Ranch Rebirth (continued)
Photo: Mark Lohman
The 2005 makeover did not increase the home's square footage— the main goal was to "kick up the vibes," say the owners. Earlier decoration was more somber overall, honoring inherited antiques. Although they're still in evidence, what grabs the eye now are contemporary furnishings dressed in happy, bright fabrics, some with intriguing graphic patterns. What's vintage about that? "Everything!" says the husband, who has a passion for design. "Imagine you had a really hip 1940s grandmother. This is what she would have done then."
A case in point is the splashy fabric they chose for the living room sofa: a 1940s pattern by iconic Austrian-born Swedish designer Josef Frank. Next to it rests an 18th-century merchant's chest, an inherited piece; but the simple wood coffee table (which is not unlike some of Frank's furniture) is new. The kitchen, too, part of the '99 redo, got jazzed with a dramatic navy-colored grid, resembling tiles, painted on the white walls, a pattern that's echoed on the dining area curtains. Says the husband, who masterminded the decoration: "We wanted to give the house back its sense of tradition, and evoke some of the colorful, relaxed ideas that were coming out of Sweden in the 1930s and '40s. That period is so now!"
A similar philosophy guided their choice of art for the walls. Nothing could be more traditional than the display of vintage blue-and-white plates against the yellow walls of the family dining area. But some are modern takes on old patterns. And in the dining room, is that a Paul Klee? Are those paintings in the living room really by Piet Mondrian and Willem de Kooning? The owners laugh. Nope. They're painted imitations. "I'm a varsity Web shopper," admits the wife. "I found just what we wanted." At last, for this remodeled-over-time ranch house, pedigree, comfort, and hipness have happily come together.
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