Windsor Rose Transformation Awaits
What gifts will this new year bring? More time to myself? Time to celebrate our precious home? And come to terms with the losses of recent years…to honor the loved ones I miss so much? Time to purge and organize the vast accumulation of stuff that I have built up over time? Time to write? To read? To cook? Time to renew and reinvigorate the beautiful place that we call home.
When I launched this blog - almost two years ago - my intention was to explore and write about our colorful world in all it’s brilliant facets. My daughter had just moved out of our nest and this project was planned to be our joint effort - with me doing the writing and her doing the graphic design and posting. I looked forward to the time we would spend “working together” on Facetime.
I was still working as Designer Concierge for DesignSourceCT, central Connecticut’s premier regional design center. And I was on point with a remodeling project of a nearly 80 year old summer cottage in Narragansett, Rhode Island. My days were quite full and as it turned out I had less time to focus on this personal project.
Diana Rose had just accepted a new full time position in the marketing department at Goodwill and was continuing her part-time gig as a stylist for StitchFix. I, of course, signed up with StitchFix and requested that my “fixes” be done by her - and her alone. We would Facetime while she’d source my collection of five pieces.
And so, my best laid plans to launch this blog were sidelined for a bit and then everything changed…
Just as the remodel was done and we were all set to enjoy our first 4th of July at “Camp”, mom suffered a massive stroke which left her parylized on one side. My focus shifted to her care and comfort. She was strong and we got her the best of everything. But her body gave out five and a half months later.
We held a memorial service right before Christmas in the church where mom and dad had been married some 60 years before. Sad as we were, there was a kind of comfort in celebrating their lives together as we said our goodbyes.
The time since then has been hard. I resented the fact that I had stayed working when I could have been more present for mom in what were to be her final months. I gave my notice in March and May 31st was my last day punching a time clock.
We then began a long awaited home remodel of our own involving a complete transformatoin of our own kitchen and three baths. This consumed me for the next six months - from June through December.
Now that work is done and my house is primed and ready for the last stage - the finishing touches that have been put off for years, I am now in a position to focus on my own home. The colors, the window treatments, the accessories and, most important, the purging that will rid me of the burden of too much stuff.
So this years gift will be time to finally make our beloved Windsor Rose … a home that reflects our lifestyle and life stage. I hope to share the creative steps as they reveal this dynamic transformation. The ideas that have been percolating in my mind will now take shape all around me. I know I won’t be alone. Matt will be cheering me on. Diana Rose will offer her design eye from afar. Mom will be encouraging me. And the original matron of the house, Amelia Lenkeit, will be smiling, too, with that twinkle in her eye. She began the renewal of this gracious home and her love of color and classic design continues to inspire me in this endeavour. Thank God, her daughter, my dearest friend, Victoria, is along for the ride. She loves color, too, and I treasure the gift of her friendship - now and always.
I hope that in sharing this journey, these stories will inspire others to bring more color into their lives.