Mandy and I celebrated five wonderful years of
marriage this year! It seems our marriage is built on our
love of renovating as every year we’ve completed a reno
project. This year, we’re tackling our vacation home once
again.
Love this light fixture for
a family room! Check out
more family room favorites
on page 40.
It all started when Mandy said, “Honey, I think we should
paint the cottage this year.” I should have known that it
would turn into a much larger project than a fresh coat of
paint. We are currently six weeks into a complete gut of
our vacation home to transform it into an open concept
oasis by the lake. This is what I call the ugly phase of a
reno where the neighbors wonder if you lost your mind
and took a sledge hammer to the place. As we drove up
the other day, our eyes peered past the property’s gated
entry at the massive piles of demolition debris and it was
quite a horrific sight. I simply closed my eyes to visualize
the finished project which is what homeowners have to
do in this situation to keep themselves levelheaded.
One thing that I’ve learned along the way is that
renovations are never ending, or at least it seems that
way when you have a newborn at home keeping you up
at night. Our second daughter, Emilie was born on June
14, 2017 so a good night’s sleep has become something
of the past in our household. As we transition back into
the baby phase, my living room has yet again been
transformed with colorful pops of whatever gaudy colors
kids’ things come in these days. Would it be too much to
ask that their toys match? The lack of color coordination is
enough to drive someone that loves to match everything
insane! I need to come to terms with it as a designer so
maybe I’ll just call it an eclectic mix of whimsical colors
and leave it at that.
The design journey is never ending in the Atiyolil
household. Wish me luck, I’m heading back into the
renovation trenches.
Union Lighting &
Furnishings, www.
unionlf.com
“People who say they sleep like a
baby don’t have one.”
Leo J. Burke
[email protected]
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