Shopmark Book To Be Released at Grove Park Inn Show

The first shopmark I ever saw was a red oval paper label curling up on the back of my father's mission oak dropfront desk. The year was 1959. I peeled it off and threw it away.

Twenty years later I saw my first carved Roycroft orb-and-cross, and then, in the back of a Chicago antique dealer's pickup truck, my first Gustav Stickley faint red decal. As I did I thought back to my father's desk and that red oval paper label…..

Either smitten or cursed, I...

Is It Biltmore Industries or Biltmore Estate?

"Stickley" isn't the only Arts & Crafts name that can be a bit confusing.

You may have read recently that the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms is hosting a fundraising dinner in Asheville on Thursday evening, February 16th, the night before the official start of the 25th National Arts & Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn.

The evening's festivities will be taking place in and around five restored circa 1917 Arts & Crafts workshops...

Using Workshops To Improve Your Skills - And Your Home

The duel combination of winter's chilly grip and the mad holiday crush certainly can push house projects aside, but there is one thing you can easily do right now: plan.

At the top of my list for Spring 2012 is a dismantling and refinishing of the split-level oak staircase in our 1970s ranch house. The treads are separated, the tongue-and-groove wall boards are buckled (thanks to a leaky chimney), and the railing is loose.

For those of you who will be attending...

Taking the Arts & Crafts Time Machine

With the Arts & Crafts Conference just a month away, I haven’t ventured far from Asheville this week. We've stayed busy wrapping up the 88-page Conference Catalog, printing name badges, finalizing tours and demonstrations, coaching speakers and Small Group Discussion leaders, and coordinating everything from security to the breakfast buffets with the staff at the Grove Park Inn.

I typically avoid the Grove Park Inn from Thanksgiving until after New Year's...