We have written on our Blogs about grandfather clocks in The White House over many years, including the Oval Office, and the President’s Private Office. The antique grandfather clocks have graced the White House for many generations over time.  If only the clocks could talk, what stories they would tell.

Less chronicled than the White House grandfather clocks, are the wall clocks and mantel clocks that also grace and have added to the decor of the USA’s most well known house for many generations.  We will very soon post a picture of this Wall Clock, known as a banjo clock, that currently hangs in the White House.

There are also mantel clocks, and one we will soon definitely show a picture of, is a ships clock set which include a clock and a barometer, and which we believe were most likely made by Chelsea Clocks.

STAY TUNED for some very exciting photos we will soon be sharing.

At 1-800-4CLOCKS, we are always seeking customer input to be innovative and to meet customer needs and desires.  This is true whether it be for grandfather clocks, wall clocks, mantel clocks, atomic clocks, or whatever timepiece.

We recently received such a fascinating suggestion, and one we thought worthy of sharing and are interested in any and all reactions! he new product could be an Ant Farm in a Wall Clock or in Mantel Clock, or even a grandfather clock.  Does an Ant Farm enclosed in shatterproof glass as a mantel clocks or wall clocks offering sound possibly appealing to you.  We looked and we have not seen any out there on the market today.

Alternatively, we’ve thought that perhaps there should be only a children’s version on an Ant Farm Wall Clock or Mantel or Desk Clock.  Maybe a kids version would appeal to what would seem to be a more traditional audience.

On the other hand, when one looks at the amazingly successful work of British artist like Damien Hirst, whose work, among many others, like a shark in a tank in formaldehyde have made him a media icon and his name almost a household word, and many other quite interesting and unusual art forms which have both been exhibited in museums and sold for millions of dollars at the major Auction Houses, maybe an Ant Farm as Art in a Clock is a time has come.

Below is one work of Damien Hirst which was seen by the writer of this blog post on exhibit at Lever House in New York City, and subsequently believe sold for literally millions of dollars, along with similar works (this may be a similarly themed work rather than the actual one seen):

Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, by Damien Hirst

So what to you think of an Ant Farm in a clock?  We’ve thought of a new series of clocks entitled Art Form ™ in a clock.  While this may sound either like a self-contradictory idea, as many clocks are indeed amazing art forms and most certainly museum-quality.

We are thinking of what might be viewed by most as “Contemporary Art” Clocks.  These could be grandfather clocks, wall clocks, mantel clocks or we are open to anything.

Let us know your thoughts.

Damien Hirst - are you possibly interested in teaming up with us?  We would love to work with you, and will see if we can call you.  Give us a call at 1-800-4CLOCKS.  Your work is most certainly cool and cutting edge Art!

A wall clock in one’s office is, studies have shown, looked at an average of 30-50 times a day.  A watch on one’s wrist, also known as a wristwatch, probably looked at a similar number of times.  A clock on one’s computer is certainly noticed, but at least current adult creatures of habit still look at it with less frequency than dedicated clocks or watches.  And as for looking at the clock on your iPod, fuhgeddaboudit.  iPod users, while we have yet to see a definitive study, tend to look at the clocks on their devices with much less frequency than those who own and wear watches.  But on the bright side, who would buy an iPod for the clock feature anyway?

As mobile computing and virtual realities becomes more pervasive, the future of timekeeping, and the devices used by individuals, will no doubt shift to some important degree.

Having said that, grandfather clocks, wall clocks, mantel clocks and the like are frequently as much about home decor, office decor, and interior decorating as anything else, so we don’t anticipate major marketplace changes from that vantage point.

Howard Miller Clocks, Ridgeway Clock Collection, Hermle Floor Clocks, Seth Thomas Clocks, and Bulova watches to grandfather clocks are likely to be brands that are here for the long haul.

We expect their popularity will continue unabated both among collectors and interior designers.  And we see this for both clocks and watches of all types, with some exciting innovations no doubt playing a role as we move forward in time.

Happy New Year to all.

One of the most cherished and heart-warming gifts we have seen, with much emotion both from the gift-giver and gist recipient is a grandfather clock given as a wedding gift.  This is also true for grandfather clocks given as a present for a very special milestone wedding anniversary, sometimes from a spouse, and sometimes as a gift from the child or the grown children of a couple celebrating, say, a silver or golden or platinum wedding anniversary.

Clocks can also make a great gift for ringing in the New Year, and perhaps tied into a Christmas present (a little late in the season to be sharing that idea, we realize).  There is a wonderful symmetry in giving the gif of time as the New Year is rung in.  As the ball descends in Times Square ushering in 2010, so do a clocks chimes ring in the New Day every day, and keep old traditions alive.  One of the most appealing traits of clock ownership, both to collectors of antique clocks as well as people buying clocks for home decor purposes for interior design and interior decorating, is the continuity representing by clocks as they have been used for timekeeping, and as wonderful pieces of furniture to boot, for generations before.  Whther an heirloom clock or a new clock, the similarity of purpose and design is ever present.

When the New Year is approaching, how about gathering around a grandfather clock rather than gathering around a television set.  It would be a new approach for many, but perhaps familiar to those over, say, 70 years of age.  A chiming mantel clock or wall clock would be reminiscent of this celebratory approach as well.  Or how about merging the old with the new and using an atomic clock, and one would know with amazing precision when the old year has gone and the new year has arrived.

New Year’s is a time when many visit others, including close family and friends.  How about a clock as a great gift which would have special meaning, and remembered in an unusual and special context for years to come.

And remember, never ever drink and then set the clock’s time.

Do you know when you have a certain image of something in your head? Perhaps you have only talked to a person on the phone or through online communication and you conjure up an image of what they look like; and then when you meet them you are completely thrown off because they look nothing like you envisioned them. Or perhaps you imagine what a house looks like on the inside having only seen its exterior year after year – passing it on the way to work – but then when you are invited inside it bears absolutely no resemblance to what you had created in your head.

This is what I thought about clocks to a smaller degree. “Clocks?” you say. “Everyone knows what clocks look like.” But what I’m talking about is the image of what clocks would look like in my home. I have been bucking convention since I was a small child; if it matched I wouldn’t wear it, if it was the way everyone else was going I went the other way, if it smacked of tradition I turned my head; I was never, according to my own beliefs, going to fit into the mold.

Today, I am a wife and mother and while I’m not Betty Crocker by any means I have settled into what is essentially a more conventional type of life. And I’m okay with it; in fact I love it. But when my aunt told me she was sending me a mantel clock for our new home all I could think of was the traditional, old-fashioned clock image I had in my head. But what arrived was something completely different and completely personal and it began my love affair with clocks of all varieties; something that was easily satisfied online as I’ll explain in the next post.

With the economy putting financial strain on so many of us, we have had to make compromises in many areas of our life. While home decorating may seem like the last thing on anyone’s priority list right now, it is still a consideration regardless of the economy; making our home a comfortable place for ourselves and our family can be mentally significant for many of us and it doesn’t have to necessary come attached to a ridiculous price tag.

Clocks, for example, are one of the more affordable pieces that can be used to transform a home’s décor. Oftentimes we think we need to go big in order to make an impact on how our homes look but the truth is that all we really need are those special things that make us happy and say a little something about how we are as people and as homeowners. Clocks deliver on this front as they come in a variety of styles and prices and give us the impact we desire with an affordable price tag.

Through online resources, homeowners are able to find any and all clocks that appeal to them on a multitude of levels; including the price. So while the economy may be calling for a tightening of purse strings in order to come out ahead, there are still options for decorating your home in a way that is completely in line with your personality and your budgetary constrictions. Wall clocks, mantel clocks, grandfather clocks, and atomic clocks; just one placed with care in the room of your choice can have enormous impact.

Remember that person you were hopelessly in love with in high school (well generally speaking most people were in love with this person in this particular scenario) but that you felt to be out of your league? You couldn’t imagine that they even knew you existed at all. I remember feeling that way about a boy all through school that I thought was way too cool for me; I hung with a decidedly less “popular” crowd and just assumed he didn’t even know my name let alone would ever be interested. I ran into that guy twenty years later and it turns out that, not only did he know my name, he had a crush on me in high school as well. It just goes to show you that you that perception, while it may be our own reality, is often not factually based.

When I first bought this house and I began the process of decorating it I was really short on cash. I knew I had to wait on a lot but there were some things that I just wanted to do right away. I always imagined my fireplace to have a beautiful mantel clock sitting above it and, while a grandfather clock would surely have to wait until I had a little bit of a bigger space (not to mention budget) I pictured a pendulum wall clock in my formal living room that was, in essence, a small version of a grandfather clock. However, I just assumed that all of these purchases would be out of my budget confines; and, more than that, I had this perception that clocks of this caliber were for wealthy people with interior designers.

This perception, of course, was completely off base; something I learned when I found this great website that had all I had ever dreamed of in terms of clocks. There I was able to find my mantel clock, my wall clock, and clocks I had never even thought existed – all completely accessible, completely my style, and well within my budget. This is my new reality!

Surely I am no different than a great number of people out there that do their best to decorate their homes within their budget. But as I related in my last post, I had fallen into a bad pattern of simply filling my home with things for which I really had no deep and abiding love; they were just things that I could afford and that I thought would hold me over in terms of decorating until I could ultimately fit what I wanted into my budget.

But as I recounted, I have learned through a love of home design shows that it is far better to pick up a few well loved pieces than to fill a home with lesser quality things that have no emotional value to the person living there. This does not mean that every piece in a home has to have a sentimental attachment; it means that in order for a home design to really come together you must really love the pieces with which you surround yourself. Which is how I found my way to clocks.

I always loved clocks from afar but I didn’t really understand how they would work in my home. I guess I always had it in my head that clocks were of traditional design in most cases; a design that I could appreciate but that wouldn’t necessarily fit with my own home décor.

But recently I found this amazing website that has opened to me the world of clocks. There I have found clocks of every style and design – from traditional to modern, in styles and materials that appeal to my own sense of decorating and that have worked unbelievably well in pulling my home décor together. From the mantel clock I have in my family room to my favorite purchase of the year – a beautiful grandfather clock – I have found pieces that I truly love!

I have culled any knowledge that I have about decorating (which is fairly little I am humbled to report) from the many hours of home decorating television shows that I have become addicted to over the years. If there is a show about cleaning up, cleaning out, revamping, and remodeling I am there with mental notebook at the ready. And, ultimately, what I think the best piece of understanding that I have garnered is that there is no rush when it comes to creating a home design that works for your style and your budget.

In the past I was always that person who – upon finding that great apartment, and later that great house – would immediately fill it with “stuff” because empty scared me. It didn’t matter that it was not the stuff that held any sort of appeal to me – aesthetic or otherwise; I didn’t have the money for what I really wanted so I just found the things that were in my budget and would suffice for the “time being.” I didn’t realize, of course, how long that time would stretch.

What I learned from decorating shows is to never bring anything into my home that I don’t truly love. And if I need to wait for that item to become available or affordable then so be it; the wait is most assuredly better than the filling of space with items that ultimately don’t fit the bill. A few good pieces are almost always better than many pieces that are “less than” in terms of quality and, more importantly, likeability.

So ultimately I found what I really loved and I set to work finding these pieces at affordable prices; something that really and truly paid off with regard to the warmth and comfort of my home. Clocks, for instance, have always been a great love of mine although more in the observational sense. I just never understood how I could best incorporate clocks into my home design. Until, of course, I found the best of the best in terms of shopping online. More on me finding the door to all things clocks in the next post…

Moving can be an expensive prospect. I recently made a big move myself and was alarmed with how quickly we went over the initial budget that we had put in place. There are costs here, and costs there – everything added up before knew it and we were facing much more in terms of moving expenses than we ever thought possible. This meant, of course, that any plans I had of purchasing new furniture and accessories for the rooms that I had in mind were essentially out the window – in the short term anyway. The reality was that I needed a few months under my belt to get myself back on track before I started making any additional purchases.

This also meant that whatever I had with me in the old house was coming with me to the new house and I was going to have to make it work. And I did make it work. Some of the furniture was a little awkward and not sized properly for the rooms it was occupying but with some small changes it was fine on a temporary basis. But what I was most surprised about was how well my clocks made the transition.

I have long been collecting clocks of all kinds; and at this point I have everything from mantel clocks to a big beautiful grandfather clock as a part of my repertoire. The house I came from was a bit more traditional than this new house which is a contemporary model. But the clocks look as if they have always been here; a testament to their high quality and versatile design.

I get most of my clocks online through this amazing web site that I found. There, you can browse through all manner of clocks to your heart’s content and make a purchase knowing you are getting the highest quality product at the best prices. I will undoubtedly use them in finding clocks for this house – as well as the next.