INTERIOR DESIGN MATTERS The Inside Story

By: Kitty Golding
When John and Lisa Paul hired us to team up and remodel their master suite, they had a vision in mind of a modern, comfortable and very functional space.  The now renovated suite had been two bedrooms, and a bathroom, and was transformed into a small tv room, walk in closet and master bedroom/bathroom. Their 3000 square foot Burns Park, Ann Arbor home already had some amazing remodeling/additions completed in prior years by Geoff Perkins Construction Company, located in Ann Arbor. The couple was used to living in a construction zone,  but unfortunately Covid hit in the middle of  everything causing some major delays to finishing the work.  That did not let the couple or us be deterred, even with long delays on fabric, and furniture we completed the rest of the project just this past Spring!  John, the former University of Michigan Head Lacrosse Coach, and Lisa, a corporate executive has called Ann Arbor home for a long while. Both attended U of M and John’s dad was a professor at the University as well.   They have worked diligently on their home, making it one of the most spectacular beauties on their historic street.
The design came quickly, and John shared that he felt the most important part of collaboration on a project like this is a shared understanding of the vision. He felt Kitty & Company understood what they were going for and stayed on target throughout.  The master bathroom started with inspiration photos that included a large, combined showering/bathing area.  We took that as the main inspiration and developed the rest of the bathroom plan including a floating custom vanity, a custom cherry wall and barn door, a floor to ceiling medicine cabinet accessed with a pair of sliding doors and a toilet that does everything except sing for you.  The couple stated that the bathroom is exactly what they hoped for, realizing the vision with which they had started.
The master bedroom included a new closet wall, to which we had custom laminated wood grain sliding doors made and then painted the entire wall dark to match it.  The high peaked ceiling is a focal point in the room, as are the views from the many windows, offering  a treehouse like setting. We added a fireplace to the room with absolute black granite surround, black accent lighting, a soft furry wool rug, new bedding, wallpaper and a reading chair. Lisa had a few sentimental antiques including the cedar chest at the end of the bed that brought warmth to the space. This room is not completed with accessories and may eventually have the window seat bench we talked about, but for now, the couple is taking a break from remodeling.
This project also included rebuilding the stairway and redirecting them to the 2nd floor, a new guest bathroom on the 2nd level (in a separate area ) and creating an office studio space for John above the detached alley-way garage.
Lisa and Paul were enthusiastic design cohorts. They possess a fresh take on design, and liked the suggestions for unexpected details – such as the cherry wall/door combination in the bathroom.    We worked on other smaller areas for their home too, and they were ready at one point to go with our suggestion of installing a pod-like swing in a large empty corner of their front entry, but that all changed when they brought home two large new puppies and the space was needed for kennels.
The couple stated that they wanted a clean, modern look that was still comfortable and warm, and  absolutely feel like that’s what they ended up with.

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