This post has affiliate links, if you buy something, I make a small commission. A few years ago, in our first two years of having our shop, I had a great resource for small, table top trees that resembled a Victorian feather tree. We sold them through the shop and they sold out fast! This tree has brought me so much joy, is a treat to decorate and has become one of the most loved holiday decorating moments in our home. Then last year I got a second table top tree, cause now I’m on a roll.  In the years since the pandemic retail and manufacturing have changed and I haven’t been able to fin ..read more

While a pretty picture, times are not good for Stony Ford. It breaks my heart to type this, but I want to share what’s been going on in the background with our historic home. We are forced to make an un-historic modification to our home and all because of one person at Orange County and an attorney. Before I share the details of what’s been going on, I want to say our goal when moving into this house was to keep it as original as possible and renovate with a preservation mindset, preserving Stony Ford for future generations. Growing up in a military family, loving history, I feel as if this is ..read more

Which paint is better, Farrow and Ball or Benjamin Moore? Here’s my comparison of the two paints. One of the most frequent discussions on Instagram is which paint to use, and why? After using both of these brands for 9 years, I’m going to pro/con the two brands and share my experiences. Before we go any further, I want to disclose both brands have gifted me paint to use however I’ve never had a paid sponsorship with either brand. Because both brands have gifted me paint, I’ve been able to try many finishes and different lines within the brands. I’m going to spill the tea, unfiltered and unswee ..read more

During this pandemic we are having “Cocktail Hour with Will” six days a week on our instagram stories. Each day we will teach you either a cocktail recipe or something about entertaining with your home bar. We hope this gives you all a place to relax and let the day wash away. You can see past stories in our highlights. Whether it’s for entertaining a few guests or a quiet evening around the house, the home bar is a quite essential. Building the perfect cocktail not only lets you express your own personality, but it also offers something new to your guests. It’s as much of an entertainment as ..read more

Will has been doing Cocktail Hour on Instagram through our Stay At Home time during the COVID-19 Pandemic. It’s a way for us to pause in our day and relax, separating the day for us. We’re like most people and forget what day of the week it is and are loosing track of days. Even if you don’t have a cocktail everyday, do make sure Friday and Saturday night are special. Here are some of my favorite items that we use at our home bar. The right tools and presentation can certainly make drinking at home a pleasure for the eyes and mouth. I included products we personally own so look for the * icon ..read more

I’m having a bit of a pinch me moment as our home tour feature on Quintessence went live! What an honor to be featured along side such illustrious designers. The video hosts a tour of this grand old house and talk about the process of renovation and design. We’ve been hacking away at this project for more than 5 years, so it was a wonderful full-circle moment to step back and reflect on the work completed. If you’re looking for a fall-over-it’s-so-good home tour, subscribe to the Quintessence You Tube channel and make sure notifications are turned on so you get a note when a new home tour is ..read more

We decided to add an exhaust fan to our historic home bathroom. Our bathroom is almost finished and we added a shower to a room originally designed to only have a bathtub. Will was concerned with the moisture build up and wanted to add an exhaust fan to the ceiling. Let’s just say the fan cover that came with it had me thinking I was living in some 80s designed scientific lab, in an episode of Stranger Things. I wanted something that would look original to the house and look ‘old’ but not draw too much attention to itself. If you follow us on instagram, visit our profile page and look for ‘bat ..read more

For those of you looking to incorporate antique transferware or flow blue into the design of your home. I’ve been in love with this style and color palette since I moved to NYC and we had our first apartment. When I go into an antique store, I almost always buy transferware! It’s so classic and never goes out of style. Each item has a story in the images and all sorts of imperfections that show the human hand that went into making it. If a piece is yellowed and cracked, I love it even more. The older it looks, the better.  We have an antique and vintage section in our shop and we often ca ..read more

This post “3 Tips for Winter Outdoor Entertaining” is sponsored by Troy-Bilt. Thank you for supporting the brands that support for our blog. We hope you’re inspired. It’s winter here in the Hudson Valley, New York, but that won’t stop us from using our outdoor space. This past fall we started working with Troy-Bilt to create a patio in the woods for entertaining this winter and into the spring and summer. After a long stay at home order in New York last March, we realized how much more we valued our outdoor space. Over the summer we would invite a few friends over to hang out around ..read more

We’ve been renovating our historic bathroom for over a year now. It’s been a project filled with ups and downs, and plumbing challenges galore. I bought the last piece of art for the salon wall in this room a few weeks ago and wrapped up this project. This bathroom renovation has by far been the longest and most difficult project we’ve worked on. Because there are so many details to share, I’ll break the content two sections: the technical sides of the renovation and the design concept. Finally, I’ll link and list all resources at the end of the post. One of the reasons we purchased our house ..read more