From the movie My Cousin Vinny, Marisa Tomei created one of their most memorable moments in cinematic history when she stomped her foot and shouted, “My biological clock is ticking!” I have the same type of moment every couple of months, when I stand in the middle of our living room and declare that “it [stomp] is time [stomp] to view [stomp] my grandma [stomp, stomp]!”
My husband, Mikey, always acquiesces, and in short order we are trading the gold hills and sun-drenched vineyards of Northern California for the leaden sky and draining rain of Seattle. Of course, the thrilled whoops of joy accompanying the long and great hugs from our family make the trip well worthwhile. As does an extra perk: the chance to visit our dear friend Gail Marion. We scuttle across the parking lot of her condo complex, desperately dodging puddles and gusts of wind. But all is well when we reach her terrace, for no matter what the time, a welcoming token expects us. This October it was a lit candle with a happy, bulbous pumpkin arranged on a little iron table.
I invite you to enjoy her house with me. It is a location that demonstrates that you can live large with little — in terms of both budget and square footage — and that mixed styles are surely a secret to an inviting, welcoming inside.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Gail Marion, cat Milo and a roommate
Location: Bellevue, Washington
Size: 1,160 square feet; two bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Photography by Gail Marion
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Marion’s condominium is less than 1,200 square feet, including two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. But she stretches her space by adding the terrace in her living room. This fabulous pumpkin using its corresponding votive greets household and visitors alike.
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The covered terrace’s upholstered couch, with its comfy and plump pillows, is wed to some pleasingly battered wooden desk and a cloth-draped coffee table, assuring that Seattle’s wonderful but rare warm days can be enjoyed to the max.
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The organic and tactile vignette on the wooden desk varies with the seasons — and Marion’s mood — although this fabulous birdhouse is quite constant.
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When I marvel how she surrounds herself with beauty, Marion just shrugs. “It is simple to do,” she states. “Just bring into a skillet and some branches and a candle!”
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Marion’s front door opens to her dining room, living room and kitchen, providing the comparatively modest space a great-room effect. The dining table and seats were obtained from the kitchen of an old friend in California, that was redecorating. The Navajo-style rug strewn across the table looks equally well when set for dinner or lunch, and its own linear layout is the best foil for the tchotchkes Marion loves to collect. “Besides,” she states, “it requires a lot less material to make a little place look great.”
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Her somewhat pedestrian sideboard was given a totally new appearance with some elbow grease and paint. She covered its original white finish with brown paint and then inserted a coat of the fabulous green, so that when she rubbed some of the off green, the brown showed through. The item provides both needed storage and another place for exhibiting mementos.
The living room is anchored by an 18th-century-style camel-back couch covered quite unexpectedly with a comfortable chenille floral fabric in the dusty, desert-y Southwest colours that Marion loves. A pair of purposefully mismatched seats in both purposefully mismatched plaids flanks the fireplace, providing just the right place for curling up and becoming warm on a damp night.
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Over the fireplace hangs a critical oil painting that is supplied a humorous twist by the crude placard placed beneath it. This type of playful touch is so crucial in a room! It not only arouses a grin, but it immediately puts your business at ease.
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Another corner of the living room holds a rustic ladder showing books, family photos and a sizable Indian pot which Marion located in a gallery in Jacksonville, Oregon, while visiting her daughter in college. Every time her eye catches that pot, she thinks of her daughter and these long-ago college years.
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At a nod to English country design, the wrought iron and glass coffee table which followed from Arizona is laden with favorite novels, which serve very nicely as a resting spot for cocktails and appetizers.
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The condominium reeked of 1980 when Marion bought it. However, with the kitchen cabinets refaced out of a light stain to creamy paint, and new carpet and moldings installed, the feeling is timeless and classic.
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The space resulting in the bedrooms is festooned with another statement from Marion’s Southwest past: a patinated saddle with boots and blanket, watched by her grinning grandchildren.
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One of my favorite bits is this diminutive chair in the master bathroom. It adds such interest and warmth to what is so frequently an austere room, and works superbly as a location to ditch clothes on.
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Marion’s cat, Milo, principles this roost. Here he has laid claim to a classic Victorian crazy quilt thrown across the end of the mattress.
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Limited space necessitates that Marion’s bedroom bits serve dual duty, and this chest obliges, behaving as both dresser and TV cupboard. Its faintly distressed walnut finish is complemented with the antique seat perched together with it.
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A round table functions as one of the nightstands, although its spacious base helps maintain the bedroom out of becoming crowded with heavy bits.
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The other nightstand does double duty as a little desk. The petite French seat welcomes you to sit down and write a notice — provided, of course, which you can unseat Milo.
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This vintage secretary informs me of the scene from Star Wars where Obi-Wan reminisces with Luke Skywalker about exactly what an elegant weapon the lightsaber was. “Not as clumsy or random as a blaster,” he states. In the exact same manner, no computer desk can match the elegance of the table, with its small cubbies and drawers intended to be filled with notepapers and pens, and also to perpetuate the tasteful tradition of the handwritten note.
I really received such a notice in the mail the other day — out of one of you! — and that I appreciated it all the more due to its increasing rarity. (Of course, I will respond by email.)
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A graceful silver tray is topped with a crystal and silver cotton ball container, a silver-handled brush and crystal jars comprising mascaras and eyeliners, bringing a genteel and private dimension to the otherwise mundane morning makeup routine.
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After good food and conversation with a dear friend, we’re once again outside the doorway, where glorious autumn colors encourage us to return soon.
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And return we will, as soon as my need to see the toddlers causes my foot to twitch. But next time the terrace tablescape will say “Welcome to Christmas.”
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