Your home should be where the chaos of life is left at the door.  A place where you can relax and rejuvenate.   Creating a cozy, warm and pretty place to live is not about decorating styles but about creating an environment that includes items you enjoy and are important to you such as collections, special photos, antiques, or whatever makes you happy.   I also believe comfortable furniture, simplicity and order, and natural light are so important.

We are thankful that this year we were able to turn the first floor of our home into our sanctuary by completing a major renovation.  We are beyond thrilled with how it turned out and would like to share the results with you.

Our kitchen looked like this before demolition.

The picture below doesn’t look like much but for us it was major progress.  A wall had come down, five new windows were added, and all the plumbing and hvac work had been completed.
Here’s why the space below has turned into our sanctuary…the simplicity of the design, the addition of natural light,  and the addition of quality finishes, materials and workmanship.  We installed cherry wood inset cabinets by Dura Supreme.  The upper cabinets have glass to reflect light and display our glassware and pottery dishes.  The seeded glass pendant lights by Visual Comfort, sparkle and compliment our rustic design.  The custom roman shades and drapery panels by my workroom add color and softness to the kitchen.  The creamy 4×8 subway tiles are installed to the ceiling and were handmade and have slight color and size variations which adds subtle texture and interest.
The natural slate floor reminds us of the outdoors.
Below are the 35 year old disintegrating cabinets that needed replacing.
Below the opening to our dining has been moved to the left.  This simple move lead us to rearrange our dining room furniture making the space much more inviting and cozy.
Below is the finished opening leading to our dining room.  The bookshelves allows us easy access to our favorite cookbooks and a place to display pottery we’ve collected over the past twenty years.  The new layout of our kitchen has greatly improved its functionality.  People no longer walk through our “work triangle”.  We added a lot more storage, so serving dishes and kitchen appliances are no longer kept in our basement.  We also added a larger stove and an extra oven so cooking for large groups has become a lot easier.  The new counter height “live edge” table below was custom made by David Stein Woodworking.  We like the combination of the steel base with the natural look of the oak top.  David dropped off the table right before Thanksgiving, just in time for a large family celebration.
I do like symmetry, so the fact that our chandelier wasn’t centered on the opening shown below always drove me nuts.

We took down a section of the wall, replaced four sliding glass doors with new windows that match the rest of the house, and continued the slate tile from the kitchen into the dining space.

Adding unique one-of-a-kind pieces, such as the custom table below and live plants was important to us.

We worked very hard to have our home furnished and decorated for the holidays.  There’s nothing like throwing a party to motivate you to get things done!  Below are pictures from a recent holiday open house we hosted to celebrate the season and to thank the people who helped us turn our house into a sanctuary.
My beautiful niece and her friends were a big help!  The rum punch was popular (here’s the recipe.  If you make the punch, don’t skimp on the steps and fresh lime juice is a must!).   In addition to wonderful food provided by family and friends and the oysters shucked by my husband and Dave (one of my favorite carpenters), Tastings Gourmet Market in Annapolis provided amazing cheese platters, hot smoked salmon, gourmet sandwiches, and more.

I do what I do because I love to help people transform their homes into their sanctuary.  If you would like help turning your home into one you love, contact me.

Happy Holidays!

Melissa