Little Washington's bicentennial

Last night was a perfect summer night - we attended this outdoor concert to kick off the bicentennial celebration of Washington, PA.  Washington, PA has been affectionately known as "Little Washington", almost from its inception, to distinguish it from that sprawling giant on the Potomac that shares its name.  Our Washington is the county seat of Washington County and is home to a domed courthouse with exquisitely restored Tiffany stained glass panel in the dome, the LeMoyne house, and the Washington Symphony Orchestra - which you hear on this clip.
Last night's program included crowd-pleasers like "Washington Post March", "The Cowboys", "Ashokan Farewell", made popular by Ken Burns' PBS series "Civil War", "Star Wars", and "Stars and Stripes Forever".  The program also featured a new work, "Journey into Wissamaking" composed by W&J's Kyle Simpson for the WSO.  
The rain even held off until the last of the music stands and chairs were taken down and packed away!

Creating a Custom Daybed

When we created a sunroom off the back of the house, we extended the room over the exterior steps to the basement.  So that those steps remained functional, Juan created  a "box" in the sunroom. The box was open underneath the sunroom to provide headroom.  We insulated it so as not to lose heat in the room, then we turned it into a daybed!   

   

Here's the box in the sunroom.  We sealed around the edge of the box and the wall with duct tape to further keep out drafts.  Then the first layer of padding was applied to the box.  After the felt padding is attached then a layer of dacron batting is applied to cover any seams in the padding and offer a smooth surface for the decorator fabric.

The decorator fabric is then wrapped around the padded box.  We railroaded the fabric around the sides and face so there were no seams.  We folded the decorator fabric up onto the top of the box about 8" all around to create a deck.  The decorator fabric was attached with staples in a "snail trail" along the sides and bottom of the box.  We created a custom cushion to sit on top of the box and then whipped up a variety of fun pillows, bolsters and shams to provide lounging comfort.  

To keep the bolsters from falling off, and provide a bit of support, we designed and attached arms to the sides. 

  The finished daybed provides a comfy place to read and daydream.  And we can still get into the basement without bumping our heads!