The Inspiring Spaces of Pick Up Sticks – Glena’s House

Glena, Daphney (miniature Dachsund) and Logan (standard poodle) on her front porch, surrounded by the results of her gardening skills.

In our previous post on Sabrina’s house, we talked at length about how the homes of the Pick Up Sticks crew are their own form of art and inspiration.  Having a place that both envelopes you with comfort and provides you with inspiration has always been Glena and Sabrina’s goal.  I’ve known them both forever, and their ability to create a home that is both beautiful and inviting is pretty incredible.

What’s even more amazing is how Glena’s home reflects her personality.  Glena’s the details person at Pick Up Sticks.  She’s the partner with the business and finance degree who, while helping with the creative process, makes the train run and stay on the tracks.  She’s the precision behind the ordering process, setting up the shows, handling the inventory issues, keeping the staff on track. . . and interestingly enough, even though she’s a details person, she also has an innate ability to see the entire big picture, making sure every piece of the puzzle fits.

Her house is, like Glena, a collection of appealing details that make for a very comfortable and beautiful whole.  Her living room, pictured above and below, is the perfect blend of new furniture she purchased at market (she says she loves Guildmaster), antiques, and odds and ends she’s picked up at junk stores.  You can see that the couch is big enough for the entire family.  It’s where they pile up with dogs and drinks and popcorn and watch movies.

Her favorite piece of furniture in the entire house is the antique seed cabinet pictured above.  It was originally in a hardware store, and every drawer is metal-lined because its purpose was to store a variety of grains and flower seeds.  She uses it to display her favorite things, including her collection of antique clocks.

Who wouldn’t be inspired in Glena’s kitchen? I love this room – it’s the place where we all tend to congregate in the evenings, waiting on one of her go-to dishes which include red chile enchiladas, calabacitas, grilled salmon and grilled artichokes (hmmmmm.  Do we need to do a blog post with recipes for those dishes?  Wouldn’t that be a treat?  Because they are truly delicious.)  Warm and inviting, the kitchen is an exact reflection of who Glena is – she wants her family and friends nearby so that she can take care of the details for all of us.

And then there’s the closet.  Leave it to Glena to turn one of her extra bedrooms into a closet and then meticulously organize it, moving her washer and dryer in as well.  This is an idea she had in high school.  In the dreaded home ec class, we were all required to draw plans for our dream house.  Guess which detail Glena drew in that none of the rest of us had thought of?  The convenience of being able to take clothes right out of the dryer and hang them in the same room never dawned on the rest of us.

Glena’s all about the details AND all about the big picture.  We all know that from how smoothly the business end of Pick Up Sticks runs every day.  And now you know it from seeing her house.

Be sure to check back next week for more inspiration from the homes of the Pick Up Sticks crew.  And I’ll work on getting that red chile enchilada recipe for you. . .