Stately Mountain Residence
This stately home, situated in the rolling piñons and cedar of the eastern slopes of the Sandia mountain, needed a little pizazz. Although nicely appointed, it lacked color and personality. The new owners sought to add their personal touches to make it their own.
As is often the case, the new owner knew she needed help making decisions to create a new look and feel. She had great ideas and vision, but needed help gathering options and assembling materials to find her joy.
Having purchased several significant pieces of furniture, she didn’t feel it was coming together and couldn’t take the next steps necessary to discover why and what to do to make a comfortably cohesive statement that satisfied her goals.
Patti suggested moving a massive neutral wool rug to another room and selected a new colorful and multi-textural wool rug to speak to the caramel leather sofa and neutral floor tile. This rug added an organic design motif which resonated with the surrounding landscape and introduced colors from which we pulled accent pillow textiles and other upholstery fabrics.
Using her existing decorative accessories we celebrated that which she already had in her repertoire, but lacked the vision to bring together. Yet, during the process, her confidence grew and enthusiasm blossomed and she began embracing the process!
The momentum took us into the adjacent powder room where we painted a refreshingly intense robin’s-egg blue, added a new console which she converted into a natural stone-topped vanity, salvaged the mirror, added art and complementary decorative details.
Next we tackled the cozy study where color again inspired a design direction that transformed existing cabinetry and an existing sofa, a pair of family heirloom chairs (brought in from another room), and an ottoman. Diaphanous draperies in a clever, uniquely whimsical fabric, with sheer ground and textural applique, brightened the space. The yellow, cream and blue theme, with added aqua tones subtly drawing from the newly painted blue in the powder room, was a great success. Anchored by another beautifully textural wool rug of cream and blues this room gets the nod from the family’s English bulldog.
An entire lower level provides a generous family room so large and with mostly hard surfaces that it felt its subterranean dismal cold. Despite having generous windows and walk-out doors, the space needed a lot to make it cozy and inviting. We began by painting the walls a counter-intuitive dark gray. This added depth and warmth. The lovingly worn leather sofa was irreparably damaged and was slated for disposal. A great size and sturdy frame, attractive feet and trim, this was an imperative salvage. New commercial-grade faux leather offered a very cost-effective transformation compared to replacing with one of similar quality. Deciding upon a color theme of greens and blacks to relate to the surrounding evergreen landscape, new fabrics were selected to accent the sectional and also create an intimate seating area on a bare banco in the music corner.
This house has become a home with the unique personality that will continue to speak for and to the family that so comfortably gathers here.
