Columbia Home & Lifestyle - January/February 2009 - (Page 12) ABOVE: The bedspread and pillow shams were crossstitched by Sherry's mother for this upstairs guest bedroom. RIGHT: The office features a pair of comfy chairs by the fireplace, and hanging above is an oil painting of cows signed and dated 1943. With all the moving around, Sherry has found herself tasked with keeping track of personal belongings. ”Yes, I like my things…gotta make it feel like home,” she said. “I’m adaptable as long as I’ve got my stuff…My decorating style is very traditional, which I swore I’d never be, because my mother was so traditional. I’ve learned to never say never.” A self-avowed “aficionado of the color blue,” it is no wonder Sherry gravitated toward a Dutch seascape in oil that currently hangs above the living room fireplace. Carved into the center of the mantelpiece is a relief symbol of the university system. An art teacher designed the distinctive historic seal in 1903. Roman numerals on the seal denote 1839, the year the university was established. Regarding the new color palette, Sherry said, “I had so much blue for so long, I finally had to say no to too much blue.” Now, only a few blue and white Delft piec12 january/february 2009 es are displayed on shelves in one of three guest bedrooms, one of which is painted in a "meditative" shade, with a "sleepy blue" guest bath. Other color changes include a "softened green" in the sunroom, "dormer brown" in the breakfast room and corridor, and "nomadic desert" in the powder room and guest bath. "Guilford green" walls brighten the upstairs guest bedroom, where a quilt, cross-stitched by Sherry’s mother, covers the bed. Pale shades of green can also be found on the existing dining room chairs that Nancy Lamb, wife of interim president Gordon Lamb, had reupholstered earlier this year. Coincidentally, host and hostess chairs the Forsees used in their Georgetown dining room match perfectly. The dill-colored smart suede fabric on the dining room chairs is woven with a Krypton finish and was stain-tested with every imaginable substance—ranging from coffee to mustard—an important feature with the Forsee’s housekeeper, Belinda Cundiff. According to managing interior designer, Tina Mann, “I had two or three options for both the dining room chairs and the wing backs. Belinda and I narrowed down the choices for Nancy Lamb.” After working for more than 10 years during three different president’s terms, Cundiff learned a few tricks. “It sure helps to know good carpet and upholstery cleaners…and dependable caterers,” Cundiff said. When asked to pick the house that felt the most like home over the years of all the homes she’s ever lived in, Sherry is quick to answer. “I’ve lived in a lot of different houses, but I loved our house in New Jersey,” she said. “The people who bought it said they were looking for a ‘Leave It to Beaver’ house. So I think that sounds pretty homey and comfortable.” In retrospect, she considered, “it was mostly the neighborhood and lots of kids, and our kids were young. It was just a nice little two-story house that was manageable.”
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