I remember the moment I fell in love with gardening: it was the first time I saw a small flower with snakeskin-like petals.

I was 18 and juggling two jobs as a painter and decorator during the day, and pulling pints at The Crown in the evening. Late one night, I witnessed a car accident a black Vauxhall Calibra, driven by a drunk driver, crashed into a pillar at the entry to a Mr Phillip Bindings house in Winscombe, a small village in the south-west of England. I knocked on the door the following day and, although I didnt catch the number plate, I described the unusual car to Mr Binding. He appreciated my assistance, and asked if I knew of anyone who could help him in his garden on weekends.

I was trying to save money to travel to Australia, so I jumped at the chance to earn a little more. My first job was collecting a bucket of sheep poo and mixing it with natural yoghurt, leaving this wonderful concoction out in the sun and then painting it on the newly repaired front pillar to help age the stonework. What a start in landscaping!

One day, I failed miserably while trying to cut perfectly manicured stripes in Mr Bindings grass with the lawnmower. But rather than shouting at me for destroying his lawn, he took me over to a sloping area of the lawn that he called the rise. Then he knelt down and showed me the most incredible flower I had ever seen. It was a snakes head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris), popping up through the grass. The texture of the inky purple bloom looked just like a snakes skin. My awe at this amazing thing growing from the ground sparked something in me it was the moment I knew that I wanted to become a gardener.

I was born in Hong Kong in the 1980s. At that time, the bustling city was dirty and polluted. My love for landscapes actually began in Hong Kong. I spent the first 12 years of my life in the small fishing village of Sai Kung, in a relatively rural area, and this is probably why I think of Hong Kong as a green space rather than an enormous city.

When Hong Kong was handed back to China, we moved back to the United Kingdom and the rolling hills of Somerset. I enjoyed riding around the English countryside on horseback. This certainly influenced my love of the outdoors and my appreciation for nature.

My mother, who is a keen gardener, tried on multiple occasions to get me interested in the gardening life. Once she offered to pay me five pence per piece to move rocks around her garden for a project she was doing. She also tried to get my siblings and me to help in the vegetable patch, mainly to show us the paddock-to-plate ethos this backfired when we were served oversized and incredibly tough vegetable-stuffed marrow. Im happy to say that my move into gardening has propelled me into the favourite-child position in our family, and now one of my most cherished things to do is spend time out in my garden with my mum when she comes over to visit.

With a love of the outdoors, minimal gardening skills but a rapidly growing passion for horticulture, I packed my suitcase and made Australia home for my gap year. I did all the things backpackers do drank too much, laid around getting sunburnt and did rubbish jobs for a bit of extra cash. I was having a beer with a mate one night when he mentioned his brother needed some help doing garden maintenance the next day, and was I interested? Of course I said yes, expecting that I would be mowing lawns, deadheading roses or pruning shrubs. However, a rude shock awaited me I spent the whole day with a leaf blower in my hand, moving leaves from one end of the Coca-Cola factory car park in Parramatta to the other. Im not sure if there is another nation that has a bigger infatuation with leaf blowers than Australia!

Towards the end of my gap year, I realised that Australia was the place for me and working outdoors was something I loved doing. I knew that I didnt want to hold a leaf blower my whole life, but I was keen to find out how I could work in horticulture.

I spent a year in England, working out how to get back to Australia. During this time, I built a garden for my mother. It included a raised patio with recycled paving slabs, bricks and anything else I could find, plus a feature flower garden and a natural pond. The pond took ages, as I found it difficult to get an even water level. It was fun working alongside my mum, and throughout the project the bud of interest in gardening was swelling (pardon the pun!). Not long after, I ended up back in Australia on a student visa.

I studied full-time at Ryde TAFE and achieved a diploma of horticulture and landscape design. The course was excellent, but, in all honesty, theres nothing like hands-on learning out in the field. This is where I really learned about how plants grow, what they need and how just one element such as too much sun, slightly waterlogged soil, prevailing wind or sandy soil can make a huge difference to plant growth. You cant be a good landscape designer if youre not a gardener first.

Once I finished TAFE, I started to focus on my own business, Inspired Exteriors, full-time. I had plenty of work and was designing and building a wide range of gardens. I didnt have a personal style at the time, but I loved creating different themes and styles of garden to suit each individual client. The early years really were about observing and learning, and I found that I enjoyed this and could quickly apply the lessons I had learned.

I was a member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Designers and Managers, and out of the blue I received an email that went out to all of its members asking if we wanted to audition for a role as a presenter for a television show. So I got my housemate to film me at one of my projects, and sent in the video. To cut a long story short, the show was Selling Houses Australia and I got the job! With no previous television experience, I was actually terrible at the start. However, we did go on to film the show for 13 years, so I must have got better at it.

Working on television is an amazing experience, and it has given me so much: the ability to inspire others to try gardening, as well as a way to travel the country and meet all types of people. But hands-down the best thing television has done for me is to introduce me to my wife.

After two seasons of Selling Houses Australia, I was asked to host a new show called The Party Garden. While the premise of the show was great renovate a garden and then have a big party in the new space the reality was a bit of a disaster. However, interior designer Juliet Love was chosen as my co-host. I had seen pictures of Juliet and I thought she was perfection. Her first impression of me wasnt great, though when I tried to make a joke about my car and the relative size of my manhood, it fell flat but we are married now with two children, so something must have worked in my favour!

Our show had one season, but Selling Houses Australia continued on. By this time I had become a qualified tradesman and supervisor, and through my business I was designing and building lots of gardens. I was happy, as I could work in two different fields. Television is a quick in-and-out gig, working towards high-impact, often budget-conscious elements of a garden; on the flip side, creating a garden from nothing for my private clients allows me to spend time getting to know them, find out what they want from a garden and implement it in a manner that completely changes the way they live. Both are rewarding in different ways.

The annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London has long been a pinnacle of garden design and innovation, and its every gardeners dream to exhibit there. In 2013, my brothers wedding happened to coincide with the event, so I hatched a plan to film a magazine-style show for the Lifestyle Channel, which gave me access to all the gardens (usually off-limits to everyone apart from judges and esteemed guests!). Walking through these amazing gardens that had been created in just three weeks and seeing how even the smallest detail can have an impact on the whole atmosphere of a space had a profound effect on me. From that moment on, I designed gardens in a completely different way.

I was back the following year to film a documentary about Australian garden designer Phillip Johnson and his team going for gold at the show. The garden was epic: a huge billabong with cascading waterfalls, a grotto and a floating studio, and it deservedly won best in show.

During this visit, I met larger-than-life landscaper Mick Conway, who was helping out on the Australian build. We became friends and went on to build three gardens together at Chelsea. The first was for a hero of mine, Alan Titchmarsh, who was a pioneer of gardening on television in the United Kingdom. Helping on his build felt like a real honour. I worked closely with designer Kate Gould, and it was great to be digging, planting and pruning each plant to perfection. The thing about Chelsea is that you are surrounded by people who are the best at what they do, and they are more than happy to share their knowledge. I love that about horticulture there is a real sense of camaraderie.

The following year, 2015, was my first attempt at a garden of my own at Chelsea. It was thrilling to be responsible for such a large show garden on the main avenue of the showgrounds. In all honesty, I thought I would only ever get one shot at making a garden in this magical place, so I decided to create one that really meant something to me. I designed a garden called The time in-between which was dedicated to my father, who passed away when I was 17. This was my chance to tell him about what happened in my life after he died it was a space to reconnect.

The garden was split into three sections. The first was a path wide enough to fit the whole family side-by-side, meandering through flowering plants I grow in my own garden at home. In the central part, a water feature slowly filled, stalled and then rapidly emptied, which replicated the emotions felt when someone close to you passes away. The final section at the rear of the garden was a sunken courtyard surrounded by solid sandstone pillars, each one representing an important person in my life. In the centre of the courtyard was a firepit that represented my wife and the fire within me, and the planting here became more foliage-based to direct the energy inwards and allow us to sit and really connect.

It was a hugely personal journey for me, from coming up with the garden concept and pitching it to companies for sponsorship, to organising the team to install it. The process was incredibly intense and stressful. Luckily, we made a TV show about it so I can now enjoy the memory of the garden, and my children will be able to watch the show when they get older.

We were awarded the second-highest medal: Silver Gilt. It was an amazing achievement! The thing I love about Chelsea is the feedback from the judges who hand out the medals. You are judged very strictly against the brief you have submitted with your application; not only do you have to meet that brief, but you also have to be horticulturally correct. For example, if you plant something in the shadow of a tree but it requires more sun, you get marked down. I was marked down for the ground cover between my stepping stones, as the judges said it needed to be a bigger clump so it wouldnt dry out. It really is a mix of science and art.

A second chance

When I was invited back to submit a design for the show the following year, my wife couldnt believe that I was even going to consider it after what the last one had taken out of me. But I wasnt going to let the experience slip away, so back to the drawing board I went. I wanted to do something completely different. My first garden was a loose, flowing, emotive space, so this time it would be formal and tight.

I decided to design a space for a busy couple to retreat to after work, with a sunken lawn surrounded by layers of hedging and large box-head trees, plus a small courtyard with a feature garden bed connected to a pavilion with a floating roof. To tie the various areas together, a copper water rill ran around the courtyard, down the steps and around the lower sunken lawn. The project had its ups and downs, and I was let down by the company that supplied the copper for the water rill. Every garden at the show is built with precision, so when the copper arrived and the measurements were off, the joints were wonky and ugly black silicone had been used to fill the gaps, I was in despair. We spent days trying to fix the issues, and ultimately we ran out of time to go over the garden in detail and tweak the tiniest elements. Despite this, we were awarded another Silver Gilt medal and I can say that I am the only Australian-based landscape designer to exhibit at Chelsea two years in a row.

Opening new doors

Soon after this, I was asked to design and implement a project in Hong Kong, which led to me being introduced to the owners of the Shangri-La Hotel group. They were impressed with my efforts and asked me to help with the redesign of the lobby of their flagship hotel in Singapore.

The famous Shangri-La Singapore has a huge six metre by nine metre wall above the lobby bar, and the Japanese interior designer envisioned a new rock wall alive with planting. Thats where I came in. The design process was fun, and I oversaw the build. Our stonemason, Callum Gray, and my team created a stunning piece of which we are very proud.

The Chelsea connection has sent me all over the globe, and I was even invited to design a garden at the worlds largest garden expo in Beijing. With just 24 hours notice, I drafted and submitted a design, and then watched from Australia as an excellent team of builders pulled it together.

The schedule I had to keep to ensure that all of these garden projects were delivered on time and to a high standard, as well as flying all over the country to film Selling Houses Australia, was taking its toll. I missed my family and they missed me, and my boys were starting to ask why I had to leave so often. So when I got a call from Russell Palmer, the executive producer of TV show Better Homes and Gardens, I was interested. The pitch to become the new landscaper on the hit show got me excited I would be telling stories and inspiring people to get into gardening, just like Phillip Binding and Alan Titchmarsh had done for me. It also meant that I could be at home a lot more. Although I knew that I would miss the team at Selling Houses Australia, going out on a high and moving towards a better quality of life for my family won hands-down.

So here I am now, writing this book in the hope that it will inspire you to give gardening a go. Go outside and take in your garden. Close your eyes and think about what your dream garden would look like, how it would make you feel and how it might change your life. Hopefully, youll pick up a few tips and tricks in this book to make that dream a reality.

Garden of Your Dreams by Charlie Albone, $39.99, is out August 2, via Murdoch Books

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Charlie Albone shares his love of gardening and tips for creating your dream green space in new book - The West Australian

An early lesson from Jan Showerss career: Buy what you love. It was the late 1990s, and the Texas designer was in Paris to buy a container full of antiques to kick off her Dallas showroom. This was her first big buying trip abroad, and she was facing a dilemma: At the time, Dallas was a brown furniture town, and there was plenty of that available in France. But Showers didnt like it. She split the difference, buying half a container of classic 18th- and 19th-century antiques and filling up the other half with the stuff she liked, mostly pieces from the late 1940s.

As soon as I got all the antiques in the store, what sold first? What I loved, Showers tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast. I had to book a trip back to Paris to buy more of it. And I then had to sit and look at all the pieces I didnt like. That taught me never to buy something I didnt love. If I dont love it, I cant sell it.

Showers, an interior designer, product designer and showroom owner, is the wearer of many hats and a doyenne of Texas design. The Lone Star State is a particularly good place to be a success in the design industry these days, as it is benefiting from the same COVID-era boom as the rest of the country, only more so (the lack of a state income tax has helped draw pandemic-era city escapers, especially from California). Thats especially true in Dallas, a town that, perhaps unlike Austin, isnt particularly shy about big houses decorated to the nines.

We had the wonderful head of Dallas Museum of Art [host an event], and he said the thing thats the best and worst about Dallas is materialism, says Showers. I dont think thats the case, but I do think people in Dallas want their houses done. Its very easy to find houses in Dallas that can be published.

In this episode of the podcast, Showers breaks down the recent Dallas Kips Bay Decorator Show House; talks about her own product lines rocky early days; details what young designers need to do to put themselves on the right track; and explains why she recently pulled her furniture out of showrooms to sell direct to designers online.

I had a couple of friends in the manufacturing business who encouraged me. My furniture has been out there for a long time, people know our product, people are buying online, she says. Ive been thinking about [making this move for] quite a while. We have 6,000 square feet of antiqueswe put those online and thats done great. So I thought: Its time.

Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This episode was sponsored by Ben Soleimani and SideDoor.

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How Jan Showers learned to trust her instincts - Business of Home

There are a growing number of options to replace the plastic light switch.

When it comes to brutalist functionality, its hard to beat the white plastic rocker switch. Its an inexpensive, ubiquitous 21st-century incarnation of the switch dreamt up by the electrical engineer John Henry Holmes in 1884, which employed quick-break technology that turned lights on and off instantly.

Thirty years later, William J. Newton moved things on again with an elegant, brass toggle switch that replaced the push button.

It was the creeping functionality of light switches that interior designer Serena Herbert sought to address when she launched Forbes & Lomax more than 30 years ago. Its first invisible light switch: a simple, transparent Perspex plate that allowed the wallpaper or paint beneath to show through, with only a metal switch visible. It was an instant hit.

The type of light switch you choose comes down to a question of budget, believes Mrs Herbert. A white plastic light switch costs a few pounds, whereas ours start at 40. However, the effect, we believe, can be quite transformative.

For a relatively little outlay, changing these details can instantly albeit almost unconsciously smarten up a space.

Light switches havent always been utilitarian, notes Mrs Herbert, who remembers that those at her school were made of cast brass in the shape of a friars head.

You would toggle his nose up and down. The Forbes & Lomax collection includes a range of rotary dimmers and momentary switches that come in the form of a toggle, rocker or button. I think the whole idea of a switch is not to notice them, she adds.

Interior decorator Irene Gunter has more forthright views on the matter of white plastic light switches. We never use them, except in functional spaces such as garages. I wouldnt even use them in a utility room.

She turns instead to Forbes & Lomax or Focus SB for more elegant solutions.

The Forbes and Lomax invisible switch

Antique brass and bronze finishes are still very much in fashion, but it depends on the scheme: bronze sockets can look like dark blobs on a cream wall, explains Mrs Gunter. The ideal is to make them so subtle you hardly notice them. Well go as far as to powder-coat switches and sockets in the same colour as the walls, if the budget allows.

Mrs Gunter says that clients arent generally aware of the impact the right switches and sockets will have, until its pointed out. She also adds that our approach to switches is different to that of Europe. In Belgium, they take it very seriously and there is a whole array of brands available that we dont have in the UK.

Heralding that shift is the arrival of the Wiltshire-based Corston Architectural Detail. The online company was born out of a demand for a coherent range of fittings, explains founder Giles Redman.

He sees a further reason for white plastic light switches falling out of favour: customers are demanding more sustainable materials. All our switches and sockets are made from solid brass, a natural material that is also recyclable.

He adds: We also strongly believe that the tactile parts of the home you interact with every day are really important, hence they should be a joy to use.

A generation or two ago, kitchens were routinely re-done in bright colours and there's something in colourful kitchen design even

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Light switch alternatives: Why its time to ditch plastic - Country Life

First, Sidney Carter was laid off from his job as a dishwasher, when the restaurant where he was working lost business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, Carter lost his apartment, after his savings ran out and the states eviction moratorium expired. Since then, he has been living in a tent in Touhy Park, 7348 N. Paulina St., joining a dozen or so homeless men and women who began camping out in the six-acre park in July.

I just came here one day and I saw the tents, and I just started hanging out here, said Carter, 49. Its safer out here than riding the train all night. You do what you have to to survive.

A tent and a sleeping bag donated by neighbors calling themselves the Rogers Park Solidarity Network keeps Carter warm, even as temperatures at night approach freezing. The Night Ministry bus delivers meals and medical care once a week. A Just Harvest and Rogers Park Food Not Bombs also donate food to the homeless.

There have long been homeless jungles in Margate Park, in Uptown, and at Roosevelt Road and Des Plaines Street, alongside the Dan Ryan Expressway. This year, though, tents have been appearing in neighborhood parks, as a result of the economic distress caused by COVID. Homelessness was already on the rise in 2020, and the pandemic has only made the homelessness crisis worse, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge declared earlier this year.

Its hard not to see it as an effect, said 49th Ward Ald. Maria Hadden. Go up Lake Shore Drive. You see more people camping out. Were definitely seeing more people unsheltered during the pandemic. Some of them may previously have been able to crash with a friend, but thats no longer considered safe because of COVID.

Elsewhere in Haddens ward, homeless people are sleeping under the viaduct at the Howard Street L station.

Over the weekend, Hadden held a public meeting outside the Touhy Park Fieldhouse to announce a plan to find permanent housing for the campers. On Thursday, officials from the Department of Family and Support Services will drive the homeless to the Broadway Armory, where theyll be able to sign up for one of 20 available units. Hadden is calling it an Accelerated Housing Event, or Rapid Rehousing. Those who apply should have permanent homes within two weeks to a month. Funds from the federal CARES Act have enabled the city to speed up the process, which previously took as many as 200 days.

Theyre going to take us downtown to get state IDs, said Jerome Smith, a 70-year-old ex-Marine who has been sleeping in the park since the summer. I had one, but Im homeless. I been on the L. They stole my wallet.

Life in the encampment has been pretty good, Smith said. They give us sleeping bags, blankets, food, snack packs. Still, Smith is longing to sleep indoors.

All I want is a one-bedroom or a studio, he said. I got all my stuff in storage by the Red Line. Im gonna have my own little place. Im an interior decorator. I got everything. Get me in. Break that tent down.

Smith said campers use restrooms at Walgreens and Jewels, but during the meeting, Hadden heard from residents who complained that the homeless have been urinating and defecating in alleys. Since the park fieldhouse is usually closed, the alderman is working with the park district to install a portable toilet.

Drinking and drug use are also problems in the encampment. Men sit by the fence at the north end of the park, sipping from Miller High Life tallboys. On Oct. 17, Carter watched as paramedics pulled the body of an overdose victim from a tent an incident confirmed by the alderwomans office.

Some are dope fiends, some are addicts, Carter said. Ive seen a guy OD. Just a bad shot of heroin.

The Rapid Rehousing event does not necessarily mean the end of Touhy Park encampment, Hadden said. Some campers may refuse housing, either because its in a part of town where they dont want to live, or for personal reasons. If they do, the city has a policy of not forcing the homeless out of parks.

It still doesnt mean people might not live in Touhy Park, the alderwoman said.

Carter wont be one of them; he plans to be at the Broadway Armory on Thursday, to sign up for housing.

Im just passing through, he said. Im not going to be in the park when the weather really hits hard. Im hoping I can get some kind of housing the same day, and then go back to work.

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A Rapid Rehousing Event Looks To Help the City's Homeless - Chicagomag.com

The digitization of the art world is in full swing, given a hefty push by the Covid-19 pandemic. Arts professionals accustomed to dealing with traditional mediums, such as painting, struggle to make their material intelligible to digital natives. While digital content should ideally serve as a teaching tool that leads viewers back to the original artwork, the two modes of communication are not always compatible. The dazzle of the newer media can overwhelm the smaller, quieter art of earlier times, as is the case with the two immersive Van Gogh experiences now on view in New York. Such presentations function as autonomous entertainments, effectively superseding their sources.

Google Arts & Culture recently launched an online hub, Klimt vs. Klimt: The Man of Contradictions, devoted to the Austrian Art-Nouveau master Gustav Klimt (1862-1918). It is chock-a-block with features that will be familiar to anyone who spent time in lockdown browsing art-related websites: videos, of course; digital slide shows with seductive zoom features; a virtual Klimt exhibition that could never be duplicated in real life, both because of the cost and because some of the paintings no longer exist. As one would expect from Google, the Klimt site is technologically impressive and easy to navigate. High-resolution images were solicited from the worlds foremost Klimt collections, including those at the Belvedere, Albertina, Leopold Museum and Wien Museum in Vienna and the Neue Galerie in New York. The project was overseen by Franz Smola, curator of 19th- and 20th-century art at the Belvedere. The stories that accompany the artworks were for the most part scripted by the Belvedere, or by the institution responsible for the visuals.

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Klimt vs. Klimt: The Man of Contradictions Review: Exploring an Art-Nouveau Master Online - The Wall Street Journal

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A timeline of the Tory sleaze allegations - The Week UK

For Shelby Cooper, the day marked her last after 18 years in the cake decorating department. She came in as a cake decorator having known the job from a previous position at SuperValu. She recalls her first training prior to coming to Mason Brothers was one hour long. She picked up a thing or two since then and exits as the cake decorator supervisor.

Shelby Cooper readies another cake for delivery in the cake decorating room at Mason Brothers, Wednesday, June 30, 2021. It was her last day on the job. She's moving on to the next big journey of operating Over the Rainbow Floral in Wadena.Michael Johnson/Pioneer Journal

She left Wednesday still cranking out cakes with ease and finesse. A recent busy day had her decorating 110 cakes with care. She's likely completed hundreds of thousands over her career. And she not only can still look at the cakes, she said she still likes the frosting. That says a lot as there's about 700 pounds of the sweet stuff passing through the decorator work stations each day.

Cooper, a Wadena resident, saw the change from a small decorating room to a large expansion with room for a whole team of cake decorators. She's even gone outside those four walls and helped set up food shows and food sets at stores. While they used to be able to come in at 5 a.m. to complete orders, it's now more like 2-3 a.m. to make the truck delivery times.

"My role has changed a lot in these 18 years," Cooper said.

While it might be easy to give up the 2 a.m. schedule starts, leaving behind her family of coworkers was a tough change for Cooper.

"They are a great family," Cooper said. "It's an amazing company to work for. It's like a big family. I mean you've got people who have worked here for 60 years."

Cooper is not near retirement yet. Her leaving Mason Brothers is only to allow her take over her new position as owner/operator of Over the Rainbow Floral in Wadena. In fact, she transitioned from Mason Brothers on Wednesday, straight into the floral business on Thursday. She said she's excited about the opportunities to grow in that business alongside her daughter, who plans to help.

Also leaving on Wednesday was Karlene Snyder, who's been in cost accounting for nine years at Mason Brothers. She's been in accounting most of her life, some 50 years and said it just seemed like the right time to retire. She added that she's enjoyed the family of people she's been able to work with while there.

Karlene Snyder, cost accountant for Mason Brothers, works her final day on the job, Wednesday, June 30, 2021.

Her future plans involve a move to Little Falls to be closer to her grandchildren. She also hopes to travel, see more of her family and just relax.

Another staff member who has left her position but has remained on until her replacement can be found is graphic designer Jessi Hubbard. Hubbard has been the brains behind many of the signs that show off the Mason Brothers products throughout their assortment of locations in the Midwest. She's also been with Mason Brothers for nine years, leaving on the same date she was hired, May 21.

Hubbard is not yet reaching retirement, rather she is reaching a point where her own business, TJ Designs, is growing to the point where she needs to start putting more energy into it. In that business based in Miltona, Hubbard and her husband Terrance create custom items of all kinds (from bean hole boards to interior signage) using a laser engraver and printer that shows off her amazing graphic design skills.

Graphic designer Jessi Hubbard cuts out a banner for Abby's Bakery on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, at Mason Brothers.Michael Johnson/Pioneer Journal

With three people in the graphics department, and no replacement yet found, Hubbard continues to do contract work for Mason Brothers then head home and continue her entrepreneurial endeavors. She cares about the work so much she doesn't want them to be without the quality work they need.

"There's a lot of potential and I haven't had a ton of time to dedicate to it," Hubbard said. She looks forward to that home business being her main focus in the near future.

While the three ladies all work on opposite sides of the Mason Brothers complex in Wadena, all shared a common feeling of genuine love and pride in the work that they have done for the company. They also all recognized that they were one big family in the end, looking to each other for help at times and looking to leave the company better than they found it.

Link:
Mason Brothers trio leave their mark on the business - Wadena Pioneer Journal

For House Beautifuls 125th anniversary this year, we're digging into some of our favorite spaces from our archiveincluding, so far, decorator Sister Parishs New York Apartment and the West Hollywood home and studio of designer extraordinaire Tony Duquette, dubbed "the house of a magician." Here, we revisit a piece about the Clinton-era White House, from 1994, which was first published in our March issue that year.

27 years ago, then-First Lady Hillary Clinton gave House Beautiful an exclusive look at the newly redecorated White House, just over a year after her husband, then-President Bill Clinton, took office. To further explore this historic undertaking, we spoke to Matthew Costello, PhDthe Senior Historian of the White House Historical Association and the Vice President of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House Historywho provided some background information about the redecoration of the Peoples House during the Clinton administration.

In addition to working with Little Rock, Arkansas-based interior designer Kaki Hockersmith on the redecoration of what is arguably the most famous historic house in all of the United States, Hillary Clinton also collaborated with Richard Nylander,who was the Chief Curator and Director of Collections for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in Boston, Massachusetts. Nylander helped to oversee the project as a member of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House," explains Costello.

Of course, the Clintons knew that changing the decor of the Peoples House from administration to administration has gotten more and more difficult and more and more expensive, as Hillary Clinton told House Beautiful in 1994. We have to try to find a style to stand the test of time. Mrs. Reagan and Mrs. Kennedys renovations were built on by us, not discarded, the First Lady continued. Thats the way the house should be treated and dealt with from year to yearchanged but in a way that reflects the continuity. Its not necessary to be historically accurateits more the creation of a mood, an atmosphere.

To see the Clinton-era White House for yourselfand to read more of Hillary Clintons insight about this remarkable venturetake a trip back to 1994 through our latest archive dive.

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When the Clintons were ready to show their refurbished private quarters to the public, they invited House Beautiful to take the pictures and tell the story

By Marian Burros

Photography by Oberto Gili

Produced by Margaret Kennedy

The initial photographic glimpse Americas armchair decorators had of the first familys refurbished White House led them to describe the Clintons as fanciers of Victorian style at its most Baroqueintensely vibrant colors, swags and festoons, tassels and gilding.

But a personal peek at the Clintons private quarters provides a different view, one far more reflective of the people who live thereunpretentious and comfortable. Theres hardly a tassel in sight.

We wanted to create an atmosphere that was warm and welcoming and suited to how a particular family lives and spends its time, said Hillary Rodham Clinton in an exclusive interview for House Beautiful. The challenge and the obligation is to sustain the historic significance and integrity of the house because it is a living museum, so you start with some givens.

The White House was not always treated as a living museum. Until the beginning of the 20th century, first families had generally redecorated in whatever style was currently fashionable. The simple furniture of the early 19th century was later replaced by curlicues, elaborate frescoes, Turkish curtains, even fringe hanging from one of the fireplaces. In 1882 an enormous screen of Tiffany glass was installed in the Cross Hall on the first floor. At one time, Mrs. Clinton pointed out, part of the long center hall on the second floor was used like a conservatory with rattan furniture, swings and big plants.

Efforts to give a period look to the house, which was first occupied by John and Abigail Adams in 1800, began in the early 1900s, but reproduction furniture was used. It wasnt until Jacqueline Kennedy lived there that museum-quality pieces became the focal point of the public rooms. It was then that the White House Historical Association was formed, along with a Curators Office and Residence Staff. Some of the furniture and fine arts used in Mrs. Kennedys redecoration had been moldering for years in storage; much else had been sold off because it was considered outmoded.

The Clintons, both history buffs, are anxious to carry on tradition. We need to have either a timeless or a historical sense of the White House, Mrs. Clinton said, because changing it from administration to administration has gotten more and more difficult and more and more expensive. We have to try to find a style to stand the test of time. Mrs. Reagan and Mrs. Kennedys renovations were built on by us, not discarded. Thats the way the house should be treated and dealt with from year to yearchanged but in a way that reflects the continuity. Its not necessary to be historically accurateits more the creation of a mood, an atmosphere.

What is historically appropriate for the public and quasi-private rooms that the Clintons have redonethe Oval Office, the Treaty Room and the Lincoln Sitting Room off the Lincoln Bedroomis not necessarily what the family wants to live with in the part of the mansion that is called the private quarters. In fact there is a striking difference between the decorating schemes of the two areas.

Referring to the intensity of the colors and the richness of pattern in the Lincoln Sitting Room and the Treaty Room, which the President uses as an office on the second floor, Mrs. Clinton said, We like color but we dont always like to have as much vibrancy. We like colors that are strong pastels.

Fortunately those are some of the colors Nancy Reagan used when she redecorated the private quarters on the second and third floors, because Mrs. Clinton was determined to keep whatever was salvageable from past schemes. For example, the curtains in the West Sitting Hall were retained, but the carpet in the East and West Sitting Halls and the Center Sitting Hall was worn though usable. It was moved to the third floor, where it brightens a smaller space that had been covered in an even more worn carpet of drab brown.

There was one exception to the make-do rule: the hand-painted wallpaper in the master bedroom that was covered with little birds. President Clinton told Kaki Hockersmith, the Little Rock decorator who is responsible for the White House refurbishing, to get rid of the birds. They reminded him of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

While the Treaty Room, the Lincoln Sitting Room and the Oval Office are done in deep reds and golds with blues or greens, the private quarters are pastel tones of yellow, peach, pink, green and blue. The color scheme of the redecorated West Sitting Hall takes its cue from the old yellow draperies that frame the double-arched window. This is where the Clintons frequently gather and entertain guests, and it contains many of the familys personal mementos.

In Arkansas the kitchen in the Governors Mansion was the gathering place for family and friends. In Washington the small pantry, once Margaret Trumans bedroom, has been turned into an eat-in kitchen.

We love the second floor of the White House, Mrs. Clinton said. We are left totally alone. We dont have the Secret Service people following us and we can tell the staff we will take care of ourselves, so its like being in your own house when you are up there. I wanted a kitchen because I knew we needed a private place to have our meals. Even though the dining room is lovely, its a big formal space. We use the kitchen for breakfast every day and for lots of dinners when we are not entertaining. We heat up lots of leftovers. My husband might come home from a golf game and I throw something together for him. And Chelsea eats there every night.

The private quarters have florals, chintzes, linens and silks that create what Hockersmith calls an English country feeling. Chelsea, her mother said, wanted a much less fancy room, so we took down the crystal chandeliers and put up brass things to tone it down and make it more of a teenagers room.

In addition to having a strong opinion about the master bedroom wallpaper, the President was involved in the plans for the Oval Office and for the Treaty Room. Its very important that each president make his own space, and make a statement that reflects his personality, said Hockersmith, who had many conversations with the President about his preferences. The President wanted a lot more energy, something patriotic.

The Presidents two offices reflect the youth and vigor of his administration: strong colors and dark, rich words that are in sharp contrast to the subdued feeling that his predecessor preferred. In the Oval Office, pale blue and cream have been replaced by Prussian blue, crimson and gold. There are a number of John F. Kennedy photos and mementos as well as a Benjamin Franklin bust by Houdon and a bronze by Frederic Remington. Mrs. Clinton said the President was particularly anxious to have the famous Childe Hassam The Avenue in the Rain, with its many American flags, in the Oval Office.

The President was equally engaged by the plans for the Treaty Room, which was the Cabinet Room in the last half of the 19th century. The pale green walls are now red; the chintz draperies have been replaced by a deep red linen patterned with trompe loeil swags and tassels.

My husband wanted an office in the residence, Mrs. Clinton said, and a library for his books. Just after the election the Clintons were in the kitchen of the Governors Mansion and Mrs. Clinton was talking to Kaki Hockersmith about the redecoration. I actually got my husbands attention for fifteen minutes to talk about what he wanted, she said and laughed. His answer: a masculine, comfortable, historical room.

To find the appropriate period pieces for the White House was a matter of rooting around in the basement and traveling out to the storage facilities in a nearby Maryland suburb. Mrs. Clinton said she poked around in the basement, but her decorator spent a lot of time out in Maryland. Thats what I love about the White House, Mrs. Clinton said. There are all these things that go back in time.

Furniture, fine arts, lamps, even chandeliers were moved from other rooms and, according to Kaki Hockersmith, Mrs. Clinton did some of the rearranging herself. She loves to move furniture, Hockersmith said. The First Lady also enjoyed filling the shelves in second-floor Center Hall bookcases with interesting historic pieces that came out of storage: the only likeness on display in the White House of President Buchanan; a bronze sculpture of Calvin Coolidges chow, Tiny Tim; a gilt bronze mantel clock with a figure of George Washington. Mrs. Clinton is also planning to bring part of the White Houses new collection of crafts pieces up here. The Clintons brought most of their furniture with them and some of it appears in the third-floor Central Hall, which functions like a double drawing room.

The Lincoln Sitting Room, one of Richard Nixons favorite places, was redone in high Victorian style to make it a more fitting companion to the Lincoln Bedroom, which contains a suit of furniture bought by Mary Todd Lincoln. The small room is filled with sunlight that is filtered through silk curtains, giving the room a magical golden glow.

We took a lot of wonderful pieces out of storage and put them back into play again, said Hockersmith. The Clintons love history and wanted to make a comfortable sitting room that relates to the Lincoln bedroom.

The Sitting Room draperies were donated by Hockersmith, who had used them in a decorator showhouse in Arkansas earlier in the year. The room is filled with objects and paintings from the period: several Lincoln prints, two of Grant, an 1864 print of Lincolns New Years reception at the White House, a program from the Lincoln inaugural ball.

People weve entertained have been so excited to see what could, within reason, be called a historically correct room, Mrs. Clinton said, and if you have an invitation to a Lincoln party on the wall that just makes peoples eyes bug out.

Mrs. Clinton said that other rooms will be refurbished as they need it. And she continues to search for items that are historically appropriate. She would like, for example, to see more maps in the Map Room on the ground floor where she and the President conduct many of their interviews. This is the presidents house, she said, and we have an obligation to care for it and make sure it reflects well, not just on this president but on this presidency and the country.

The cost of the refurbishing was $396,429.46, and it came entirely from private donations to the White House Historical Association. The $50,0000 appropriated by Congress was returned to the Treasury.

Both the President and Mrs. Clinton have read extensively on the White House but she said her husbands level of awareness and historical sense are much deeper than hers. He has educated himself about this house and the objects of this house. He gives a great tour and never gets tired of it, a fact confirmed by several people who have been escorted after one of the Clintons small dinners.

He just adores the whole sense of what this house is and represents, so for him its a labor of love.

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TikTok in tears as a mom goes viral for making people feel "seen and valid" at Pride. Posted by her daughter, Amber Taylor (@hey_atay), this emotional footage has now been viewed over 3.5M times. the comment section has been flooded with over 12K heartfelt responses. In the video, Amber's mom holds a sign that reads, "If your parents aren't accepting of your identity, I'm your Mom now... ...Drink some water. Wear your seatbelt. Make sure you eat. I love you!". And judging by the reactions to Mom's sign, it's clear this is a message many people needed to receive. After reading her sign, complete strangers pull Amber's mom in for a tight embrace, often with eyes full of tears. TikTokers, deeply moved by Amber's video, jumped in the comments to praise her loving mom. "There is so much emotion behind each one of those hugs. They needed that hug. So happy youre doing this," one user wrote. If there's one thing our world needs more of, it's love, kindness, and acceptance!. We should all be thankful for people like Amber and her mom working hard to spread love to their fellow human

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In this July 1, 2013, file photo, protesters raise Hong Kong colonial flags during a march in a downtown street at an annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July 1, 2011, file photo, a protester shouts slogans as thousands of people march in Hong Kongs downtown street. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July 1, 2018, file photo, thousands of protesters march along a downtown street during an annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July 1, 2018, file photo, a poster of Chinese President Xi Jinping with his eyes blocked by words Not my president is seen as thousands of protesters march along a downtown street during an annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July 1, 2019, file photo, protesters flood the streets as they take part in a annual rally in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Kin Cheung)In this July 1, 2020, file photo, police display a public announcement banner showing the warning to protesters in Causeway Bay before the annual handover march in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July 1, 2019, file photo, a protester holds placards during a rally on the 22nd anniversary of the former British colonys return to China. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. Placards read: Carrie Lam step down, revoke evil law, investigate police. (AP/Kin Cheung)In this July 1, 2019, file photo, a protester breaks a glass wall as they try to enter the Legislative Council in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Kin Cheung)In this July. 1, 2020, file photo, protesters against the new national security law march and gesture with five fingers, signifying the Five demands not one less on the anniversary of Hong Kongs handover to China from Britain in Hong Kong, A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July. 1, 2020, file photo, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, right, stands next to democratic lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, during a fund-raising event before the annual July 1 handover march in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July 1, 2020, file photo, pro-democracy lawmaker Andrew Wan, center, is detained by police officers after being sprayed with pepper spray during the annual handover march in Hong Kong, A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July. 1, 2020, file photo, police officers detain protesters during the annual handover march in Hong Kong, A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July 1, 2020, file photo, police officers detain protesters against the new security law during a march marking the anniversary of the Hong Kong handover from Britain to China in Hong Kong. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this July. 1, 2020, file photo, a reporter falls after being sprayed with pepper spray by police during a protest in Causeway Bay during the annual handover march in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)In this Dec. 12, 2020, file photo, Jimmy Lai who founded the Apple Daily, is escorted by Correctional Services officers to get on a prison van before appearing in a court in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Kin Cheung)In this March 4, 2021, file photo, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong, one of the 47 pro-democracy activists is escorted by Correctional Services officers to a prison van in Hong Kong, A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Kin Cheung)In this May 28, 2021, file photo, pro-democracy activists Leung Kwok-hung, known as Long Hair, left, and Lee Cheuk-yan raise their hands as they are escorted by Correctional Services officers to a prison van for a court in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Kin Cheung)In this March 2, 2021, file photo, some of the 47 democracy activists are escorted by Correctional Services officers in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Kin Cheung)In this July 1, 2019, file photo, protesters flood the streets as they take part in a annual rally in Hong Kong. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Kin Cheung)In this July 1, 2003, file photo, tens of thousands of people pack a Hong Kong street while marching to Hong Kong government headquarters to protest the Hong Kong governments plans to enact an anti-subversion bill that critics fear will curtail civil liberties. A national security law enacted in 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions have stifled major protests in Hong Kong including an annual march on July 1. (AP/Vincent Yu)

HONG KONG In 2003, public opposition to a proposed national security law for Hong Kong swelled an annual protest held on July 1 to hundreds of thousands of marchers.

A few months later, the Hong Kong government dropped the legislation, and the idea remained largely dormant for more than 15 years. Then last year, the central government in Beijing unveiled a surprise: a national security law it had drafted and quickly imposed on the semi-autonomous city. It took effect on the eve of July 1.

Since then, Hong Kong authorities have used the law and COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings to stifle major protests. The organizer of the annual march said it wouldnt try to hold one this year; three smaller groups have applied for police permission to do so, but it seems unlikely that will be granted.

July 1 is a glorious day in the eyes of Chinas long-ruling Communist Party, marking the date that Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997. Protests on that day have varied in size over the years, as public grievances against the government waxed and waned.

The 2019 protest was a large one. Hundreds of thousands of people marched against a proposal that would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China for trial. That same day, a group of hard-line protesters broke into and vandalized the legislature.

Thousands took to the streets last year, despite police having refused permission for a march and the security law having taken effect just hours earlier. Some set fires and ripped paving stones from sidewalks and scattered them in the streets. Police arrested hundreds, including the first 10 under the new security law.

Image courtesy of AP/Kin Cheung

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