When one chooses beautiful Bend, Oregon, as their primary residence, one understands that finding a home sometimes feels like winning the lottery, and if you’re the type of person that loves character - you may need an interior designer to turn a blank slate into the home of your dreams.


My clients bought a Pacific Northwest Craftsman in a new neighborhood close to the Cascade Lakes Highway, making it convenient to head to the mountain or hit the trails to engage in all the outdoor activities they love.



Their brand new home had a fantastic layout with everything a family aspires to have: an open plan kitchen and dining area that connected to the living room, space for a play area, and a guest room that could double as an office. Because it was a new build, it already had a solid foundation: a kitchen with modern amenities, efficient bathrooms, and contemporary finishes. It was the perfect canvas that would allow the couple to blend their design preferences.

They were both looking forward to bringing their polar opposite styles together (he a minimalist, she an avid art collector and maximalist) in a way that would meet their functional needs and make their home cozy and delightful. To add to the mix, at the time we started working together, they had recently welcomed their first baby and were aware their needs would be constantly changing in their upcoming future. This meant we needed to create flexibility in their design, particularly in their living room.

The first thing we did was dive into their vision for their home, how they wanted to use it, and the kind of upkeep they realistically wanted to take on. We also talked about who would be visiting and spending the night, how often the guest room would be used as an office, and so on.

Because I believe that experiences inform our design language, we leaned into their hobbies, travels, favorite movies, and music they listened to, to discover the colors, shapes, and patterns they were both drawn to. And while their initial styles may have been on different ends of the design spectrum, they both agreed on the importance of design that felt very them and therefore be timeless, along with adaptability and consideration of the finishes the builder had chosen for the house.

From a creative direction standpoint, it was clear that their love of nature, the hard surfaces found throughout the house, and a desire to create a sense of calm would dictate our design approach. The selected color palette consisted of hues that would not only converse well with one another regardless of their location within the house but would also speak to the terracotta tones found on the fireplace and the bathrooms as well as the stone in the foyer.

THE CHECKLIST

• Cozy home

• Family centered home

• Flexible storage

• Nature inspired

• Organic shapes

• Personal details

This awkward space became an intentional and cozy playing nook that captures the magic of a child’s imagination with room for toys and books, a whimsical rug, and a colorful approach. We intentionally left the walls blank, knowing that it’ll become their son’s very own gallery space in the future.

The notion that we need to ‘escape’ from our children seems to be a thing of the past, and as families, we want to spend time together and build relationships with one another, so creating purposeful spaces for interaction with children and being mindful of their needs when designing spaces is of utmost importance to us. It’s their home, too, after all.

The nook is visible from the kitchen and dining room, so it capitalizes on quotidian occurrences.

The dining room continues to play with the concept of nature and curves; the expandable dining table and high chair are joined by Cherner dining chairs in two hues, bringing softness and a touch of whimsy. The oval pendant above, handcrafted in Bend, Oregon, from wood veneer, speaks to the fixture in the primary bedroom but also the shapes and colors chosen for the adjacent living room.

An important piece of our client’s design language was to be able to include locally made and sustainably designed products to cultivate a relationship between craftsperson and end-user; thus, we made it a priority to source finishes, fixtures, and furnishings that were either created in the Northwest, made in the USA or sourced through sustainable practices and manufacturers.

Important details like these allowed us to take a home designed to appeal to many and convert it into a space that spoke to our client’s unique design language and vision: inspired by their love of nature, lifestyle, and milestones.

Through the embracing of existing materials and features, we were able to create a design that felt purposeful and cohesive. Resulting in a home that feels cozy, comfortable, and welcoming while allowing room for the family to continue to add their touch and layer it with artful collections and, most importantly, memories.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN CUSTOMIZING YOUR HOME:

• How do you use your home?

• Where do you spend the most time in your home?

• How often do you host?

• Will you have overnight guests and how old are they?

• Are there any children and pets to consider?

• What kind of storage do you need?

• What are your priorities?

• What was your favorite vacation?

• What’s your favorite movie?

• What color do you feel your best in?