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."

Silver Lining: I Can Redecorate

Dorothy Draper, who in 1923 established the first interior design company in the United States, also wrote the first design book, Decorating is Fun! 

This prima donna of design was right! Just this week, nineteen weeks post-disaster, we finally reached a settlement with the insurance company. With this nightmare behind us, I can begin the enjoyable process of choosing colors, fabrics, flooring...

Where does one start when furniture was not damaged, but flooring, ceilings, and walls were? My goal is to update, so I decided to begin with a monochromatic palette.

A lovely Tabriz carpet with a raspberry field had been foundational to my home's color scheme.   Unfortunately, with all the standing water in the living room, the natural dyes ran, rendering the rug a complete loss.  We found a neutral Tibetan rug with just touches of celadon to replace the Tabriz. Without the raspberry, celadon and a neutral cream became the colorway.

Long before the deluge, I had ordered upholstery fabric in ivory, the pillow color, for the sofa.  The flood just gave me another incentive to update this classic piece.

To further eliminate the pink, I had an expert seamstress remake the silk Brunschwig &  Fils draperies, tucking the raspberry stripes in seams, leaving the variegated green stripes and neutrals visible.

 I also plan to lose the topper for a more contemporary look.

When we move back in, the raspberry throw will go; the celadon French daybed and two library chairs will stay.

Mohair at top is on the daybed; the cut velvet on the bottom on the library chairs.

Two other French bergere chairs in the room will be covered in a neutral silk fabric.

Removing the raspberry also dictates replacing the Schumacher raspberry striped wallpaper in the entrance.

Even though it was not damaged in the flood, we decided we will cover the cost of a neutral Stroheim grasscloth with a very subtle celadon damask glaze.

The dining room opens on the opposite side of the foyer from the living room, so a complimentary color scheme makes sense here, too. As it turned out, removing the hand-painted, silk Gracie wallpaper in the dining room was not debatable.  The extreme humidity in the house after the flood finished lifting off sections of the paper. In its place, I have chosen a companion to the entranceway paper, a Stroheim plain Saipan sisal.

To neutralize this room,  I plan to hang simple sheer drapes using Lee Jofa Phoebe cream fabric with trapunto embroidery in the same color of tan.

(The computer screen distorts many of these colors., but in person they all flow.)

For sixteen years, I have enjoyed the vivid colors in my home, but now I am ready to embrace change. Getting to redecorate is the silver lining behind our water-filled cloud. The sun has come out, so let the fun begin!

Home Sweet Hotel Suite

My husband and I have been living in an extended stay unit at The Inn at Leola Village, since our home was deluged three months ago. This charming conglomeration of refurbished cottages and new buildings isn't home, but it is a palace compared to refugee and natural disaster tents.  In a global context, we are blessed.

Even by American standards, the Inn at Leola is a charming, quiet place to stay; it deserves its four stars.  From the front desk receptionist, to the breakfast servers, to the cleaning staff, every employee is professional, courteous, and efficient. The rooms are well-appointed and the grounds lovely.

But beyond the nice surroundings, we are blessed by the very reason we are here--a damaged home.  Let me explain.  This week an article in The Wall Street Journal by Andrea Petersen ("When Home is Where the Hotel Is") listed causes for the increase in long-term stay units. The article made us count our blessings.

 Allison V. Smith for The Wall Street Journal

As Petersen noted, the slow real-estate market has contributed to families opting for temporary housing.  We can be thankful we are not waiting for a home to sell in a depressed market.  Nor are we in an extended stay unit because our marriage is dissolving.  Thankfully, we are not here because a family member is seeking medical treatment, nor are we jobless.  Furthermore, we are blessed even in a local context.  Some Lancastrians are homeless, but uninsured. At least, our damage was caused by a contractor with liability insurance.  Indeed, we have many reasons to be thankful.

However, lest I sound too much like Pollyanna, true confession: I get very perturbed by the insurance company's lethargy.

 

When I get frustrated, I try to list the positives of our situation:

First, this unexpected dislodgment has provided a respite from daily chores--cleaning and cooking.

graphicshunt.com

Second, staying in a two-room efficiency demonstrates how little we actually need. Living with less is freeing.

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Third, when what you have is taken away, you are more appreciative of what you have.

Fourth, freedom from the mundane makes one focus on people--not on things.

And fifth, our homelessness has made me appreciate what Jesus gave up for us.  He did not have a place to lay his head during his stay on earth.  Why would he leave the splendor of heaven to be born in a stable, live as an itinerant, even be buried in a borrowed tomb?  To prove his love for us, which is the biggest cause for a thankful heart this Christmas season.

Won't you join me in thanking the Lord for his gift, no matter your circumstances.

"Book Now" Guest Room

Thanksgiving is the busiest travel holiday of the year.  If you went away this weekend, where did you stay?  What made your stay more comfortable? In a hotel room, I appreciate a luggage rack

Porta Baggage Rack as shown on afteradornment.blogspot.com

and a tray with carafe and water glasses. 

credit--http://www.veranda.com/luxury-homes/carolyne_roehm-entertaining-guest_rooms

However, when I am looking at lodging on-line, the decor is what makes or breaks my guest booking.  

Marcus and Anna have made the guest room in their stone cottage so inviting.  They converted a plain, awkwardly-arranged room into a room you'd want to book. When the house was on the market, stagers set a serving tray on the bed to welcome visitors.  Unfortunately, plain walls and awkwardly placed furniture were not all that inviting.  

Ideally, a bed should be placed opposite the entry to the room.  This allows the largest piece of furniture to be the room's focal point. In Marcus and Anna's stone cottage, a diminutive door shrank the face-wall until it couldn't accommodate a bed.

The solution to the dilemma is a tall headboard. By covering the tiny door, Anna was able to place her guest bed properly on the far wall.

Now, when guests see the gray wool headboard, matching duvet cover, and puffy pillows, they want to stay. The bedside tables and lamps add to the ambiance.

Across the room, a tall bookcase counter-balances the bed and stores some night-time reading.

An antique French colonial desk supplies a visitor with pen and paper.

The painting which set the room's color scheme is by Goxwa.  

Other niceties for welcoming guests are suggested by Carolyne Roehm, the taste-maker who writes a column for Veranda magazine.  She adds: tissues, an alarm clock, and a hot water bottle!  To check yourself against her list go to: www.veranda.com/luxury-homes/carolyne_roehm-entertaining-guest_rooms.


The stone cottage guest room checks almost all of the boxes for a room I'd book.  How about you?

Master Bedroom's Yin and Yang

A master bedroom is shared by a wife and a husband, the yin and the yang. Designing a room with a feminine and a masculine appeal is a challenge. However, rather than conflict, the two aesthetics can counterbalance leading to a more interesting interior.

Marcus and Anna's master bedroom is a prime example of how combining old and new, rounded and angular, dark and light, soft and hard results in a captivating retreat for both genders.

Anna's knack for combining opposites is obvious in their bedroom.  The two largest pieces of furniture--a contemporary a light-colored, fabric-backed square headboard on an angular bed-frame juxtaposes a mellow antique, dark-wood corner cupboard.

The cupboard holds pocketbooks and shoes.

The bed wall reveals several other contrasts.  Dark plays off light. Two black-lacquered, antique Asian bedside tables stand next to the bed which is dressed in a soft, down-filled white duvet and coverlet. Bed pillows repeat the contrast. Moreover, angular geometric pictures framed in dull industrial-metal contrast with curvy, shiny lamp bases.

Across the room, a contemporary chevron-patterned, bone mirror-frame leans against the wall above an antique dresser. Further, a vintage fan is balanced by modern bottles.

On the dresser, Anna layers a piece of dark slate beneath a shiny white-lacquered tray.  Atop the tray sits a smooth, white porcelain leaf next to a gray, knobby snail designed by Jonathan Adler.  What a fascinating vignette.

Finally, a dormer nook reveals gray linen Roman shades with a shiny metallic brocade motif and an antique chair topped with a contemporary pillow.

In a room as in marriage, the differences between women and men can create a dynamic whole.  Rather than conflict, the balanced opposites compliment each other.

Scripture sums it up, "Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him...So the Lord...made a woman and brought her to the man...Therefore, a man shall...hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:18, 22, 24).

Wouldn't you agree that Anna and Marcus' master bedroom illustrates the greater whole created by complimentary opposites?

Healthy Baby Dispels Clouds

This fall has been a blur without many posts.  First, came the house flood.  Then, came the birth of a new grandson which dispelled the rain clouds!  Who cares if your "stuff" is displaced, when a new healthy life breaks on the scene?  Truly, children are a gift from the Lord received with joy!

The day of his arrival, one great grandmother and both grandmothers entertained Will in the family waiting area.

The short couple of hours seems like an eternity, until we got the much anticipated text:  "Baby arrived.  All is well!"

Tears of joy filled our eyes. (If you remember, Rachel's first sonogram revealed a cystic hygroma on Nathan's head, neck, and back.  This finding can be highly indicative of chromosomal defects. Even though the cyst was never seen on subsequent sonograms, unspoken caution lurked in the background (http://graciousinteriors.blogspot.com/2001/04/promise of springtime.html). Thankfully, relief and praise replaced our submerged fear.

The perfect little guy brings smiles to Rachel and Gigi's faces!

Nathan was loved from the start. His daddy and mama prepared for his coming by personalizing what had been Will's nursery.  They added a gunmetal chandelier and his name above the crib.

However, Rachel's biggest job was redecorating a big-boy room for Will John.  Since Curt played baseball all his life, Rachel chose this as the theme.  Besides, this motif can grow with the two-year-old.

After painting the room Benjamin Moore "Museum Piece" (50%), she purchased a large canvas from Michael's, covering it with white linen and attaching Curt's jersey, catcher's mask, and mitt.

Then she surrounded the display with a bat and balls, using holders from Restoration Hardware's children's division.  The lamp was ordered from Ballard Design, while the reading chair was purchased at TJ Max.  The gunmetal cafe chair at the desk came from Tolix, the book crate from Etsy, and the metal letters from Restoration Hardware.

On an adjacent wall, Rachel hung Curt's prize collection of George Brett metal newspaper galleys.

Finally, Will graduated to his "big-boy" bed, a daybed that Rachel slept on as a girl. (Bill and I purchased the French colonial antique on a Port-au-Prince street in the 1980's.)

To get into his bed, Will uses steps Rachel ordered unfinished from Etsy.  We stained them mahogany to match the bed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art posters above the bed are of famous baseball cards and were framed for Curt by his parents.

Can you see why the great grandpa, grandpas, and dad voted this their favorite room in the house?

Finally, Nathan's home-coming day arrived.  That morning the high risk obstetrician came for a final discharge visit.  She looked Nathan over, commenting, "The cyst must have been very tiny."

"No," Rachel replied; "actually, it was quite large from his head down his spine."

"Then we must be looking at a miracle," she responded!

How thankful we are for Nathan's good health!

From my perspective, life on earth doesn't get any better than this!  Nathan Curtis' healthy arrival certainly put our dislodgment in perspective.  A flooded home pales in comparison to Nathan's nine Apgar score! Won't you praise God with us?