Villa Life

According to Webster’s Dictionary the word villa means: a country estate or the rural or suburban residence of a wealthy person. If you are reading this and you own a villa, you should feel fabulous. You’re in your country estate and you’re wealthy! If it were Roman times your home would be a large country house with an estate that consisted of a farm and residential buildings arranged around a courtyard. Are you smiling with pride knowing that you live in a home of such stature and reputation? In modern times a real villa is a bit smaller than a country estate but no less grandiose. Remember, it is not the size of the house but how you decorate it! Let’s take a peek into a Cabot Cove villa that makes great use of space so that it feels like a large house, somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• Flooring
The original flooring was a combination of carpet and sheet vinyl. The homeowner decided to have engineered hardwood installed throughout the home. The beautiful warm wood adds richness to the space. When it is possible, it makes a space look bigger by having one type of floor throughout the space.

• Wainscot and Window casement
The kitchen bar is very close to the dining room in this model and a white wainscot had been applied to the front of the bar. We decided that the space would look bigger by adding wainscot around the entire dining room area. Also, to make the window look finished we added casement molding and a header around the existing blind. By adding the wainscot and window trim to the dining room we achieved visual continuity and that made the space look bigger. The wainscot is painted white from the chair rail to the baseboard and it conceals the a/c grate.

• Island/dining table
The homeowners had a dining room table and a buffet but they complained that no one used the dining table. Instead, when they had friends over they would congregate around the kitchen bar. This bar is small and can only seat two people which means many people would be standing for a get together.
In the Cabot Cove you don’t have the option of having a large island in the kitchen so I suggested we make a large island in the dining room. I figured if I make big islands in the Montclair villas then I could make them in the Cabot Cove villa. The homeowners sold their dining room table and their buffet so that we could create one very large island that would serve as a dining table too. We had the cabinet maker create a nice strong table base in white that blended with the cabinets and wainscot. We then added the same quartz that was used on the kitchen counter as the top of the island/dining table.
The table was created at bar height because the homeowners love bar height tables. The dining room appeared much bigger with just one big table in the space. Also, the visual continuity with the kitchen cabinets and counter top makes everything look cohesive which helps to make the space look bigger.

• Lighting
We removed the chandelier since the table was going to be higher and installed
fixed track lighting. This type of lighting provides lots of light and is almost flush with the ceiling.

• Accent wall
After the table was installed and the wainscot was painted it seemed like there was not enough color in the space. The walls of the villa are painted a soft creamy yellow but it was not enough color for the dining space. We decided to paint the two dining room walls window pane 6210. This neutral blue added the pop that was needed to make the space come to life. However, most of my readers know that I do not advocate painted accent walls. I do think the entire space from the kitchen to living room should be painted in the window pane. It is under consideration by the homeowners.

• Mirror
The arched mirror was installed on the wall that opposes the slider so that it would reflect the light from the slider back into the space. The mirror makes the dining space look bigger because it looks like a window.

• Rug
There was just enough room to add a 4×6 rug in front of the door. This rug acts as door mat and a pop of color.

• Table top
The homeowner wanted something for the table top but she wanted it to be easy to remove. We found a low apothecary jar with a lid from an online retailer. We added small shells and some tumbled blue glass. We placed a small electric luminara candle inside the apothecary jar and added the lid. The candle can be turned on by remote. We placed the apothecary jar on placemats that we laid in a row to create a runner. When the placemats are needed they can be dispersed onto the table and when done using them they go back to being a runner.

P.S. –Attention all club presidents! We give free decorating seminars. It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today. Also, we are on-line check out our web-site at www.ruthdyer.com and you can always e-mail us at ruth@finishingtouchfl.com or Call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.

Before and After Pics Below