"In My Opinion . . ."
August 6, 2001
After months of viewing the results of garden and home makeovers on BBC America I felt the irresistible urge to tackle my own home improvements. Lawrence Llewellan-Bowen's bold use of colors on "Changing Rooms" and Charlie Dimmick's water features on "Ground Force" inspired the various projects my family and I undertook.
Paint can transform a bland room into a fashion statement, but in the past I have had a few less-than-satisfying attempts at bringing color into my house. Still, I wanted to get away from our trademark stark white walls at least in our kitchen and main bathroom. Once before I had tried my hand at selecting intriguing coordinated colors for our small but pretty 1924 bathroom, but my so-called muted green and pink turned out to be puke and salmon, and I abandoned the project abruptly. The walls were white. Eventually I had a British exchange student paint the bathroom what I hoped was a subtle yellow, but the bright daffodil became a blaring reminder that I lacked an artist's eye.
This time around I asked for help from a professional artist friend. Her advice, coupled with all the ideas I had seen on "Changing Rooms," empowered me. I poured over paint samples from half a dozen manufacturers before settling on a deep gray-green for the bathroom and two sunset tones for the kitchen. My son and a friend tediously painted both rooms, and the results are outstanding! My kitchen has a warm, rich Mediterranean look and the bathroom feels cozy and classy.
Since neither my husband nor I do electrical work, we've hired a professional to complete our projects. We'll have new lights in the laundry room, guest bedroom and kitchen, a smooth-top range, outlets in the patio (which will allow the desired water feature), and even a new doorbell! This decorating frenzy has filled my vacation with cleaning, shopping, and other chores, but they all add up to a real sense of accomplishment. This is one time when I'm not going to get depressed on Labor Day because I frittered away 8 weeks doing nothing in my house. My husband and I are happily tackling the myriad needs of an older home and enjoying the fruits of our (and others) efforts. There really is no place like home.