This fun collaboration with Quittner Home helped raise funds for a great cause, Ulster County Habitat for Humanity.

While giving rein to our creativity, we also kept in mind that this Queen Anne was home to a family, three generations living under one roof, that needed comfort and function. We chose the theme, “A Room of One’s Own,” as homage to the three spinster sisters for whom the house was originally built. We envisioned the women using the space for intellectual pursuits and quiet contemplation, away from the demands and expectations of the world. Originally a small bedroom, the space had been converted into an insurance office and a kitchen at various points in its history. One original double-hung window remained (with broken sash cords) but the other window had been altered to accommodate a counter and cabinets. Layers of wall-to-wall carpet and other flooring had to go, along with a fluorescent ceiling light. While repairing the ceiling and pulling up the carpet, etc., to reveal gorgeous oak floors with their original finish intact, we opened up an existing closet to create a reading alcove, recycling historic molding to trim out an altered window. We restored the operability of the other (unaltered) window with brass sash chain that we also used to hang art from a new, eminently functional picture rail. We chose Audubon Russet, a glowing terra-cotta color by Benjamin Moore, one of the showhouse sponsors, for the walls and designed a decorative paint “cornice” to draw the eye upward and highlight the interesting shape of the room. Over a dozen local artists and makers contributed furnishings and accessories.

While giving rein to our creativity, we also kept in mind that this Queen Anne was home to a family, three generations living under one roof, that needed comfort and function. We chose the theme, “A Room of One’s Own,” as homage to the three spinster sisters for whom the house was originally built. We envisioned the women using the space for intellectual pursuits and quiet contemplation, away from the demands and expectations of the world. Originally a small bedroom, the space had been converted into an insurance office and a kitchen at various points in its history. One original double-hung window remained (with broken sash cords) but the other window had been altered to accommodate a counter and cabinets. Layers of wall-to-wall carpet and other flooring had to go,

along with a fluorescent ceiling light. While repairing the ceiling and pulling up the carpet, etc., to reveal gorgeous oak floors with their original finish intact, we opened up an existing closet to create a reading alcove, recycling historic molding to trim out an altered window. We restored the operability of the other (unaltered) window with brass sash chain that we also used to hang art from a new, eminently functional picture rail. We chose Audubon Russet, a glowing terra-cotta color by Benjamin Moore, one of the showhouse sponsors, for the walls and designed a decorative paint “cornice” to draw the eye upward and highlight the interesting shape of the room. Over a dozen local artists and makers contributed furnishings and accessories.