5 min readEvery renovation begins with a choice, but this one began with a reckoning. When designer Mel Bean was hired to update this Missouri family home, the owners weren’t looking to reinvent it. They had lived in the house for more than a decade and planned to stay. Then, an unexpected offer to purchase the property arrived at the price they’d always thought would make them sell, effectively raising the stakes and complicating ... everything. Instead of changing course, the homeowners felt it clarified something essential: The house was worth keeping, but modest updates wouldn’t be enough.
“Once they decided to stay, they stopped holding back,” Bean says. Rather than updating rooms in isolation, Bean treated the renovation as a course correction, revisiting decisions that had made sense years earlier but no longer aligned, and making choices that would support the family long-term. Room flow was simplified where it had become fragmented, sight lines were opened, and natural light was drawn deeper into the interior.
In the kitchen, Bean saw a room that was working too hard visually and not well enough functionally. Storage was everywhere, but not organized by how the family cooks and entertains; instead, the layout pulled one’s attention in too many directions. Her solution wasn’t to layer on new features but to simplify what already existed, clearing clutter to ensure every element earned its place. In the main living spaces, Bean focused on fixing scale and function, rather than changing the rooms’ character. The largest living room had high ceilings and generous dimensions, but the furniture didn’t match its proportions. Replacing undersized pieces with substantial seating transformed the space’s dynamic.
The lower level, on the other hand, needed a full facelift. “No one wanted to go down there—it felt like a dungeon,” Bean says. By opening and expanding the space, she transformed it into a true extension of the home, creating room to play, exercise, and retreat in ways the main floors couldn’t always accommodate. “This was a project where they didn’t leave anything unfinished that they should have tackled,” Bean says. Now the home is shaped not by aspiration or resale value, but by attention—carefully recalibrated to support how the family actually lives.
FAST FACTS
Designer: Mel Bean Interiors
Location: Webb City, Missouri
The Space: A five-bedroom, four-bathroom, and two half-bath home, including a lower level transformed for play, exercise, and entertaining.
KEEPING ROOM
This room prioritizes comfort and flexible storage over formality.
By removing original built-ins and reworking the fireplace, Bean opened up the TV lounge, resulting in what she calls a “super soft” space designed for everyday use. An oversized armoire from Mr. Brown London adds extra storage.
SCREENED-IN PORCH
Strategically placed openings allow the porch to function as part of the interior.
An extension of the main living spaces, this area encourages “outdoor” enjoyment, bringing in fresh air and leafy views while offering protection from insects.
KITCHEN
Rethinking the layout improved how the kitchen works.
Once a maze of awkward angles, the kitchen was reorganized around a sophisticated plaster “stove cove” and a Lacanche range. A new coffee bar and hidden scullery add storage without introducing visual clutter.
Two paneled refrigerator doors create symmetry along the side wall, with a built-in coffee station centered between them.
BAR
Rebuilding the space from the inside out made entertaining part of the home’s framework.
Rather than stopping at paint and hardware, the designers fully reworked the former basement kitchen—replacing cabinetry, adding dedicated refrigeration, and wrapping the room in verdant Josh Greene Design wallpaper. Now it functions as a true bar, supporting everything from cocktail hour to morning smoothies.
SCULLERY
A secondary workspace absorbs the mess so the primary kitchen stays composed.
Formerly a cramped laundry room that “cut the room in half,” this space was reworked into a true secondary kitchen, complete with dark cabinetry, stone flooring, refrigeration drawers, and retractable doors to conceal small appliances. By relocating prep and cleanup here, the main kitchen could become, in Bean’s words, “more functional, open and balanced.”
WINE ROOM
Rather than hiding bottles, the design turns storage into a focal point.
Integrated into the lower level rather than tucked away, the wine room centers on a communal table framed by full-height storage. As Bean notes of the redesigned basement, “Now people go straight down there,” a shift made possible by treating the level as part of daily life rather than overflow space. Custom oak cabinets boast steel and glass doors that keep favorite varietals on display.
MORNING ROOM
A transitional space that functions as the home’s daily dining room.
A Four Hands pedestal table and Pottery Barn chairs on casters sit beneath a scalloped pendant of woven coco beads from Made Goods. Wide openings connect the space to both the kitchen and screened-in porch, making it the family’s everyday dining spot, while the rolling chairs keep the setup flexible.
LIVING ROOM
In a room defined by height, proportion became the solution.
A redesigned fireplace clad in mortar-washed stone replaces the original built-ins and pony wall, while large-scale Verellen sofas correct the proportions of the vaulted space. Automated shades help manage light and glare in a room defined by height.
OFFICE
Bold color transforms a functional office into one of the home’s most expressive spaces.
Presented alongside a more restrained alternative, this was the more adventurous, push-their-boundaries option—a fully saturated red scheme carried across walls, trim, and cabinetry. The clients were most excited about it, even if committing to that much color felt like a risk. Large windows overlooking the terraced hillside prevent the room from feeling enclosed, while custom oak cabinetry and soft drapery temper the saturation. The bold choice has since become the homeowner's surprise favorite.
PORCH
This porch turns outdoor seating into a year-round habit rather than a seasonal indulgence.
Positioned to overlook the terraced hillside, the screened porch is designed for daily use, not just fair weather. The homeowners begin each morning here with coffee, surrounded by native plantings—and the bees and butterflies they attract.
GIRL’S BEDROOM
Rather than fight the angled ceiling, this room embraces it, using color to unify what once felt disjointed.
To resolve the vaulted ceiling and an awkward, off-center window in the eldest daughter’s room, Bean added wall planking and painted the walls, ceiling, and trim entirely in Blue Heather by Benjamin Moore so it would “feel balanced again.”
HOME GYM
Opening the room visually turned an avoided basement corner into a space designed for consistent use.
Originally the “saddest exercise room” she’d ever seen, Bean expanded and reconfigured the home gym, then helped the wife surprise her husband with a home gym stocked with Pent equipment to upgrade his workouts.
About the Designer
Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mel Bean Interiors is a full-service residential design studio specializing in new construction, renovations, and furnishings. With more than 20 years of experience, the firm is known for thoughtful, personalized interiors shaped by collaboration, clear communication, and careful attention to detail. Projects span coast to coast, reflecting a wide range of styles tailored to how clients truly live.
