We've lived in our house in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood for a year and a half, and it was time for a few personal updates. We got very lucky with this place: our neighbor, a contractor, bought the 1926 house, gutted it and re-did everything. Thankfully he (and his wife) have a good eye and made some tasteful decisions. Still, after living here for over a year and through all the seasons we wanted to make some changes. We started in the dining area, one of the rooms that sold us on the house. Previously a sunroom, it is surrounded by charming pane windows original to the home. They are not the most weather resistant; the west facing windows draw in heat in the summer and hardly keep a breeze out during winter. Too beautiful to replace, I wanted the least invasive window coverings that wouldn’t hide the beautiful molding and also provide some insulation. Drapes seemed too fussy for the room, and any top-down-bottom-up option hardly seemed kid friendly. Roller shades were just the fit, simple, subtle and appropriate for the space.
We also replaced the light fixture with the Meurice Pendant light from Jonathan Adler. I love the mix of the modern light with the classic windows. The fixture's bronze finish matches the rest of the lights and door knobs in the house with a touch of faux bamboo, something that makes me very happy.
Finally, we unpacked our collection of white pottery for display in the corner built in and had all the windows in the house professionally cleaned, inside and out. What a change that made. Look for more Ballard house updates. Like any good home project, there’s always something new to do.
