A LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN

"Rainy days and Mondays always get me down." Remember that song by the Carpenters?

Mondays aren't so bad but consistently rainy days, like we have had the last couple of weeks, can bring on a case of the blues. A good way to get over the blues for me is to go to the store, load up on new magazines, make a cup of tea, hop into bed, turn on some good chick flicks and waste away the day.

Yesterday, I did that. One of my first go-to home decor magazines is ELLE DECOR, no matter which country ELLE DECOR. This month's favorite is June 2010 Easy Outdoor Style issue.

I bought the magazine for the front cover photo (I want that yard) and then I spied the article on "Meg Ryan's Beach House."

I've always loved chick flicks and Meg Ryan is the Queen of this film genre, although she made a huge step away from Tom Hanks when she ran off to make a movie with Russell Crowe. Now, back to the house. I thought Meg lived in Montana or someplace with wide open spaces. This house is in Martha's Vineyard and in this case, the wide open space is the Atlantic Ocean. Not too shabby .

My heart actually stopped when I gazed upon this page in the magazine. Wood, white and airy. I love the windows as walls. The simplicity and the spacing is truly outstanding. Meg lived in this house for a year before she renovated the spaces and along with Marsha Russell of Satinwood, an interior design firm, they searched for unique features that would give this old cedar shingled house a new aesthetic.

This kitchen ... be still my heart. It's the center island and it's beautiful wood in the sea of white. And it's the windows...... Meg says she used glass doors, steel-framed casement windows and walls with inset transoms so that every room would have glorious views.

Good call Meg.

The black and white tile floor like a rug under the tub is a great detail. But for me, the ultimate beauty of this home is it's spaciousness and light that is achieved by having windows as the walls.

In reading one of my favorite blogs, In My House Design, there was a post about using reclaimed windows in room design. This quirky but lovely outside room was created by Sue Southam, author of the book "Velvet Pears." Sue and her husband created this sunroom using old windows they had collected. So unique.

Next week, some of my old windows are being replaced with energy efficient windows and it might be fun to find some interesting ways to reuse the lovely older models?????

Any ideas?