The chairs of Chatsworth

My penpal Neil just returned from a long tour throughout the British Isles where he toured over 40 country houses; just imagine!! He's been filling my inbox with some amazing photographs and I thought I would share with you some of the chairs from Chatsworth.

Arguably one of the most well known houses anywhere, the house is a treasure trove of historic artifacts, amazing significant art, and just plain pretty things. Pictured here is one of a pair of coronation chairs from the reign of George III.

Here is a painting I found online that sold at auction a number of years ago depicting George III in this very chair (I think).

Some other important artifacts are these chairs from Devonshire House made in 1740 by none other than William Kent. Devonshire House was sadly pulled down in 1924.

These are not exactly chairs to pull up to the table for a casual supper!  They are displayed in a room just off the great sculpture hall much like works of art; which they are.

 The grand upholstery on this Regency chair is very suited to the gilt wood.

 I prefer these beautiful needlepoint sidechairs myself.

 This leather armchair looks suited for a very grand library.

Not all of the chairs are so imposing.  This petite French  fruitwood armchair with what appears to be a Braquenie floral fabric would fit into the most modest house.  If you have time be sure to visit the excellent and interesting website of Chatsworth House!

Cool new product -Covered Components

I wanted to share with you a cool new product that  recently came onto the market. No, this is not an advertisement; don't close this screen!!! Rather it's a product I had a brief presentation of in my dayjob / real world and was so impressed I wanted to share.

The product was developed locally and just a month ago went into production (made in nearby Charlottesville, VA). The concept is HIDDEN OUTLETS people.  Don't we all hate staring at them? By code they're required in places you would never use them -well now you can have your cake and eat it too aka not see them.

These images are from their website showing 'before' and 'afters'.  Above you can see 2 typical outlets flanking a fireplace mantel. These would never be used, right?

Here is the 'after' - the outlets are hidden!  Basically the outlet sits in a little box with a paintable plastic cover that can even have your wallpaper applied to it.

Another spot outlets are required and rarely if ever used are in powder rooms. Above you can see the unsightly GFI outlet.

 And here it is with Covered Components - the cover is painted to blend in with the wall.

Here are some pictures I took of a sample board shown in the presentation -on the left is a typical outlet and on the right, the covered Component - practically invisible.  For $13 each this is a real find and I expect to be seeing a lot of these! Now in all fairness, I can't imagine using this in high-use spots.  The large transformers that are on many low-voltage lights and chargers for our laptops won't easily fit within these recessed boxes (although you could use an adapter). I also can't imagine them in a kitchen honestly because you would constantly be opening and closing the cover.   I think these are great for hallways, powder rooms, low-use spots, etc and you can't beat the price!

So what do you think of covered components? They are available for sale on their website HERE.
As stated, I received no compensation for this post, I just wanted to share a cool new product!