5280 Home: This whole house feels energetic and yet tranquil at the same time—especially the breakfast nook.

Beth Armijo: That arrangement is so interesting because it’s matchy…but not, thanks to an unexpected mix of pieces, even though the colors coordinate. The husband is really handy, so he installed the wainscot, which sits beneath a Lori Weitzner wallpaper that resembles newspaper strips—the traditional with the funky. The homeowners have grandkids who spend a lot of time with them, so we decided to go with a long bench, which we paired with antique chairs—the owners’—that we had lacquered.

5280 Home Winter 2014
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Twice As Nice: Tim Noe from the Kitchen Showcase created the space’s functional design, with amped-up style from Armijo. Double islands manufactured by Kansas-based Crestwood give the cooks—and their guests—room to move, and barstools (upholstered in Osborne & Little’s Prairie Snake Charmer) make cozy seats.

You’d never know the chairs are antiques—they look so young and hip. Kind of like the curtains in the living room.
The wife likes fun, bold patterns and textures, and it was a gutsy move to choose that fabric, but she did it. It really makes the whole room. You have to be careful picking the scale of a print so it fits the room. That pattern is large and it repeats, which worked well with the high ceilings and big windows. And with the neutral background, we needed to add color somehow. It would have been too monochromatic otherwise.

The colors feel cohesive from room to room but not repetitive. How’d you pull that off?
You want to keep some consistent threads but change it up. We picked up four or five colors and strategically repeated them throughout the main floor, creating a kind of rhythm. In the living room there’s a little bit of the champagne and blue that’s in the kitchen. In the dining room, instead of going with blue, we played up gold, yellow, and gray and let the texture of the wallpaper shine (a silvery grass cloth by Kravet).

Mix & Match: A custom bench and lacquered antique chairs add youthfulness to the breakfast nook, which was designed with the homeowners’ grandkids in mind.

When you approach a project like this, where do you begin?
Always with the furniture floor plan. I generally do three to four layouts and let the clients feel out what will work best for their families. That’s kind of like our road map. Based on that, we find out which pieces we’re going to reuse and what we’re going to order new. Then we get into the space so we can see the color and lighting of the house. I bring in tear sheets of furniture and samples of fabric and lay them down on the floor and just scheme based on their favorite things. We mix and match together.

Colorful & Cozy: Proof that serenity and color can work together, the master bedroom pairs Osborne & Little’s Asian-inspired Verdanta Japonerie wallpaper with tailored curtains in Grimaud by Wind. Bedside tables made by the husband complement the owners’ four-poster bed. He also constructed the beautiful beamwork on the ceiling.

What does this floor plan say about its owners?
They host large family get-togethers. The floor plan allows people to sit everywhere. You see a lot of benches and chairs, but it’s still not overly stuffed. The kitchen has a unique layout with the double island, so guests and grandkids can hang out and help prep while staying out of the cook zone.

Be Our Guest: Giving new life to long-loved pieces, the guest room is a cozy space full of items the owners already had. “Sometimes you just need fresh eyes to rework your furnishings and accessories,” Armijo says. “We had fun looking through the owners’ things and pulling the best pieces for this room.”

Simple Sanctuary: The wife selected the finishes in this elegant master bath, which pairs an ornate chandelier with a streamlined soaking tub.

The dining room looks like another great gathering spot. What’s the secret there?
I never want it to feel like someone bought an entire dining set off the showroom floor, so I generally never do the same chair around an entire table. I want it to feel a little more eclectic and family-found. In this case, the chairs are different, but the unifying thread is the upholstery. The homeowners already owned all of the pieces, and the wife loved the print of the head chairs, so I reupholstered the cushions of the smaller chairs in a pretty herringbone to go
with it.

Fine Dining The homeowners’ existing espresso-stained table and chairs bring depth to an otherwise light space. A Bernhardt buffet and mirror, Currey & Company lamps, and botanical prints create an interesting mix of shapes.

What about the home speaks to you?
I love the overall energy of it. There’s just enough fun to keep your eye moving around the space. The use of color is really fresh and light, with this kind of watery feeling. It’s an environment you can hang out in all day.

It definitely has a coastal vibe.
We actually weren’t trying for coastal, but the style of the woodwork gives it that feel. You don’t get those extra details in homes very often. I think they get lost with mass construction; trim and crown molding and wainscot become more of an expense. A lot of people who come from the coasts have had that character, and they don’t want big, drywalled rooms—unless they’re doing a modern space, of course. When you have that backdrop, though, it’s really easy to make a home amazing.

“There’s just enough fun to keep your eye moving around the space.”