Casual Elegance - Dining Room

The dining room in the Ramona, CA, "almost fire victim" home is directly opposite the formal living room. The homeowner wanted a formal place to entertain, but expressed a desire for the room to have a casual side. We ordered two painted country armoires filled with monochromatic pottery pieces to soften the feel of the room, and the rich brown wall color adds warmth and coziness.

I selected the contemporary mirror between the armoires for a touch of whimsy - it was a stretch for the client, but she trusted me. After the mirror hung in the home a few days she loved it! I can't let this one go without a quick thank you to Cathy's draperies in San Marcos, CA., for the absolutely gorgeous window panels. What ever would I do without Cathy?!! If you look closely you can see the faux silver leafing we had painted inside the oval. It absolutely glows - day and night.

Dining Room...

Pottery details...

From another angle...

Custom made chairs feature a silk embroidered flower at seat back.

The floral arrangement was made just for this table,

but you can't lift the urn, it's so heavy it takes two people to move!

The dining room before...

Hey those chandeliers are actually coming back in style!

We should-a saved it.

Fire Rebuild: tile and cabinet stain

I have to say, it's been so nice to walk around the house with the tile on the floors... and the stain on the cabinets... even though the place IS scattered, dusty and dirty. Every day the house feels more like a home. As much as I love this phase of design... the construction phase, I am anxiously anticipating the transition to furniture and accessories. Probably because the house is such a beautiful backdrop to anything we put inside! Also because the homeowners will have moved in. There will be music, laughter, and the smell of food in the kitchen. And we will scatter the counters and walls with pretty things to envelope the making of memories. Oh, how I love my job!

Entry decorative inset in rustic red field tile:

Main hallways:
Kitchen cooktop:
Kitchen island:

Butler pantry:

Great Room TV cabinet:

Office:

Wine cellar:

Ceiling and walls are same adobe brick as butler pantry.

This is the view of the wine cellar ceiling, coming back up the stairs.
Master bathroom tub:

Master bathroom shower detail:

Kid's bathroom:

(or we should say, grandkids and guests :)

Fire Rebuild: Wow! Exterior Stucco

I think this was the most dramatic change for me. When I showed up at the jobsite and saw the beautiful dusky golden stucco exterior, I almost did a little dance. It is so gorgeous! Major kudos to Carole Wylie, our architect, for the color selection. She is a great designer. And kudos to Tammy at Light Gallery in Escondido for finding our exterior lights even after they were discontinued. I can't imagine any other light fitting the bill as well as those have.

Here's George, tile guy extraordinaire, grouting the entry archway.

(Speaking of Kudos!)

To the right of the entry:
Back patio, covered fireplace and pool:
Window detail:

Back patio off the dining room and master suite:

Breakfast nook as seen from the outside:

Fire rebuild: exterior is almost done!

It was such a great feeling to drive up and see the house really looking like a house! The landscaped walls are taking shape, the windows look beautiful, the roof is almost done, and those tiles at the front entry are SO GORGEOUS! I can picture it...

here is one of our fire survivors, the old front door... but I'm not sure we should use it. (wink, wink)

Here's the front approach, and those beautiful tiles.
Closeup of the tile arch at front porch, it's not grouted yet.

And the back porch is taking shape too...