The Bungalow, Part I.

Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting her weekly meme, "Metamorphosis Monday."  I'm excited to join the party.

My precious daughter and son-in-law are both professional musicians.  KC is an independent singer-songwriter, and they travel much of the time.  They are "starving artists" in the true sense of the word.  They recently leased a small craftsman bungalow in one of our city's historical neighborhoods.  She invited me to join them the day that they viewed the house.  It was clean, well-built, old, and in my mind....terminally D.R.A.B.  But in her always creative way, KC had a vision.  I thought that I would share the dining room with you today.  I'll deal with other rooms in future postings.  So-o-o-o, the day that we looked at the house, I pulled out my phone camera, and here's what we found...

But not for long..KC and David went to work with their paint buckets, and in amazingly short order, they layered the walls with her favorite colors and filled this tiny house with furniture that has been well-loved by her family for generations...

Come on in!  KC and David love to entertain...wonder where that characteristic came from?  The first thing that they chose to do was flip-flop the layout of the public rooms:  the living room became the dining room, and the dining room became the living room.  KC wanted to use the craftsman glass front cases to store some of her china and entertaining goodies...do you see a pattern developing here?  She loves her light fixtures, and they travel with her wherever she lives.  The table and chairs were painted by her loving mom...that would be me.  The table originally belonged to Great-Aunt Dorothy.  Sweet Mr. and I used it as our dining table when we were first married, 42 years ago; and now it resides with KC and David.

Do you notice the lace panels covering the wonderful old craftsman windows overlooking the front porch?  They once belonged to our Precious Nana, KC's great-grandmother.  Sweet Mr. offered KC an old cardboard box that was left over after we cleared oh so many things from his mom's home.  She accepted the box, and this is but one of the treasures that rested within that unassuming box.  There are seven of these circa 1920 lace panels, enough of them to use for window coverings each time that they have moved to a new home.  She attaches them with push pins, and then she covers the pins with a variety of vintage clip-on earrings.  She calls it her "window jewelry."  I think that they are spectacular, and I love that they were made during the same period as the historic homes in which KC and David prefer to live.  Thank you, Nana, once again!

I am by no means an authority on lace, but I think that this is called "tape lace."  The Spode, "Blue Italian," is one of KC's everyday patterns.  The bowl is filled with antique and vintage handkerchiefs that have been stitched into small bags filled with potpourri.

A pair of mantle lamps flank two Parisian watercolors that belonged to KC's Great-Aunt Ida.  Ida brought the paintings back from Europe in the 1950's.  KC refuses to reframe them; she adores the history that the well-worn frames represent.  She has the beginning of a collection of colored glass containers to reflect the sunlight as it streams through the two windows flanking the fireplace.  That's a picture of KC's brother and sister-in-love, with their two precious little boys.  KC and David absolutely adore their nephews...I'm pretty partial to them, too!

You can never have too much storage space for your dishes, crystal, and silver.  We found these pieces  for KC and David shortly after they were married.  The Welsh Dresser was bought in a used furniture store for $125.00, and the Queen Anne buffet was a garage sale find for less than $100.  I painted and distressed them in the colors that KC wanted.  They have made it possible for her to always have her lovely things at hand, ready to use...such a blessing.

Can you see the plates, stored vertically, on the right side of the dresser?  I designed those for KC before she was married.  Each of the 12 plates is different.  I am honored that she still enjoys using them and likes to display them.  The next time that she uses them for a tablescape, I'll grab some pics of them to share with  you.

The pen and ink drawing was another treasure found in that old cardboard box.  It once belonged to Nana.  KC is a wonderful steward of her family's things.  She doesn't seem to care when something is a bit worn, a little tired; she believes that its history gives it value.

So, that's the tour.  I think that KC and David are ready to welcome their friends into their home.  Some night that might mean a jam session for their musician friends or a few of their fans.  

You can check out KC's music at www.kcclifford.com, on iTunes, and on YouTube.  I hope that you'll take a few minutes and give her a listen.  Her latest CD is called "Orchid."

I am linking to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her weekly meme, Metamorphosis Monday.  Click the button below to link to all the wonderful bloggers who are participating in Susan's party this week.

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