“Come in,” said Cindy Sutherland, and so I did to this charming home. Not magazine slick or jumpy or trendy. Quiet and lovely and loved.
The wash on the walls in the entry was subtle and soothing developed to mimic the tone of a French mat on an old print.
Sutherland added the horizontal accents to the existing balustrades to give it a more interesting Chippendale feel.
The dining room, where we sat and visited, is as sunny and relaxed as its owner.
She had originally tried botanicals on the walls but they never felt quite right. The majolica eventually came home here.
The TV room also serves as library (and houses the Aarons’s book of the last post.) Sutherland is so glad they updated the kitchen but did not “blow out” the back as many had suggested. She reports that her husband comes home to sit in the same spot every night. The lesson learned was that people do gravitate to small spaces and the soaring ceilings and masses of square footage do not translate to “more.”
I adore the hunt scene, and, as you might have guessed, Sutherland painted it. She’s begun to paint more and is delighted and slightly amazed that this passion is finding an audience.
Things were bound to go well for me here, right? Yellow and white, that soft red and chintz. Blandings heaven.
Oh, yes, and needlepoint. Sutherland stitched this pillow that was once a kit offered at the Nelson, much like the one I had painted recently.
I tried putting it under my shirt, but she noticed. Now I’m kidding. But I would’ve.
The house was built by Edward Tanner, a prominent Kansas City architect, as a spec house for the J.C. Nichols development. One house on the street originally had a three hole golf course. Sutherland can trace the changes to this house from the original floor plans and pictures included in the original brochure.
The room is filled with family pieces as well as a significant collection of Staffordshire.
This is the women’s wall and is hung with portraits of family members, a couple by Sutherland herself.
The oyster wood chest was her grandmother’s.
It’s difficult to tell because of the light in this image, but the slipper chairs are upholstered identically to my office chair. Smudgy turquoise and red.
Sutherland took me up to her studio where light flooded the room. She has captured her children, her own pets and others’, as well as scenes from her garden. She shows to a small group once a year.
Currently working on illustrating a children’s book, she also has cards available at George Terbovich Gallery in Crestwood.
It was a wonderful morning, a welcome break from shuttling boys and picking up toys.
And while this seems a “very Mrs. Blandings” house the real appeal is that it is really all Sutherland’s own. 
The patio is mostly potted evergreens and some, only white, flowers.
