January 31, 1982

Alex Nixon's grandfather was a carpenter and he gave the boy his first set of tools. By the age of 17 Mr. Nixon had restored an English surrey, built a four-poster bed and helped reconstruct two barns on his parents' property. But it wasn't until two years ago that he took on anything so formidable as the renovation of a brownstone. A contractor had had the job of renovating his cooperative apartme nt in another building, but the work had proved unsatisfactory and expensive. He was determined th at next time things would be different. Mr. Nixon, a 30-year-old businessman, had the tools. And he had a shelf full of how-to books. All he needed was the lumber. He found one lumber yard easily in his own Manhattan neighborhood - Dykes Lumber Company, which has had a yard at 348 West 48th Street since 1912.

In the darkened wings of the Parker Playhouse, James Earl Jones is ''becoming'' Othello for the 150th time in five months. Resplendent in his gold-shot velvet caftan, ''the noble Moor'' is thinking of the battles he has fought, of Aleppo, of Suleiman the Turk who remains to be conquered. At the same time, the actor is aware that with sevenand-a-half weeks left in this nine-city tour before opening night on Broadway, he still feels not so much in command of his role as in search of it. And James Earl Jones wouldn't have it any other way. ''Every performance,'' he has said, ''is one more chance to explore something. That, to me, is what acting is all about.'' This production, which co-stars Christopher Plummer as Iago, began last August at the American Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Conn. It opens at the Winter Garden on Wednesday and marks the sixth time that Mr. Jones has played the role. The last time, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1970, he told a reporter, ''I'll be 40 for this Othello and I still want a crack when I'm 50. You need a great deal of emotional maturity to come to grips with him. You have to start working on the part when you're young so that you can work up to a full comprehension of the man.''

TRENTON GOVERNOR KEAN'S p lans to reduce the size of the New Jersey bureacracy wi ll be reversed if Congress approves President Reagan's proposal to s end $47 billion in Federal categorical grant programs back to the s tates. Mr. Kean, who campaigned on a promise to eliminate some state departments and agencies i f a study showed th em to be unnecessary, acknowledged last week in the wake of the Pre sident's State of the Union address that the state government would have to expand to be able to administer the programs that could be sent down from Washington. However, he made it clear that his support for the Reagan program -which he called a ''bold initiative''-would be contingent on receiving enough money to both run the programs and cover the increased administrative costs. ''I would campaign very strongly, directly and through the state's delegation, against enactment of the program unless the money comes along with the added responsibilities,'' he said.

LOIS AND MARK BARTON of Bellport are in danger of becoming obsolete. Not in their respective careers; so far, there are still openings for research librarians and nuclear physicists. Rather, their avocations are threatened. For both are skilled musicians who satisfy their artistic souls by playing in a community orchestra. And on the Island, the true community orchestra made up of talented amateurs who play for the sheer love of playing is beginning to go the way of the Edsel and the 10-cent stamp. The orchestras, once an integral part of suburban cultural life and in many communities the only cultural life for musicians and audiences alike, are responding to external and internal pressures, gradually giving way to semiprofessional operations. Some orchestras are even heading toward full professional status.

MANY Westchester organizations will observe February's national celebration of Black History Month with an outpouring of films, concerts, lectures and special events. Films documenting the achievements of all-black military regiments and lectures delivered by prominent black leaders are a few of the events that will make up an almost daily celebration of black style and history in various locations countwide. Many of the activities will be sponsored by the White Plains-based Afro-American Cultural Foundation in its monthlong 14th annual ''Afro-American Panorama.'' The theme for this year's Panorama is ''The Black Kaleidoscope,'' emphasizing ''the multifaceted aspects of the black community'' in Westchester. The foundation was formed, according to its directors, to eliminate what they termed the distorted portrayal of black people, their history, culture and economics. The foundation provides a speaker's bureau, books, economic-development advice and other services to organizations in the county.