Pat and Debby Riley’s delight with rich color, fine wine and each other’s company has taken them to Arizona and Tuscany, where their appreciation of all these elements has deepened over the years.
Looking at the rich, rustic yellow-toned walls in his wife’s sitting room, Pat, 67, talks about the evolution of the couple’s attraction to the warm, welcoming color palette.
“Debby likes deep yellow, and I like blue,” said the retired information specialist. A trip to Arizona some years ago helped the Rileys refine their color choices, when they fell in love with the earthy rainbow mix of desert, sky and sun offered up by the Southwest. Last year, a visit to Italy’s Tuscany further exposed them to even deeper expressions of the rustic colors they came to appreciate in Arizona.
Now, as they are repainting rooms, Pat says, “We are blending the colors of the two areas in our home.”
Home is a two-story row house in Canton, where Pat enjoys his highly organized collections of sports memorabilia and painted ponies in his lower-level lair and Debby presides over her neat display of miniature Steiff bears and Staffordshire enamel boxes.
A researcher and collector at heart, Pat also is an accidental genealogist, who does family research for friends and family. “I’m not trained or anything like that. I did it for one person and then another. I just love to do it,” he said.
The living room has an artistic feel, thanks to the striking curved metal shelving above the fireplace and in the built-in bookcase tucked beneath the stairs. The unique, polished iron handrail system on the stairway pulls it all together.
In the upstairs hallway, a gallery of framed family photos is brightened by daylight pouring through the skylight.
Among the photos is Debby dressed in a nun’s habit with the conspicuous cornette headdress popularized in actor Sally Field’s television series, “The Flying Nun.”
“I was 5 or 6. It was graduation from a nursery school run by the Daughters of Charity,” recalled Debby, who works as director of information technology applications at the University of Maryland Medical Center. “That was their habit. We did a play, and I was head nun.”
When the day is done, a trio of decks welcomes the Rileys, who will celebrate their 25th anniversary next year. They enjoy the roof deck’s near distant view of the harbor and relax on one of the lower decks, where they download the experiences of their day.
Beaming a smile that sparkles like the diamond he wears in his left earlobe, Pat concludes, “We enjoy being together.”
Pat and Debby Riley are avid collectors of sports memorabilia, painted ponies, Steiff bears and Staffordshire enamel boxes. But the Canton couple says their most precious collectibles are family photos, which provide memories of places visited and their life together.
Pat and Debby Riley’s Style:
STYLE PHILOSOPHY — We buy what we like, or what’s comfortable to use, whether we mix in or blend with our current décor.
STYLE SECRETS — Never stick to one specific style. There are too many beautiful pieces of furniture, too many variations of beautiful art and too many past and present trendy pieces to consider.
GOT STYLE FROM — For the most part, our style was handed down from generations.
COMFORT VS. STYLE — Comfort and ease of use are more important than style for us.
COLOR VS. TEXTURE — Color, absolutely.
FAVORITE COLOR — Typically, yellow for Debby and blue for Pat.
WHAT DOES COLOR SAY TO YOU? — Yellow is happy and bright. Blue is soft, inviting and well-liked.
MUST-HAVES IN YOUR HOUSE — Comfortable chairs, big bathtub and outside space as in decks and porches.
MOST BELOVED OBJECT — Although memories are not objects, they are most beloved to us. To remember all the places we’ve visited and all the various things we’ve done together is most important.
WHAT PEOPLE WOULDN’T KNOW ABOUT US — Because we are both in the information technology area, one would think we are technically capable. Neither one of us can program our television and understand all the buttons on our remote.
WE WOULD NEVER — Not do something we really want to do. If you work hard enough, you can find the means.
HOT TIP — Enjoy life and help others who are in need. Both aspects feel good.
LIFE ADVICE — Enjoy life to the fullest within your means.
WORDS TO GROW BY — Never end the day angry. Always kiss your special person goodnight along with an “I love you.”
