Happy Feet Wallpaper

Chesapeake family at home in their pool house

CHESAPEAKE

Pool envy. Sigh. But to own both a pool and a pool house? Heavenly.

No more kids in wet swimsuits squishing around your kitchen, digging through the freezer for Popsicles, leaving puddles in your bathroom and damping up the rug on their way back out.

Too bad we can't all be the Buchardts. These lucky folk in Chesapeake built their house and then, a year later, had this idea for a little something special in their backyard that would make outdoor entertaining absolutely fabulous.

Besides the pool, they wanted a place to cook, relax, listen to music, get a drink and, well, powder their noses without ever going into the main house.

Lyell Buchardt was the one with the vision for this slice of paradise. Her husband, Rob, drew the plans. The result is an open-air pavilion, now in its fourth summer, with a kitchen on the left, bathroom on the right and open-air grill and dining area under a vaulted ceiling in the center.

"I knew I wanted a kitchen that I could put a full-sized fridge in," she said, slapping in flip-flops toward her pool house while Hadley, the corgi, trotted past her on his short legs, jumped into the water and swam a few laps. "I wanted a full-sized TV, and I wanted it built so you could see through it. Isn't it almost like a picture window?"

By golly. It sure is. The nonpicture window picture window - i.e. opening - opens the view to an expanse of leafy green that cools even the steamiest summer day.

The pool house that Buchardt created from her mind's eye has a kitchen with cabinets, ample counter space, a sink, microwave and a full-size fridge kept stocked to stop needless traffic in and out of the house.

This food prep area is painted a cheerful, summer-sherbet green with a wallpaper border printed with fish frolicking around the top of the room. She screwed fish knobs onto the whitewashed cabinet doors and, to complete her theme, snagged a 12-person set of fish-motif dishware somebody was going to pass on to charity before she held up a hand to stop them.

The aquatic theme is refreshing, cheerful and oh-so-cute. On the practical side, a small pantry hides groceries as well as a stereo system and DVD player. The ceramic tile floor is carefree.

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