Many people don't believe me when I say that for the good part of my early life I lived deep in the woods, with no phone, no lights and a small yellow T.V. that ran off of a car battery. Basically a Thoreau like existence The small cottage that we all lived in was homey and simple and was warmed in the winter with the heat from the stone fireplace. We of course had a bathroom in the house ....small, with gas burning camp lanterns and cold water only. With five of us in the house, one of us was often jetting across the yard to make our way to the outhouse, which served as our second loo. We bathed in the evening in a tin tub that was given privacy by a towel draped over the chairs. My mother would heat clam kettles filled with water on the gas stove and fill the tub for us to play and bathe in. Our time in would be based on how long it took the tea kettle to warm, so it could be poured over our heads to rinse the shampoo.

My mother would haul the tub out of the back of the house, dump it and start the whole process again. She is a hell of a woman and I give her immense credit for the Laura Ingalls Wilder life that I am sure that she never imagined or dreamed of. Like the rest of us, she too, made the best of it and learned to cherish and hold dear of those early years of our family.

As I have gotten older, of course I have gotten used to the creature comforts of life. Last night, after three years of work, I finally got the bathroom of my dreams finished. I am happy that I can use my creativity and good taste to cull and pick for my own interior design. I don't have the budgets of my clients, yet I want like anyone else to have beautiful things. I am willing to stop at road sides, barter, save, beg or borrow to find just the perfect things for my own home.....and yes, I too go to the likes of Target for accessories. I can hardly believe that I found the exact shower curtains that I had in my head done in a beautiful linen. The cost of two of them was a fraction of what a clear glass door would have cost. I always use two, drawn like drapes for a more sumptuous feel.

When I sit in my oversized tub, I am 6ft5 after all, I think and then I think some more. More often than not is about how lucky I am to have such consistency in the cast of charachters that have become the story of my life. My tin tub hangs outside my office and I think of my days growing up in the woods of Rochester every time I see it, or hear it banging against the wall in stormy weather, as it is doing now.

I want to take a minute to thank my best friends Tena and Jill at Kitchen and Bath Details for their help in this bathroom design. The cabinets, the loo and the accessories and hardware in shiny nickel are just perfect. I could certainly not ask for anything more. You both are like sisters to me, always there in your own special ways ready to share a laugh, I just love you both.

And of course, to my hysterical best friend David Mikina for artisan craftiness and meticulous attention to detail. You are always there when I need you ready with a glass of wine and a good laugh. I told you the first time that I met you, that you and I would be best friends for life. Doesn't it just kill you that I was right?

I have known Tena and Jill of Kitchen and Bath Details my entire life. As kids, Tena and I would play designer and Jill would be hard at work on fake accounting, ringing the register and keeping Tena and I in tow. It is no surprise that today we are all pursuing our passions in the world of design and doing the same things that we did while we were kids.

I brought the girls into a design project that I recently completed in Concord, Massachusetts. I knew that they were the perfect candidates to work with on this historically inspired kitchen remodel in Concord, Massachusetts.

The home is a six bedroom grand colonial on over four acres of meticulously maintained grounds. I have had the amazing privilege to have done much of the work that I do for the family that lives in this home. I often look out the window of the kitchen and think to myself, "would I rather be playing tennis on the sprawling court or swimming laps in the heated pool?" Neither-- I would rather be cutting flowers and polishing the silver, making sure that everything is perfect for the family. Ah, the life of the designer.

It is beautifully and gracefully appointed in every detail and really only had one major design flaw, the kitchen. The previous owners had installed cheap, white Formica cabinets and mid-grade appliances. My client and I decided that the heart of the home is the kitchen. And this kitchen needed help bad. It was important to me to pay attention to the period of the home. I wanted the kitchen to be new, but not to necessarily look as if it just came out the box. While it is modern in its appliances and convenience, the kitchen certainly pays tribute to the homes colonial roots.

I worked with Tena to come up with cabinetry and trim design that would play up the understated luxury of natural cherry cabinetry in a hand finished matte. We chose Plain and Fancy Cabinets as the perfect choice to execute such an elegant cabinetry design. We chose to use soft white cabinetry on the island which houses the warming oven and is finished in a custom honed and antiqued granite counter top. Tena's eye to detail is amazing. I just love each and every detail that she incorporated into the finished cabinetry design. As a kid she was the princess of tap dancing, as an adult she is the queen of toe kicks.

I am sure that I drove Jill nuts, pouring through hardware catalogue after catalogue to ultimately end up using the same style that I have used on previous design project with the girls. In the end, the nickel of the handles and drawer pulls and the fabulous Kohler faucet adds that elegant, historic finishing touch that I was looking for in the design.

For me, a period look is all about lighting. Of course you want to do it in a way that accents and showcases the amazing details and work spaces of the kitchen. I also want to do it in a way that is conducive and complimentary to the overall look of the project. Nothing would have looked worse here than overdone crystal chandeliers. Instead, I had period inspired pendant lighting custom done in nickel to compliment the rest of the kitchen.

Many thanks to one of the best electricians that I have worked with, Mike Muldoon. His advice on lighting and wiring was so greatly appreciated on this project and the many other projects that we have worked on together. He is fully licensed and insured and can be reached at 774.930.6102 for all your residential and commercial electrical needs.

I love all of the finishing details that make a room come to life. In this kitchen, I chose to use an antique subway tile in soft white. I brought in my hysterically fun friend, David Mikina to execute and install the back splash and surround behind the stove. I used a signature beaded detail to make the quilted pattern behind the stove a true tile showcase.

In the end it was an amazing interior design project filled with lots of work, lots of coordination and many decisions. I am happy and lucky to have such an amazing team of friends to work with and I am so proud of the results.