Before I closed on my house I kidnapped my friend Sandra Cole from a conference in downtown Atlanta and took her to Pine Lake to see it. Sandra is blessed with impeccable taste and good judgement, and thank goodness for that! When I told her I had always fancied a Southwestern house, she gently helped me understand
this house wanted to be just what it was-- a little lake cottage dating from the 1930s. And that's what we set out to make it.
I had Sandra's support and help from the start and across the years. On her frequent visits from her home in Ann Arbor we would shop for decorations and supplies one day and put them in place the next. We were always implementing projects. On one of her early spring visits we put boxes on the windows in the front of the house and filled them with pansies. On another we shopped all over town for living room furniture.On yet another, she painted the vintage gas furnace in the living room. On yet another, she and I Christmased my house to within an inch of its life. Another time she bought four plastic tubs at Costco World Market. She didn't measure, but they fit perfectly into the empty drawer slots in the bathroom where there should have been drawers, but weren't. I'm still now sure how she did that!
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Sandra allowed me a Southwestern touch by way of the living room
and made drapes for my odd-sized living room windows |
Sandra never failed to show up with housewarming gifts and she sometimes insisted on buying things she insisted the house needed, like a casual chair for the back room. She loved my little house as much as I did, and she never missed the mark. The many beautiful things she gave me are still on display. I dare say my house would not be as it is if not for her help and advice.
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| Sandra knew windows boxes would be perfect for the front of the house |
In a later post I'll write about my yard structure, which Sandra christened the Louisa May Alcove.
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