A designer's dream project, I discovered it was two-hundred years old through my initial phone conversation with the owner. It was to be their second house in the country for family weekends, holidays and long summers to relax away from the traffic, busy schedules and the hustle bustle of the city. It was also their vision of a horse farm in the meadow with children running and playing, fresh air, green rolling hills and the Virginia mountains in the distance.

Arriving on site, I was taken with the country charm accented by acres of horse fencing, and topped by a small (by today's standards) unassuming stone house with multiple barns and a spring house. The smell of mature old boxwoods hung in the air as a backdrop to the sound of birds, crickets, and early season bees. I wondered of the generations of families who tended the fields, planted vegetables, raised the farm animals, hung out the clothes, struggled against nature's cold and laughed together in the lush of spring. What a reverent responsibility to furnish and decorate the aged house for today's living, but to capture the nostalgic timeliness and respect of two-hundred years before. It could not be fancy or formal, but must be warm and inviting – a simple space for a simple life. As friends would enter through the back door, you first encounter a large enclosed sun porch. Here is a great place to kick off muck boots, hang coats, and store garden accessories, a place used as shelter from the rain, to bring in the groceries, and a place for the dogs to dry off. From the sunroom you cross the threshold into the country kitchen with high ceilings and a bank of cabinets covering one whole wall. Fortunately the kitchen was already updated with modern appliances yet still carried the feel of an old farmhouse.

The rooms in the rest of the house were mostly small and dark. The dining room had a fireplace with a small bay window a long farm table to seat twelve and best of all, two steps leading up to a door that opened to the long open front porch with views of the pretty pastures and mountains. The living room was just the right size with built-in bookcases, four deep window seats with a large stone fireplace. The hallway took you to the front door and off to the side was a small study with ceiling beams and a great stone fireplace with built-in bookcases. The upstairs bedrooms seemed perfect in proportion with fireplaces, built-in closets, and open window seats with lots of light. Our first ambition was to lighten up the downstairs interiors with soft historical colors, lots of antiques and a collection of cozy comfortable upholstery. To make the house warm and homey without much clutter, we used lots of wallpaper in historical colors and prints. To create a mood of today's living in a yesteryear house we sought a blended mix of antiques and reproduction furnishings. For simplicity, window treatments were mostly panels on simple wrought iron rods. All our fabric prints were of English influence and of a William Morris arts and crafts style. We used upholstery with delicate wools and mohair with plaids and printed country motifs. All lighting was selected to appear historically correct with no overhead ceiling lights. A pleasurable project for me, but as for this house and the family that lives here today, what really matters will be the laughter, love, food, and play for their generation in the house in the country.