Tea at Trianon: Painted Furniture

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Painted Furniture

From Homes and Gardens:

If you love the idea of a freestanding painted kitchen – perhaps you've been browsing Shaker kitchen ideas – but want to make the most of every inch of space in a really practical way, there is a great compromise that can be achieved, in part with paint. Fitted kitchens that have freestanding-look fronts like this one can be given even more of a freestanding look by differing the choice of paint colors on the different pieces of furniture – as in the kitchen above. Just as we advised above about base cabinetry being painted a darker tone than wall cabinetry, so the rule applies that a kitchen island looks better in a slightly more stand-out tone than the boundary cabinetry. It's not a hard-and-fast rule, but it does work brilliantly. Knowing how to paint kitchen cabinets like a professional is key to a smart finish, with an expert always giving you the best results. (Read more.)