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Kim and her brother, Keith Green, are the children of Carter and Diane Green, owners of Ashley Furniture HomeStores as well as Kids Stop Furniture and Accessories. All three of the family’s homes are included on the tour.

By Leanne Libby, Special to the Caller-Times

December 18, 2005

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Kim and John Benavidez will open their home today for the London Independent School District Christmas Home Tour. Kim designed most of the holiday and floral arrangements in her home. A gas fireplace off the kitchen adds cheer to the living room.

Kim and John Benavidez purchased a one-acre lot in the Country Creek subdivision when their daughter Megan was born, 6 years ago.

London ISD Christmas Home Tour When: 1 to 5 p.m. today Cost: $7 (Tickets may be purchased at any home.) Information: 438-0235 Homes: 5030 S. Oso Parkway, Carter and Diane Green 5018 S. Oso Parkway, Dale and Mary Robinson 8102 Nazareth Drive, John and Kim Benavidez 8109 Nazareth Drive, Norman and Holly Clapp 8134 Nazareth Drive, Keith and Renee Green 4518 Mars Hill Drive, David and Cynthia Del Llano

They liked the quiet neighborhood with a country feel and they liked what they saw at London Independent School District. Today, the couple is opening their red brick home for the first holiday tour benefiting the district. The tour, which runs from 1 to 5 p.m., features six homes.

London Independent School District has about 230 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

“Fundraisers are essential for any of our extras,” said Janice Furch, the school’s acting principal. “We need them for things that aren’t normally budgeted.”

Today’s tour also offers the opportunity to see how decorating experts furnish their homes: Kim and her brother, Keith Green, are the children of Carter and Diane Green, owners of the local Ashley Furniture HomeStores franchise as well as Kids Stop Furniture and Accessories. All three family homes are included in today’s tour.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Kim displays her great-grandmother’s china in a hutch in the formal dining room.

In addition to being near the school, Kim and John saw another advantage in the lot’s location.

“We bought that lot because my parents live across the street from us, and with Megan that has been great,” Kim said.

The 3,600-square-foot home was built 2 1/2 years ago by Suncrest Construction. By design, it has a familiar, comforting feel for Kim.

“It’s the house plan of the house I grew up in, with some added space and niceties,” she said.

Niceties include granite countertops throughout the house, including Megan’s playroom, the laundry room’s folding area and a generous surface in the kitchen for meals and, more important, baking Christmas cookies. Kim also chose dark hardwood floors for the kitchen, which gives it a warm appearance.

“I like it because I can be in there cooking and still be with Megan while she is coloring or watching TV,” Kim said of the kitchen, which opens into the family room that has a gas fireplace.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

This whimsical chandelier became the foundation for decorating Megan’s bathroom, which also includes Peter Rabbit wallpaper and pink bow drawer handles.

Whimsical theme

Kim, who is the buyer for the Ashley stores, found a whimsical chandelier on one of her buying trips. The fixture became the starting point for decorating Megan’s bathroom. Pale pink Peter Rabbit, toile wallpaper and pink bow knobs make the room a perfect place for a princess to wash up.

Megan’s playroom features a castle mural that did not quite fill the length of the wall. John, who manages the stores’ inventory, and Kim’s dad have been painting sky and clouds at each end to fit the space. Kim trimmed a tree in the playroom with fluffy pink garland fluttering down the branches along with ballet and carousel ornaments the couple found during a trip to the Smoky Mountains.

The dolls in the Benavidez home have the use of a doll-sized high chair, crib and bureau, all handmade and painted by Kim’s father, just as he made for Kim when she was a little girl.

Megan’s bedroom features a white sleigh bed from Kids Stop and white built-in shelves, brightened with pale pink walls as well as floral bedding and window treatments made by Kim’s mother.

Kim enjoys handiwork as much as her parents do. Most of the floral arrangements, wreaths and greenery in the home are her own creations.

Houseguests can take advantage of what Kim calls a Hollywood bathroom, with a shared shower area flanked by private toilet and sinks that connect to two separate bedrooms.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Megan’s room features a sleigh bed from Kids Stop Furniture and Accessories. Her grandmother, Diane Carter, made the bedding and window treatments.

Luxurious dining

Kim has set a festive table in the formal dining area which sits next to a cabinet featuring her wedding crystal and her great-grandmother’s china. She confirms the antique china is for display only; she’s a straight-to-the-dishwasher kind of girl.

The couple occasionally works from home, which they can do in a traditional study that overlooks the front yard and includes a wall of built-in bookshelves currently housing a miniature Christmas village.

Rich burgundy colors add luxury to the master bedroom, which features a regal poster bed. The couple designed the bathroom with sinks, toilets and closets on each side, with a shared shower and bath.

“There’s just more privacy that way,” Kim said.

Kim describes her decorating style as primarily traditional, although she finds ways to add other items that catch her eye. She encouraged other homeowners to do the same.

“Get what you like,” she said. “Don’t let someone talk you into something you’re not comfortable with. There’s always a way to take pieces someone really likes and make them work together.”