Irreverent Scandi
This mid-century ranch flip house started like most modern flips: gray, white, and, well, lifeless. But as home to a creative young family, it deserved more. Welcome to the Irreverent Scandi project: a play of carefully weighted pattern, color, and personality.
One of the most important problems we solved in this project was the living room layout. The sliding glass back door splits the room in two, leaving one end empty and purposeless. So first we claimed the largest end for the living area. Then we anchored the far wall with custom library shelves. We went bold with a green paint our client dubbed “cugly”—cute + ugly. It leans so weird, you have to love it! This space is now the first thing you see when you walk into the room, and an invitation to relax with a drink, sit with your thoughts, or cuddle with a kid in the Eames lounger.
This project also showcases how transformational paint can be. We punched up the energy in planes of saturated colors; our cugly green is balanced by a deep teal on the opposite wall. The entry is a Wow first impression, with a Scandinavian print wallpaper, pink ceiling, Moroccan runner, and cayenne front door. We created an unexpected transition by painting the threshold of the entry’s cased opening a zingy yellow.
Local and independent art, and a plate wall collected to represent the family’s style and all the places they’ve lived adds story to the walls.
As a Covid project, our client says her house is now a home:
“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t appreciate what a huge difference it has made for our family and for me in particular. When my world is only as big as my house most days, it feels so much better to love where I live.”
