The first day of summer... Here at the Giannetti house that means sending Charlie and five of his friends off to Europe with backpacks and motherly advice (the backpacks will be brought on the plane. The advice? not so much)... stuffing duffle bags with Nick and Leila, who will be going to Summer programs in Santa Barbara and Ojai, and packing up our house in Santa Monica for our move on Monday.
As anyone who has moved from the house where they have raised their kids knows... the more momentos you wrap and put in boxes, the more memories fill the shelves. It's like living with ghosts of years gone by. Small ghost children play in the empty rooms, younger versions of yourself and your husband play Life and Scrabble in the Family Room, bake double fudge brownies in the Kitchen with a 6 year old Leila and 10 year old Nick (who really just licks the bowl)...
In an attempt to ignore the emotions, I'm focusing on the tasks at hand... the packing, the moving (post it notes on every piece of furniture deciding its fate...to the shop, to Oxnard, to storage, to the store), the design projects, and the design of Patina Farm.
One of my favorite diversions is concentrating on the finishes for Patina Farm. We plan to use antique wood beams in the house. They add so much history. This house by Tracery Interiors is a perfect example of the impact that antique wood beams can have on a more contemporary space.
Antique wood beams in a Modern Country living room...
Here in the West, Douglas Fir beams tend to go silvery gray as they age.
I also like pale brown beams. They would be a beautiful compliment to the white oak floors we plan to use.
I wish we could expose actual structural beams, but our antique beams will be purely decorative. I prefer thinner beams that appear to be imbedded in the plaster.
Nancy Fishelson did a fantastic job using the existing antique beams in this remodel of an 18th Century farm house.
I'm off to pack a few more boxes before I go to bed, but I thought I'd share one picture of the start of Patina Farm, as it looks this week as we started grading the site (don't worry, the trees are safe!)...
xo
Brooke
If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.
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