Peace, Pleasantry and Pawprints
Written By Harmony Morris
The first time I stepped onto the porch, it was shortly after the home had been built. A second floor, screened-in space that is breezy but also restrained. There’s potential here, and she feels it, that’s why I’m back.
My client has a special kinship with her porch. The gentle morning breeze, the soft glow of sunlight… but it has never been more than a seasonal retreat. She’s decided to claim the dream of something more: a room that will live with her family year-round, expand with their needs, and provide reprieve through the rhythms of life.
Three years later, as we walk the space together I can feel her excitement mingled with maybe a touch of hesitation. It’s scary to transform a space you already love; like entrusting a doctor with your own child, a level of vulnerability is inevitable.
I listen as she speaks of afternoons reading her devotions in the filtered light despite the chill of the early spring morning. She mentions the winter evenings when snow silently fell around her, but it was too cold to stay long. She connects with her environment on an intimate level.
Through the use of sweeping hand gestures and sentences she can’t seem to finish, I begin to see what she’s looking for:
A simple fireplace that could anchor the room, she tells me. “How about a modified stone composite?” I ask. “Yes!” she replies. The hearth would nicely counter the winter’s chill and make the room feel like an invitation rather than a barrier.
She proudly shows off the draperies she had hung herself, and tells me she wants to replace them. She wants new drapes that will billow when the breeze of the open windows catches them. “What if we line the top of the window walls with a molded cornice that hides the rods and brackets?” I suggest. “YES!” she exclaims as her eyes brighten.
Their two tiny, fluffy white dogs patrol this space. They are loyal sentinels of this kingdom and move in fast forward. Her energy activates them and they attempt to climb up her leg to see what the fuss is all about. I imagine them curled up on the chaise, in front of the fireplace on cold mornings. The windows, wide and inviting, will frame every season: spring blossoms, summer storms, autumn gold, winter white.
Watching her envision the expansion of her life here, it is clear how all-encompasing design is. No matter what the project, it’s never just about structure or style. It’s about crafting a rhythm for living. My goal is always to create a space my clients can plug themselves right into; a space that anticipates joy, comfort, and connection. This porch-turned-all-season-room isn’t just an upgrade. It’s a chance to hold memory and possibility in the same place, to honor the past while embracing the future in one deep, shared breath.
As I left that day, sketches tucked under my arm and little white housemates snoozing nearby, I was buoyed by her excitement. This room will be a sanctuary, a gathering place, a witness to love and life in motion. And in that, I was reminded once again of the most beautiful truth of my work: spaces can breathe with us, grow with us, and in subtle, enduring ways, teach us how to live more fully in every season.
____
Harmony is the in-house architectural designer and founder of Creative Concierge, the design department within Creative Building Concepts where she specializes in creating custom residential spaces with timeless character and thoughtful detail. When she’s not sketching floor plans or walking job sites, you’ll find her mentoring and teaching young, aspiring designers through class and application. She lives just outside of Carlisle within a private plot in the woods, among her beloved gardens with her husband, their three kids and two rambunctious border collies.