sofa
we did an extensive remodel on this family home nestled under the flatirons in the chataqua neighborhood of boulder, colorado. originally built in the 80’s, we updated the exterior with earthy wood siding and local stone, in keeping with the home’s mountain setting.
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(the baby guest house of my pine street project)
in the spring of 2021 my pine street cottage project was featured on the cover of 5280Home. it was so EXCITING! this darling house has a calm, neutral palette with lots of texture and dimension in the textiles, pillows, throws and wall art. at that time, the family was remodeling the guest house, which i was so happy to furnish. so now there is a baby cottage!
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(this bedroom is from a project that was SUPER fun to work on!)
i am generally a very efficient person. i hate to waste time (unless i am watching tv and then i can do it endlessly.) i set the table as i’m unloading the dishwasher (even if the next meal is HOURS away) because i never want to put dishes away that just have to come right back out. if i am making a green smoothie in the morning, i also make a veggie plate for dinner since i am already chopping stuff up. i frequently get on my tread in my jams because they already need to be washed. i put things on the stairs that have to go up so i can do it on my next trip. i stack my meetings or source fabric or tile or whatever for multiple clients at a go if i am already at the upholsterer or the tile shop. i read once that chefs are trained to make their movements as minimal as possible because they are typically working in small spaces and want to conserve the energy they expend while working. i think about those chefs all the time as i am planning my days.
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(our sweet bubbie with all of his shaved parts…)
my sweetest baby boy hank had to have BACK SURGERY two wednesdays ago. the tuesday evening prior, at the tail end of our FOUR hours of zoom parent/teacher conferences (for some reason the middle school and the high school scheduled them for the same night) we noticed that something was terribly wrong with hank. he was panting outrageously and shaking like someone just scared the bejeezus out of him. his vet was already closed so we took him to the animal ER, V.E.G.: veterinary emergency group. i have to say, they were so KIND there… they offered us drinks and comfortable chairs and snuggled him up trying to help him calm down. after a physical exam, the doctor predicted that it was his spine. (his reaction to touch was equal on each side and he was doing a weird thing with both of his back feet.) she couldn’t be positive without an MRI so she directed us to another ER (C.A.S.E.: colorado animal specialty and emergency) where they have the MRI machine and a neurologist on call. she said in the past, they would have sent us home with pain meds and instructions to monitor him for a few days, but new research has shown that immediate confirmation is better and that if we waited and it was indeed his spine he could be paralyzed by the weekend. HAY SEUS! they gave him methadone and another sedative and we headed over to C.A.S.E. even with the drugs, hank was still panting HARD. the team at C.A.S.E. was also really wonderful. they gave him FENTANYL (which freaked me out but they said they can give dogs these drugs because there is not a fear of them holding up the corner bodega desperate for cash to feed their addiction because we can control how much they get. i was left wondering if there are people out there who take their dogs’ medication.)
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we did an extensive remodel on this family home nestled under the flatirons in the chataqua neighborhood of boulder, colorado. originally built in the 80’s, we updated the exterior with earthy wood siding and local stone, in keeping with the home’s mountain setting.
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(bludot felt upholstered lounge chairs in front of the mountain view)
the newly opened boulder office of whispir, a global digital communication agency, is located on pearl street in the center of boulder’s downtown walking district. the upper level office enjoys both street scenes and stunning mountain views from the multitude of windows that wrap the building.
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it was so exciting to be included in this article by stacey lindsay for camillestyles.com about color trends for 2022. i chose terracotta. sam, one of my SUPER talented classmates from my studies at denver’s heritage school of interior design, employed this color so effectively and beautifully in her work that i fell in love with it too. and with all that we’ve been through already in 2022 - fires, shootings, blizzards, omicron - i think the warmth and earthiness of terracotta will do us all some good. THANK YOU sam, thank you camillestyles.com and thank you heather knierim of HBK photography. here’s to terracotta and feeling safe and grounded in 2022! x00x
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so it turns out i didn’t just have A virus over the holidays… i had THE virus! when i got back to boulder after christmas i had a sore throat which progressed into a throat ON FIRE with a runny nose, headache and some nausea. i was pretty flat for three days taking nyquil, drinking theraflu and sucking on ricolas (which i HATE so that is an indication of how tender my throat was - i only had them in the house because my dad loves them so i keep them on hand for his visits, which obviously haven’t happened since before the pandemic so they were very old, but still strong and nasty!) during that period my friend dropped off a home test which came back negative. i wasn’t seeing anyone (except hank, of course) because the kids went skiing with my first husband and i was feeling super cruddy and i wouldn’t have wanted to spread what i thought was a bad cold or strep anyway.
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in this architecturally traditional home, we wanted to create an eclectic mix of modern and antique furnishings to give the interior dimension, texture and personality. the color palette for the finishes is a range of whites and soft grays and warm woods, punctuated with hits of black. we brought in lots of color through the artwork, photograph and textiles.
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i am beyond THRILLED to have my pine street project for the adorable zeldner family featured on the COVER of the april/may 2021 issue of 5280 Home. many thanks to editor michelle johnson and the team she assembled: angela ufheil (writer), aaron colossi (photographer) and natalie warady (stylist) for the wonderful article and beautifully styled photos. i had so much FUN on this project with my SUPERSTAR clients who were such a pleasure. and i am delighted to see local boulder artists shayna larsen (elephant painting in the breakfast nook), laura morningstar (“little mama” ceramic vase in the bedroom), sammy and sawyer (children’s art in the hallway) and william irving singer former artist in residence at the boulder creative collective (portraits in the living room) in print as well. THANK YOU all! x0x
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as we all struggle through this crazy global pandemic, we are missing the ability to travel and experience the customs and traditions of other cultures. i had so much fun writing this article for boulder county home+ garden about dutch “gezellig” (coziness) and remembering our time living as ex-pats in amsterdam. all three of my sweeties made it into this piece (hank and my darling children) as well as my living room! MANY THANKS (as always) to heather knierim of HBK photography for the lovely photos! wishing you all loads of gezellig as we all bunker down this winter… HAPPY, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! x0x0xx
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i’m not going to lie… the last couple of weeks have been completely BANANAS and overwhelming. living through a pandemic alone is pretty unsettling what with the social distancing and the COOKING and the home schooling. then there is the election and all the news that logically i shouldn’t watch because it’s all so crazy but i am the worst kind of rubbernecker where i have it on all the time so i don’t miss anything but really i just want to miss ALL of it. then when we finally got into a home schooling rhythm (which wasn’t smooth by the way - lucy and i both cried over her fractions several times a week. sometimes i had to email her teacher that she was missing the google meet because we needed a minute to collect ourselves and wash our faces and eat some chocolate. PRAISE JESUS that unit is over!) our district announced that the kids are going back - lucy FULL time and theo one day a week. i know the people who manage the schools and these decisions are doing their very best but it felt like a BIG leap to go from nothing to four days a week for lu. of course, i am thrilled that they can do some live learning and i AM relieved that we got through so many months of online schooling and my children are still alive. that was a valid concern for me - EVERY time you read about a mother who drove her kids into a lake, she is ALWAYS a home schooler.
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one of my sweetest, most poignant learnings from living in the netherlands for nearly six years is the idea of “gezellig,” the dutch word for coziness. gezellig applies to social concepts like inviting or friendly people, parties, situations and meals, but what i have been really thinking about lately as we all “shelter in place” is how the dutch instilled gezellig in their homes. in a land where it rains at least a portion of most days, our amsterdam neighbors knew how to create welcoming spaces to retreat within and enjoy their families, while the rain drummed outside. corona is pushing us all inside now and we can learn from the comforting, warm interiors of the dutch.
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hank and i are very comfortable with routine. week days, i typically wake up pretty early (6ish) and head right downstairs for coffee. i always set the machine the night before so all i have to do is press one button. hank usually sleeps a little longer and comes trotting down by 6:30. he likes to have his breakfast straight away, while i need my one and a half cups before my scrambled eggs. after eating, hank likes to go outside for his potty. he is pretty quick about this and then goes back to sleep in his favorite sofa corner. sometimes, when he’s had a particularly arduous playdate the day before with his girlfriend dharma, (this is his second girlfriend… ellie moved away) he goes back upstairs and returns to [my] bed. it throws me when i don’t see his big bat ears poking over the arm of the sofa and i walk around the house calling for him until i remember his secondary routine. (unfortunately, hank doesn’t really understand about weekends when i would love to sleep maybe all the way to seven. he sits over me and sighs and breathes noisily until i open my eyes to find his face hovering mere inches above mine.)
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(carefree in new york when i knew everything about parenting, but didn’t yet have children)
when i was living in new york in my twenties spending sundays enjoying boozy brunches (after taking an early yoga class and wandering through the chelsea flea market - which is sadly now all condominiums - clutching a giant coffee from the bodega on my corner) i had all kinds of ideas about what my life would be like when i had children. i would, of course, still live in the city, but i would have a giant loft, rather than my run down holly hobby sized apartment and my children would just slip into my life without disrupting my routines. they would come to brunch with me wearing adorable outfits and contribute witty, charming stories to the conversation, enchanting the waiter so that we were sent a plate of free beignets each week. they would use their cutlery properly and keep their napkins in their laps and they would NOT whine or cry at the table like all the other bratty, poorly-parented children in the restaurant. they would be like this because i was going to be a GOOD mother who paid attention and set boundaries and generally just had my shit together.
we created a clean interior envelope of white walls and light blonde flooring to house the eclectic mix of bold colors, varied textures and warm woods in this south boulder home. the owners, a young family of four, decamped from northern california to the front range bringing with them a collection of bright, mid-century graphic prints. these vivid, compelling pieces inspired the color palette in the downstairs living spaces. a gold-hued print set the tone for a family room done in burnt orange and golds featuring a tweedy cayenne loveseat, an orange powder-coated side table and a geometric felt rug.
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for this one bedroom apartment in the peloton building we wanted to create both continuity throughout the flat and distinctive, pragmatic, yet warm, inviting spaces for the resident musician. the clean, white walls and pale wood flooring allow the bright colors in the art, patterned rugs, orange velvet lounge chair and textured cushions to stand out in the living room, which doubles as a guest space by virtue of the queen sofa bed. the white, powder-coated desk and bookshelf are both functional and aesthetic, without visually disrupting the living space. mid-century nods are found in the dining table and chairs and nelson bubble lights hanging in the living room and kitchen.
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i have a few inconvenient glitches. i cannot tell my left from my right. thankfully, i did learn how to hold my hands out in front of me to check which one makes an “L” when i was in pre-school, but somehow i never internalized it, like most people do. so i still use this crutch when navigating the many directional choices throughout any given day. sometimes, this is problematic… if i am driving, and you tell me to turn “right” there is only a 50/50 chance that i will make the correct turn. it is best for you to also point in the direction you want me to go. otherwise, i will have to take my hands off the wheel and double check for my “L”, which probably isn’t the safest. also, i prefer a little lead time. i like that the google maps lady not only verbally tells you which way to proceed, she shows you a picture. i’ve realized that i am more of a visual learner than an auditory processor.
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the challenge of this large, rectangular living room was bringing intimacy and continuity to the expansive space. we started with a grand, persian carpet generous enough to unite the room and also to serve as artwork on the floor. we added spacious sectional sofas at opposite corners that mirror each other, defining and clarifying the space. the sofas were joined by rounded, organic-shaped, low tables and accessory seating in the form of the undulating wooden wave bench and the deep teal ottomans.
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i love learning about the histories and adventures of my clients. my goal, as a designer, is to help them create a home that provides a platform for the artifacts, photographs, books and unique objects that represent their experiences in an integrated, personal manner.
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