Coffee and Two Nooks

The smell of coffee fills the air as the expresso maker presses each pod into a foamy aromatic soup. Each press of the button fills my white cup with more of this amazing elixir. I am never disappointed as I run a knife through the foamy peaks and a heart appears; it’s like I have my own expert barista making cappuccinos just for me on command. Of the many joys in life coffee, a good book, and little nook in which to enjoy them, ranks high on the list. Webster’s dictionary defines a nook as an interior angle formed by two meeting walls; or a recessed section of a larger room. Many of the homes that I see have a nook in the kitchen for eating, but many of my clients want to do something different with the space. Let’s take a look at two different nooks, somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• BegoniaNo-Reason-not-to-have-Sparkle-and-Light
This first picture shows a Begonia kitchen nook. The Begonia has one small window in the nook so it is often dark. We fixed this situation by hanging an arched mirror on the large back wall of the space. This addition creates the feeling of a window and adds light.

• Seating
The seating fits the space to perfection. The seating is moveable banquet seating from an online retailer. There are three pieces to the set. The corner seat fits in the corner and the two side benches fit next to each side of the corner bench to fill the space with upholstered and extremely comfortable seating.

• Table
The secret to keeping the space usable with the banquet; is the table must be a pedestal table. This allows feet and legs to move into the space with ease.

• Wainscot and shutter
The wainscot around the walls was installed by the former homeowner and it looks amazing! I love the shutter because it treats the entire window with privacy and finish molding. Shutters provide lots of bang for your buck!

• Large pop of color
The homeowner added a large pop of color with and abstract painting on the side wall to finish off the space nicely! This nook can be used for so many things beyond eating because the seating is so comfortable.

• One last thing on first nook
This entire set up was purchase first for an Iris. This banquet filled the dining room of an Iris prior to the homeowner moving into this Begonia.

• Gardenia becomes a Begonia
In a regular Gardenia there are two windows in the kitchen. This homeowner added a golf cart garage to the front of the house, so they had to give up the window making the model more like a Begonia. They added in a side window for light. The homeowners did not need an eat in kitchen since they added other spaces to eat off the side of the house, so that left us with one question, what do we do with this little nook?

• Add a window into the space
Although we removed the window from the nook, that is no reason not to have sparkle and light! We hung an arched mirror in the nook and we hung the exact same mirror across from it in the dining room! The arches look like Palladian windows and they reflect each other to add light and sparkle to the space. Now when you walk into the house and look into the nook, the space looks balanced and natural with the mirror acting like a window.

• Comfy place to sit
We added two teal chairs, one that reclined and one with an ottoman for snuggling in and having a cappuccino. A table in between the chairs is great for a lamp and a few recipe books. This is a perfect reading nook!

• Rug
We added in a 5×8 rug to pull the space together and add definition. The zebra print adds some spice anchors the room!

• Big art Too
We chose large art to make a visual impression and balance with the height of the mirror.

P.S. –Attention, club presidents! I give free decorating programs! It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today or call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.