When a Prized Collection Sparks a Design Approach

During the summer, I shared our design for a bespoke, stone-and-metal cocktail table for our clients’ great room. You can read about that custom creation — and the skilled craftsmen who executed our vision — here. Today, I am revealing the rest of the rustic yet sophisticated space that the table now graces.

The great room had good bones and farmhouse-style details from the get-go — including a soaring vaulted ceiling accented with rough-hewn wood beams. Walls of windows and French doors (outlined in pine) showcase leafy views.

The room’s charming architecture aside, we started with a nearly blank slate. The only existing element we knew would carry over to the redesigned space: the homeowners’ prized collection of Native American pottery. Their museum-worthy trove includes pieces from well-known New Mexico potters, such as Luther and Margaret Gutierrez, Maria Martinez, and Adam and Santana Martinez (Maria’s son and daughter-in-law). Not only did the collection receive pride of place in the newly appointed great room, it also served as the launching point for our design.

We started by finishing the walls in a subtle Venetian plaster to create an appropriately aged-looking backdrop for the vintage pottery. Next we installed open, custom shelves to display important pieces.

The shelves marry well with the pair of bespoke cabinets, crafted by Michael James Furniture, that flank the fireplace and balance the television placed on the other side. Other pottery vessels rest on the sofa table, which combines a walnut top with iron legs. Both that Paris console table and the eye-catching Wilmington fireplace screen are customized pieces from Michael James.

The Southwestern pottery inspired our earthy color palette of warm brown and terra-cotta, to which we mixed complementary blue hues. We selected fabrics with tons of texture to add interest to the predominantly neutral space.

A skirted, round table, covered in a Zimmer + Rohde textile with a tribal motif, softens the lines of the windows and doors, which we kept bare to invite sunlight and nature in. The family’s furry friend seems to have found a sunny spot.

We love when clients ask us to incorporate a treasured collection, a family heirloom or travel mementos into their spaces. These elements add personal meaning and memories to a home. And isn’t that what creating a home is all about?