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| Home Sweet Home |
It is a rainy October evening and I am cuddled up on the daybed in the Sunroom with Clarissa, a stack of books, my grandmother's quilt, and a cup of tea. I'm reflecting back to about six months ago when this room was full of extra building supplies and Amazon boxes, major upgrade!
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| Before! |
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After!
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Initially the major barrier to setting up this room was the floor. There was a sheet of some sort of floor covering over the original floor. Judging by the texture and design, I was concerned that it could be.. the A word...asbestos. Many old homes still have asbestos here and there throughout the house, from exterior shingles to pipe insulation, and it's not a huge problem. Unless you want to move it. Asbestos is a material that is made of tiny particles that, if inhaled, can increase cancer risk. The common thought is that if it is left undisturbed it's safe to remain in place. I wanted that old floor covering to disappear, so I needed someone to test it for asbestos first! I called my friend Andre of New England Home Restoration. He checked out the material and gave me the go ahead to tear it out. Within the hour I had pulled up the old beat up floor covering and started detailing the space.
Over the past year, I have had a total of 10 roommate/renters at The Nest. Each one with his or her own story and unique twisting path. It's been a great learning experience to provide a soft place to land for these humans. Or should I say, to witness The Nest be a soft place to land. I am just a steward of this old house, it's been here since before I was born and it has a life and power of it's own. I'm honored to be part of it and to share it with so many others.
One roommate was James. He only stayed for a few months and then left abruptly when he fell in love with a Bumble match. But before he left, actually I think it was the first weekend after moving in, he stayed up with me till 2AM re-screening the 9 screen windows in the Sunroom. This involved tedious hours of stretching plastic screen over the aluminum frames and using a pizza roller shaped tool to press it into place.
Once that was complete I added the cozy furniture. I spent hours looking at rugs online and finally settled on this hot pink number. I got a gorgeous daybed from Urban Outfitters, covered my papasan chair from childhood with a knitted throw, and collected a bunch of cushions for lounging. The macrame swag lamp was handmade by my dad when he was courting my mom. And the stuffed walrus, named professor, was a gift from my Uncle Brad when we visited the Museum of Natural History in NYC circa 1994.
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| I comissioned my dear friend Kristin (also a former resident of The Nest) to create some of her original art for the space. |
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| Mom and Clarissa looking pretty on the daybed! |
