Out With This Old Vibe

In the first episode of 2025, we start with an end: The end of "This Old Vibe."

Join me as we hear from some of the enlightening experts along the way and reveal the results of my Vibe Enhancement Project: the Desolate Corner.

Be sure to pick up a copy of "Sean Scherer's Vignettes" here:

https://bookshop.org/a/95638/9780865654419

Subscribe to The Jiffy newsletter:

https://thejiffy.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Visit The Jiffy:

https://thejiffy.xyz/

Transcript

SPEAKER_05: 0:00

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Jiffy Audio Newsletter podcast, a podcast about upstate New York. It's the first episode of 2025. And a lot of people think this is the year when Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with the disembodied voice of Scarlett Johansson in the movie Her. And we all know how that turned out. But what will 2025 hold in store for us here at the podcast and newsletter and website and Instagram feed? Well, for starters, we have to start with the end. It's because it's the end of this old vibe. Ah! Yes, this old vibe. I'm going to miss hearing that sound. It's this old vibe. You know, my series that for most of 2024, I spent wandering around the hills, mountains, dirt roads, and rivers of the Hudson Valley to learn about the histories, constructions, and interior designs of regional houses in the hopes that I could learn their secrets. I had a vibe desert in a corner of my house. And while a desert can technically be a wonderful place full of life, it just didn't feel right to me to have one in my house here in the Hudson Valley. Because you see, we don't have very many deserts around here. Actually, you know, I shared a bit of that experience of what it was like to discover my vibe desert on an earlier episode of the podcast. Why don't we play that clip right now? This is what it was like. Okay, so as you're listening, you can tell I was not doing well. What we have is a problem of interior design. You see, I was in one of my house walking sessions. Sometimes when I get anxious about life as an influencer, I like to walk through my home quickly for a few hours, kind of like taking laps, like mall walking, except on a much smaller scale and without a Panda Express. So I was walking, and I was in our clock room where we have all of our books, and I felt something strange. I couldn't put my finger on it at first. It was cold, but I also felt a deep heat. It felt like I'd walked into a giant tumbleweed filled with emptiness. I heard sounds, and then I realized, oh, I've entered a vibe desert. As you can see, it was very shocking. I was But once I recovered, I pulled myself together, and then I realized that this was going to be my next project, my next deep dive. It just had to be. I was going to make this corner feel like it really belongs here in the Hudson Valley. And to do that, I was going to go speak with so many people who... surprisingly did speak with me. I'm so grateful to them for showing me around and sharing me their insights. I just couldn't believe it. For example, I spoke with Warren Battle, the owner of Battle Brown on Warren Street in Hudson, a beautiful early American folk art antique store. And he also took me on a little road trip to go find some of the best houses that he takes pictures of and shares on his Instagram feed, Warren on Warren, which you should follow. And Here's a tip. You got to look for the locust trees. Well, I asked Warren what he thought about the Hudson Valley house vibe, and here's what he had to say.

SPEAKER_03: 3:18

I think a certain type of person is drawn to this area who wants to live here. I mean, first of all, any interior is a very individual thing, I think. And, you know, you see things that you love, you know, when you get around and you just see things you love. But, you know, I don't think it's a highly... I don't know if it's highly stylized is what I'm looking for, but I think it's an individual thing. I mean, you have like the Hamptons. I think the upstate crowd is more connected to the earth, to the land sort of thing. And it's sort of a vibe about being in nature.

SPEAKER_05: 3:56

I also met with Sean Scherer, author, interior designer, artist, and owner of the antique shop Cabinet& Camera in Franklin, New York. And at the time, he just published his new book, Sean Scherer's Vignettes, which is all about the art of crafting a vignette in your home. See, I thought this would be very helpful as I consider just what to do with my corner here. I asked Sean about his views on the Hudson Valley or Catskills aesthetic. And here's what he had to say.

SPEAKER_02: 4:20

I don't necessarily see that there's an upstate design aesthetic. I think that the aesthetics are very much borrowed and layered and come from many different sources. So I don't think there's really a defining look that says Hudson Valley or Catskills. But having said that, it's important for people to realize where they are. And What I see a lot of happening is that people are kind of just transporting the same Brooklyn or New York City or loft aesthetic or apartment aesthetic to a 19th century farmhouse. And they almost look identical. And I think that's a mistake because the farmhouses were mostly very humble. They're made by local craftsmen. They're not meant to be fancy. Part of what the region is is something that kind of borrows a lot from the old English farmhouses or old English cottages, which is a very layered, comfortable, not perfect look. You should have something that relates to the region. I always say I wouldn't have the same colors in a home interior in Miami that I would have in the Catskills.

SPEAKER_05: 5:35

Then I spent some special time at a sacred place, Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, one of my favorite places on the planet. Kathleen Lynch, the curator and director of collections there, showed me around their brick dwelling. It was built in 1830 and it housed 100 brethren and sisters in its time. And today you can explore it yourself and see how the Shakers lived with their furniture, their household items, their kitchen and dining table. You can also see how they made the most of daylight, especially important in these shorter winter days. Here, Kathleen Lynch describes it. It's called the Shaker Concept of Borrowed Light.

SPEAKER_00: 6:12

Let's go over and look at this window for a minute. It's really quite fascinating because the shakers were all about light. Light was everything. In fact, they often referred to certain areas as borrowed light. But I would like you to look at this frame of this window. And as you can see, this beautiful paneling here in the molding is on an angle. And that is very purposeful. And of course, the shakers did everything with purpose. But with this angle, frame, it let in more light. The peg rails, the chairs, the candle stand tables, the sewing desks, there's countless pieces of furniture that people can look at today and say, oh, That has a shaker influence, and it does. But the reality is, the reason that these pieces are so incredibly beautiful is that they were made with reverence to God. And over here, you're always going to see windows between windows, all right? And this is called borrowed light. So the shakers would create windows from one room to another so that in one room was dark, it was pulling light out from the other room. And this brings in light to this storage space behind this wall. There's not much light going on back there right now, but this is a classic example of borrowed light. We're in an interior room and there's no light in here, but yet there is light because of that window. from the outside room. Yeah, it's like phenomenal. That is so shaker.

SPEAKER_05: 8:08

It was very special. And it worked. Borrowed Light works, okay? But back to my corner. After all my interviews and videos, newsletter issues, house tours, and podcast episodes, I was still left with that corner, that empty corner. And I had all this knowledge. I just didn't know how to implement it. It's one of my personal flaws, and I'm working on it. But as I was standing there, scratching my head, staring into the void, it felt like I heard my name being called. I looked around. Nobody was there. There

SPEAKER_01: 8:40

it

SPEAKER_05: 8:40

was again. Unmistakable. And then I heard music. It seemed like music.

UNKNOWN: 8:45

Music.

SPEAKER_05: 8:47

It sounded like the music of this old vibe. It was coming from behind me from the bookshelf. It was coming from Sean Scherer's book, Sean Scherer's Vignettes, of course. Hey, James. I hear you need some help on your

SPEAKER_02: 9:00

vibe desert. Of

SPEAKER_05: 9:01

course, what my vibe desert needed was a vignette. And I had just the book to help, Sean Scherer's Vignettes. For some reason, that book seemed to be speaking out to me directly. It is a beautiful book. It's full of photos of Sean's many vignettes over the years. There's also tons of advice, like this, on a But sometimes, what creates harmony among either similar or different elements is a repeated motif. Or this. Art knows no boundaries, and neither should vignettes. I could read this whole book to you right now, but I have a feeling that Sean might not like that too much. He'd probably prefer that you go buy a copy for yourself, which you should. I agree, and I will include a link to where you can buy that book in my show notes of this podcast episode. But also, I don't need to read it to you, because clearly my copy of the book has been imbued with some sort of magical powers, and it's reading to me right now. I mean, I felt like Sean was truly speaking to me. So, I went with it. I just put my microphone next to the book, and I let Sean talk. And hopefully, my microphone was recording it all. And while Sean was sharing his tips, I went to work. I started building my vignette in this corner of my house. And yeah, sometimes I even asked the book questions. Okay, I'm here at the book. I've got my microphone out. I'm going to set my book open. I'm going to set my microphone right down next to the book. And okay. Yeah, book. I guess, I don't know. How do I begin this? Talk to me about vignettes. Where do I even begin?

SPEAKER_02: 10:52

Well, in building a vignette, I think it starts with a collection of objects that you might already have or some that you're thinking of acquiring that will go together. The first thing, of course, is where is the vignette gonna live? What space, what wall is it gonna occupy? And most other important thing about a vignette is the surface. You definitely need, to me, you know, a surface that the vignette you can build off of or lives on. That's not to say that the vignette or like a gallery wall can't be a vignette or it can't carry off the wall to the surface. But to me, the surface is really what holds the objects. And whether that is a tabletop or a cabinet or a desk, it really is what gives you your grounding for the objects to live.

SPEAKER_05: 11:41

Okay, thanks, book. That's some really good advice. I'm going to go head out now to Brimfield and get an appropriate antique for my surface. Brimfield Antiques, the antiques mecca. More than 6,000 vendors selling in more than 20 antique show fields, acres and acres of antiques. It's held three times a year in Brimfield, Massachusetts, which is kind of close to where we live. So Jess and I headed out for our first time ever. It was overwhelming, but this time we got lucky. Okay, we're at Brimfield, the antiques fair at Brimfield, Massachusetts. So overwhelming. There's so many things, but we're here to buy things for our corner. I just don't know even where to begin. Um,

SPEAKER_04: 12:26

wait, do you see that over there?

SPEAKER_05: 12:28

That

SPEAKER_04: 12:29

looks really cool.

SPEAKER_05: 12:30

What is that? Let's check it out. What do you think it looks like? Like a

SPEAKER_04: 12:33

cabinet? Yeah, it's like a... But it only has one big drawer at the

SPEAKER_05: 12:37

bottom. I really like it. I really like this.

SPEAKER_04: 12:40

First of all, chill out. Let's just keep it cool. That's a good point. Let's keep it cool. We don't want to get overcharged. Look at this big drawer at the bottom. I just want to open it because I don't really know what it is. What is this? Whoa, this is like an antique drawer. It's

SPEAKER_05: 12:59

an antique. We found one. Turns out what we found is a 19th century blanket chest that the dealer said was the best bargain in the whole market. So we took his word for it. We stuffed it in our car and we brought it home. Now it's just time for me to consult the book, Sean Sharer's Vignettes, and see if it had any more advice to give. Okay, I'm back at the book now. I'm going to see if it'll still talk to me. Book, Sean Scherz Vignettes, are you there? I have an update on the vignette. We've just installed our 19th century blanket chest into the corner, so we've got our surface now. I'm thinking it's looking pretty good, but it still needs a vignette. I'm not sure what our next steps are here. So as a book written by an interior designer, who's also the author of another great, beautiful book, Cabinet and Camera Creating Authentic Interiors, I was just wondering, what do you generally say to clients when you're consulting or designing their vignettes?

SPEAKER_02: 14:04

Well, the first thing I would advise people if they're approaching doing an interior design is or hiring an interior designer is to really think about, you know, what you want to achieve in your home and what makes it comfortable and what makes it usable, but also to allow for the professionals to steer you in the right direction. You know, if I, when I do design projects, I try to really obviously, you know, reflect the homeowner's you know, personalities in the home. Again, how are they going to use it? I always say that, how are you going to use this room? Because this room should be usable. It shouldn't just be for show. And also to allow, again, back to that imperfectness. I think what I always say is allowing for a folly. Oh, that's

SPEAKER_05: 14:55

great. Oh, that's great. I'm definitely leaning into my imperfectness here. And as it happens, I... I already have some things that we could use in this vignette I think. Right now I'm recording from... what we're calling my cluttered room. This is what we call the doom room of our house. It's where all, well, you gotta watch your step because there's a lot of things here, but it's where we put all over the things in the house that we don't really have a place for yet. We've got a pool table over there. My compound miter saw is over there in the corner. We've got shelves of paint, a lot of mirrors, but, oh, okay, here we go. I think I've got some paintings and some prints that I could use here. Like these ones we could definitely do. And I've got these, oh, I think I've got these milk glass vases that I procured from Kevin. I've got his small butcher block boards. I think I picked these up at Lou's Relics. This craftsman style tool tote. Oh, I love this. I forgot about this. I picked this up at the Old Mill of Irondale. I think they dated it from the 19th century. It's beautiful wooden inlay, kind of giving it a folk art quality. And by the way, I've got all these places on a map that I made and interactive map that you can see at my website. It's called thejiffy.xyz. Anyway, I love it. I think we've got some things that we can mess with we're going to use all of these in our vignette okay book are you there book book Sean can you tell me do you have any tips on how to arrange our vignette now

SPEAKER_02: 16:29

yeah I mean different heights in a vignette is really important and you'll see that in most of my vignettes that there's you know different levels present and that's for that exact reason that you want to keep that it's the same thing as keeping your eye moving you also want don't want all the objects to be on the same plane and I I'm a big stickler for it. When I'm doing interiors or interior architecture is also, you know, sometimes you don't want too many lines lining up, too many things being parallel. So that's what the, boxes or stools do. They help you break up that one eye level. And then another element or two other elements. The book is

SPEAKER_05: 17:12

turning its own pages now. It seems to be taking me to page 109. Oh, this is the section on flora and fauna.

SPEAKER_02: 17:21

And then this flowering branch is just a great addition of nature. I always love flora and fauna, which is a chapter in the book. But it also does this great arch, which again creates a circular motion brings your eye back into the whole composition so what happens is that your eye keeps bouncing between all these colors and shapes and forms but as you can see in this vignette many different disparate objects there's different periods different styles nothing really is of the same period or maker, but it all works in a really cohesive way because of those color tones and repetitions that lead your eye throughout the composition. Seeing how the vignette comes from the still life in art history, I see vignettes as that, as still life. Vignettes are still life, still lives are vignettes, and I think the whole composition is a work of art. I think when you are Creating your vignette, you have to think obviously at the overall composition and how all those objects are going to work, but also how those objects are going to work in your space, your interior. But in the end, what you are creating, just like in a still life painting, is a work of art, a completed composition.

SPEAKER_05: 18:45

I totally agree, Sean. And book Sean. Thank you both for your magical time with me. The magical book really speaks to me. And Sean Scherer, thank you for sharing all your tips with me here on the podcast and throughout my series, This Old Vibe. I'm just really grateful and I'm so thankful to know you. If you'd like to see pictures of how my Vibe Corner turned out, well, I've got them on the website. It's thejiffy.xyz and I think this is it. This is it for This Old Vibe. What a wonderful time. I mean, I'm sure I'll bring in a few pieces here and there that fit in this category. There may even be a This Old Vibe Part 2. Who knows? I'm just thankful that you've followed along this far, and I can't wait to see what kind of deep dive we get into for 2025. 2025 deep dive does have a nice ring to it. Okay, that's it for this episode of the Jiffy Podcast. Thanks for listening.

UNKNOWN: 19:43

Thank you.