It’s not unheard of for designers to use their own homes as a mad laboratory, fiddling with new materials, half-baked ideas and 'could this work?' assumptions they’re not quite ready to try out on clients yet. But when the time came for designer Heather Peterson to put her own family home in Minneapolis under the microscope, experimentation wasn’t the only goal.
What started as a quick refresh amidst the pandemic turned into an all-hands-on-deck overhaul that pushed the envelope on her creativity and opened the floor to members of her firm, where all were encouraged to ideate and innovate.
'As a studio, we were really wanting to show a more eclectic, spirited, modern project than some of the client work we were completing at the time,' explains Heather of the way her home became part design calling card, part creative experiment.
'We put the focus back on my house, and the whole team helped shop and scheme. The biggest challenge was definitely designing for myself, especially since my taste is idiosyncratic – I’ll know it when I see it – and I tend to keep things for a long time.
'I also realised that, while the kitchen and bathrooms were not what I would have chosen, I didn't want to rip out relatively new and relatively high-quality fixtures, so the job became about transformation through smaller interventions.'
Originally built in 2007, the home toed the line between what Heather calls 'modern Scandi' and 'contemporary A-frame,' providing strong bones that lent themselves to the modern family life, but nary enough personality to satisfy Heather's intrinsic need for quirk and funk.
Alongside a few smart cosmetic upgrades (including a bathroom renovation that involved five damaged bathtubs), Heather and her team layered in rich colours, graphic shapes and plenty of vintage finds, all aimed at encapsulating the firm's singular appreciation for bold, personality-packed design.
The living room
Finding the ideal layout for the living room was a lesson in perseverance for Heather, who had to contend with several different entry points and architectural quirks. 'The living room was tricky to lay out,' she admits. 'You can see it through the entry, stairs and dining room, as well as at the back of the house – the back door essentially opens into it. To counter all of this weirdness, we relied on symmetry.'
Vintage furniture also played a large role in balancing the space, including several pieces Heather 'pre-inherited' from her parents. 'This is one of the rooms that tells the most stories,' she adds. 'The redwood burl coffee table is from my parents — they bought it when they were first married and lived in California.'
The kitchen
Happy with the layout and function of the kitchen, Heather decided to forgo an intrusive renovation in the space, focusing instead on an expertly executed facelift that elevated the humble cooking zone into the pièce de résistance of the first floor.
'The kitchen technically shares one large room with the dining room, with a window at the far end – it's essentially a galley with an island and pantry,' she explains. 'It functioned well, though, so rather than rip it out, we dressed it up.'
A bold, 70s-inspired green paint (which she had custom-mixed) coats the existing cabinetry, while oversized ceramic knobs add a dose of whimsy and a countertop lamp brings the ambience. 'I’m a huge fan of lamps in kitchens and this one is not for show,' Heather adds. 'It's the first light I turn on in the morning and the last I turn off at night.'
The dining room
While some dining rooms get the occasional visitor for holidays and dinner parties, Heather's space acts as the linchpin of her house, with sightlines to the kitchen, hallway, living room, powder room and primary bedroom. Needless to say, it was a natural spot within which to anchor her home's design ethos, an opportunity Heather fully embraced through a nuanced mix of colours, textures and silhouettes.
'The table is small for the room – my father-in-law built it for our much smaller kitchen in Brooklyn – so the goal here was to add volume elsewhere, and to ground the room in order to keep it from becoming a pass-through,' explains Heather. 'The large scale of the pendant (it’s 36 inches in diameter), armoire and artwork go a long way, while the depth in the cork wall covering and embroidered rug takes it the rest of the way.'
The multipurpose nook
Off the living room is the creatively dubbed 'Room of Requirement', a spot Heather says 'meets our needs many times over,' similar to the room in Harry Potter of the same name. 'It's been a home office, the first office for my design firm, a Lego room, a piano and music room, a library, and, currently, a cosy flex space where I work from home, my daughter makes art and where we have family game nights,' she adds.
To reinforce that cocoon-like appeal, she coated the room in a custom brown shade, layering in contrasting white pieces and plenty of storage so that her crew can live amongst the many books, trinkets and pieces of art that give them inspiration.
The powder room
Heather worked within the confines of the pre-reno powder room, revitalising the existing sink with a fresh coat of paint (Farrow and Ball's Preference Red) before teaming it with Sandberg's iconic Raphael wallpaper. 'I splurged on this wallpaper a dozen years ago and I still love it,' she adds. 'It feels magical in the space!'
Main bedroom
'The big goal was to make it cosy and grounded, and also a great-looking sightline from these public spaces in the house,' Heather says of the main bedroom, which can be seen from both the entrance and kitchen. To achieve a look that upped the cosiness factor but held its own against the rest of the house, she covered the walls in paperbacked fabric.
'The William Morris fabric bridges my taste and the house's bones; it's historic yet modern,' she adds. 'I love the playful rhythms in the three florals and two patchworks in this space – the combination is dynamic, but the tight colour palette keeps it in check.'
Primary bathroom
Determined to keep many of the existing finishes in the primary bathroom, Heather relied on a few strategic swaps (like the shower tile and sink fittings) to make the space feel more cohesive and in line with her vision.
'The rosemary tile from Fireclay is much more lively than the previous white 12 x 12 squares, and the variation in the glaze makes the mixed tones in the marble floor feel intentional,' she explains. 'Add wicker for warmth and red faucets for liveliness, then, as so often is the case, let the textiles take it home.'
The kids' rooms
When it came to designing a retreat for her eldest, Heather teamed bold prints with a refined palette grounded in navy and oxblood for a space that bottles just the right amount of playfulness.
'Given that this is the largest room in the house, I like how the faux-wainscoting helps bring the room down to size, and the tall bed and wall system help eat up some space,' she adds.
In her daughter's bedroom – though most of it is taken up by upholstered goods – it still boasts plenty of visual interest, thanks to subtle prints and a muddy palette of dusty blues, greens and mustard. 'I love how calm the room feels despite quite a number of elements in a small space,' says Heather. 'All the different shades of pale green really cool the room down.'
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