Dining In

Our home has several places suitable for eating.  Now that we are empty nesters, cozy spots for only two have been added to the "dining rooms."

Breakfast, when we take the time, is at the bar.  This pass-through between the kitchen and sunroom is ideal for a quick bite.  I love using different placemats depending on the season.

Lunch is sometimes at the zinc topped table between the kitchen and sunroom.  The placemats were a splurge I couldn't resist because the aqua and white polka dots matches my wallpaper perfectly!

True confessions:  Our evening meal is often eaten off trays in the library, so we can watch the evening news.  (Now doesn't that age us?)

In spite of all the little spaces, I must say that my greatest delight is having a table full in our dining room.

Ok, it's your turn for honesty-hour.  Where do you eat in your home?

A Year Later...Decore Scrubbed Clean

One year ago this week our home was damaged by water. Basically, the year was divided into three phases:  negotiation, reconstruction, and redesign.  The most nerve-wracking phase was the five months of negotiating with the plumber's liability insurance company before they agreed to pay for the itemized and verified damages.

What a happy day in February, when we could actually begin reconstruction.  The rebuild took four months.  Ceilings, walls, and flooring were demolished, then replaced to provide fresh perimeters.

With a blank slate, I began a redesign.  First, I decided my rooms had been smothered.  Walls and surfaces cried out for breathing space.  So, I edited furniture and accessories ruthlessly.  We threw away, gave away, and sold the extraneous. I also took this opportunity to update my color schemes.

Finally, in mid-May, we moved back in.  Over the summer, we have continued to replace damaged furnishings and have added a few bits of modern to bring the house into the twenty-first century. Now on the anniversary of the flood, all three floors of our home have been given a facelift.

Would you like a tour?  I always like the before and after postings on other design blogs, so I'm hoping you do too. Here is an overview of some of the main rooms.  This will be followed in future posts by a more detailed room-by-room examination.

The dining room lost its lovely Gracie hand painted wallpaper.  I was sad to see it go, but the moisture in the house finished lifting the already compromised paper from the walls. Before the room was a soft yellow with pink, blue, and green accents.

Now, neutral grasscloth adds texture to the walls.  The formal swags and panels were replaced by sheer Lee Jofa fabric with trapunto medallions giving a more youthful,  casual, and updated look to the room.

The kitchen went from raspberry

to a grayed blue-green Benjamin Moore paint color called "picnic basket" (50%). My husband confessed after it was repainted that he was never a fan of the pink! :)

The adjoining sunroom went from yellow

to a kitchen companion blue/green grasscoth.

And the living room went from green

to neutral.

With the pain is behind us, I am actually thankful for this opportunity to freshen up a seventeen-year-old home.  How appropriate; our home is as fresh as a landscape after a rain.