A Better Buzz
While I’d like to say that I’m known around the office for being level-headed or a master communicator or an inspiring motivator (any of these will do), it’s far more likely that I am known for being constantly attached to a medium for caffeine transfer — coffee, tea or a perfectly chilled Diet Coke. Bzzz, bzzzzzzz …
Health concerns float off into that cushy world of denial, while I dive, headlong, into a bath of chemically produced rush. It’s not one of my more admirable traits, I admit.
It dawns on me that a cheap frenetic zap is just the opposite of the feelings the rooms featured in this interior design issue evoke. Such vistas indulge viewers with a sublime serenity. Take, for example, the cover image — it’s of a foyer in a Sasco Hill home that overlooks the golf course and the harbor. It’s the kind of view that makes time itself pause.
In fact, it’s what brought the homeowner to a dead stop one day. He was driving through Southport and suddenly found it — the property of his dreams. Love at first sight, he eventually bought it and set about fulfilling the vision with a home to adore. He enlisted the talents of architect J.P. Franzen and designer Kat Burki. She toured the home with writer Suzanne Gerber, explaining the many decisions she and the homeowner had to make on the road to perfection.
One of the more humbling lessons is that not everyone can see a project at the outset the way a designer can. In fact, how many of us have faced a bare wall at home with no idea how to fill it — this despite a handsome collection of cherished family portraits and pieces of art? So we mined experts in art framing, placement and hanging for their secrets on creating successful groupings.
Next, the staff so often hears stories about artists, designers, photographers and writers in town that we became curious about where they do their work. We sent writer Christy Colasurdo to find three home studios. She brought back so many — a musician’s studio, an architect’s detached home office, a Zen retreat — that we had to agonize over the final cuts. We think it’s just right, though.
Finally, we want you to enjoy all this obvious good living, so we offer a great story about staying in shape through boxing — for men, women, and children (that’s right).
Also, check out our essential Day Camp Guide, for those last-minute calls about summertime care and enrichment.
It’s a packed issue, with something for everyone — enough to cause a natural rush!