Face the Sunshine

Dark, dank January days remind me yearly of why I love light-filled houses. Just as chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and uses its energy, so the human spirit is charged by light. This is why, when I look for a place to live, at the top of my wish list is a southern exposure. It is also why the kitchen and sunroom are the two brightest, most cheerful rooms in our home; they are banked with south-facing windows.

To reinforce the sunny spirit of these two rooms, I have chosen white and budding green as their new palette. In the sunroom, white linen with a variegated green embroidered scroll will bracket the side of the windows without obstructing one inch of light.

KravetCouture--Linen Scroll:  Jade

The wall color, 50% of Benjamin Moore Color Stories CSP-790, budding green, not only picks up the secondary color found in the entrance wallpaper, it also harmonizes with the lush greens found in our Haitian landscape paintings.

Because our sunroom is our "Haiti" room, it is filled with West Indies colonial furniture which will be reupholstered in creamy white linen.  However, the "piece de resistance" will be a shadow box full of green sea urchins.  

Patrick Sutton Home

Adjacent to the sunroom is my predominately white kitchen.  Really, it is an extension of the sunroom, so I have carried the white and green theme into this room as well.  The white cabinetry is at eye level, so it is  primary.  However, the wall space above the cabinets will be painted Benjamin Moore CSP 760, oil cloth, a slate green color.

The three extraordinarily tall double-hung kitchen windows are topped by transoms.

They will be softened by a relaxed shade, held up with ribbon to keep it from blocking the light. For the shade, I have chosen a lovely white batiste with a slate-colored embroidery running through it.

Lee Jofa Fabric--Threads--Silver Birch  

I can't wait to read once again in my sunroom and cook in my kitchen! Finally, this week, we received the insurance company check, signed with a builder, and were given a tentative construction schedule which marked the end of May or the beginning of June to re-occupy. Knowing how building projects can be delayed, I am thinking the end of June or July 4th as the re-entry date.  I am anxious to get back into our home, so I can follow Helen Keller's wise advise: "Keep your face to the sunshine, and you will never see the shadow."