River House Diary

Zuniga Interiors suggested a succulent arrangement for the kitchen table. I knew just where to go to purchase one as I had been admiring the lovely arrangements made by the Etsy shop SucculentArtworks . I chose the 18-inch birch trimmed arrangement. Isn't it lovely? Succulent arrangement; courtesy of SucculentArtworks

The kitchen is almost complete. I am still fiddling with organization but have plenty of room for my pots, pans, utensils and tableware. For the main core of the house (foyer, great room, kitchen and pantry), we used house plan 51754HZ . The main changes we made to the kitchen were using Thermador columns for the refrigerator, freezer and wine chiller and using drawers instead of doors on the perimeter wall of base cabinets. We also added three Hudson Valley Lighting 15-inch Lambert pendants. The plan just had recessed lighting throughout the kitchen. The counter stools are the Capitola stools from Palecek. Getting to comfortable counter stools was a  saga ! We purchased the swan at the 32nd Decoy Festival  last December. Eventually, our sofa will be delivered and will be placed in front of the swan and the console table. Kitchen from great room; personal collection The doorway between the perimeter wall cabinets and the side board goes to the garage/master suite wi...

We have counter stools ... finally! Palecek Capitola Counter Stools; personal collection Counter stools have been quite the saga at River House. My first two choices were from Williams Sonoma Home and were no longer available when we tried to order them. My next two choices were from Serena & Lily and the seats were about 2 inches more narrow that standard. But the Capitola counter stools from Palecek are perfect. A close-up view; personal collection

The window treatments for the kitchen and pantry are woven wood shades by Horizons Window Fashions. The pattern and color are Veranda Light Walnut . Five were installed -- four in the kitchen and one in the pantry. The color is a perfect compliment to the furniture in the eat-in area of the kitchen. Kitchen shades; personal collection This is the single window that overlooks the screen porch. Identical shades are on the three windows that overlook the river to the left of this photo. The pantry window overlooks the road at the front of the house. Zuniga Interiors specified off-white or ivory linen drapes for the eat-in area along with woven wood shades. We chose to wait on those for now. I've been back and forth about drapes vs. no drapes but am still undecided. If you recall, the sink in the pantry, where I wash dishes, is exposed. So we also had a "sink skirt" made for it. It is made from Master Fabric's Stuti collection -- Imperatrice 022 . Sink skir...

The new sideboard in the dining area of the kitchen has been styled with a large basket we bought in the Catskills made out of grape vines and vintage Japanese fishing floats I've been collecting since my first trip to Hawaii in 1982. A new piece of art from Horchow  arrived just before Memorial Day and we hung it yesterday. Kitchen eating area; personal collection

The counter stools for River House have been quite the saga. First, there was the St. Martin stool from Williams and Sonoma but they were no longer available. That was the same story for the Ibzia stool from the same source. Next, we tried the Avalon from Serena & Lily , and a more uncomfortable stool couldn't be imagined. Our fourth attempt was also from Serena & Lily -- the Riviera Sunwashed Counter Stool . It was slightly more comfortable than the Avalon, but not by much. Take five is the Capitola counter stool from Palecek. Of course, it's three times more expensive than my other attempts but Zuniga Interiors was able to get us a pretty good price. We ordered them yesterday. Finally! Capitola Counter Stool; courtesy of Palecek

Sideboard with buffet lamps; personal collection Now that the sideboard has finally been delivered, my thoughts have turned to how to style it. A fairly large piece of art is needed and we don’t already own something suitable. Zuniga Interiors specified this piece — Escapism from Horchow. It’s a large piece at 37 inches wide by 48 inches tall, which is what the space needs. Escapism; courtesy Horchow But then ... what to place on the side board that won’t be dwarfed by the artwork? Surfing through some of my favorite design blogs, I found this idea on for the love of a house  — adding antique Japanese glass fishing balls to an old dough bowl. I like the juxtaposition between vintage items and abstract art while both are true to coastal theme. Etsy, here I come!

Yesterday, the sideboard for the kitchen and the bench for our bedroom were delivered by McQueen's Interiors . They had arrived at their warehouse the day before North Carolina went into lockdown. The sideboard is Lexington Furniture's Monterey Sands Point Sur Buffet . New sideboard; personal collection Since we moved the uncomfortable upholstered chairs from the kitchen to our bedroom , we had plenty of room for the sideboard. Now, we have a convenient place to stash the clutter that accumulates on our kitchen table. However, if we put the bench at the foot of our bed, it leaves only a 22" pathway between the bench and the chairs. So we may leave it in the great room, instead of buying the bench Zungia Interiors specified. That's one of the nice things about having a whole-house color palette -- furniture can move around and still work. Reupholstered bench; personal collection The bench was previously covered in a dull gold fabric for our bedroom in o...

If you follow any designer blogs or read shelter magazines, you’ve likely heard of high-low design. It’s basically the mixing of higher end furnishings with less expensive items or decorative items. Our attempt at high-low design ended in failure. We paired cheap upholstered chairs  with a Williams Sonoma Home table and side chairs . After sitting in the Kimpton Upholstered Button Wingback Chairs for nearly a month, Pete and I were both complaining of sore backs. We decided they were about the most uncomfortable chairs in which we’d ever sat. This morning they got sent to the bedroom where their sole purpose will be to act as a valet stand for Pete’s clothes at night. Pete’s new valet stand; personal collection

For the past three weeks, we've been using the kitchen island as the place to put things that were unpacked but needed to be cleaned. Yesterday, I cleaned everything remaining on the island and could begin to think about how to style the kitchen. But I am at a loss. Suggestions please. Kitchen perimeter wall; personal collection Refrigeration/pantry wall; personal collection So far, all I have achieved is adding faux green apples from Wayfair to an original piece of pottery we purchased at BLUSAIL GOLITZ STUDIO in Morehead City. Faux fruit in a bowl; personal collection

As we begin to live in River House, the lack of counter stools became an issue. I usually sit at the counter when chopping produce while preparing our meals. While I love the Palecek Capitola , I didn't love the price. I thought I would try something less expensive and turned again to Serena & Lily. I chose their Riviera Sunwashed counter stool in Natural. Riviera Sunwashed Counter Stool; courtesy of Serena & Lily The price for the three counter stools I needed was less than two thirds the price of Palecek's Capitola. And the Serena & Lily website said the interior seat dimension was 18-1/2 inches -- 2-1/2 inches wider than the very uncomfortable Avalon . I was a bit skeptical the dimensions provided on the website were correct. The overall size was 18 inches wide by 23-1/2 inches deep by 42 inches high. Yet, the inner seat dimensions were listed as 18-1/2 inches wide by 15-1/2 inches deep. How could the inner seat be wider than the entire piece of furniture?...

Once we assembled the kitchen table, we knew the eat-in space would be cramped with a sideboard along the hall wall. So we centered the table and the electricians came out and installed our chandelier. Kitchen Chandelier; personal collection The  Kenroy Home Dumas 5-Light Brushed Steel Wood Bead Chandelier may be purchased at Home Depot.

We were at  McQueen’s Interiors today finalizing our window treatments and I told Beth about our counter stool saga . She found this beauty — Capitola by Palecek . It’s very similar to the no longer available Ibiza from Williams Sonoma and eight-and-half inches wider than the counter stools we sent back to Serena & Lily. Plus with no arms, it can tuck under the island counter very nicely. Capitola 24” Stool by Palecek; courtesy of Palecek

Enjoying a cup of coffee in the mornings is so important to us that we traveled from New York with our coffee maker. It’s no surprise one of the priorities we set for River House was to have the furniture already purchased prior to moving in that would allow us to savor our coffee. Ted helped us set up the very heavy pine farm table from Williams Sonoma Home and the upholstered chairs from iNSPIRE Q Artisan that had been in our storage area since mid-November. Kitchen eat-in area; personal collection.

We brought two of our three counter stools to the walk-through yesterday as my knee was bothering me and Jane’s back was hurting. I relearned a very important lesson — always check the dimensions of furniture before ordering. The Serena & Lily Avalon Swivel Counter Stool was my third choice for stools for the kitchen island. After trying to sit in them, they are no choice at all. Typically dining chairs and stools are 18- to 20-inches wide. The Avalon is 16 inches and are a comfortable fit for only children as far as I’m concerned. Back to the drawing board... Avalon Swivel Counter Stools before being returned; personal collection

Pete and I agreed to concentrate on furnishing the Den (or man cave), Master Bedroom and Kitchen before we moved in so we'd have those rooms in which we could live comfortably while working on the rest of the house. We purchased a kitchen table and chairs from Williams Sonoma Home in August, taking advantage of last year's Labor Day sales. We used current President's Day sales to finish the kitchen. Kitchen furniture and furnishings; personal collection Lexington Furniture Monterey Sands Sideboard Kimpton Upholstered Button Tufted Wingback Chair by iNSPIRE Q Artisan in Beige Bentley Weathered Brown Wood Buffet Lamps, Set of 2

Selecting counter stools for River House has turned into quite the ordeal. My first choice, the St. Martin from Williams Sonoma Home, was no longer available when I tried ordering it in December. after some dithering, I selected the Ibiza stool from the same source. Williams Sonoma Home was even offering 30% off for President’s Day. I got all the way through the ordering process before the electronic commerce app informed me the stools were no longer available. A customer service rep told me they would not be restocked. Ibiza Counter Stool; courtesy of Williams Sonoma Home What is our third choice? Zuniga Interiors sent several possibilities and Pete settled on the only one that swivels — the Avalon from Serena & Lily. I’m not wild about the color but at least they were also on sale and in stock. One more item checked off the shopping list! Avalon Swivel Counter Stool; courtesy Serena & Lily

Our kitchen appliances were installed earlier this week. It’s starting to look like a kitchen now. The Thermador columns without their skins look like something my brother’s custom refrigeration company would make. Refrigerator, freezer and wine chiller; personal collection I very much wanted the microwave above the double ovens but the cabinet designer was having none of it. I imagine for safety reasons. Wall ovens; personal collection Microwave and dishwasher in the island; personal collection

Zuniga Interiors recommended the tongue-and-groove ceilings in the kitchen and foyer and the great room ceiling beams be stained a light wood like Hallmark Floors Balboa Oak . And it is beautiful. But the yellow pine wood our builder used on the ceilings didn't look anything like that when stained with several different Minwax colors. So on to Plan B -- evoking the feel of an old southern porch with white trim and haint blue ceilings. Great room ceiling; personal collection The tongue-and-groove ceilings are stained with one coat of Minwax Simply White. We planned to stain the beams the same, but the wood absorbed the stain very unevenly. So we ended up painting them a custom Sherwin Williams blend to match Magnolia Home True White, which is what we used on all the trim in the house. The ceiling is Sherwin Williams 9054 Little Boy Blu but just 30 percent of the color.

Pete and I have both been uncomfortable with the thought of ordering our window treatments online as we would be responsible for measuring and installing. We asked our builder's interior designer if she had recommendations for a workroom we could use, and she directed us to McQueen's Interiors in Morehead City. We are working with Beth Cantrell. She must have loved us. We walk in off the street extremely windblown, carrying a 3-ring binder and two plastic bags filled with carpet and tile samples and fabric. But after selecting treatments for 21 windows, crafting a cushion for our closet bench and reupholstering a bench and a chair, I think she really loves us now! The woven shades Zuniga selected for the kitchen were now longer available, but this looks like a great replacement -- just perfect. Window treatments selected for four kitchen windows; personal collection A bonus for us -- the sideboard Zuniga Interiors specified for the eat-in area of the kitchen is on sale...