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The sleepy little town of Prairie Village, Kansas, may be peaceful, but don’t mistake that for boring—especially when it comes to the vibrant, cheerful home of Mike and Dana Treas.
“I really like color,” Dana smiles, “and we have a lot of it. A lot of this house centers around our collections of Mackenzie-Childs pieces (vibrant majolica, pottery and accents), which we started purchasing when we got married. [Those items] are very functional and more casual.”
 Rustic pieces also abound here. “My primitives have been in the family for many, many years,” Dana shares. Other than that, “I just pick up things we like,” at estate sales and flea markets, she says.
What she and Mike really like to do is invite guests over! “We entertain a lot,” says Dana. Good thing the dining room table seats anywhere from four to fourteen! Other elements also make this room a special one: The sideboard and corner cupboard are family antiques that have been handed down to Dana and Mike. Also, “We put in new windows, and I did the treatments semi-sheer because it’s a southern exposure,” says Dana.
The dining room isn’t the only cheery, sun-filled spot in the house: “We gutted the kitchen,”  Dana says. “It was dark and gloomy.” To brighten things up, “We painted the cabinets white and put up a colorful tile backsplash,” she says. “I also put Mackenzie-Childs knobs on the cupboards.”
When it comes to hanging out and relaxing, the Treas family doesn’t have a living room or family room, per se. “We just call it ‘the room.’” laughs Dana. “I did the window treatments here as well; I didn’t want to cover those windows up!”
According to Dana, the furniture in “the room”—as well as in some other areas of the house—is comprised of “newer pieces that I picked up at estate sales. It’s an eclectic mix,” she says.
Her penchant for lots of color notwithstanding, the muted (though sunny) master bedroom is another favorite area of the house. A large part of its appeal is the stained pine, platform, four-poster bed Dana gave Mike as a birthday present. The lace tablecloth hung at the head of the bed gives the whole setup a romantic feel.
Colorful, sunny, romantic—all in one house! Forget Prairie Village—it sounds more like heaven to us! |
