Vignettes old and new

We have made the move into the “new” house, our remodeled old home. What a brutal task this is-the second move in 5 months! The move came in waves-the first was all of our things from the rental, followed 6 days later by our things in storage. I was able to get the rental unpacked before the second wave…except my studio. That’s another story.

For a brief moment in time, my kitchen looked like this. And then the next wave hit. I have always been amazed at how much better your home can look in photos. Yes, my kitchen is lovely, but I look at this photo and think does it look that good in real life?? We added the granite 4 years ago so all we did this go round was change the backsplash, add pulls and lighting, and add the table at the end of the island. What a huge difference! Our home is about 23 so the cabinets and floor are original; the frig lasted 23 years but needed to be replaced.

To sum up the remodel, we updated all the surfaces but did not add square footage, change roofline or move walls. I really do see life in vignettes and I am so enjoying the new vignettes as well as relishing the old ones.

This view is a part of my soul. It’s the view from where I do my “quiet time” almost every morning. It is my time for prayer, reading, reflecting and peace. It has changed over the 17 years we’ve been there, yet imbedded in my very being. From here I rushed through my quiet time when the boys were at home, so that I could be “at the helm” by 5:45AM. I’m still up very early, but my quiet time is more relaxed now. I missed this view terribly at the rental.

The view from my front porch is the Best Seat in the House. I added the teak bench to the porch, moving from its former place inside. It’s a bucolic view of a little pond and gorgeous trees.

Photos don’t seem to capture the beauty of my Fagus tree. It’s such a lovely, graceful tree that sways in the wind. It is a delicate layering of pink, white and green leaves. Missed it!

My home faces east/west so I receive generous amounts of light. My side yard is planted with Bradford Pears (hey, I didn’t plant them!) and their leaves do quake in the slightest breeze, blessing me with beautiful moving shadows in the mornings.

We sit at the bottom of a hill. When the sun comes over the ridge in the mornings, it will hit the tops of my Stipa Gigantea, setting them on fire. Oh how I enjoy that!

On to the new views: I am loving the shape of this new bed in my guest room. Oh did we need new furniture there! The previous furniture-what a story.

When my husband first got out of college in 1980, he rented cheap furniture. If you rented for 18 months and made your payments on time, you got to KEEP IT! Wow, what a deal. So, upon that lovely piece rested the mattress that I bought in 1981 from Joske’s in Houston. Anyone even remember Joske’s? So, do you think I needed some new furniture? Oh we Lyon’s treat our guest so well.

This hall used to be dark and feel claustrophobic. The simple addition of two fairly inexpensive sky tubes dramatically changed it. And on down the hall on your left will eventually reside a framed collection of all of my SAQA 12″ x 12″ pieces. It will be lighted by a sky tube-I can’t wait for that!

This is Hubby’s bar. He so wanted this. What a pleasant surprise to see what the under lighting did to the bar stools-they glow! This was entirely unexpected and is one of my favorite things about the remodel.

Living room carpet-when  I saw this as a choice within my budget, I knew I just had to have it!

Okay, okay, you wanted to see my new studio! I will have two rooms. According to The Great Remodeling Treaty of 2016 between Hubby and me, my stuff has to fit into 2 rooms and his will fit into one. Appropriate, no?

This room will be my office/inspiration room. I wanted a recliner, but not a fat old man recliner! I was so thrilled to find this sleek recliner that comes in sizes! I got the petite so I fit in all snuggy-what a wonderful feeling to not feel like a little girl in Daddy’s chair! This is a huge treat for me.

Same room, to the left of the recliner is my desk and that raised area will be populated by lots of pillows and such, creating a lovely area to cozy up in and be creative. The taped area is a soon-to-arrive plain table to accumulate, um, stuff. The floors are vinyl, a lovely textured vinyl that is heaven to the foot. It’s easy care-very important and my chair glides over it. That ugly, broken down chair will be replaced by the most comfortable office chair ever…in lime green!

In the sewing room next door, my BERNINA cabinet and machine will reside by the window with a lovely view of the park across the street. Those blinds-oh I love them! This side is direct west-facing so they are important, not just decorative. Even when closed they let a good deal of glow in, yet provide total privacy. And they’re on a clicker (some of them would be hard to get to raise and lower) which is so flippin cool! Touch a button or the clicker and they raise together or individually.

And here is my design wall. What, you can’t see it?? I have 542 “craft room” boxes. I do have small walk-in closets in each room and some great new built-in cabinets, but I don’t know how this will all fit. Remember, there’s that Great Remodeling Treaty of 2016 that I have to honor! I DO NOT want a bunch of stuff in my way. I do have a table coming that will be 36″w x 48″l with 2 12″ flip-ups on each end. The entire piece will have open shelving all around and will be on wheels so I will get a lot of storage there too. And my design wall will be huge.

There is a bathroom between the two rooms so I can practically live in my studio space! I am (currently) not a dyer and made no provisions for wet work. I do see an emerging trend towards the possibility and if I begin to dye, well, I will just figure that out as I go.

A funny thing happens when you remodel-all of sudden the things you’ve had forever just don’t work anymore. See the scale on the right? I never really bothered me that it was cracked and a little long in the tooth. I went to put it down upon my new cool little hexie floor and the world just threw up! I could. Not. Put that upon my new floor! So I needed a new, sleek model. Now, multiply that thought a hundred times throughout the house….

My approach to the whole remodel was based around a mission statement of containment (of my stuff) and edited serenity. You don’t see color yet but it will come with accessories which will also be very edited. I just don’t want as much stuff now. I want peace. I love the look I have of tone-on-tone, with an abundance of texture. Maybe next week I’ll have some semblance of a studio-I have some ideas percolating that would take me in a new direction. I can’t wait to play!!!

It is so good to be home.