Several years ago my brother gave me a book on Feng Shui for Christmas. Almost 500 pages long I've yet to read the whole thing, but I appreciate the principles. For a house to feel like a home it needs to have the proper mix of energies and flow. And perhaps most important of all, It needs to reflect the personality of the owner. The furniture I had in this space before I started the renovation/redecoration was all wrong. The sofa and chairs were from the basement family room of my old house. They seemed to fit in that space but in this house it felt all wrong. For one thing they were in a heavy southwestern theme with a strong pattern. And perhaps most importantly the pattern and color of the sofa wasn't chosen by me. It was heavily influenced by the tastes of a former boyfriend ... who obviously liked a southwestern theme. Being an agreeable sort of person I wanted him to feel a part of the space so I tried to pick colors that he liked. Now that I'm on my own I felt the need to mold the space to fit my personality. This room feels like me.



The medium tones of the wood and the warm nutmeg color of the sofa give the room a feeling of warmth. The walls are painted in a cool teal color called "rainwashed" which reminds me of water. It cools the room down. Notice the windows are without coverings. I used solar shades which are like sunglasses. They cut the heat and the glare but you can still see outside. I like feeling like I'm a part of nature, not cut off from nature.

So this is my finished product. You would probably decorate your space differently but this room feels harmonious and comfortable to me. The house is finally starting to feel like home. Above are Annabel and Maribel trying out the new floor cushions. Later that evening I had a small gathering for the group I play bridge with at the Savory Cafe. We ate dinner around the coffee table. It had a nice casual feel.



This is the newly remodeled kitchen. Gone are the gold appliances. The countertops are granite in verde ubatuba, basically a deep forest green. All the new appliances are stainless steel. As my guests on Saturday noted, the space flows well. Next on my list of home projects is painting the loft. But that will have to wait until the summer is over. The calendar is pretty full. In addtion to the Blackburn Challenge, I also decided to row in the Dragon Boat Races in Taiwan.

-Susanita

If I had lived in the house for a long time I might have felt a tinge of sadness as they tore away the old cabinets and tore out the gold appliances ... but I haven't and I didn't. This is what was left of my kitchen after Tom and his crew went to work early Monday morning. I was surprised how fast the first day went. That afternoon the new cabinets were delivered and by Wednesday they had most of the new cabinets in place.



I love it! Today Tom installed my Advantium Speed Oven. I don't cook alot but I'm really excited about this oven. Because ... it cooks just like a regular oven ... only faster. A lot faster. I browsed through the cookbook which came with it this morning and the average cooking time seemed to be around 15 minutes. It cooks the outside of the food using regular convection cooking and it cooks the inside of the food using microwaves. And it browns and broils and toasts and bakes and roasts ... but it does everything fast.

I also had a visit from the guy from Counter Intelligence to get a measurement for the granite countertops. He came equipped with some high tech lasers for measuring the cabinets and counter space. It's been very educational watching these guys work. But I'll be really glad when it's all over and I can get back to my regular life ... cooking fast and kayaking fast.

Dave Isbell emailed yesterday that the SOF racing kayak he's building me is starting to actually look like a kayak. So I'm going to try and run by his place in Annapolis this weekend and get some pictures. I just have to wait for the snow and sleeting to stop. But hopefully I'll have photos up on the blog by Sunday night.

-Susanita

I usually post to the blog once a week. But last week left me ... speechless. For those in the kayaking community this is old news, but many people who read the blog are not kayakers. Australian kayaker Andrew McAuley was attempting to kayak 1600 km across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand in a Mirage 580. News reports state that less than 75 km from New Zealand his kayak was hit by a wave and he had to exit. He never made it back in the boat. His kayak was found but Andrew was never found. My friend Bob sent me photos of his kayak and there was one photo of his wife crying beside the kayak. But I couldn't post them. It was just too sad. So I immerse myself in my painting. There's nothing left to do or say ...



The living room is being painted khaki with white trim. The family room with the 14 foot ceilings will be done in Opulent Opal. Annabel and Maribel pretty much leave me alone while I'm painting, then when I'm done they come and check out my work. Annabel likes to inspect the ceiling and trim. Out the window you can see the snow and ice that accumulated yesterday.

-Susanita

This is my winter project ... well one of them. Take a look at this lovely but dated kitchen. It will all be gone by February. I'm replacing the cabinets, the lovely gold appliances and the counter tops. Fortunately, Tom, the contractor who helped me tear down some walls and tear up all the floors when I bought the house two years ago has found time to fit my little kitchen project into his schedule. So we've set early February for the demolition. Although I probably won't purchase the best cabinets I figure anything will look better than the dark brown and the gold appliances ... especially that huge gold exhaust hood.

The history of the house is kind of interesting. The original house was built in the early 1900's and it appears that it was a one bedroom cottage. Then in the 80's a young man moved into the cottage with his parents and designed an A-frame addition that sits perpendicular to the main house. My neighbor across the street who lived here during that time period said he was somewhat of a hermit but meticulous with details. I have all the many architectural drawings he did in a closet so I can attest to his attention to detail. The house is only 1200 square feet, not counting the loft, but the open floor plan makes it feel much bigger. And believe it or not the house actually won an architectural award back in the 80's. I love the house. It's small but cozy and the two wood stoves and two fireplaces he designed into the floor plan give it that winter vacation feel. The city of Takoma Park also designated about 10 acres behind the house as "protected woodland" because there is an endangered fox living behind the house. This is true. I've seen the fox. And I'm keeping him well fed and happy so he lives a long, long life!

So there is another little project I'm working on this winter that is kayak related ... but I'm not ready to blog about it yet. I'll just say that there will be another kayak joining my fleet in a few months. It's being custom built and the design is kind of a ... mystery.

-Susanita