We bought all the doors for the basement from a guy up near Toledo, OH. Most of them were painted. This is the door that we selected for the storage room. My husband thinks that this is an exterior door (a detail that will be important later on) so it’s thicker. It has a pocketContinue reading “The Ancient Basement–the door for the storage room”
Tag Archives: home
Naturally Neutral Thanksgiving
This is a low key version of a Thanksgiving table that avoids all the vivid orange, red, and yellow. I set 3 log slices down the center of the table and on those, I put a gray vase of dried lunaria that I picked back in the summer, and two wood look turkeys. The placesContinue reading “Naturally Neutral Thanksgiving”
Spooky Halloween Table
I found a bunch of pieces of Independence “Millbrook” dishes at a couple of stores and somehow, the pattern reminds me of Tim Burton’s work, so of course I had to do a Halloween table with them. I started with a white tablecloth and a pretty fall shawl with lots of Halloween colors in it.Continue reading “Spooky Halloween Table”
The Ancient Basement–the New Storage Room
When I last posted about the storage room, we had really just started working on it. You can find that post here: https://cathyathomeontheriver.com/2025/10/10/the-ancient-basement-were-back-at-it/ . Basically, we had made an opening for the door; did the rough in for the little bit of electrical that was required; and did the framing. My husband is still workingContinue reading “The Ancient Basement–the New Storage Room”
Neutral Fall Table
I have found some neat fall decor at the thrift store and I have a great natural linen tablecloth that I bought from Williams-Sonoma. (I have a wide table (42″) and it’s difficult to find cloths wide enough most places.) I also have some really cool neutral dishes that I have found at various thriftContinue reading “Neutral Fall Table”
Original Plum Torte by Marian Burros
Plums have such a short season, but I do love them–especially the gorgeous colors. I bought some organic purple plums at Costco last week. I made this cake over the weekend–a double batch–one for us and one for the freezer. I had about 7 plums left that really needed to be used, so I amContinue reading “Original Plum Torte by Marian Burros”
The Ancient Basement–An Upper Cabinet from a Butler’s Pantry is Being Converted to a Built-In Bookcase
My husband and I drove to Rye, NY over Mother’s Day weekend to pick up a bunch of cabinets that we’re going to use in the basement. Here they are when they were installed in that house: The upper cabinets are about 40″ tall, and we’re going to make a base for them to sitContinue reading “The Ancient Basement–An Upper Cabinet from a Butler’s Pantry is Being Converted to a Built-In Bookcase”
The Ancient Basement–New (Old) Cabinets
We bought the sink and cabinet and the bath tub for the basement from Hudson Valley Houseparts–which is a salvage company that goes to houses that are going to be torn down and pulls out all the great architectural salvage that they can. I received an email from them about a kitchen and a butlersContinue reading “The Ancient Basement–New (Old) Cabinets”
The Ancient Basement–More Progress on the Shelf at the bottom of the stairs
So this project is moving WAY more slowly than I ever expected, but here we are. We have made more progress than it’s going to appear in the following photos. So, what you can’t see from these photos is that the left and right walls are plumb and parallel (and that took a LOT ofContinue reading “The Ancient Basement–More Progress on the Shelf at the bottom of the stairs”
The Ancient Basement–Shelf at the bottom of the stairs
We started this project during the weekend that we got snow and were stuck at the house. I think I jinxed us when I said I thought we could accomplish it over a long weekend. No such luck. I’ve had a few people ask how the project is going, so here is the update. IContinue reading “The Ancient Basement–Shelf at the bottom of the stairs”
Cathy At Home on the River 