Residential Walk-Through

Color, and Then Some

Queen Creek, Arizona

Janet Friedman, ASID
Traci Shields, ASID
Julie Heiland, Allied Member ASID
Friedman & Shields, Scottsdale, Arizona

BY NORA BURBA TRULSSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK BOISCLAIR

A generously proportioned sectional, sparked by colorful accent pillows, invites lounging in the great room.

The clients came to Friedman & Shields for just a little help in choosing paint colors for their new house. By the time all was said and done, interior designers Janet Friedman and Traci Shields, along with design assistant Julie Heiland, had worked on all the interior aspects of the house, ranging from architectural details and cabinetry to furniture and artwork. And, oh yes, the interior design team also steered the clients toward a color palette.

The clients, a couple with a 10-year-old daughter, told the design team that they wanted to use vibrant colors in the house, but they didn't want the colors to overwhelm the interior. "The challenge they initially presented to us was to give the house energy with color, but to do it in an understated way," says firm principal Friedman. "They also wanted their master suite to be turned down about a thousand notches color-wise from the public areas."

A custom front door by Beams Design greets visitors.

But when Friedman and Shields, also a firm principal, began looking into the house, color wasn't the only challenge that needed to be tackled. "The house was already in the framing stages when we came into the project," explains Shields, "but it still lacked interior architectural features." The designers also felt that parts of the floorplan needed tweaking.

The contemporary, two-story, 6,500-square-foot house, located in Queen Creek, Arizona, on the outskirts of Phoenix, was designed with the main living quarters on the first floor and a large-scale office, guest suite and exercise room on the second floor.

The selection of the dining chairs inspired the design theme for the interior. The interior designers made the great room more media-friendly by improving the acoustics with the addition of a special ceiling treatment and area rug, and blocking light from windows with shades that retract into the ceiling. The angled media cabinet adds interest to the wall.

Working with architectural designer Frank Clemente and furniture designer Don Beams, the interior designers gave the five-bedroom house some added oomph with ceiling details, built-in bookcases, home-theater cabinetry and a varied look for each of the four bathrooms via custom cabinetry. They also turned what was originally designed to be an open dining alcove into a cozy library and placed the dining area in the capacious great room.

The great room posed an additional challenge in that it was to be used as the home theater. "The room, though, has a high ceiling, hard surfaces and tall south-facing windows," says Friedman. The designers specified an acoustical ceiling and an "island" of carpet to help with the sound issues, and installed motorized shades, which disappear into ceiling channels, to help with light control.

Glass tiles, colorful upholstery and art provide counterpoints to the granite, stainless steel and wood of the kitchen materials.

To complement the architecture's extensive use of glass and stone, Shields and Friedman suggested interior materials that included large-scale porcelain tile flooring, a variety of rich woods and finishes for the cabinetry and the bookcases, stainless-steel accents, and glass mosaic tile for the kitchen and bathrooms to impart sparkle and color. When it came to furnishings, the clients made it clear that they were not bringing anything from their previous residence to the new home. But finding a furniture style that suited them required a bit of sleuthing. "They said they wanted contemporary," recalls Shields, "but we didn't know exactly what kind of contemporary they were comfortable with."

A shopping trip to San Francisco furniture showrooms yielded the answer. "We were at Pacific Showrooms West," remembers Friedman. "I think we'd wandered through a lot of showrooms and collapsed there in the corner. The husband looked at a Mirak chair and said, 'This is it—this is what we like.'"

Aquamarine glass tiles add subtle color to the master suite's sitting area.

The simple, V-back mahogany and steel chair was contemporary, even a little edgy, but understated. From there, the interior designers could suggest other furnishings for the house, including a custom, broadly curving, tailored sectional for the great room, overscale seating for the library, and a generously scaled banquette and table for the kitchen.

With all the selections for the home's interior, the overriding request for color was not far from the design team's thoughts. "We put color into the accessories, accents and artwork," explains Shields. The sectional's cushions sport vivid hues. Red Ultrasuede sparks the kitchen barstools. Colorful art-glass sculpture is displayed on walls. The young daughter's bathroom sports plum walls and hot-pink accents. In the master suite, the hues are much more subdued, with tones of bamboo, copper, pale aquamarine and sage predominating. The designers even used bands of color to bring down the scale of the great room, using deeper shades of taupe around the entertainment cabinetry, which become progressively paler as the bands go toward the 22-foot-high ceiling level.

Plum walls and pink accents mark the daughter's bathroom.

Completed earlier this year, the home has given its owners everything they desired—and then some.

Interior design: Friedman & Shields, Scottsdale, AZ; (480) 922-4521 or www.friedmanandshields.com.

Architecture: Phoenix Design Group, Scottsdale, AZ; (480) 451-9773.

Builder: Alexander Enterprises, Chandler, AZ; (480) 963-3780 or www.buildn.com.

Custom cabinetry, coffee table, night stands and front door: Beams Design, Silver City, NM; (602) 793-5532.

Architectural details consultant: Clemente Design, Scottsdale, AZ; (480) 951-0046 or www.clementedesign.com.

Night stands by Don Beams flank the serene sleeping area of the master suite.