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Decor Makes the Difference

Written by HCHH Staff

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The Rendezvous model home in Fraser must moonlight as a magician.

How else, without some sleight of hand, could this 1,931-square-foot home gracefully provide four bedrooms, four bathrooms and ample living space that goes beyond just a simple floor plan? It's no wonder visitors do a triple take as they wander through.

Attention to detail is paramount. In addition to a stone fireplace in the great room, a kitchen featuring stainless steel appliances, hickory cabinets and granite countertops, and red oak flooring throughout, the home's décor makes it shine.

"The most important thing to keep in mind while designing and furnishing a smaller space is the scale of the furniture," says Stacy Tingle, a senior designer with Possibilities for Design, the same company that selected this home's decor. "A common misconception is that designers use 'mini-furniture' to make a model seem larger. Designers use real furniture that's appropriately scaled to the room, sometimes using fewer and/or larger pieces until the room fits the desired style." And there's no miniscule furniture here. White sofas with darker pillows sit on the fringes of an animal print rug, giving it a cohesive coziness under the impressive cathedral ceiling heights reigning above. "The use of vertical space is more important in a smaller home than it is in a larger home," Tingle points out, citing the use of taller art work and window treatments. "This draws the eye up and makes the room feel more expansive."

Each bedroom has its own personality within the home's larger mountain resort theme, including an upstairs bedroom that breaks the mold of mountain décor. This smaller bedroom employs trade tricks to give it its unique voice.

First, it uses strategic color, which in this case, consists of a yellow back wall with the angled side walls painted black. "Color blocking is a great way to give a smaller space depth and enhance the mood of the room," Tingle notes. Second, though clearly a teen's dream bedroom with its life-size snowmobile decal absorbing the entire wall behind the bed, this space could easily morph into a study or a dedicated playroom, due to its light-hearted, yet sophisticated decorations.

Decor accolades aside, there's also something to be said for the interior designer's canvas - the spatial attributes of the home itself. "When designing a smaller home, it's essential to connect the living room, dining room and kitchen," says David Carson, the Oz Architect who designed this home's open floor plan. "Creating as much volume in this one space is key, because people tend to linger and live there." Connecting the indoors with the outdoors is also important, which is why Carson added the wraparound deck — another pivotal feature of his design. The deck acts as an outdoor living space, which makes smaller homes feel less confining and allows for more natural light to shine through the home.