Basics With Snap

By Alecia Stevens

Photo by Alex Steinberg

Amy Walsh Kern knew what she wanted in her Kenwood home: “The most important thing for me is that our home look personal, not like someone else did it,” she says. What better way to achieve her goal than to work with her friend and interior designer Janet Gridley, who approaches each project with the same objective? “I want my clients to feel as if the space is theirs when I am done,” explains Gridley. She was enthusiastic about taking on the Kerns’ whole-house project because, she notes, “Interesting people make for interesting homes, and Amy and [her husband] Mitch have incredibly interesting lives.”

This sunroom, adjacent to the living room, started with the basics. According to Amy, “books and rugs” are all she really needs. This room makes the most of both.

1 The Foundation

Amy found the zebra-skin rug in South Africa while on a trip with her mother in 2000. She swears she had to throw out shoes to get it to fit into her bag. The sacrifice was worth it; this rug anchors the room, as a rug should whenever possible. And the books? They are the best and most personal accessory a room can have because they reflect the owners’ interests.

2 Vintage

Gridley specializes in finding diamonds in the rough. This pair of reproduction Louis XV chairs was squirreled away in a basement antique shop. Their original iridescent leather upholstery was intact, but the frames were painted a gloomy cream color. Gridley thought “black would give them a bit of snap.” After a craftsperson gave these dated chairs the desired facelift, the result was perfection. “When I walk into the house, just seeing them makes me happy,” Amy says.

3 Reuse

The Kerns bought this sofa with the house for about $200. It had been in the sunroom for years, but the sofa’s bones were right so they opted to keep it. Gridley was delighted. “Using what you’ve got is as ‘green’ as it gets,” she says. After Gridley painted the walls brown, the Kerns lived with the unfinished room for several months. Eventually, Gridley suggested the cozy, brown linen velvet as the best choice for the ’60s-era sofa, and the Kerns agreed. For a fraction of the cost of a new one of similar quality, the couple got exactly what they wanted and saved a tree or two in the process.

4 Modern Touches

Adding a piece at a time, Gridley determined that the traditional sofa, chairs, and architecture could benefit from some modern elements. The “Platner” table, a classic of modern design, is especially nice here because you see right through it. The “Akari” lamp, designed by Isamu Noguchi, is more than a light source, it is a sculpture that fills this corner with intrigue.

Alecia Stevens is a Minneapolis interior designer and frequent contributor to Midwest Home.

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