They knew enough to plant something tall in the back, something that was average height in the middle of the garden and short things in the front. I think they did a great job though, because there were no wonderful looking gardens in our area to inspire them. Their planting style I would call fruit salad a lot of color, but no defined taste. Continue reading →

Posted in Fred's Garden at Whimsey Hill House, The Summer Garden | Leave a comment

A Look at My July 2012 Garden here at Whimsey Hill

Posted on July 24, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

The Big Bed out Front gets some Needed Rejuvenation

At the beginning of July, with a couple of throw away cameras, I took some shots of both the front and back gardens. I hoped to end up with some photos that would be good enough to show you. Here they are. Continue reading →

Posted in Fred's Garden at Whimsey Hill House, The Summer Garden | 2 Comments

Hanging Valances, Curtains and Drapes on Different kinds of Windows

Posted on July 15, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Different Options for hanging Valances, Curtains and Drapes that I Hope Inspire

In response to a lot of interest and comments made on my May 3, 2011 post titled The Right Way to Hang Curtains and drapes (click here to read), I came up with some ideas that might further inspire you. My May 3, 2011 post covered mounting drapery rods and stack back. This post is more of a pictorial showing a number of different windows and possible ways of dressing them. Continue reading →

Posted in Hanging Curtains and Drapes, Interior Decorating Principles | 23 Comments

After planting SEMPERVIVUM Hens-and-Chicks, water them sparingly

Posted on July 5, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

Buying, Siting, Planting and Watering Hens-and-Chicks

I have many different collections of plants here at Whimsey Hill House, and one of them is Hens-and-Chicks (Sempervivum). Hens-and-Chicks are a ground hugging succulent that I think look a bit like a small rose or cabbage. Sempervivum are probably one of the easiest perennials to grow, will flourish with almost no care, and besides that, you can develop quite a collection of them because they don’t take up much space.

Buying Hens-and-Chicks Continue reading →

Posted in Roses, Peonies, Tulips, etc, The Spring Garden, The Summer Garden | 2 Comments

Design a Rock Garden with Different sizes of Stones

Posted on June 28, 2012 by fredgonsowskigardenhome

The Rock Garden here at Whimsey Hill House

When I moved into my home in 1990, I was left with a large amount of crushed stone (4 to 5 inches deep), set on top of many feet of sand that surrounds my house. It was probably some kind of drainage thing, thought up in the 1950’s when the place was built. I never liked the look of it across the back of the house, so I came up with a decorative solution that works for me. Continue reading →

Posted in Fred's Garden at Whimsey Hill House, Garden Design Principles, The Autumn(Fall) Garden, The Spring Garden, The Summer Garden, The Winter Garden | Leave a comment