The Man Cave - Deconstructed

Three men and a house - modern. An interior designer decorated this house. Well, my brother's partner is a graphic arts designer and he and my brother own the interior so... I think that qualifies it. The third man? My Grandpa lives here too and I have have the privilege of hanging out with him for two weeks!

While mostly modern, the house has warm parquet flooring and traditional little touches like pottery pieces and an upholstered chair in a corner with a print of bright blue skies, flowers, leaves, two billy goats and even a mountain! And the artwork is an eclectic mix of pieces like the mirror pictured above, but also watercolors depicting Paris scenes and more traditional oils that all fit together seamlessly and timelessly. The house faces east so the rising and setting sun pours in through white horizontal blinds, creating sensational patterns everywhere.

Living in someone else's home for a piece is almost always sweet fun, but this time it's even better because when our time is up we get to return to the place we call home - the place where we can wake up in the middle of the night and find the bathroom without a second thought.

When the Sanctuary is Home

In the morning darkness there were toothbrushes silouhetted against the white sand outside. Rich and I took a road trip up to Ponte Vedra Beach for a conference this past week and on the way we stopped at my friend Annette's home in Melrose. She and her beau Ed have been busy making the house a home and what a sanctuary it is!

Just off the kitchen is a screened-in walkway to the next building that looks out on a deck that frames a koi pond, complete with waterfall. The hot tub and hammock felt perfectly at home there - can you say resort? From the tiki bar in the sand to a path through the Florida wilderness where a decently worn bench welcomes you at the end, everything here is calm and ready.

And the cooking was all comfort too. As usual I found myself goofing off in the kitchen rather than helping, but that's perfectly fine at Annette's because she is an incredible cook! She makes everything look so easy, so simple. She is grace in the kitchen. Biscuits and gravy with eggs couldn't have been more delicious than with the company of good friends and great people.

We had a wonderful time lounging on the couch at night watching movies and laughing loudly and an equally good time talking in the morning's soft light, finding respite before traveling on to a crowded conference and busy beach. Thanks Annette and Ed!