#23 and #24

MY "YELLOW" PERIOD ....House #23 Virginia Beach, Virginia

In the 80's I became a Realtor specializing in New Construction. A great profession for that period...... if anyone can remember what home sales and interest rates were in the 80"s!!!!! For those of you that weren't even born.....interest rates were over 20%!!!!!

In 1990 I started working in a new development where one of the models" worked" perfectly for Master Carpenter, Grandma and myself. So of course, we bought one! The master bedroom was on the first floor, perfect for Grandma, and the second floor had two additional bedrooms and a loft overlooking the Great Room. It was ideal !



About this time, my design "Epiphanies" were beginning to form. One of my first Epiphanies was to paint all the walls this gorgeous yellow I had seen in a magazine. It was a very Classic, Traditional "Gold" Yellow! These years were also big into wallpaper. I found one that had large flowers with lots of yellow. Knowing nothing of how to choose paint colors, I boldly hired a painter, had him match the yellow color in the wallpaper. He bought the paint and proceeded to paint............ I never did see a swatch or check the color. Big Mistake, but who knew. This was my very first experience with "Paint"! There was NO turning back.......
The best way to describe the result........We lived in house painted School Bus Yellow.... Not even close to what I had envisioned!!!! It has only been recently that I have even considered having yellow as just an accent color anywhere!

GRANDMA READING IN THE DINING ROOM

AND..GRANDMA SIPPING TEA IN THE KITCHEN!

Erica has asked if I could find a picture of the first "crazy" Epiphany she can remember. I found one and if you look real close you can see the fabulous design "seat" I created in our Powder Room. The home had three full baths and we used one as a Powder Room. I wanted the bath to have a "furniture" look and figured out that if Master Carpenter cut a piece of plywood the size of the top of the tub, I could pad it , cover it with a sheet, and toss a bunch of throw pillows against the tile wall. Gave it a "skirt" out of another sheet that I tucked under the board and put more of the sheeting as a drapery on both sides with a valance, using the shower rod. I thought it was GENIUS........AND I had discovered a new design tool......... SHEETS!!

There....on the left is the bath with the "Seat"!
Before the yellow paint!

Master Carpenter found a little time to do one other project .....a wall unit of shelves in the den. He was now General Manager of a new Golden Corral and again not home very much........
Our son, Bobby, was a Captain in the Army during Desert Storm. When he returned from Saudi Arabia, We were able to show how happy and proud we were with our window display!





THE RALPH LAUREN PERIOD !

After the sheet discovery, I started mixing as many different prints as possible. I would take weekly trips to a Ralph Lauren Outlet to see if an odd sham or sheet was reduced to pennies! It didn't matter what the color or print, it would "blend" with what I already had. This "design" stage continued into our next home.

ONE OF THE "BETTER" EXAMPLES!
THIS WAS LABELED THE "APPLE PIE BED"
IT IS MADE WITH TWO DOWN MATTRESSES THAT YOU PUT OVER YOUR REGULAR MATTRESS. THEN I ADDED THE DUVET WITH TWO COMFORTERS IN IT!!!
LOOKING AT IT TODAY I HAVE TO SAY ....WHAT WAS I THINKING?

#24 Chesapeake, Virginia

We lost Grandma after living in the house for about three years.

I was now selling in a condo development and decided there was a model that fit our "new" life! You guessed it, we sold the "School Bus House" and bought a three story condo!!!! The first floor was the foyer with stairs to the main living floor. This floor had two bedrooms, two baths ,a great room with a formal dining area and an eat-in kitchen. The third floor had a third bedroom, full bath and a large loft.

THIS WAS THE HARDEST PART OF MASTER CARPENTER'S DAY AFTER WORKING FOR MANY LONG HOURS AT GOLDEN CORRAL

THE MAIN LEVEL GREAT ROOM

The sheets "multiplied" and another "Epiphany" phase developed!!! Window treatments made with sheets and rubber bands!!! This was so popular with friends that I gave "classes" on different ways to use the technique!!!

MASTER BEDROOM

THE PRINCESS GUEST ROOM!

The first version of the CLOCKS

I do think that between the flower pattern sheets, and having all those stairs, the formation of my Bucket List house was slowly developing............... I had to live through these "periods"......... with more to come, to reach what will be THE BUCKET HOUSE........