Mixed materials, clean lines and texture. These are the words the homeowner used to describe her style when we began the journey of renovating her families Grant, MN living room. After our initial meeting, she took the job upon herself and put together a mood board! This was right up her alley as she used similar boards to portray her vision on a daily basis at work. It was impossible not to fall in love with this client. Amy’s style and ability to be so clear and concise with her design vision, she could nearly design it herself. A marketing and merchandising pro for large retail brands, she often traveled for work bringing back ideas from Europe. The trouble she had with this space was mixing her vision with the current vibe of the home. Which is where I came in. She needed help blending her style with the current traditional vibe of the home. Brighten and whiten while incorporating the warm, caramel tones of the existing woodwork, which was extensive. This executive home was custom built with beautiful built-ins and wood details throughout. We embarked on the task of using the same, beautiful woodwork to our advantage while elevating the colors to the 2020’s.

The families previous White Bear Lake home had white on white walls and trim. Still loving that color scheme, the caramel tones definitely needed to be cooled down to align with her home style. She was a step ahead of the design trends with the color scheme in her previous place, in 2020 white on white has become a popular color combination. It was seen in the top homes in MN during the Artisan Home Tour and continues to gain momentum. Different tones of white being mixed on trim, window casings, walls and cabinets adds a surprising amount of dimension to the once popular all white enameled house of 5 years ago.

I sincerely hope you enjoy this little before and after trip, this project turned out to be so different than expected. You’ll see a mix of traditional elements with a slight boho vibe and textural pieces that make this room unique. We re-worked the old t.v space and added some pops of texture with lighting and tile plus cooled down the overbearing caramel tones of the room.

To my extreme dismay, as we were waiting to wrap this project (we had put a hold on the final styling and install day due to COVID closures) there was a bad accident that killed Amy and her oldest daughter. It was with a very heavy heart that I finished the project never being able to show Amy the final result of the beautiful space. Her daughter was the artist of the canvas painting that was already placed on the new accent wall just weeks before the accident and still hangs in the same spot as a major focal point of the room. In the small amount of time I knew Amy, I was amazed by how much vision and insight she brought to the table during our conversations about design and business. One day I stopped at the house to drop off samples. We got to talking and I told her about one of the rental properties I owned. The end of the tenants lease was coming up and I told her how much I dreaded dealing with it due to how far away it was and it’s looming need for renovations but added it was a good income generator. She said “yea income is good but the quality of life is more important.” This resonated with me, it was such quick but on point advice and something I didn’t often consider when making decisions. We never know what tomorrow may bring so whatever decisions we make I now realize how important it is to consider how those decisions will affect my and my families quality of life… not just our future financial stability.

Photo Cred: Chelsie Lopez Productions