YOUR BEAUTIFUL HOME

11608 N. Lancelot Drive

Kaye Linda Johnson knows a little magic.

When she decided the dining room of her home, built in the 1970s north of Spokane, was ready for a re-do, she talked her husband, Carroll, into helping her make a few changes.

Armed with a magazine photo and a free weekend, they made a trip to a local home warehouse and returned with all the materials needed to turn one wall into a charming storage area.

Beadboard panels, attached to the walls and shelves for Johnson’s collectibles, brightened up what had been a dark corner.

“By Sunday evening,” Johnson told me, “with the help of our son, the two of us had paneled the wall with bead board and hung shelving which transformed the room into a much more usable space without sacrificing charm and character.”

Now the table sits in front of an attractive built-in that houses cookbooks, collectibles and mementoes.

Painted a creamy vanilla color, it is the perfect background to make whatever Johnson displays look even better.

Johnson rotates the things she displays on the shelves, bringing out holiday decorations and other accessories to fit the season. At Christmas time, her collection of miniature houses lines the wide shelf at the top.

The project itself is great. But what impressed us the most was the way it all came together. When asked how she convinced her husband and son to embrace the idea and cheerfully get it all done in a weekend, Johnson turned coy.

“Well,” she said. “I guess I know the magic words.”