This project in Paradise Valley was a complete surprise. I’d never met the clients, but they contacted my team and said they were thinking of buying a new build in Arizona. They asked us to accompany them for walk-through and give them our blessing before they completed the purchase. As spec houses go, it was as grand as any I’ve seen: a sprawling single-story on an enormous lot, with a great pool and windows everywhere. But there were plenty of reasons for hesitation: black windows, black tiles, black hardware everywhere. It was very modern and needed a lot of work. We gave them the green light with the understanding that the house would have to undergo quite a transformation before it would feel as custom and tailored as I knew they wanted it to be. They agreed and proceeded with the purchase. 

They were excited to move closer to their son and his wife, who live in Scottsdale with their children. Eager to see how we could overlay our look onto the blank canvas of the new house, the homeowner said, “Make your look work here.”  

These always make for interesting projects—those in which the clients aren’t in love with the house but know they could be after we’re finished with it. It feels like a lot of responsibility, and the task is not one my team takes lightly. 

The wife of the couple came to our showroom and saw the furniture we’d recently found in Paris. That one day of shopping set the tone for the entire project. She had such great taste and knew what she liked—mostly wonderful ceramics and furniture with clean lines and traditional elements. The vision for everything began to coalesce then. 

The driving question was the same from day one: What can we do to give this house character? It couldn’t be glitzy or over-the-top. They’re sophisticated, with classic style. They were so open to ideas; it made the project feel fun and exciting, loaded with potential. 

It would be impossible to list all the things we did to change the house before we began to decorate in earnest. Every light fixture had to be replaced. The wall colors, too. I remember watching them buying such handsome pieces and picturing all those white walls, thinking, “That will never go with a white wall.” Introducing wall color was critical. As it does with many clients, it took some time for the homeowners to get used to it, but when they did, they saw why it was so important. It changed everything. Wall color doesn’t merely make the room look good: it accentuates the exterior landscaping and pool. It calms your eye so that transitions aren’t so jarring. For people who haven’t experienced it firsthand, it can be difficult to understand, but it’s so fundamental to good design. 

A favorite memory is the evolution of the living room. It’s quite vast, which can be difficult. The solutions were in creating zones, changing light fixtures, adding bookshelves, and the introduction of that warm wall color that I always describe as “like being wrapped in a vicuña coat.” That’s how it felt when we were finished. 

Every picture tells the story of the changes we made, because nothing was left untouched. In the end, even my team was surprised at how wonderfully things turned out. I remember after the installation, the homeowner called, and we talked about how far it had come. “I finally love it now,” she said. By then, I did, too.