2010 ASID Awards-25th Birthday Bash

It was a packed house at the 25th Birthday celebration for IMS and the designers were all a buzz during a fun-filled evening of fab outfits, great conversations and stunning awards. We were thrilled to receieve a First Place Award for an Entire Residence over 5,000 square feet. Melinda Nelson, in her vintage hot pink number did a superb job presenting the awards. Read her Party Patrol blog at MSP Magazine.

http://parties.mspmag.com/2010/11/congratulations-happy-birthday.html

Digital Print Textiles: The New Wave in Design

Digital Textile Printing is exploding! We love the us of a pop of color for pillows or for a dynamic drapery. Trisha Guild is a color master you can't resist! It is so exciting to have no limitations in use of color or repeats. Uncover this and other gorgeous fabrics.

http://www.designersguild.com/fabric-and-wallpaper-showroom/fabric/

Unbridled Farmhouse

Not Country Cliche: An awe-inspiring farmhouse in Lakeville, Minnesota circa 1910

The crooked walls, damaged floors, and crumbling foundation over time changed to bright, open, and airy rooms that bring the outside in. Marjie Newton was ready to turn in her traditional past of oil paintings, restrictive mahogany furnishings, and muted Persian rugs for modern sensibility.

This kitchen is a favorite gathering spot among family and friends and exudes fun while promoting productivity. Bright wonderful colors like orange, blue and lime green add a modern spin, but comfortable feel. Many unique original features of the house blend with new furnishings which complement each other. All the rooms details, seem as if they were always there, meant to be, they just belong. A perfect balance between masculine and feminine forms allow for comfortable entertaining spaces. A striking Micheal Eastman photograph is the perfect personal touch that welcomes all entering from the barn.

The design exudes a friendly sense of style in an old farmhouse, Marjie Newton gets to live with modern things comfortably. Now, Indonesian teak cabinets, modernist lounge chairs, and cowhide details create the perfect eclectic mix of furnishings, nothing feels out of place. The home is a rejuvenating hideaway from all the pressures of the world so caring for her horses and children comes easily. She enjoys country living and all it has to offer, beautiful views, privacy, and a sense of calm. The barn, stables, chicken coop, horse arena, and a caretakers apartment were also part of this labor of love renovation. This intimate refuge embraces design continuity that will age gracefully for many years to come.

Coast-to-Coast Kitchen

A Tudor house in suburban Minnesota was the ideal compromise for this young couple to start a family and blend their different backgrounds. His East Coast upbringing imprinted his desire for practicality, comfort and tradition and her West Coast rearing caused her to yearn for a more transitional space sparked with color and whimsy. Our goal was to blur the seams between the two points of view and reflect the personality and values of both. We created a kitchen that was comfortable and practical, yet spontaneous and creative. With no straight remodeling path, we conquered set back issues, upheld neighborly relations, and managed construction challenges. The hierarchy was maintained; preserve oak floors with walnut stain, embrace the arches, an architectural signature, and plaster new walls with a “linen” texture to complement the original stucco, and create a family gathering space.

The kitchen, built on old ideas, captivated and inspired new ones. The punch of paprika lifts the spirits of the sedate, practical kitchen. Artisan hand forged iron cutlery hardware embellished the cabinets and vivid awning stripe valances crown the room. Bold red rattan stools add flair to the stoic kitchen island. Exaggerated scale comes alive with the Cubic iron lantern over the breakfast table and the Gothic iron chandelier sways proudly over the island. Overlay mosaic stone, a custom mix of tiles, takes center stage, behind the Wolf stove. These “interlocking bracelets” were symbolic of our East and West Coast blending. This graceful tile, paired with the bold bronze hood, is another unpredictable choice. Tile fragments are set in a soldier pattern behind the backsplash, giving hints of age-old design. The quartz countertop was a low maintenance surface for the house chef and cabinetry plans were masterly detailed. Efficient home-office utilized cork inside cabinet doors for calendars and trellis inserts allowed for “easy to find items.”

Our design feature for the kitchen, the antique map collection showcased the Coast-to-Coast heritage of both families. From the Eastern shores of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, to Missouri and West to California, the clients’ settled comfortably in their suburban home in Minnesota. We created a self-portrait, by recalling childhood settings and memories while defining their blended style.

Escape to Maine!

One of my all time favorite houses we designed!

This stunning summer house is situated in Hulls Cove, Maine a mile from the entrance to Acadia National Park. The cliffside setting along the Atlantic Ocean is breathtaking. Sunlight pours into the Living Room through the custom Marvin awning style windows. The blonde nature of the Birch floors pairs nicely with the golden teak millwork. Our design intention was to embrace the authenticity of Maine throughout the project.

Deer Isle Granite was selected for the fireplace surround and each stone was artistically hand edited for the perfect placement. Can you see how the granite cantilevers beyond the glass? It is really an incredible sight to look through the windows beyond the fireplace. The custom designed fireplace screen shows a Maine scene with a loon, lobster and pine tree. I love the Navajo Kirk Brummel fabric upholstered on the chairs. Elizabeth Eakins, a New England native, hand loomed the tattersall wool rug in the living space. We custom designed several cherry pieces of furniture with Thomas Moser, a well known Maine furniture maker. The lines of the pieces are simple and clean just like the architecture of the house.

The world comes alive on the coast of Maine as we sit in the Weatherend teak rocking chairs watching the sunrise as the Captains of the lobster boats pull in their traps for the day. I can't think of a more beautiful place that I'd rather be!

Practical Modern!

The house, designed in 1969 by owner architect, was a modern lakeside architectural gem, built on a shoestring budget. The new owners loved the clean lines of the house and embraced the beauty of their surroundings. An architectural duality was defined to bridge the gap between practical modern geometry and beautiful organic design.

Visual geometries were expressed through the play of positive & negative shapes. The “sliver” window in the breakfast room counter balances the chunky fireplace mantel wrapped with blackened steel. This geometric tension is harmoniously balanced with ease and beauty. Each cabinet detail was masterly planned, creating architectural bands or partitions. The kitchen bands, articulated with “tree bark” walnut base cabinets contrasted beautifully with the “tree leaf” green Formica upper cabinets.

Most importantly, the practical, maintenance free quality was the driving force. The quartz countertop, “water-glass” backsplash, custom etched glass panels, and light sculpture reflect the lake setting. The intention of no window treatments, supports the tree-lined views, allowing the owners to become one with nature.

A unified design of artistic furnishings replaced a once mismatched collection of the owners’ past lives. The open gallery feeling of the living room is romanced with organic bark-like fabrics, beautiful paintings, hand-screened prints and balanced by spare, clean furniture lines. We never lost site of the architectural duality of closing the gap between practical modern geometry and beautiful organic design. For that is what the owners really “fell in love with.”