But back to the house. Laura's home remains cozy and old-fashioned, but it's amazing what a change of color scheme has done for the place. So far, we've only seen the living room area, but the changes are startling. All the wood surfaces have been covered with gallons of rich creamy off-white paint, as have the walls, giving a warmth and a sophistication and a sense of light to the formerly dark room. Laura's love of flowers and natural objects is still evident, with amaryllis in bloom, as well as a huge pot of live plants with white blossoms on the table behind the couch. That couch is new, too, seems to me; also off-white, it is covered with masses of color-coordinated pillows in shades of cream and gold. I could swear the fireplace has moved across the room from its old position, but perhaps there are two, or perhaps my sense of direction stinks. Regardless, the mantle is no longer festooned with family photos but instead has sophisticated plaster pinecone figurines and a lot of tasteful open space. The whole room is suddenly more glamorous and contemporary.

Still, Laura's style has not changed completely. The older, darker, shabbier living room was equally inviting, at least in my opinion, and equally cozy. Still, this new, brighter living space seems to indicate that Laura is feeling less gloomy and lost, and more pulled-together and in control. She's a woman with great taste, moving forward with her life. She isn't trying to preserve the past by keeping everything the same as it was when she and Luke were a family there. She is making changes to reflect this new stage of her life.

I once wrote about how much I would love to see Stefan arrange to have Laura's house painted, as it was looking pretty shabby. That earlier column talked about the house, and its run-down appearance, as a symbol of her marriage. The brief glimpses we have had of the exterior of the house indicate that it is as refurbished as the inside. It seems that Laura did not wait for any of the men in her life to put her house in order, but instead she undertook the task on her own. And that, to my way of thinking, is an even more satisfying turn of events than the one I imagined ages ago. I want to see more of Laura on her own, rebuilding her life, looking forward with enthusiasm.

Of course, I wouldn't mind this newly independent Laura building a new relationship with her old love, Stefan, somewhere down the road. (Come on, you knew I couldn't resist.) I'm willing to wait for that development, though. In the meantime, it's wonderful to see her forging ahead, at work and at home. She and Carly are going to be highly entertaining, if the new regime has the good sense to follow the direction for this pair that Bob Guza has begun. Since I promised myself I wouldn't let anything depress me during the holiday season, I refuse to dwell on the changes backstage today. Maybe next month.

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