Common Cents Creates Comfort

"...but the concept of the new Cape Cod and Nantucket II is to show how people can live comfortably in the $600,00s."

This is a direct quote from the April 27th issue of the St. Louis Post Dispatch Sunday newspaper in the new home section. This comment came from a local developer. Is it me or do any of you also find yourself re-reading the quote two, maybe three times to make sure you read it correctly and then roll your eyes and are screaming in your head "you have got to be kidding!!"

I can't believe that we Americans "need to be shown" that we somehow can manage, without too much discomfort, find a way to find to live in a $600,000 home comfortably. I know that the majority of us lack the imagination and know-how in finding some impossible way, to make our inhabitable shack of a $600,000 home livable...but thank goodness for the beloved HGTV shows to set us all straight and to inspire us to get off our lazy butts and do something to get our half a million or so home livable and presentable for company....

Okay, I will stop with the sarcasm...I just couldn't believe that someone feels the need to show us how to live comfortably in a half a million-plus home. I only hope it was a misquote. Anywho, while there are many people who can well-afford such a home and in certain parts of our wonderful country, $600,000 really is the average price for an average home. I have lovely clients that live in homes three times that cost and the owners all feel very fortunate and blessed and have made them very comfortable and they didn't need me to show them how. They just needed some custom drapes or bedding. But for the rest of us, a $600,000 home would be very comfortable and we would most likely not need some developer to show us how to live in it.

I would like to prove my point with a little eye candy from a feature I designed and photographed for Romantic Homes June issue (now on stands). While this home is not $600K, nor the size of a McMansion, it has all the comfort, warmth, and love that any mansion would envy. The owner, Debbie McReynolds, and her daughter, Caitlain, have turned their tiny home into a haven. I will give you a sneak preview of photos that were not used in the magazine. To see the entire 10-page feature, you must buy the issue, or better yet, subscribe to Romantic Homes magazine!

(Nothing wrong with a little PR :-)

Enjoy the photos - the concept is simply that even the smallest home can pack in the personality. I also took a formal dining room, and with a few simple changes, I made a rustic, whimsical "Young at Heart" party to kick off the summer. A corn drying wrack over a glittery mirrored buffet, and antique hose nozzels on vintage china. And Little Debi snacks for dessert - summer is finally here!

If you would like to see many more photos, please pick up the June issue of Romantic Homes Magazine.

Texture, texture, texture! Linen table cloth, French collars, wooden floors, mirrored furniture, Oriental rug, vintage china and upholstered chairs all make this tiny room a room to remember!

What's up with all the friggin antique hose nozzels? You can read all about it in the June issue of Romantic Homes magazine....sorry - I can't tell you everything, now can I? :-)

Yes, I designed this bedding for Debbie. She gave me the most endearing compliment. She told me that when she goes to bed at night, and covers herself, she feels like "Elizabeth is giving me a hug goodnight." I teared up when she told me that because I had no idea that the bedding meant so much to her. How fortunate I am to have such lovely people in my life?

Thank you for allowing me to share with you.

I hope you enjoyed the photos of Debbie's home. I had so much fun with the photo shoot and dressing up her table. I especially got a kick out of my friend, and Debbie's neighbor, Renee. Renee came over during the photo shoot and couldn't believe all that went into a shoot and how long it took (three days). When the magazine feature came out, Renee was the first to call me and tell me about it and she couldn't believe that while the photos in the magazine were beautiful (thank you Renee), but how they also didn't even begin to show how much work went into capturing it all. That is the magic of a photo shoot...it all looks so effortless which makes us (yes, even me) look at the rooms in magazines and think, I want to live there! But in reality, I think most of us just love the thought simply living in just a clean and orderly home...never mind the style....I just want someone to clean my home for me....that is my goal anyway.

A clean...orderly...comfortable home are things we all strive for. But until I am "shown how I can live comfortably in a $600, 000," I will have to make do with my common cents in creating comfort in my little abode.

From my abode to your abode,

Elizabeth :-)

Note: For those of you who are waiting for my notes from the Country Living Magazine seminar, please go to my other blog, Shop Talk for the notes. Thank you!