Old House Journal ABG 2018

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, antiques dealers ruled the roost and “reproductions” were heresy. How things change! I know that the current Arts & Crafts Revival, which has already gone on longer than the original movement in America, is producing work equal to and often better than that of a century ago. What a pleasure it is to see the products of today’s designers, artists, and craftspeople. It’s impossible not to appreciate the beauty and quality of their textiles, their pottery and tile, their work in metal and glass and wood. And so we bring you a special issue dedicated to the output of today’s revival. These people and companies are, in general, those we’ve come to know through their commitment to a deliberate Arts & Crafts approach. Many have been recommended over…

IN A DEPARTURE from Victorian interior decorating advice, bungalow writers frowned on the display of wealth and costly collectibles. Rather than buying objects of obvious or ascribed value, the homeowner was told to look for simplicity and craftsmanship: “a luxury of taste substituting for a luxury of cost.” True, most woodwork treatments were rather simple. More formal paneling or wainscoting was reserved for dining room, parlor, or staircase. A board-and-batten wainscot is fairly simple to install. Wide (12") planks of oak, fir, red gum, or cypress are butted together vertically; the joints are covered with narrow battens (2½" to 4" wide strips of wood). Topped with a molded plate rail, it is a straightforward means of creating the look of three-dimensional paneling. Landscape friezes and abstract stenciling above a plate rail…

Gracewood Design gracewooddesign.com The Wunderlich Rapture runner from this artisanal floorcloth maker was inspired by a tin ceiling pattern from 1912. All floorcloths are laboriously primed, then painted multiple times. The finish design is handapplied using separate stencils. Most floorcloths cost about $40 per square foot. (503) 522-7660 Ann Wallace Prairie Textiles annwallace.com Accent your décor with hand-embroidered pillows and stenciled curtains, Roman and roller shades, and bed and table linens in all-natural fabrics. Finished pillows are $150 and up, or request a kit ($60 and up). Roller shades start at $68 each. Stencils: $40 to $45 each. (213) 614-1757 Archive Edition Textiles archiveedition.com Art Nouveau and Art Decoinspired designs in figured and jacquard upholsteryweight patterns are available as yardage or as finished pillows, runners, and other home furnishings. Most textiles are $90 to $125 per yard. (877)…

Mason & Wolf Wallpaper mason-wolf.com This artisanal wallpaper maker offers collections inspired by period archival designs from late Victorian to English and American Arts & Crafts. Eden, in Whistler Blue, is an Aesthetic Movement wall fill that transitions well to an Arts & Crafts interior. It sells for $60 per 30-square-foot roll. (732) 866-0451 Indow Windows indowwindows.com These interior storms keep out drafts without blocking original period windows like those in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ross House. They’re edged with a patented compression tube that holds the unit in place. Prices are $24 and up per square foot. (503) 284-2260 Style/Library / Morris & Co. stylelibrary.com Classic Morris & Co. wallpapers from this British purveyor include Marigold, a monochromatic paper designed by William Morris himself in 1875. A favorite for Arts & Crafts interiors, it is available in…

Textiles ALAMEDA SHADE SHOP shadeshop.com (877) 522-0633 Old-fashioned roller shades with a variety of trim options. APPLIQUÉ ARTISTRY appliqueartistry.com (415) 453-6762 Pillows, bedding, table runners, and window treatments. ASPEN CARPET DESIGNS aspencarpetdesigns.com (815) 483-8501 Custom area-rug design studio specializing in Craftsman, Prairie, and Mid-Century designs. EHRMAN TAPESTRY ehrmantapestry.com (888) 826-8600 English needlepoint kits in colorful William Morris designs. EM’S HEART ANTIQUE LINENS emsheart.com (864) 430-0372 Antique and vintage linen, monograms, embroideries, and lace. ENDLESS KNOT RUG CO. endlessknotrugs.com (707) 794-9222 Tibetan wool carpets in classic and Arts & Crafts collections. ENGLISH WILTON englishwilton.com (800) 216-0076 Offers Wilton carpeting and rugs in Voysey and Morris designs. FORD CRAFTSMAN STUDIOS fordcraftsman.com (877) 204-9961 Embroidered table linens and pillows in Arts & Crafts styles. GUILDCRAFT CARPETS guildcraftcarpets.com (800) 939-1882 Their Voysey and Prairie collections feature colorful designs. INGLENOOK TEXTILES inglenooktextiles.com (800) 492-1242 Arts & Crafts pillow and table runner kits in authentic designs. J.R. BURROWS & CO. burrows.com (800) 347-1795 Wallpaper, carpeting, lace, and fabric in the English tradition. KELLY MARSHALL CUSTOM WOVEN INTERIORS kellymarshall.com (612) 788-7800 Table runners, placemats, rugs,…

VARIOUS ORIGINAL DESIGNS OF THE ARTS & CRAFTS PERIOD ARE BEING REPRODUCED TODAY—ALONG WITH MANY INTERPRETIVE, NEW, AND FUSION DESIGNS. NO MATTER than its antecedents are medieval, its influences English and Japanese, or that its greatest U.S. proponent was the son of a German stonemason: Arts & Crafts became American in its design, manufacture, and (especially) its marketing. Although Gustav Stickley and his peers struck a chord by promoting the Ruskinian ideal of the individual furniture maker as both designer and craftsman, production demands forced them to embrace the machine and some factory techniques. Today, many of the hundreds of people who make A&C furniture do in fact design, build, and market their work themselves. But once again, artisan-made furniture, which is expensive, has factory-made competition. The buyer may be looking to…