Collaboration is not underrated. In the design field, one's work, as I learned many years ago from a respected architect colleague, is only as good as one's client. The patronage of a client who shares the same sort of vision and who comes with trust for the talent and expertise that we offer makes the finished project a long lasting delight. Just over the bridge on Snell Isle is a project that I have just completed with just such a client.
Ann & Joe Kohler live in the house with two dogs, two cats and a bird. Their children, Carson and Jake, are home on the holidays and in the summer from Texas where Jake is an undergraduate, and Missouri where Carson is a graduate student. The house has been their home for more than twenty years, and was Joe's parents home before that.
Ann & Joe are active people with a love of the outdoors and a love of home. Ann wanted their home to be comfortable, relaxed and with a classic style for the 21st century in the coastal climate of Florida. We filled the spaces with oversized upholstery in fabrics that were soft yet durable and added functional pieces to compliment them. The result is a new design that still speaks of home. Formerly stained paneling has been replaced with a new painted look, changing the entire feeling of the space that they had come to know. Light is a constant theme and soft is its compliment.
Interior design is not just a look. It is soft, livable, functioning and comfortable and at its best has great depth and great longevity. Working in collaboration with a client whose goals are in sync with these important principles always has the end result of a project that a designer can be exceptionally proud of.
