Fred the tree is still standing! He is an Australian pine tree that has been growing on the unusable portion of the old seven mile bridge otherwise known as The Oversees Highway. Fred has become an Icon of survival and perseverance since Irma could not take him down. He is a great testament to the power of putting down roots and sticking. At Christmas time he is a lighted beacon offering hope to all who pass by and he has a very large following on Facebook. Clearly since Fred is an Australian pine he is not indigenous to the Florida Keys but that did not stop him from flourishing. His shallow root base and ability to survive salt spray has made him right at home on that bridge. Fred teaches us that anywhere you put down roots is home. Let’s take a peek into an Avondale Courtyard villa that has been upgraded so that the homeowner can have a smaller home but still live large and lavishly somewhere in the heart of The Villages.
• Flooring
The house came with very nice tile and carpeting. However, the new homeowner did not like wall to wall carpeting. He preferred engineered hardwood and so do I!
We chose a very nice wide plank hickory to put where all the carpet had been removed. He did not want thresholds and that is no problem! The wood was installed flush to the existing tile and the movement from tile to wood is super smooth! The hickory added a classic layer of warmth to the space even before the new homeowner moved into the house.
• Paint
He wanted a change from the soft gold of his former home to something new. He also did not want tan because it blended too much. The only color that gave him contrast, worked with rugs and things that he owned was Window Pane 6210 this color is a soft green based blue. The color is neutral, goes with any style and does provide the contrast that he wanted to achieve.
• Molding
The homeowner was used to having lots of decadent molding in his former home and he did want to re-create some of that in the new space. The ceilings are high in the Avondale so we installed seven inch crown molding in each room that had ceilings nine feet and over. The molding really looks great in the space and I loved that he was not afraid to install it in a villa.
• Wainscot
This model has a bar on the right side of the kitchen. Even though he was not going to put barstools at the bar, we decided that the bead board wainscot would look amazing in the space. The bar is one of the first things that you see when you enter the space and the wainscot treatment elevates the look and finishes the bar nicely.
• Windows
At our first meeting, he felt like he wanted custom curtains and that would have been fine. Later when it came time to decide, I suggested that he look at casement molding for the windows. He liked the flexibility of the two inch slated blind and did not want to change those, so then, casement molding and a header offers the flexibility of the blind but gives the window the finished look that a shutter provides. We left the verticals and covered them with white wood cornice boards. These cornice boards offer the look of architecture and will remain timeless while giving the window a finished look.
• Seating
He wanted the choice of sitting on a sofa or reclining in a chair. That works in this space so we looked for a sofa that would fit his frame. Temple sofa allows us to fit the platform to the length of his legs and pick the density of the foam preferred by the customer. He also wanted a recliner with power. We were able to angle the recliner into the space slightly and place the sofa in front of the TV. There is room to move around the furniture to get to the slider and plenty of room in front of the sofa and chair.
• Rug
The homeowner has a fabulous nine by twelve rug that we laid down in the living room to soften and define the space. Engineered hardwood will help muffle sound whereas tile amplifies sound but with either type of hard surface flooring you should have a large rug to create coziness.
• Piano
There is one small undefined corner in this model but we defined the space by placing his large self-playing piano at an angle with its backside to the wall corner. It looks really good and does not overwhelm the room.
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.