Mantel

A pot stands on the mantel about which something ought to be said, something positive. But how do you praise a clay pot, if you are moved to praise by its design, its symmetry or color?Could you contrive an ode? The poet John Keats did that to celebrate the ancient Grecian urn that famously fired his imagination. But odes refer to a more declamatory time. The exalted style would not be appropriate to the pot in question.Not that this is a simple pot. Though recently made, its antecedents reside in the pre-Christian era. It has no links to ancient Greece, as Keats' pot did. But this is not to suggest it lacks elegance and grace.

The hearth is the heart of the home. Even without a blaze going, it evokes warmth, comfort and romance.A fireplace dominates a room as no other single decorating device can do. We design seating arrangements around this natural focal point as much for emotional warmth as for the warmth generated by the dancing flames.And the mantelpiece draws the eye as unerringly as the fire does, a place just made for everyday adornment and holidays, when we dress the fireplace to the nines with garlands, $l ornaments and collectibles.

I live in a contemporary-style home with a typically under-scaled fireplace opening that has no mantel. Unfortunately, it's in the living room, so it has to be made more inviting, because I plan to place seating pieces around it.How might I treat the fireplace to make it the room's focal point? And where do I find a mantel suitable for a contemporary setting? Only traditional designs seem to be available.I can help you with the focal point issue but not with the mantel dilemma. I don't know where you'd find a modern-type mantel and, frankly, I can't imagine what it might look like.

MODELS OPENGunview Farm1.Ryan Homes has opened a model of the Chandler, one of seven two-story Colonials the firm is building at Gunview Farm near Germantown in Baltimore County.Gunview Farm is surrounded by Gunpowder Falls State Park and many of the community's 47 homes will back to the park or open space.All the homes will have gas heat, two-car garages, unfinished basements, ventilated closet shelving, Merillat-brand cabinets, oak stair railings and crown molding in the living and dining rooms.

Growing up in a small town in east Texas, floral designer David Brown rarely spent his holidays hiking into the woods -- or a needle-strewn parking lot, for that matter -- to search for the perfect Christmas tree."

Bustling a yule tide in shimmery taint,stock, lock and barrel chest, Santi the Saintall clad in crimson and toting his toys,is jingling his jastles with polar north joys.Bobbing the banter boys chime song their daysas hammer and chisel and cackle fir blazegently spindles their tables of nickel pop toys,twinkle blink boxes for lasses and boys.They're dwarves in the lore books and elves to the eyes,glisten skin polar lads, prick pointed earssharing the timeless soft pine scented din,one makes a snorkel the other a fin.Outside winds fouling of chill and frost blighthave whistled at Santi through vasty pine night.

It's no surprise that most current holiday catalogs look as though their pages had been sprinkled with sparkles or bathed in sunlight: This year, glitter is as good as gold.Like candlelight and a crackling fire, golden and amber accents can provide a shimmery glow, and strategically placed touches of gilt can warm a home in dramatic fashion. Even a little bauble can transform a room -- no matter its style -- and give it a festive face. Choose objects with a lustrous glow, such as shiny brass or matte brushed gold; metallics are guaranteed to warm things up. Remember that all that glitters doesn't have to be gold -- silver or copper sparkle, too. Jewel tones also add a lush warmth and richness.

Q: I want to make the fireplace wall in my living room more consistent with the nearby furnishings, which are classical and elegant in their styling. The present wall design is quite simple, with a standard brick fireplace installed in the center of a painted Sheetrock wall. The chimney projects 18 inches into the room, and there is no mantel. How can I improve the look of the wall without making a lot of physical alterations?A: You should consider doing some resurfacing work, specifically on the hearth and the area around the fireplace opening.

Who says a fireplace can't be funky? Not Harvey and Jackie Shugarman. They knew they wanted something contemporary and stylish, yet fun and colorful to update their family-room fireplace.The basics were in place -- a simple white brick, raised hearth firebox without a mantel.They turned to friend and architect J. H. Eccleston Johnston for a design."Excy had worked collectively with me designing my restaurant," says Mr. Shugarman, owner of Harvey's of Green Spring Station. "We had used some art deco, lots of angles, gold balls and diamond designs.

If it weren't enough that rap sensation M.C. Hammer already had a mantel full of Grammy Awards, a stack of hit records and a fashion sense beyond the borders of originality, now he has something that'll really make the folks back home proud his own Simplicity Pattern.That inimitable Hammer style is can now be imitated with a $7.50, genuine Simplicity Pattern (No. 0693).The package includes three variations of his harem-style pants, his tuxedo jacket, two official M.C. Hammer iron-on transfers, his autograph and the logo from his award-winning album.

The kid was at the top of the arc, sinking three-pointer after three-pointer. But it was the look on his face that sticks with me. I witnessed a lot in the past 12 months, things I'll never forget. In Beijing, I saw Michael Phelps make Olympic history. I trailed a couple of old-timers named Arnie and Jack at Augusta National and saw a 3-year-old named Big Brown capture two jewels of the Triple Crown before choking on the third. But the look on this kid's face, I won't soon forget. He was 20 years old, stood just 6 feet 2. The kid was nailing every shot but seemed frustrated.

We're building a modern-style home that will include a fireplace. It's not the standard kind that's placed against a wall but will instead be situated between the living room and dining room and visible from both. What sort of mantel would be appropriate with such a fireplace? The type of fireplace you're describing is seldom accompanied by any mantel at all. In keeping with its minimalist styling, there are usually no decorative or framing elements around the firebox. Slate, marble and tile are the materials typically used on the surrounding wall.

Union Square couple turns a townhouse that had been apartments into an art showcase Walking through the spacious, ornately decorated rooms of Debby and Francis Rahl's Victorian townhouse overlooking Union Square, it is hard not to gasp at a sales price of $60,000. "The neighborhood was a lot different back then," said Debby Rahl, noting they had bought the home in Southwest Baltimore in 1980. "There were a number of vacant [houses] and multifamily rentals. And more crime." Still, Debby Rahl, who grew up in the northeast neighborhood of Hamilton, didn't want to leave the city.

Throughout Lisa Hoppenjans and Evan Mantel's eight-year relationship, their desire to build a better life for themselves led them to separate cities and even separate states, but the distance never diminished their commitment to each other. Their relationship began when Lisa, from Takoma Park, and Evan, from Silver Spring, both worked at a Montgomery County drugstore. Lisa was a senior in high school and Evan had graduated two years earlier. Evan, 27, says, "I was interested right away."

A pot stands on the mantel about which something ought to be said, something positive. But how do you praise a clay pot, if you are moved to praise by its design, its symmetry or color?Could you contrive an ode? The poet John Keats did that to celebrate the ancient Grecian urn that famously fired his imagination. But odes refer to a more declamatory time. The exalted style would not be appropriate to the pot in question.Not that this is a simple pot. Though recently made, its antecedents reside in the pre-Christian era. It has no links to ancient Greece, as Keats' pot did. But this is not to suggest it lacks elegance and grace.

The hearth is the heart of the home. Even without a blaze going, it evokes warmth, comfort and romance.A fireplace dominates a room as no other single decorating device can do. We design seating arrangements around this natural focal point as much for emotional warmth as for the warmth generated by the dancing flames.And the mantelpiece draws the eye as unerringly as the fire does, a place just made for everyday adornment and holidays, when we dress the fireplace to the nines with garlands, $l ornaments and collectibles.

I live in a contemporary-style home with a typically under-scaled fireplace opening that has no mantel. Unfortunately, it's in the living room, so it has to be made more inviting, because I plan to place seating pieces around it.How might I treat the fireplace to make it the room's focal point? And where do I find a mantel suitable for a contemporary setting? Only traditional designs seem to be available.I can help you with the focal point issue but not with the mantel dilemma. I don't know where you'd find a modern-type mantel and, frankly, I can't imagine what it might look like.

Bustling a yule tide in shimmery taint,stock, lock and barrel chest, Santi the Saintall clad in crimson and toting his toys,is jingling his jastles with polar north joys.Bobbing the banter boys chime song their daysas hammer and chisel and cackle fir blazegently spindles their tables of nickel pop toys,twinkle blink boxes for lasses and boys.They're dwarves in the lore books and elves to the eyes,glisten skin polar lads, prick pointed earssharing the timeless soft pine scented din,one makes a snorkel the other a fin.Outside winds fouling of chill and frost blighthave whistled at Santi through vasty pine night.

Growing up in a small town in east Texas, floral designer David Brown rarely spent his holidays hiking into the woods -- or a needle-strewn parking lot, for that matter -- to search for the perfect Christmas tree."

MODELS OPENGunview Farm1.Ryan Homes has opened a model of the Chandler, one of seven two-story Colonials the firm is building at Gunview Farm near Germantown in Baltimore County.Gunview Farm is surrounded by Gunpowder Falls State Park and many of the community's 47 homes will back to the park or open space.All the homes will have gas heat, two-car garages, unfinished basements, ventilated closet shelving, Merillat-brand cabinets, oak stair railings and crown molding in the living and dining rooms.