Let's Head For The Hills

The week we were having the house painted, I headed for the hills to be out of the house.

More precisely, I headed to the home of my oldest (longevity, not age) friend in town.

Wendy and I met through Newcomer's Club and formed a playgroup with our 1 year old children (soon to be 39) with a few other mothers.

Wendy is an amazingly talented woman - educated at Pratt Institute in NYC, she has designed children's clothing, decorated a plethora of local homes and now uses her talent to create award winning watercolors and collages.

Wendy's home bears little resemblance to the house I first entered in September of 1977 - the custom made stained glass doors were an early change made to the home.

The living room has also undergone many changes over the last 37 years.

 In the early years, when Wendy was occupied decorating houses, they bought a lot of art and I vividly remember when they brought home, "The Chair", or at least that is what I called it.

I fell in love with the quilted, batiked and painted piece and 35 years later, it still grabs my attention each time I visit.

The fireplace received a gorgeous facelift with beautiful detail.

The dining room was too small for their entertaining needs, but they solved the problem first by extending the room outward 5 feet.

Next they gained space for a china cabinet by going 36 inches into the garage, 

but not losing any space because there were already 36 inch deep cabinets in the garage.

The china cabinet, which is flush with the wall, displays family heirlooms such as the canisters which were given to Wendy's grandmother as an engagement present and a few of her mother's teacups.

The family room is another space that was remodeled - 10 feet was extended into the garden.

I would die to have all that storage along the wall.

One of Wendy's collages adorns the wall

and another smaller piece mimics the colors in the beautiful ceramic pieces that decorate the TV cabinet.

I have watched the kitchen grow through 3 different remodels.

 I love the island in the center of the kitchen and the windows along the wall that bathe the room in light.

Wendy has been a long time collector of teapots, but she has pared the display down to a few favorites.

I might even be tempted to cook if I had a spacious kitchen like Wendy's.

Somehow, I am missing the photos of the daughters' bedrooms - I guess I got a little zealous cleaning out my photos - so we'll just head upstairs to the master bedroom before we look at Wendy's creative space.

Wendy and I were in West Hollywood at the Pacific Design Center when she first showed me the beautiful leather bed with nailheads.

They added a built in dresser with space to display some of Wendy's beautiful (pared down) doll collection.

A smaller built in dresser and a window seat were also added.

The mural on the wall was hand painted by a local mural artist.

The door on the right side of the mural leads to a small office.

The door on the left leads to an amazing bathroom with a gorgeous ceiling, custom stained glass windows, and possibly more space than I have in my entire house.

I think it is time for a rest in the garden, but before we go outside let's take a look at the view from the terrace - the ocean is out there, but I needed a better lens to capture it.

The garden went through a recent change when an old tree fell, breaking the fence, but sprinkling the garden in sunlight most of the day.

Delightful statuary catches the eye

and an old bench creates a relaxing spot to rest.

It is difficult to leave this lovely space,

but we still need to visit Wendy's creative space which is why we stopped by in the first place.

An extra bedroom became an office when Wendy began working as an interior designer.

She continues to decorate houses, but the space is used more frequently these days as Wendy's art studio.

Lately she has been working on children's collages

like these 3 colorful pieces that are perfect for a baby or toddler's bedroom.

My photographic skills (or lack thereof) did not do justice to any of the watercolors in Wendy's home

so I took a couple of images from her website to give you an idea of the beautiful work she produces.

I was able to capture decent photos of a few of her collages.

To get a real understanding of the beauty Wendy creates

click here to visit Wendy's website where you will see professional photos and learn more about her work.

I hope you enjoyed your visit - it only took me 6 weeks to edit the photos and write the post!

a terrible idea . . .

In the movie, "Under the Tuscan Sun",
Frances says to Katherine, "Well, I mean who wouldn't want to buy a villa in Tuscany.  But, the way my life's been going, that would be a terrible idea."

Katherine responds, "Terrible idea.  Mmm . . . don't you just love those?"

Well, 17 years ago today, Steve and I followed through on a terrible idea.

And it turned out to the best idea we ever had - and for our kids who tease about our use of hyperbole - yes, "THE BEST" idea.

It wasn't a villa in Tuscany, but on October 8, 1997, we moved into our little beach cottage.

The idea had been growing for a long time spurred on by two things.

First, in 1982, Steve and I participated in a retirement seminar through his company and one assignment was to close your eyes and picture yourself in retirement - we both had an image of the two of us walking on the beach.

The second impetus was KC, a competitive surfer at the time, who wanted to eliminate the 1 mile distance she had to travel to get to the water.

What made buying a beach house a terrible idea at the time was money and space
 - the house that we could afford was $100,000 more than our current home, but 1/3 of the size.

But, the terrible idea turned out to be a life changing move for us.

Our little 1928 beach cottage brought out Steve's muse and he picked up paint brushes for the first time in decades.

Steve's change from businessman to artist triggered the addition of a studio so he could paint at home.

We adapted to living in a smaller space

by carving out space in unlikely places.

We knocked down walls to open up the floor plan and created a welcoming vision from the street.

We made the house fit our lifestyle.

Or maybe, we adapted our lifestyle to fit the house!

Seriously, most of our family and friends thought our move to a little cottage was "a terrible idea".

But, I say, that's "for the birds".

There is no way that buying a beach house was a terrible idea.

But, this spot right here is what has kept me from writing posts or reading my favorite blogs - it is difficult to be indoors when the beach looks like this.

and the winners are . . .

It is October 1st and time to announce the winners of my Passing On the Blog Love Giveaway.

I said I would draw 3 names, but there were 69 comments so I generated 5 names.

I doubt if anyone knows their number so let me introduce you to the winners.

#21 is Cynthia of Cynthia lee Designs who requested the word BLESSED.

#56 is Helen of Helen Philipps who asked for the word HOME.

#39 is Susan of As Long As You Have A Garden who likes the word THRIVE.

#14 is Jane of Blondie's Journals who also asked for the HOME.

# 48, Cathy of My 1929 Charmer, did not ask for a specific word, but she did say she has never received a blog gift so I am thrilled to be sending her a banner.

My creative space is once again organized so I was able to begin the little flags this morning, but I need colors and sizes from the winners before I finish up.

Thanks for all the sweet comments from everyone and keep your eyes out for another giveaway in the next few weeks.

I made this 10" wreath the other day and had so much fun playing with wire and writing words, that I will be making some Christmas ornaments to give away.

Meanwhile, enjoy the lovely month of October.