From Lace to Carpet

As previously mentioned, I also consult on historic carpeting for museums, capitols and private parties. A project that I've been working on for quite a while, the T. R. R. Cobb House in Athens, Georgia, has just installed two more carpets. Pictured here is Marion's Sitting room, and we used an archival point paper from the 1850s, recreating it in exact detail. The photograph is courtesy Sam Thomas.

Recreating the Carpet at the North Carolina Capitol

As mentioned previously, one of my jobs is as a historic floorcovering consultant for museums, state capitols, governor's mansions and private homes. I was contacted by the curatorial staff of the North Carolina State Capitol; the existing carpet in both the House and Senate chambers was in tatters and a trip-hazard, and thus in desperate need of replacement, and so I flew down to Raleigh, inspected the carpets and measured the rooms. It was a massive job, requiring 1,200 lineal yards of goods, and I directed the persons charged with acquiring the carpet to an English mill that specializes in high-grade Axminster carpet. The job was completed recently, and I thought I'd share images of it with you. Thanks to the North Carolina Division of State Historic Sites for the images!

Old House Writing

On any given day, my professional life veers between Cottage Lace, Historic Carpet and writing articles and books. I post my articles and seldom think about them again. Recently, I saw a reference to one of them, a piece on Old House Online's (Old House Interior and Old House Journal's) Facebook page that was promoting my article on Tiling on A Budget. I clicked on the link, and discovered that they had posted a bunch of my pieces; you can see them here.

Yet another hat: Historic Carpet Consultation

Some of you may know that besides owning Cooper's Cottage Lace and writing countless magazine articles, for the past 20 years I've been involved with the field of historic carpets, which includes Wilton, Brussels, Axminster, Ingrain and Venetian weaves. During this time, I've traveled all over North America and worked independently, and with another firm, in assisting museums, state capitols, governor’s mansions and private residences in selecting and specifying the appropriate pattern and quality and then overseen their delivery and installation. My new site, Historic Carpet Consulting and Sourcing, has just gone live, and I'll be posting stories here of the various jobs I'm working on.