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Stepping back inside, the kitchen is wide open to the great room and also enjoys expansive views of the surrounding woods and mountains.The island provides a nice transition between the great room space and the kitchen and can serve as a buffet when the drop-leaf table is serving a dinner group. The island is different from the rest of the cabinet in that it is painted gray and has a countertop of thick, leathered Fantasy Brown marble, which is harder than most marbles and is sometimes marketed as a quartzite.The tall white cabinet between the two spaces is the beverage station. The couple wanted spring water readily available but hated the look of water coolers. “And I’m really lazy in the mornings, but I want my coffee,” Starla says. Inside the cabinet is a system that holds a 5-gallon water bottle cooler and hot-water system and a Keurig, so it’s all one easy stop to get it ready in the morning. Island paint: Grizzle Grey, Sherwin-Williams
The porch has a lounge area around the fireplace. It also has a dining area, and the far end of the porch has an outdoor kitchen that contains the grill, a Big Green Egg ceramic grill, cabinets for storage and a black granite countertop for prep. Thanks to its thoughtful placement, the porch enjoys views on three sides.
Designing for a LifestylePetri spoke at length with the Campbells about how they like to live at home. “We did not want to waste one inch in this house,” Starla says. She and Scott live casually and agreed that they had no use for a formal dining room, as they prefer to eat in a cozy booth or in front of the TV, or to take their plates out to the porch. For occasions when they have extra dinner guests, they decided on a drop-leaf table that doubles as a sofa table and a dining table that can seat 12. Scott crafted the table from maple wood that was reclaimed from a 70-year-old boxcar. We’ll see wood from this batch pop up a few more times around the house. The large, comfortable sofa suits them well. The coffee table brings in more rustic wood but in a clean cylindrical shape. The dark beams from the ceiling continue into the kitchen while the crisp white paint and square clerestory windows bring the modern into mountain modern. The floors throughout the house are engineered hand-scraped walnut. The planks are 9 inches wide and they ground the design in a dark, rich layer of natural texture.
7. Refresh summer whites. Fresh, clean and crisp, nothing says summer quite like white linens. Keep your white textiles looking their best by laundering slipcovers, cushion covers and curtains, or sending them out for dry cleaning if they’re not machine washable. Keep white upholstery and Roman blinds looking fresh by vacuuming them regularly using your vacuum’s upholstery attachment.How to Keep Your White Spaces Looking Great | Browse slipcovers and chair covers
How Long Will You Be Staying?If you don’t plan to remain in the home for long, don’t invest a lot of money in things like window coverings, custom rugs, wallpaper or other items that might not go with you when you move. Choose normal-size furnishings that can work in a variety of settings — not items scaled to that particular home. Avoid buying oversize sectionals, corner cabinets or towering armoires, as they might not fit in your next home — or even make it through the doorway or elevator.
11. Skip the coffee table entirely. Want to be truly bold? Skip the coffee table and rely on side tables and ledges for setting down drinks and other items. Leaving out the table in the center of a seating group instantly makes a living room look and feel much more spacious. Besides, often all you really need is one good footstool anyway.
Mari Hensley, with Kennedy Painting in St. Louis, says extreme ceiling and wall heights and a need for special equipment are among the factors that go into pricing a painting project.Grace Ragsdale says her family’s Lake Bluff, Illinois, company, Ragsdale Inc., does primarily restorative painting, which makes estimating more challenging. “A lot of work we will only take on a time-and-material basis, such as stripping paint and removing wallpaper, as there are so many variables involved, and there’s no way of knowing what you’re getting into until you start. Whenever we bid on a time-and-material basis, we lay out our labor and material rates, and provide the client with an estimated budget range and/or a not-to-exceed figure. This provides the client with an expectation on price, but allows us the ability to do the job right.”
Whom to hire: You should work with a professional painting contractor who is licensed and insured. Ask about insurance and bonding to be sure that all workers are covered for any injuries. Find out if the company provides a warranty on its work and for how long. You may want to ask how long the company has been in business and if its painters are employees or subcontractors. Benjamin Moore recommends getting at least three references from past customers. You can also check Houzz pro pages for customer reviews of the company. Find painting professionals near you
7. Bring Out Your Home’s Character With TrimIt might sound boring, but some of the small details of your home — like trim — can have a huge effect on the way it looks and feels. See how new trim might be just the embellishment to take your home to a new level. Cost: If you were to trim a small bedroom with crown molding and a more substantial baseboard, you could probably do the project for less than $500. The cost for large rooms with custom casework will creep into the thousands of dollars, depending on the wood species and detail.See the full project
Photos by Patti NeilKitchen at a Glance Who lives here: A family of sixLocation: St. Croix, MinnesotaSize: About 400 square feet (about 37 square meters)Designer: John Biancini, Apex Construction ManagementOver the years, and through seven renovation projects, this vacation home has morphed from a rustic cabin to a contemporary “river house” for the family. The latest project was a transformation of the kitchen —from a dark space without any river views in a closed-off corner of the house to an open, spacious room connected to the family room and overlooking the water.
Fireplace: She also simplified the fireplace with a plaster surround made to look like stainless steel. It’s topped with an oversize mirror that reflects the light. (Don’t worry: The mirror isn’t just leaning there; it’s affixed to the wall!)Paint on walls: Creamy (cut by 50 percent), Sherwin-Williams; chair: Caracole; onyx side table: Interlude Home
Strategy: “The key in here was simplification,” Flanigan says. She streamlined the niches by creating just one large one, backed by a grasscloth wallcovering that ties into other rooms in the house. She matched new media cabinets to the kitchen cabinets. She brought down the soaring two-story ceiling with a contemporary statement chandelier and by installing curtain rods up near the ceiling. Light fixture: Julian Chichester; wallcovering: Phillip Jeffries; painting in niche: Cookie Ashton
Living Room Before: Since the living room and the kitchen are wide-open to each other, Flanigan wanted to tie the two together. The jumble of six arched niches was a bit much, especially the ones way up at the second-story level. The fireplace didn’t have much of a presence, and the plantation blinds didn’t provide an open view to the backyard.
After. The design team stained the original window trim and baseboards the same dark chocolate brown as the kitchen doors. Worrel had a custom banquette built in three pieces designed to perfectly hug the angled walls in front of the windows. A subtle animal-print indoor-outdoor upholstery from Perennials covers the banquette for user-friendly durability and a dash of pattern. Just like the rest of the kitchen, the breakfast area is a stylish mix of vintage and contemporary design. The brass chandelier is original to the house and a great juxtaposition to the sleek white midcentury Saarinen table underneath. Worrel chose four black Thonet bistro chairs as a bridge between the vintage chandelier and modern table. “The Thonet bistro chair was designed in the Victorian period, but it’s really one of the earliest pieces of modern design. It’s a classic look that always feels fresh and relevant,” she says.MoreKitchen Trend: These Jewel-Toned Cabinets Really ShinePhoto Flip: 91 Kitchen Banquettes to Start Your Morning RightFind kitchen designers
At the other end of the living room, original wood paneling, built-in shelves and a desk area provide authentic midcentury details. “We didn’t do anything here except put in floors and take down wallpaper,” Hansen says. The piano was a gift to the home’s original owners, and the children of those owners insisted Hansen and her family keep it. “It fits the house so perfectly,” Hansen says. The staircase leads up to two children’s bedrooms and a full bathroom.
The design team discovered original terrazzo floors beneath the living room’s carpeting. Beck had the terrazzo restored and polished. Pops of orange throughout the main living areas enliven the sleek white interior. To add some warmth and another midcentury touch, the design team added floating wood shelves and a box-like trim around the television. The gas fireplace is new.
Colleen worked with Molly in designing the living room. The large stone fireplace was the initial focal point. They added leather armchairs and a wood mantel to play off the stone.“We like to approach all our design and build projects with a clean, modern and intentional design,” Molly says. “We show a lot of restraint with the decor — less is more — but really love the items you have. With the exception of some art and a few small decorative items, we touched every item in the house, including furniture layout, kitchen design and sourcing and styling furniture.” Mina chair in Midnight leather: Anthropologie; Linon pillows in Copper: CB2; other accent pillows and throw: Golden & Pine; bell jar table lamp: Southern Lights Electric; Orbit sconces: Workstead; antiqued metal drum pendant: Restoration Hardware; poufs: Ulah; area rug: Knotty Rug Co.
House at a GlanceWho lives here: Colleen and Mark Patterson and their black labrador, PitchLocation: Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City, MissouriSize: 3,400 square feet (316 square meters); five bedrooms, five bathroomsYear built: 1911
Seated at the island, the couple and their guests have a great view of the bay.
Dining area. Instead of having chairs on all sides of the table, Michaelsen had a banquette installed along the wall, which makes the dining area less crowded. The table has a hammered steel base with a handmade wood top.Banquette, chairs and table: A. Rudin
Den. Past the main living area is a small den. Michaelsen added built-in cabinets for the couple’s books. They also use the den as a more relaxed office space. Sleeper sofa: A. Rudin; ottoman: Bella Furniture Home
Photos by Paul RollinsHouse at a GlanceLocation: Russian Hill neighborhood of San FranciscoSize: 2,465 square feet (229 square meters); two bedrooms, 3½ bathsDesigner: Anne Michaelsen DesignThe view sweeps from the Golden Gate Bridge to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as you walk around this San Francisco condo. The owners, who moved into the city to be closer to work, wanted to make the inside of the condo a place they loved as much as the view. While the general layout of the space worked, it was lacking in personality and storage. From the main living area to the bedrooms, the couple worked with designer Anne Michaelsen to make the condo their own.Scope of work. The condo had recently been renovated and was in good shape, but the owners wanted more built-in storage and places that could function better as workspaces, such as the den. The couple worked with Michaelsen to introduce those elements and navigate the building’s remodeling restrictions, such as work times, during the six-month project.Living space. In the main living area, Michaelsen helped the couple pick neutral-colored furnishings with a touch of luxury. The linen material of the sofa gave the room “casual eleg...
In the living room, furnishings with light and dark accents help draw attention to the original shiplap ceiling painted white and the dark-stained hardwood floors. The windows are new but remained in their original locations. The drywall, trim and front door are also new. The spiral staircase leads to the loft.
DownstairsThe downstairs living space is for watching football games and hanging out. There are large sliding barn doors in between this area and the double-height storage area at the back of the barn that can be opened up to create a big event space. The storage space also has a full pub-style L-shaped bar. “For big parties, they clear out all the gear and use both sides of the barn,” Moore says. “There’s room for bartenders behind the bar and space for a band.” TV area. With the big garage door open, this space is all about people coming in and relaxing after a day out on the property, and moving from indoors to out. In the fall, football games are usually on the big-screen TV that the sofa faces. “Everything needed to be durable and comfortable down here,” Moore says. She chose a jute rug, a large sectional sofa and two leather armchairs. For the large coffee table, she turned to the local craftspeople at 1767 Designs, who make custom wood pieces. “I knew we needed something unique here, and I worked with them on the design,” she says. Sofa and leather chairs: Lee Industries; see more sectional sofas
The living room, however, was designed around a rug — one from Turkey that the family brought from their previous house. Ales layered it over a larger sisal rug to scale up the look. The fireplace surround and adjacent half wall are covered in the same stone used on the home’s exterior. Ales designed the media console, adding drawers to hide kids’ toys and bordering it in wood to match the kitchen cabinets.
6. Does your room showcase your style and color preferences? As much as neutral schemes can be calming and beautiful, accent colors and stylish furnishings can bring a room to life. In this photo, bright orange and golden yellow pillows warm up the gray sectional along with the orange and yellow accents on the shelving beyond. Wall shelves and a coffee table reveal an affinity for clean-lined furniture in light woods, while the rug and gold pillow fabric at the far end of the sofa demonstrate a fondness for graphic patterns.11 Ways to Make an Impact With Color in a Room
8. A roaring fire, complete with a stack of wood nearby. A fireplace that has no kindling, tall box of matches and stack of wood nearby can look naked. Throw a few logs into an old metal bucket or a firkin on the hearth to complete the look.
Maintenance and Extras to Budget for This Month10. Schedule chimney and furnace maintenance. Make sure your fireplace and heating system are clean, safe and ready to go by having a pro look at them now. Having your chimney cleaned will also ensure that you don’t try to start a fire when an animal family (or an old nest) is inside. And if you don’t have a chimney cap yet, speak with your chimney sweep about adding a one. The metal cap with screened sides can prevent critters from getting in and helps protect your roof from burning embers.
6. Green with envy. A Massachusetts family of four that loves color turned to designer Kelly Rogers to infuse their living room in vivid shades of green. Rogers selected a pair of celery green velvet swivel chairs and matched them up with a carpet and drapes in emerald green to create a more sophisticated palette that still felt bold and fresh. The drapes “set a gorgeous backdrop to the room, and make the bay look softer and finished,” Rogers says. Custom rug: Davis & Davis, Williston Weaves; chairs: Kravet Furniture, fabric: Romo; back fusion fabric: Highland Court
A cozy booth suits the family’s casual lifestyle, and this bay takes advantage of three-sided outdoor views. Scott made the booth’s top from the same boxcar wood he used on the sofa table.Trim paint: Peppercorn, Sherwin-Williams
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