I can’t believe it’s been over five years since I last wrote a blog post! A permanent move from New york to florida has taken up all of my time; getting used to a climate change, a new relaxed way of living and trying to acclimate to a very different approach to interior design.
we sold our nY house furnished as part of the deal. There was 42 years of collecting memories everywhere. each piece we would drive hours for, travel in blizzards, drag the kids and fill them with hot dogs until they would fall asleep…
It was very bittersweet. at first i thought it would be fun to start fresh. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and started to try and think “modern and minimal”. i ordered everything that i thought should be in a tropical home.
That was our “starter” home. we eventually bought a larger one knowing that we wanted to stay here. That is when i became familiar with “palm beach regency” and “chinoiserie”, style, any pretty much anything lily pulitzer.
Even my laundry room suffered the effects!
Notice the floor in the reflection of the dryer..
after three years in this house i really started to yearn for my old house on 4 1/2 acres with no neighbors to see my every move and lots of space to make a garden. I did gain a beautiful in ground pool (which i’ve never had) and of course, being from the north, i was in it every day as it was such a novelty. Thanksgiving and christmas day sitting outside in warm weather by the water was just such a foreign experience to me. I slowly learned to embrace it and certainly did not miss the freezing cold, snow and ice.
However, any given day of the week brought a landscaper to the left and a landscaper to the right; 8a.m. wakeup calls to the sound of leaf blowers outside my bedroom window, and committee members who felt it was their right to tell us what to do on our personal property.
Alas, HOA living wasn’t for us!!
after some long and hard thought, we finally decided to buy an older farmhouse on two acres of land. it was not an easy decision as this particular house need a TOTAL renovation inside and out due to neglect. from the outside one would never know.
it has so much potential to go back to its original glory. New roof, new siding and new windows will start things off. the Interior has had a lot of water damage, so sheetrock is necessary. we will move some walls to update for a laundry room, bigger closets and Primary bed/bath.
BUT!!!..
most important of all is that i have decided to stay with what makes me happy, and that is being surrounded by all things vintage and antique. this is the current state of my living room:
i have started a new collection of things I love and have missed. a french butcher’s block as an island, a french baker’s rack for china, a marble and brass italian scale and Swedish
carved wing chairs.
this is a computer rendering i did of our vision for the house
work will begin in september. i am looking forward to sharing every step of the renovation. I know it won’t be easy as we will live there, but i just keep thinking of the final outcome and how it will be worth it.
this is not our first rodeo!!
Castle & Cliff 