My Ordinary Life: Shabby Chic

I’ve found my perfect retirement bungalow!

Unfortunately it’s owned by somebody who has no plans to sell. I still have my own home with four children under my roof, and don’t know exactly when I’ll be able to make the leap to a child-free retirement. Still, it’s nice to have a starting point from which I can daydream and imagine all the possibilities.

If I were more comfortable with my ability to make wise and cost-effective decisions regarding home restoration and remodeling, the kind of house I’d choose to live in would be very different from the one I currently own (or have owned in the past). When it came to real estate, I’ve always picked the safest and most convenient route, opting for newer homes in order to avoid having to deal with repairs. The oldest home I’ve ever purchased was still only three years-old when I bought it. My other properties were newly-built homes in neighborhoods governed by community associations.

Ballustrades in front of my current home

A view of cherub urns on columns

With four children all attending public schools, my home purchase decisions had always been heavily weighted in favor of a good school district over any other important considerations. The choices I made have served our family well up until now. But over time, I’ve become seriously chafed by the ever-increasing, finicky and arbitrary restrictions set by my community association. The glow of new homeownership seemed to quickly fade away each time I encountered an issue with this all-powerful and annoying entity. More importantly, I find it difficult to think of my house as my home given the fact that I can’t park my car in front of it overnight, can’t plant a tree in my own yard unless that tree happens to be on the association’s “approved list”, can’t paint my house exterior in any colors other than the builder’s pre-determined color schemes, which specify not only the stucco color, but even the window & garage trim. If my parents or guests came to visit and stayed past midnight, I would have to remember to “safelist” their car or risk it being towed by the association’s “Patrol Masters.” Both the threat of violation and the bother of compliance have made me wary about continuing on the same beaten path… I’m seriously considering buying in an incorporated area the next time around, which might reasonably be about the time I begin to look for a retirement property.

Since there might be a good ten years left before the last of my kids fly the coop, I haven’t started researching either the location or the design of my retirement home until I stumbled upon it by chance last Thursday.

My daughter Lauren was invited to a birthday slumber party by the girl who played the lead in her children’s theater group last summer. They were recently reunited in the cast of a new production, Hi Ho Robin Hood, and quickly resumed their friendship, although Lauren is probably more like a little sis than a true pal to Allison and her sister, Amanda. I was to drop off my girl at the Balboa Pier Wednesday morning to spend the day with the Sheppard girls, followed by a sleepover, and pick her up from her hosts’ home on Thursday. Since I wasn’t familiar with their neighborhood, I had to mapquest the directions in advance. The house had a Costa Mesa address, but was so close to the bay that it should be considered a Newport Beach property for all practical purposes. Driving there, I was struck by the quickly changing landscape and vegetation the closer I got to the bluff. Coming from Irvine Avenue and turning onto E. 19th street, I came upon a unique neighborhood very different from the uniformed tracts I’m used to seeing in my part of town.

The nicest thing about this idyllic neighborhood could be, despite its proximity to the pier, it has all the characteristics of a true residential area, unlike some beach towns where you’d have to put up with beachgoer’s traffic and limited parking even on weekdays.

I couldn’t spot the Sheppard's house sign from my car, so I decided to park and set on foot to locate where my girl might be. I later realized that their house number was obscured due to the house being set back from the street by a huge front lawn. Looking in from the white picket gate, I had the impression of seeing something right out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

The one-story eyecatcher had an unassuming, but totally charming, brick porch shaded by a tall and majestic tree that mushroomed over it elegantly. There’s even a real rope swing hung from another tree closer to the fence, giving the front yard of the house a peaceful backyard feel.

Being that it was my first time there, I didn’t feel I could be brazen enough to ask if I could take photos, even if I’d brought my camera with me. Still, I made enough of a fuss about the house’s storybook exterior that Allison and Amanda happily offered me an impromptu tour of their home.

They first took me to the back of the bungalow to see their activity room, which was converted from a detached garage. The built-in shelves of this artist’s haven was filled with colorful art and craft supplies. Lauren, of course, was justifiably envious! It looked like the girls spent a lot of their bonding times there.

Allison and Amanda each had her own bedroom adjacent to each other’s on the bungalow’s left wing. Their bedroom décor was an understated mix of cottage chic and shabby chic – not too flowery or busy-looking – which to me is the detracting characteristic of this decorating style. I love the comfort feel of their white-washed furniture and distressed room accents. Normally, I don't care for the old-fashioned look of white pin-dot curtains, but they complemented Amanda’s bedroom furnishings perfectly and gave her windows a light, airy dress-up.

Shabby Chic furnishings are often executed in the softest fabrics and whitewashed pastels

I have always regarded home-makeover magazines as my wish catalogs rather than a source of DIY inspiration. Flipping through the pages of Architectural Digest and other interior design magazines, I’ve often found it utterly implausible to imagine myself living in these perfect spaces, cost concerns aside. I kind of expect to have to wait on my house hand and foot to keep it perfect-looking, which is not my favorite way to live. That’s why I was so taken by the Sheppard's urban cottage with its well-worn denim style that made me feel I can come home to relax.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t lost on me that since Amanda’s family moved into this bungalow around the time she entered second grade, they must have done a lot of work in making it their home, and the seamless feel of the house and its furnishings was definitely not an accident. To me, when the home’s décor seems to be absorbed into the house’s framework, that’s the sign of a great interior design job, where nothing looks incongruous. It’s easier said than done since I’m forever adding to my treasure trove of home decorating accents that don’t quite match with what I already own.

I’ve always thought that if shabby chic could be made a little less "shabby" and French Country less “country”, their marriage would become the perfect blend for my kind of décor. Unfortunately, all the houses I’ve ever lived in were more Tuscan in style, and I couldn’t really make it work. Would it be too late for a fresh start the next time around?

http://notooshabby.com/

http://www.cottagechicstore.com/

I’m still daunted by the thought of eventually owning an older home that would require more TLC than I might be able to give, especially after viewing this link of a real-life home renovation project:

http://www.lavenderfieldsonline.com/Our-Home-Makeover_c_124.html

But I couldn’t quite shake the image of my dream bungalow from my mind. I’m keeping a design file of the furnishings I would save up for once I got my own city cottage: