SO… this is going to be a really long post. Forgive my indulgence but I am really proud of the results.
On a recent trip up north for a wedding, my family asked me to post more photos of our home. I was asked how we were attracted to this house in the first place – and my immediate answer was that the outside was painted, of all colors, my favorite shade of aqua – Pegeen Blue!
The interiors were all white but that left me that pallet to do what I had been dying to do – multiple shades of spa blues, sea glass and tiffany blue throughout the interior. Because most of Florida tends to be new construction, and since we loved renovating older homes, this new home/old Key West charm was the attraction. We loved the old doors on the second floor in each of the bedrooms (although my grown up sons find it odd that they are all-glass) are antique window paned doors.
PAINT: Colors used through out the house we primarily custom-mixed as i gave swatches of fabrics to the great paint crew at my local Home Depot but there were many colors used that came from the OOPS table there. I used them especially for the wash of the antiques (yep I painted most of my antiques and even re-purposed some,
We re-purposed a mahogany Breakfront for the TV as well as repainted almost all of our antiques
PAINT COLORS: Even though I am a children’s wear designer, I still believe that I could be born again as a MIXOLOGIST! I found that most paint colors had too much hue or the “whites” were too washed out. Except for using Behr’s Honeydew (lime green) because it was an exact match for the plaid in my antique Drunkard’s Bench for our reading nook and Teal Ice for the office, I really had to start from scratch. Remember the scene from “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House?” Well that was me – red, blue, green, yellow, white. I LITERALLY had to take pieces of tile, our Pegeen Website background, fabric swatches and spa glass I collected over the years and because there was this WONDERFUL staff (and manager MJ) at my local Home Depot, I was able to accomplish the exact shades of Spa Blues that I required for the house. I tested them too on a board and later hung the board on the wall.
Many of the fabrics come from our silks we now carry and since I had difficulty achieving precise colors from brands such as Valspar, Ralph Lauren, Glidden, Porter, Benjamin Moore, I found that working with the paint team at Home Depot on a custom basis worked best for me. I also found their “oops colors” ($5 a can) worked great for my dry brushing technique for our antiques that I learned from painting scenery in my Theater Days…. I mean there was almost no piece of furniture I didn’t paint. Once I found out no one wanted to buy my antiques I had collected, I took to the paintbrush and a piece of cardboard to wipe off excess (men’s shirt cardboard works the best).
I was able to put my mix and match set of glassware and various collections together to form a set of dishes x30 years into marriage but they held together.
Fiesta Ware in Lime, Turquoise and Teal with Mexican blown-glass from Amici and additional glass ware from Pier One
When we started to look for a place, we needed one that was smaller since our children were off to college but something that if grand kids finally come, we had room. Recently, we were able to entertain with 14 overnight guests and still had room without putting them up on our office floor. The open floor plan was perfect for entertaining.
Our goal was to find a place that was a fairly clean and open canvas but one we could personalize. I didn’t want to put a lot of time into renovating (been there and done that) but the house was SO white on the inside that it was really the perfect place for me to experiment and display all the turquoise “things” we had collected. The house is located on one of the many lakes situated near Downtown Orlando. We really were looking for a home that would be the perfect visual spot for our weekend office….I was so tired of looking at basements, train tracks and brick walls when away from the factory. So I was particularly interested in a lake view.
Though the house doesn’t have a pool yet, it has a tropical feeling and I will be able to look at it in the rear as well as my lovely lake views in the front. It will be a lot of fun for us to design the pool and spa area as we are looking to make it recreational and very kid friendly for my kids will start families of their own and we are thinking building one to suit (like a lazy river) and a REALLY big bar area! LOL.
Truly a spectacular LAZY RIVER pool. From http://www.backyard-oasis.com[/caption%5D
I really had to thank this wonderful upholsterer (Beverly’s Interiors) in Winter Park for her fabulous work – and the fabrics I was after was again, pretty much in one pallet throughout the home so I headed to this great chain throughout Florida called Boca Bargoons who carries all fabrics from Lee Jofa, Pindler, Brunschwig & Fils and so many more – I was going for this 1950’s Tropical Barkcloth look in that Frank Sinatra “A Hole in the Head” or “from Here to Eternity” look.
[caption id="attachment_486" align="alignnone" width="640"]
Truly, a GREAT ROOM
Besides the experiment in color, I find that Pier One has that “look” for accessories but I am always scouring Tuesday Mornings, Marshalls and of course flea markets and auctions….. There is this fabulous one in Dover NJ called Berman’s that my kids used to go to with me – a really great source for art deco and really any period and I wish there was an auction house like that here that I could find. I also shop a lot in Naples FL as well as nags Head for certain things but again, we are talking life time of collecting.
The house color and style (Key West Style) quickly sold us after our search for a lake Home. Literally I searched on the internet for months but then, once I saw this house was turquoise blue I almost couldn’t contain myself… I knew it was mine even before we saw the house. We walked out on the dock and looked back at the house (with our agent) and wrote it up right there.
My entire hope was that I could “brand” my house in Pegeen Blue and from the porches to the bedrooms, my inspiration were spa glass colors – piece of glass worn long by the ocean from my childhood in the then tiny town of Sea Isle City NJ. I have been lugging glass around since the late 1950’s and anytime I saw one, I would pick it up and wonder where it came from. The real excitement was when you found a glass that was turquoise or teal that was unlike any other in my collection.
Closet Office
I think this house, my Pegeen Blue “turquoise” house is a real bit of Spa Heaven.
Also at Berman’s in Dover NJ, we were able to purchase quite a bit of antique glass and some of them fit perfectly in bathroom and bedroom windows.
Antique glass windows bought at auctions – Pegeen Finishes by Pegeen.com
I had a blast with spray paint from Rustoleum – I mean LOOK at these colors! My projects ranged from painting the antique bird cage to a flower “bed” for my yard. Krylon’s website is much better to see their colors – but I am pretty sure they are the Lowe’s choice and I usually shop Home Depot that carries Painter’s Touch.
Rustoleum Spray Paint projects: Keylime Chairs. Lagoon coffee table and flower “bed”, Aqua swing and bird cage and Fern Green porch tables and Silver for the chandelier
Since I have been designing my whole life, whether it was the red fur lined cape I made in 3rd grade or doll house furniture made of sponges (my mom’s idea), I have always been imagining, designing, playing with fabrics. A trained dancer, I have my masters degree in dance and theatre arts. As a kid, I used to either perform in plays or help paint or construct sets for plays. In college I learned from some of the best in Theater Arts. I think it helped me transition into children’s clothing and especially like the Christmas Season when I create the several hundred Clara Party Scene dresses from Pegeen’s Nutcracker Collection. The house finally gives me the view I craved for over 30 years of seeing cinder block walls.
I started my children’s wear company PEGEEN shortly after my sister’s daughter, now 35 or so, was born. Although I no longer have to sew as I have some really great seamstresses that work for me, I still do what I did as a small girl, create clothes for my “dolls” – and now they are just a bit bigger…. As in the flower girl dresses we now produce. My design studio was built so that can work the long hours that I do and create the website or work on new designs for my clothing line. PLUS it’s really nice when you need to make curtains to have the girls sew it for you instead~ !!
Pegeen.com Weekend Design Studio
Finally, I have had a good time working on the outside garden. Eventually, I will work on doing something at the waters edge but for now, I am just happy to remove much of this Augustine Grass. 
Well, that’s all. Thanks to my sister-in-law Joanne who gave me the nicest compliment – “Can I live here”?
