Let's Meet Melody Borghesani

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MELODY BORGHESANI

I’m so delighted to feature this lovely lady - Melody Boghesani is a dear friend and although we haven’t met in person yet; we chat often about real world issues and family matters.

Melody Welcome to the Chalet! I appreciate you taking the time to chat with me. Please tell the readers a bit about yourself.

Thank you Meryl. I’ll start with my husband I met him in 1986 and got married three months later! He had dated my younger sister and I’d met him a couple of times. He was five years younger than me and I never thought anything would come from it but here we are 38 years later with a son and a daughter, and a granddaughter and a grandson. Looking back, it seems a bit crazy but it was definitely meant t to be! Being a grandmother is the most wonderful gift I’ve ever received. Seeing my son as a father brings such joy to my life. I’m so blessed to live close to them for now in Pennsylvania and spend as much time as I can until we retire to our little cottage on Cape Cod.

the Captains Cottage

You’re known on Instagram for your wonderful design style… in both your homes but correct me if I’m wrong, I think the majority of your account is your sweet Captains Cottage – the home you’ve purchased with your husband as your retirement destination. Awe, thank you, Meryl! Yes, our home on Cape Cod has stolen my heart and I share so much more of it on Instagram. It still seems like a dream!

Captains Cottage livingroom

What year did you purchased the Captains Cottage? If memory serves you didn’t see it in person until the day you signed the papers. We purchased our cottage in 2019. Interesting story…whenever my husband and I talked about retirement, he’d always mention moving south. We had lived in Virginia and Louisiana and loved the people and hospitality so much in both places.  Living in the South was wonderful in so many ways. Our children were born in Richmond, Virginia. My family is still in Virginia.  So, it just seemed logical that's where we’d end up. But, one day I said wouldn't it be nice to retire on Cape Cod.  And, miraculously, my husband agreed! When he said we should look for a home sooner than later, I couldn't get on Zillow fast enough.  I wasn't going to risk him changing his mind!  We definitely had parameters of what we wanted in a retirement home.  A one story home with a garage, central air-conditioning and not too far from the water. We made one trip to look at homes in the areas we could afford and we found nothing. So discouraging.  But…I had found our cottage on Zillow but didn't even mention it to my husband because it was two stories, no garage and no central air-conditioning.  Time went by and I thought our dream wasn't going to happen any time soon.  Then one day, my husband asked what I thought about that blue house.  I thought he couldn't be asking about the house I have stalked every day and knew every inch by just looking at the listing photos? But, he was!! It just so happened that he was going to Boston for a business event and made arrangements to visit the home while he was there.  He loved it!  After a few negotiations, the home was ours…the owners accepted our offer. The week before we closed, we rented a U-Haul and loaded up everything that we thought would fit.  I thrifted a few items, too.  Our closing date was one week before our son’s wedding back in Pennsylvania.  We had so much to do.  We drove the six hours up and I saw the home for the first time the day before we closed.  Even though, it needed a lot of love and care, it was love at first sight!

Captains Cottage Kitchen

Did you grow up visiting the Cape?  Personally I’ve visited the Cape several times in my life and I know how quaint and wonderful it is. Growing up in the Midwest, I had always dreamed of Cape Cod. I had seen it in movies, heard friends talk about visiting but I never had an opportunity to travel there.  When I married my husband, I had no idea that his family vacationed there every summer and would eventually own two summer homes on the Cape. My first trip was when our son was ten months old and I was three months pregnant with our daughter.  I was exhausted that trip but that began my love affair with Cape Cod. 

Captains Cottage Primary Bedroom

What has been your favorite project so far at the Cottage? That’s a good question!  Every room in the home, except the upstairs powder room, was wallpapered.  Between my husband and I, we removed it all except one sweet upstairs bedroom. I think the hardest and most rewarding project that I completed was removing the wallpaper from a downstairs room and painting it white.  The room was used a family room previously, but we wanted a main floor bedroom. It is lined with bookcases and intricate moldings. It took me two weeks to complete that project and I can guarantee that I will never do that again! Also, one of the most laborious projects was painting the entire exterior of the home. My husband did it all by himself.  It took him a couple of summers, but he did it! I’m so proud that he was able to complete it. 

Captains Cottage Eyebrow Window

What do you feel has made the biggest impact on the Cottage? I think the biggest impact has been the painting of the exterior.  It had been painted a pretty shade of blue but was in such bad shape. I knew if we painted it, I’d want to choose a lighter, brighter color. We decided on White Dove by Benjamin Moore and we love it!

You love to decorate – I remember one of the first images I saw from your account was a plate wall in one of your bathrooms. Tell me what do you find the most satisfying part of the process – besides the end results when you decorate? Oh, yes, the plate wall in our bathroom! I think what I love most is using what I have in different ways and in different places.  I’ve always loved plates and gallery walls. So, why not combine the two? A gallery wall of plates!  Also, some of the plates were my mother’s and have sentimental meaning.  My mother Rosemarie is a huge inspiration for me.  My favorite place to shop was always her home.  She has since moved into an assisted living community so I can’t shop her home anymore. But you better believe that her room is the best decorated in her community and has even been promoted in their brochure. You could say I get it from my mother! Oh Melody I love this.

Captains Cottage Bath

Did you decorate your bedroom while growing up? We had six children in our family growing up so I always shared a room.  But, there was a brief time when I had my own room. I was in fifth grade.  I remember having a record player and a twin bed.  One Christmas I decorated my closet door with wrapping paper and taped on ornaments. I loved that room.  I was always playing with dolls and creating homes for them out of old shoeboxes. I would spend hours creating spaces for them.

Art Work Painted by Melody’s Mother Rosemarie

What is the biggest influence on your design style for your Pennsylvania home and the Captains Cottage? Has it changed over the years? The greatest influence, again, is my mother. But, one more major influence is my sister, Missy. Her home is stunning and when I come home from visiting her, I want to empty my home and start all over again. I’ve always leaned a bit traditional with a touch of English Cottage. I once had the opportunity to work with a famous designer, Georg Andersen. His book Silent Witness: The Language of Your Home tells and shows how he views his home. I'll never forget how he calls his foyer the Welcome Room.  That space should be a silent witness to your family and guests of the soul of your home. It should be layered with items of beauty and meaning that tell a story of who you are to everyone who enters.  I'll never forget working with him.  Of course, my style has changed a bit throughout the years but not much.  Our first major furniture purchase was an Ethan Allen camel back sofa and wingback chair over 35 years ago. I knew then that they were classics and I would have them forever. I still love them…worth every penny!

Pennsylvania Livingroom Bar Set Up

You are a wonderful thrifter – you own some marvelous pieces. What’s your favorite thrifted piece? Where did you find it? Did you thrift growing up? I love thrifting.  Some of my fondest memories are thrifting with my mother Rosemarie. The pink plates hanging on the wall of our powder room in our Cape Cod home were from a thrifting trip with my mother over 30 years ago.  I'll never forget that day.  Our local Goodwill has been very good to me.  I’ve found some incredible things there.  One of my favorites is a china cabinet that is in our Pennsylvania dining room. It was $25.00! Of course, I can’t pass up anything blue and white and have found some beautiful additions to my collection.

Captains Cottage Powder Room

Before we close I want to touch on the wonderful world of Instagram. We met through Insta and I’m so lucky we did. You have over 85K followers; please tell us when did you start your account? I know you have partnered with some wonderful brands. What is your most viewed post on the platform? I started my account in 2012, I started it as a way to share photos with friends and family that lived in different states.  Soon it became such a creative outlet for me.  I loved following other accounts that inspired me.  That's how I met you! It makes me so happy to have this community of creators that encourage, inspire and support one another.  It’s taken me ten yeas to get to 85,000 followers. I still can’t believe it. It is so humbling and heart warming that these sweet people find something in my account that makes them follow along.  It brings me such joy. 

The first time a brand reached out to me, I thought it must be a scam.  I wasn't sure how to respond, so I reached out to my friend Sally, @gettingstuffdoneinheels and asked for some advice.  She said to go with your heart. Partner and collaborate with brands or products that reflect what I love and me.  That has made it very simple for me to say yes or no to collaborations.  It was a learning curve for me to navigate the fine art of saying no thank you to an opportunity.  But, now that I know the time and creative energy it takes to be a collaborator, I only say yes to opportunities that I love.  Because, honestly its not fair to the brand to promote something that I wouldn’t use or love! 

But what I love most about Instagram are the friends I’ve made all over the world.  To get a glimpse of life in England, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, is so amazing.  I will never travel to some of these places but to be inspired by them from afar is just incredible.  Also, the communities of women that comment every day are so dear to me.  The older I get, I’m 67, the more I appreciate those connections!

My most liked and viewed post is a reel of our Cape Cod kitchen. It has over 828,000 views and over 36,000 likes. It blows my mind! Our humble little cottage kitchen…

I’m so thankful for all of the comments and messages I get every day.  I try to answer every question and thank everyone.  What brings me the most joy, are the comments I get on my stories.  When someone comments that I touched their heart or they needed that quote that I posted.  I truly believe that there are miraculous connections that have been made and if my account has blessed someone or encouraged someone in even a small way, then my tiny part in their day has meant something and what more is there? To bring hope, joy and love to one another through this crazy thing called Instagram!

One of the most incredible opportunities I've had on Instagram was being messaged by Cottages and Bungalows asking to feature our Cape Cod cottage. Home Tour: Carefree on Cape Cod. It will be a pinch me moment that I will never forget. Walking into Barnes & Noble and picking up that issue was surreal and felt magical.  Our home has also been featured in several online publications.   

Feb/Mar 2022 Cottages & Bungalows

Here are some additional features:

Melody has been shared on Bob Villa and Victoria Magazine Instagram pages and her home has been the backdrop for a Cobb Hill Shoes campaign.

Melody you’re such a dear. Thank you so much for saying yes when I asked you if you had the time to chat with me and it was on short notice! I’m so excited to finally meet later this spring.

I encourage you to follow Melody on Instagram!

Til next time friends be well and I’ll see you over on the Gram.

Images: Melody Borghesani and Cobb Hill