We re-did our home in 2012 a couple years after purchasing a small ranch that needed an update. The project included a complete remodel inside and out, as well as an addition for a foyer and office.

As an artist, I had every intention of driving the design and color choices. My husband and I were intimately involved from the onset with the builder, room layouts and window placements. Central to the plan was the decision to bring as much light as we could into a dark interior.

We began by gutting the top floor down to plywood. We wanted a single large kitchen/ living space and eliminated one of three bedrooms -creating a master suite and small guest bedroom- leaving a large, completely open floor plan for the remainder. We’d already decided that the stairway had to move because it cut through the proposed kitchen/living area. Somewhere one third into the project I almost lost it. (I’m pretty sure that was before we had even started grappling with the kitchen layout.) There was just too much to cover alone.

So much of today’s requirements track back to a mandate for freedom of choice, empowered by all manner of tools to do everything ourselves. From design, to cooking, to advertising, to conjuring up living spaces complete with décor we can design online.

I learned something new in 2012. A totally individualized solution doesn’t always work. Taking ideas and turning them into reality gets complicated fast. Not, only did I not have the time, but ideas we were cooking up, sometimes required vetting through someone who’d already “been there, done that”. We were fortunate to discover Hitchy Rahilly of Hitchy Rahilly Interiors, Northfield, CT, who became a vital addition to our team. I’m pretty sure I owe the color green in our kitchen to Hitchy. Her insistence that we maintain neutral colors in common areas, allowed us license to splurge in other ways. Here’s more about our project: http://www.pinterest.com/alexdaphne/

Paola Pillows, as bright as they are, will always have a place in making a house your home. If you find yourself renovating, be bold! Go with your love of color, but consider that any idea can benefit from perspective. Reach out to someone whose skills you respect. It will enrich your home life. And, if you’re looking for luxurious down pillows that look like you picked them yesterday, subscribe here, https://paolaprints.com/subscribe/-and you can pick your own when we get to market.

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Comments

  1. Bridget

    This post was very well written and tied in well with the pillows at the end. Every thing you said in the post summed up everything in the photo. Loved it!!!!!

    Love your daughter…..

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