Single again, twins redecorate

Separated: As nuns, cancer victims, shop owners, and married women, they lived a mirrored existence. Now the twins find themselves with different ideas about creating a home.

When Lynda Casserly and Lynne Sennett found themselves single again, they each knew it was time for a change.

"We have both had breast cancer, lost our husbands and have grown children. We had to do something different," Casserly said.

Within the past year, the 55-year-old twin sisters each bought a new home. Casserly purchased a condominium in McDonogh Township in Owings Mills, while Sennett purchased an 1,800-square-foot townhouse in Stoneleigh. However, something was missing. The sisters, both former nuns, felt that they were living in a house, not a "home."

Each then decided to put their unique touches on their new homes. Casserly wanted to give her home an outdoors look, while Sennett wanted hers to be more old-fashioned. The first thing the sisters did was repaint every wall in their homes.

"White walls do nothing, say nothing, are nothing," Casserly said. "I'll never have white walls again."

All anyone has to do is walk into Casserly's condominium, and they can tell how outgoing a person she is. The kitchen, painted in a mustard yellow, is decorated with flowers, Casserly's rooster figurine collection and paintings of window fronts.

"If you asked me what kind of style I have here, I couldn't give you an answer," Casserly said. "What I can tell you is that it's unique and that it's me."

Casserly's family room is much the same. Painted in violet, the room has an old unattached door and window in one corner and a century-old cabinet that belonged to her former husband's grandfather in another. There are also more renderings of window fronts hanging on the wall.

"I never realized until recently how many pictures of windows I have in my house," Casserly said. "I just know that I wanted to bring the outside inside my home."

Even the nursery Casserly had made for her grandson feels like the outdoors, with the walls painted in a bright blue and the ceiling made to look like a sunny spring afternoon skyline.

But the room that truly shows that Casserly is not afraid to be different is the bathroom in the master bedroom. Just outside the bath is a giant sunflower painted above her vanity mirror, while the bath itself is made to look like a rain forest.

Sennett took a more conservative approach to her redecorating.

Sennett, whose husband died in 1996, had lived in Phoenix in northern Baltimore County for 10 years before moving to Stoneleigh in June. She said she had her dream home, living in a contemporary with 5 acres in the country. But after her husband died, she decided to move closer to the city.

"It was very important for me to have an old-fashioned feel here," Sennett said. "I wanted an older, more homey and grounded look."

While Casserly went for bright colors, Sennett chose to paint her townhouse in warm grays, blues and lavenders. Her furniture also reflects her desire for an older-looking home with couches, oak tables and cabinets that date to the 18th century.

"It's kind of funny, because my home in the country was more modern, while my home in the city is simpler," Sennett said.

The only room decorated with a contemporary theme is the bedroom of Sennett's 10-year-old grandson, Tommy, whom Sennett is raising.

"We decided to decorate it like outer space," Sennett said. "So we had all of the planets and the stars painted on the walls, and added planet-themed furniture."

Sennett also wanted to bring her love of Venice, Italy, into her townhouse. To do that, she had a mural of a Venice streetscape painted in the dining room.

"This home represents the new, single me, yet I have made sure the memories I had with my husband are still with me here," she says.

Most of the work done to the sisters' homes were done by Joe and Sharon Costa. The Costas, who are good friends of the sisters, own Flurals and Murals, a Baltimore decorating company. Casserly and Sennett met the Costas about a year ago after the couple decorated the Best Gift, a Mount Washington gift shop owned by the sisters.

Sharon Costa said she wanted to create a world that would be comfortable for each sister. "Even though they are twins, they are very different people. Lynda is more on the go and constantly changing things around, while Lynne is more conservative."

Neither sister could estimate how much money they spent on redecorating, but know it was less than $3,000. However, both agree that happiness can't be based on a price tag.