Upstairs, however, she toned down the visuals, making the master bedroom and bath, guest room and painting studio "more subtle, a peaceful, restful space."
She freely acknowledges negotiating a serious decorating learning curve.
The ceiling in the living room was raised to add light and space, and the colonial fireplace was remade with a modern facade. Vivid furnishings and colors throughout add drama.
(Gross & Daley)
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"My first experiment was with a yellow wash on the living rooms walls, and it was a comedy of errors," she says. "I mixed my own paint. It was a disaster, so bright you needed sunglasses." Today the room evokes the palette of a van Gogh or a Matisse: scarlet curtains and club chair, yellow walls and sofa, blue accents everywhere.
Another early project involved widening and framing the breakfast bar, which she topped with ceramic tile cut like flagstone. Last year, after contractors put in new maple cabinets, stainless steel appliances and Silestone counters, Allen added a backsplash of iridescent amber glass tile. This summer came the greenhouse window with its mini-herb garden because Italian cooking is a passion; and she is finishing the broad sill with leftover tiles.
"One of my favorite things to do is have friends over for dinner, sit around and enjoy it with a bottle of wine. I have also had a few big, buffet-style parties where food is served on the dining room table," says Allen. "Even though this is a small space, there is a circular flow around. You can be in the kitchen, and people can sit at the breakfast bar and talk to you."
It has been four years since she first tackled tile, retopping the master-bath vanity counter. "I bought a pair of nippers and a book about mastic. It was trial and error." Ditto for teaching herself how to quickly apply a terra cotta-colored wash to her bedroom walls so all the surfaces were evenly pigmented. An ornate iron bed provides cold contrast to the warm walls, which she'll ultimately adorn with black-and-white photos of Greek ruins she shot years ago.
These days she is turning the bright front bedroom into a painting studio and the basement into a study that includes a desk, drafting table and computer.
It is here that Allen, who holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia, will do her homework for an associate's degree in interior design from the Corcoran College of Art and Design.
Her cherished home-decor laboratory proved so inspiring that last month, after much soul-searching, she requested a one-year leave of absence from her job to finish course work begun more than two years ago in night classes.
"I wanted to go beyond the weekend warrior to learning about design, feeling I had a natural instinct for it. It's been a fantastic discovery," she says. "I love to work with my hands, painting, tiling. Most women want jewelry. I want power tools."
Be Yourself | Ideas for adding individuality to your cookie-cutter home:
* Cruise your neighborhood and similar-vintage communities to see what others have done to set their homes apart. Ask everyone you know if you can scope out their renovations.
* Read. Magazines are filled with great ideas -- decorative and structural. Good magazines include This Old House, Inspired House, Atomic Ranch, Real Simple and Metropolitan Home. Start a file with pictures of appealing rooms, paint colors, furniture and appliances.
* Painting is the simplest, least expensive way to create visual impact and personalize a space. A single accent wall or even a ceiling offers great possibility. Experiment with glazes, washes, stripes and other finishes.
* Inject style with window treatments. Choose draperies or simple swags in your favorite fabrics. Hang a new or vintage stained-glass panel in a window.
* Invest in a custom-made door.
* Display collections of treasured objects: family photos, Granny's china plates, framed prints, martini shakers, art glass. These can be grouped on walls, tabletops or shelves.
* Pay attention to surfaces, especially flooring. Replace tired countertops with jazzy laminates; resurface floors with unexpected materials such as cork, faux wood or linoleum in uncommon colors. Invest in handwoven rugs.
-- A.G.
Annie Groer is staff writer for The Post's Home section.
