River House Diary

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...

The den is nearly finished ... for now. It still needs window treatments, determining if the lamp on the commode between the chairs is in its permanent home and better styling of the bar cart. But the room is functional and comfortable -- my two most important reasons for spending so much time thinking about how to decorate. (The lower right photo is the most accurate for color.) Den from three camera angles; personal collection The built-in cabinets are filled with things we've collected in our travels and our favorite books. I know it will be a work in progress as we bring more things home from trips. We use this room in the evenings after dinner when we watch TV. I also find Pete napping in his recliner most afternoons! Built-in bookshelves include travel treasures and books; personal collection

I've blogged about parts of the foyer several times, but our custom rug arrived Monday and so the "room" is finished. Time for a tour! Foyer at River House; personal collection The rug is an all-weather "sisal" from SisalRugs.com . Customers can buy rugs by the inch to get a perfect fit. Zuniga Interiors specified the Costa Rica Sisal  with a serged edge. Learn more about how I styled the Tinsley chest from Arhaus. My favorite part is the chandelier , which really doesn't make an appearance in the collage above. It was definitely a splurge. Cynthia Sea Glass Nuggets Chandelier from Au Courant Interiors; personal collection

I have been getting a lot of requests for photos of the rooms in our house. This probably isn't the room anyone wants to see, but the pantry is the closest to being finished. So that's what you will see! The pantry is accessible from the kitchen via a swing door. I chose to have glass installed in the top panel of the door to let more light into the kitchen as the pantry window is south facing. Pantry door from kitchen; personal collection I enlarged the pantry by two feet so it is 6 feet 10 inches deep. There is a U-shaped counter that is standard depth under the window but only 12 inches deep along the side walls. An Elkay stainless steel sink is under the window and this is where I hand wash my pots, pans and wine glasses. I am waiting on a woven Roman shade for the window and a fabric "skirt" under the sink to hide the plumbing and whatever cleaning supplies end up down there. The rug is a flatweave outdoor rug that matches the rug we have under our kitc...