Arrivederci Villa Mira Flores!

Photo by Michael Lothner

My partner and I recently sold our 1920’s Mediterranean style home in the established Atlanta neighborhood Druid Hills. (Check out photos on Houzz.) Bryan and I lived at Villa Mira Flores for almost ten years after an intense renovation that began in 2004.

A lot of people have asked me how I could have possibly left such a gorgeous and perfectly finished home. The answer lies in the question – it was finished and we were ready to move onto a new chapter in our lives. During my childhood we moved every seven to eight years – or when my mother felt the need to redecorate – so its perfectly natural for me to reassess needs while looking for a blank canvas. Our needs had changed and we definitely wanted less space and a more urban lifestyle.

Our new home is a large condominium with expansive city views in an entirely different neighborhood, south Buckhead or “SoBu” as I like to call it. We moved shortly after the new year which added to the significance. The energy and vibrancy of the new neighborhood are inspirational. And the style of 1987 condominium tower is completely different than our 1920’s Mediterranean home.

Leaving the Villa was easy for me, but deciding what furniture to take was definitely not. I wanted to quickly and ruthlessly evaluate everything we owned and keep only the furniture, art and accessories that I truly loved. The hard part was that Bryan had differing opinions of what to keep. In the end, compromise prevailed. We kept the solid core of furnishings that reflect my personal style, would work in our new home, and protect sentimental attachments.

Mentally, I was only able to start furnishing the condominium after this “cleansing.” I really examined not only our new space but how we would use the space. Lessons can be learned by really thinking about how much we use certain rooms in our homes. Did we need two guest bedrooms as before? How important was a dedicated dining room rather than a dining area?

For the first time in my professional career I actually followed my own advice to live in the space a month before ordering the first item. Anyone who knows me knows that this was difficult (torturous, actually) but ultimately sage thinking.

After living here for three months now, I’m ready to start designing for the next chapter in our life. I hope you will enjoy how the story unfolds over the next few blog posts.

Bill