Q: When it came to the design + finishes, what was your process?
As the Women’s Director of a large apparel brand (TravisMathew), I constantly live in a very visual, design-based space, which I love. I loved transferring the design I do in apparel to an interior design application. My mom is also a classically trained fine artist, so her visual astuteness and built in sounding board for putting everything together was invaluable. For me when it comes to design, texture trumps color. To achieve this I choose rich fabrics like velvets, reclaimed wood walls in key places, mini white her- ringbone backsplash that goes all the way to the ceiling in the kitchen, and touches of wallpaper throughout to bring a bit of pattern and levity. I wanted to walk away from the world at the end of the day, into a space that felt tranquil, light and serene, but also really livable. With all of the masculine energy I'm surrounded by between two boys and a giant male yellow lab, I also wanted it to have just a touch of livable femininity. Certainly though, every decision had to be judged by “will the kids destroy this,” so while things may look nice, making choices like luxury vinyl floors, stain resident fabrics and durable furniture materials means I'm not in a constant state of concern that the house cant live up to ‘boy life.’ The boys also had strong feelings of what they wanted for rooms, which I wanted to honor, but it's a tricky balance since I felt the need to make their rooms feel timeless and not like an overly juvenile theme room they would quickly tire of. In Theo’s room, he wanted a construction theme, so using reclaimed wood for a feature wall, a huge road sign I found at a flea market, printed sheets hidden by more mature bedding and lamps that looked like they were made of bricks brought this theme to life without it ever turning cheesy. For Brady, he wanted a dinosaur room which was much more challenging. We achieved it by choosing a dinosaur inspired green for the walls and applying a geometric decal of a T. rex that is subtle enough to not overpower the room. Then I added more mature elements in touches of black metal and camel leather throughout. As he gets older, things like custom built-in bunk beds with sconces he can turn on and off for reading, a sleek black metal desk for art and homework, and a bookshelf made from an antique library cart all allow his room to grow with him, and prevent me from constantly redecorating!
Q: Contractor cred?
I hired McHugh builders to execute on the project. They are a local family of builders with a long history in Denver, which was appealing to me. I had to be really conscious of not taking on more then I should for my financial comfort. Popping the top and doing a full scrape were obviously all options, but they were significantly more expensive, more risky on what costs I could potentially get into, and ultimately de- stroyed the ‘cottage’ integrity and put me in a house far larger then what I wanted. I'm also the queen of finding deals and really picked my battles on where to spend and where to save. For example, everyone thinks my back patio light is the one from Serena and Lily that retails for $1500+, but it's actually a knock off I paid $240 for!
