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.”

Roomology Story: Showcasing Screen Porch in Orono

This lakeside retreat, nestled amongst old trees and beautiful gardens, has an "Old School" feel to it! Our delightful clients, a family with three active teenagers, cherish the comfort and practicality of the porch. The teak chair and daybed, appropriately upholstered with indoor/outdoor acrylic fabric from Holy Hunt, are resistant to moisture and sun fading. The black slate floor and Douglas Fir paneling can weather our turbulent Minnesota storms. Architect James Dayton, connected the screen porch addition with french doors leading to the family room. This bow-shaped screen porch is ideal for lazy afternoons reading a great book on the daybed swing or enjoying dinners by candlelight. We imbued the space with colors, reminiscent of Indian oil jars-paprika, curry and ochre. Pillows were designed from Burmese and Thai textiles. The hunt and the gather of the assorted pieces weave together an interesting story. Now that I have just given you a glimpse of the story in MPLS.ST.PAULmagazine, get your own copy and browse through this great September issue. Shawn Gilliam, the Homes Editor for the magazine, produced a great collection of stories. Stay tuned-I'll always keep you posted on future publications!

Hwang Bishop-It's all in the details!

The Luxury of Hwang Bishop Designs! Asian inspired lighting and furniture all began in 1994, by Felicia Hwang Bishop. Felicia and her staff of artisans create one of a kind pieces, all produced in Warren Rhode Island. One of my favorite stops while in Chicago, is at the Summerhill Showroom in the Merchandise Mart to ogle over new designs from Hwang Bishop. The high fired ceramic finishes on the lamps are gorgeous, including; Ancient Bronze, Canary and Chinese Mustard. Sumo is an all-star, a weighty round plump table lamp. I used a pair as bedside table lamps for a client and we love them still! 

The turned wood lamps are equally stunning. The beauty of the Hwang Bishop line is that you get to select the shape of the lamp, determine its
glorious finish and then top it off with the shade of your choice. What could be better than custom designing your own lamp? Have fun and explore the web site. You'll never just settle for just "any" lamp again!

http://www.hwangbishop.net

Trina Turk's Paradise

Trina Turk has designed a spectacular collection of indoor-outdoor fabrics exclusively for Schumacher. There are 11 screen prints that are irresistible. All are printed on 100% Acrylic Duck-a very thick, durable fabric, ideal to sit outside on your patio and "weather any storm."

Super Paradise Print in color, Pool, is my all time favorite. Wild Zebra Print is another great pick- a large scale zebra pattern in crisp white and hot brights-bamboo, orange, dune, java or black. Her Sunglasses Print is fun and bold, in 5 super colors-the Citron is hot!

Have fun with these fabrics-outdoor for pillows, cushions or awnings! Dare to bring them inside and use them on a splashy banquette in your kitchen or darling floor pillows in the rec room for your Nintendo loving kids.

Step out and have some fun with this new collection from Trina Turk.

http://www.fschumacher.com