River + Ranch Magazine - Volume 5: Issue 6 December 2022/January 2023

RIVER + RANCH MAGAZINE

volume 5: Issue 6

River + Ranch Magazine is a collaborative effort to showcase the creativity and design of the West. The two publishers of Bismarck Magazine decided to embark on a new adventure and create a different magazine focusing on design, art, and western living.

Publishers

Hannah Haynes hannah@bismarck-magazine.com

Caroline Crary caroline@bismarck-magazine.com

Jenna Kluting Jennifer Kranz

Maria Fleck

Jennifer Kranz NewAge

Creative

RIVER + RANCH TEAM

Caroline Crary Publisher/Co-Founder Jenna Kluting Layout Editor

Hannah Haynes Publisher/Co-Founder

Jennifer Kranz Editor

Karel Sovak Writer

Maria Fleck Intern

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Home for the Holidays

This could be where you cozy up for the holidays next year

JE Homes’ philosophy is to build homes with a team approach, addressing the client’s wants and needs. Placing emphasis and achieving practical results in a timely and skillful manner at an affordable price.

Staging

LETTER

FROM

THE PUBLISHERS

Do you hear the jingle bells, or smell the sweet aroma of cookies baking in the oven? I know we all see the winter wonderland outside our windows. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and it is the most wonderful time of the year! Let’s peek into how our local designers and homeowners decorate for the holidays. Whether you are the minimalist decorator or have the “decorate every room” type of Christmas cheer, this issue has a style for everyone.

Check out the modern minimalist with Inspiring Designs or the cabin on Lake Isabel where the homeowner makes you feel like you are walking into Mr. & Mrs. Claus’s house itself. The holidays don’t just stop with Christmas. See how Brenda Keller from Bridal Butler decorates for a night to remember for New Year’s Eve. No matter what your style is for the holidays, there is something in this issue for everyone.

Find tips and tricks on how to decorate your home. Remember to shop local this holiday season when decorating and buying gifts. Bismarck/ Mandan has so many wonderful boutiques and shops where you can find all your Christmas decorating necessities.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all of you and your families!

River + Ranch Magazine is a publication is a locally produced publication and collaborative effort to showcase the creativity and design of the West. River + Ranch is a home magazine dedicated to highlighting design, art and Western Living. Based in Bismarck, ND, but showcasing everything Westward. You can find River + Ranch Magazine at any local grocery store in Bismarck, Mandan, Minot, Dickinson, Williston, Watford City, Medora and smaller cities in between. Thank you for reading.

Home for the Holidays

stories: Maria Fleck | photos: NewAge Creative

Every year we feature homes decorated for the holidays in our December/January issue. Each home is perfectly decorated to match the overall, year-round design and feel of the home. It is such a treat to get a peek into these gorgeous homes and get a little more into the holiday spirit!

A Modern New Year - Party for Two

Built by Joe Vetter Construction

As the cold weather moves, people settle in for the winter and begin decorating their homes for the holiday season. For some people, this year will be the first Christmas and New Year’s they celebrate in their home, an opportunity for starting new traditions or expanding on old ones.

Stephanie Miller and Shane Cornelius are one of these couples starting new traditions in a new home.

Steph and Shane moved into their beautiful custom home about seven months back. This was the couple’s first build, and they teamed up with Joe Vetter Construction to build their dream home. Steph and Shane had seen Joe’s work before, but it was his character and openness to new ideas that convinced them he was the builder for them. Steph describes, “I am a creative person, so when I go into a meeting with a builder, I tell them ideas, I show them pictures of what we want… I’ve had a lot of builders in meetings that make fun of it or say no I’m not going to do that, I don’t accept Pinterest pictures, I don’t accept idea boards, I’m going to do my style. Joe does his style, but he also incorporates what we want, as a good builder should

do. He was like, yep, I will take all pictures, I will take all your ideas, and we will figure out a way to execute them, and he did that. He did that on budget, and he did that a month ahead of schedule… and I’ve never heard of a builder being ahead of schedule on a home, and he did, and we just appreciate and respect him for that so much.”

On top of this, Joe always ensured the couple felt like their ideas were being equally respected. “Joe looked me dead in the eye, and he looked Shane dead in the eye, and he was very compassionate and wanted both of our opinions, not just Shane’s, and in a construction world that’s super hard to find,” says Steph. “All the builders we worked with and have worked with are that way,” says Shane. Because of this cooperation, many of the couple’s unique ideas, like the wine rack, lighting fixtures, the slatted wood wall in

“We have different styles, but we have melded them together pretty well...”

the mud room, and many others were incorporated into the home’s design.

The home reflects the couple’s personalities in several key ways. The large open main floor intended for hosting is one of them. Stephanie explains, “We really wanted our main floor to be almost like an event space. Shane and I own a restaurant, so we wanted to bring that social experience to our home on the main floor.” Since moving in, the couple has thrown a few housewarming parties and tested the layout’s flow. “It’s big enough that people can be in two different areas and have their own conversations going, but open enough that everyone is still within sight, and you know where everybody is and you can wander freely back and forth between groups of people,” describes Shane.

Between the kitchen and the living room is one of the home’s most noticeable statement pieces, a glass wine rack. The idea came from Steph and Shane.

“Coming from restaurants, we thought a wine rack in our socializing space would be a really good addition,” Steph explains.

The wine rack is not the home’s only wow factor. The kitchen’s light fixtures, the slatted wood wall in the mud room, the slatted wood feature wall in the master bathroom, and the wood burning fireplace with back lighting, are just a few more examples.

Overall, the home’s style reflects both Steph and Shane’s personal taste. “We have different styles, but we have melded them together pretty well, like how we have a beautiful travertine table and old school oak chairs around it. I’m a bit more old school, she’s a bit more modern,” Shane describes. The couple does agree on incorporating a mix of the two styles while maintaining a clean and minimalistic look, a design Joe Vetter and his team were able to execute to perfection.

In order to capture the personalities of Steph and Shane, Joe had to be open to all their ideas. “They’re great clients. They knew what they wanted and told me up front, and I just ran with it… They challenged me in certain ways, wanted things I had never done before,” he describes.

Some of these uniquely challenging elements were the fireplace’s backlights, the step’s backlights, and the glass wine rack. The challenge was worth it in the end. “Everything turned out really nice. Every room tells a story, and it’s probably one of the most unique homes I’ve ever done,” Joe says.

A Modern New Year - Party for All

Decor

By Bridal Butler

As lovers of hosting, Steph and Shane are excited to host their family again, in a space more conducive to their large parties. The couple’s gatherings grow larger every year, as Shane explains, “Christmas is [Steph’s] favorite holiday, and every year she does an elaborate Christmas dinner, and so now people are like, hey can we come over for Christmas dinner, we heard Steph is cooking.”

As restaurant owners, the holidays are a busy time for the couple, and while they are always able to celebrate Christmas, that is not always the case for New Year’s Eve, which is a work night for them. However, the couple still finds time to celebrate the new year in the surrounding days.

together unique designs for whatever event she’s hired for.

“I try to cater to each individual place and person, make it unique to the place,” Brenda explains. “I love doing different things. I love being challenged. It’s so much more fun.”

Brenda Keller, owner of Bridal Butler, came over to the new home to give it some New Year’s Eve dazzle. “I wanted to play into the black in the house, so I did the gold and the silver and clear and lots of sparkles,” Brenda explains. A professional decorator, Brenda has been doing this for several years, and her experience allows her to pull

As is often the case, Brenda’s favorite part is seeing the finished product, and then sharing that with her clients.

“Everyone has a different vision of what they want. I enjoy pulling it out of them. Often they’re saying to me, we didn’t even really talk about it a lot, but that’s exactly what was in my head, and that gets me really excited that I can do that.”

“I try to cater to each individual place and person, make it unique to the place”

A Wonderful Christmas Space

Decor by Spaces

Lisa Bohrer, owner of Spaces, an interior design studio located in downtown Bismarck, started her business in 2011. In addition to selling decor and furniture, Spaces offers interior remodeling services, light commercial and residential design services, flooring, wallpapering, and so much more. “We rarely say no. No is not in my vocabulary,” Lisa says. “What I have in the store is just a taste of what we can do, and it’s only half of my inventory.” Everyone at Spaces is passionate about interior design

and helping their clients transform their space. “What we do is not only me. I have a phenomenal staff. That’s one of the reasons I named the store what it is. That store is not just about me. We are a team, we are a group, we are a family. I couldn’t do half the things I do without them.”

While Spaces opened 11 years ago, Lisa has been in the interior decorating business for 31 years, but her love of Christmas has not wavered. “You have to love Christmas to do what I do,” she explains. “I eat and breathe Christmas.” Her downtown store reflects this enthusiasm for the holidays, and starting the day after Halloween, is usually decked out in red, white, and glitter. “Every year, our

Christmas open houses grow,” explains Lisa. “It started out with one theme, and this year the entire store is decorated, from the front door to the back.” Spaces also runs special holiday deals up until January 1st. And, if you’re looking for a fun way to win prizes like local gift cards or small decor, you can stop in their store every day to look for the Christmas pickle which is hidden somewhere around the store. (pictured left)

With this passion for Christmas, Lisa approaches every home she decorates with the same level of excitement as if it was her own home. She always starts by getting to know her client. “Usually you start by visiting with the client and finding out what their take on the holiday season is.” For the owner of this festive featured home, when she thinks of Christmas, she thinks of red. The homeowner explains, “This house in every day is very

green… My taste is more on the cool side, so for me to love that much red, a warm color, is unusual.” Lisa took this and ran with it, adding bright pops of color, creating a warm, cheerful theme that runs throughout the home.

One of the things Lisa is known for are her beautiful Christmas trees. To get a full festive look, Lisa decorates the trees in layers, working large to small and usually going six or seven layers deep. The design of the trees usually reflects the space they are in. “We do trees according to the decor of the room, so they just flow,” Lisa explains. “They’re just a part of the design of the room.” However, in this home, Lisa did something a little more unusual. She decorated a memory tree. “It has ornaments from travels, ornaments from history. There are ornaments on that tree that are a hundred years old,” says the homeowner. “Everywhere we go we buy ornaments, and I’m not kidding I bet there are 750 ornaments on that tree…. My husband’s mother’s mother’s mother’s ornaments are on that tree.”

“You have to love Christmas to do what I do”

Lisa took these treasured ornaments and made the homeowner’s memories and traditions the focus of the tree in a stunning way.

The entire home is decorated in this stunning and tasteful manner that walks the line between festive and overboard perfectly, managing to go all out without making the home feel cluttered. “When you have a fireplace like that upstairs you have to decorate it, and you can’t put a two foot round wreath on it, you have to go with a five foot round, so everything is to scale,” Lisa says. “I always tell people, I fit to scale. This house just has high ceilings, tall walls, so it’s just fit to scale.”

The homeowner loves the look of her home and is excited to celebrate the holidays by hosting in her cheerful space. “I always have Christmas Eve here, so lots of people see it. I can easily fit 50 people in this house, and it’s still roomy,

so I’m very fortunate,” the homeowner expresses. The homeowner and her husband designed the home to be filled with people. “This house was really my husband’s dream. We moved from a house that was 800 square feet… and we still entertained all the time. We were just wall to wall.”

Now, the homeowner still entertains, just in a much larger space, perfect for the celebrations and gatherings her husband wanted to host. “As long as I own this house I’m going to follow through with what my husband’s dream was,” says the homeowner.

For Lisa, this is what her job is all about. “I knew I wanted to go into interior design when I was a little girl,” she says. “I love what I do. I know this was right for me. Even with the Covid struggles, I still love it. I don’t hate going to work, and I work six days a week a lot… I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

do trees according to the decor of the room, so they just flow,”

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Traditional at the Roots

Decor by Callie Stein Inspiring Designs

Sometimes less is more, a motto Callie Stein takes to heart in her new business Inspiring Designs, an interior decorating service. “I needed a creative outlet during Covid. That’s really what brought on my business,” Callie explains. “I’ve been involved in my parents’ boutique business for more than ten years, so I’ve always been interested in style, especially when it comes to the home, making it warm and inviting.” Callie first took on projects for friends and family for free, to get the necessary experience and exposure, before officially starting in May of 2021.

Callie’s trademark style is clean and simple. “I like midcentury modern with a traditional feel. That’s what my personal home is, but I love industrial, I love modern, even just the little bit of rustic… it’s hard to say one specific style,” she expresses. However, even if your personal taste doesn’t align with Callie, her gift for pulling together a room with decor ensures your vision will become reality, regardless. “I’ve done a lot of different styles of homes,” Callie says. “Even if it’s not my style, I like to help clients with what their vision is.”

Callie was already familiar with the client’s vision and style for this home, as she had helped with the initial design of

this home. Since then, the client has repeatedly come back to Callie for decorating. “This was actually my first client who said I don’t have time to decorate for Christmas, can you just come do it for me. I ended up getting a few more clients, then this year they all wanted me back.”

Callie always tries to use as much of what the client already has as possible, and this house was no different. “I tried to use as much of what she already had, and then bring in some sparkle, bring in greenery, more candles. I always like at Christmastime to have more candles than other times of the year. It has that homey feel,” she explains.

Another element Callie always incorporates into Christmas decorations is greenery which can be seen throughout this home. “I love garland on staircases,” Callie says. “I would’ve put lights on them, but I thought that

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“I love bells at Christmastime, so I like to mix and match metals, but still have a theme”

might be a little too much. I just love lights and green and sparkle.” For the twelve foot Christmas tree, Callie incorporated similar elements along with big ornaments and more traditional Christmas colors. “I wanted this tree to have a little bit of a traditional feel,” she explains. “I wanted color. This industrial modern space typically you don’t see a lot of color. I felt like the tree was a safe space to have that color.”

Callie also took inspiration from the homeowners’ personal lives. “This couple hunts a lot, so I wanted to bring that in, along with sparkles, so I really mixed and matched what I thought the clients would like,” says Callie. Along with this, she incorporated decorations her client picked out for herself. And in keeping with the more traditional look of the tree, Callie decorated with bells too. “I love bells at Christmastime, so I like to mix and match metals, but still have a theme,”

she explains.

While the design of the tree was all Callie’s idea, as is often the case on larger projects, Callie called in an expert second opinion. “My mom came in and helped me. With a lot of my bigger projects, having that second eye, she and I will bounce ideas on each other. She and my sister are huge parts of my business… we can be very blunt with each other without hurting each other’s feelings.”

This outside perspective is one large reason Callie is able to create such beautiful spaces for her clients. However, it’s safe to say that a large part of Callie’s success is her emphasis on keeping everything clean and simple. She explains, “It’s easy to go over the top at Christmas… I have done houses where they allow me to use what they have, but they also say, if you don’t

think it works, get rid of it, and I’ve gotten rid of tons of things, just to make it more clean and simple.”

For anyone inspired by Callie’s designs, and looking for tips on how to decorate their own home for Christmas, here are 5 suggestions she has for creating a beautiful holiday home:

1. Start with what you have and rearrange to make room 2. Bring in greenery and lights 3. Don’t feel like you need to have the whole design before you start, do one piece at a time 4. Differ the heights of the decor to avoid looking too perfect 5. Know when to stop

To see more of Callie’s work visit her at inspiringdesigns.co or on Facebook @CallieSteinInspiringDesigns.

“I always like at Christmastime to have more candles than other times of the year. It has that homey feel”

Christmas at the Lake

Built by Elite Homes

Located right on the edge of Lake Isabel is a beautiful new home built by Elite Homes. The large home is the perfect place for the homeowner to host her six grandchildren both in the warm summer months and for the holiday season.

The building process for this home began about two years ago, but the land has been owned by the homeowner for much longer than that. “It was a vision of my husband and I,” says the homeowner. “We liked to golf in the Minnesota area, and we always saw houses like this on lakes, and

I was like, I’m going to have one of those someday. Well, he passed away two and a half years ago, so I was like, yep, I’m still going to build it.” The homeowner got in touch with Kasey and Cody Welch, owners of Elite Homes, who took her vision and made it a reality.

Builders Kasey and Cody Welch have been in the construction business since 2011 when they started their first company, Welch Construction, which mainly does house framing. “We did a lot of subcontractor work for other builders for probably five years, and then kind of got into doing our own homes,” Kasey describes. Their second company, Elite Homes, is smaller, but their size ensures

they are able to oversee and actually complete most of the construction themselves. “We probably do on average three or four houses a year. We do a lot of the physical labor on them, so we don’t do as many as a lot of builders,” Kasey says. “The quality control is easier. You know if something is right or wrong, you’re not second guessing other people’s work, so it’s nicer that way.” From the railings, to the painting, they do it all. “Painting is one of my pet peeves,” Kasey admits. “You walk in and see crooked lines. That’s the stuff you stare at for the next 30 years.” The serious dedication to quality results in an incredible home every time.

“I

This lake home has three levels, including the basement, and the homeowner loves every inch of her new home. “I can’t choose a favorite part. I love it all,” she says.

The home’s basement does not feel like a basement with its wide open layout, but still feels cozy thanks to the fireplace. The homeowner says she spends much of her time in the living room, enjoying the view of Lake Isabel and the wildlife.

“My must haves were the windows, obviously, so I could enjoy the lake view.”

The homeowner’s bedroom faces the east, so every morning, she can enjoy the beautiful sunrise from her bed. Overall, the home has been a dream come true for this homeowner.

For Christmas this year, the homeowner went all out, decking her new home with festive decorations that still allow the home’s structural beauty to shine through. “Keep it simple. You can get carried away, but you need to see the house too,” says the homeowner. The red and white theme carries throughout the house as a nostalgic theme. “[My husband] loved the red and white, so everything, anything we could, is red and white in memory of him,” explains the homeowner. The gnomes are another one of the homeowner’s favorite decorations. “I love the gnomes. You can’t help but smile when you see them,” she says.

Together, the homeowner and Elite Homes crafted a beautiful home just in time for the holidays. “I like the style of the house,” Kasey says. “We had good direction… The homeowner has good taste, picked everything out very nice, and kind of gave us free rein to do nice features and things.” The homeowner attributes the home’s successful build to Kasey and Cody’s hard work and expertise. “Kasey and Cody are some of the most patient builders I’ve ever worked with, and… their workmanship is amazing.”

“Keep it simple. You can get carried away, but you need to see the house too,”

Creative Wood Designs

Color: co-lor- noun the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye because of the way the object reflects or emits light

match made in heaven. The combination of color and efficiency is beautiful, functional, and perfect for entertaining.

and from the get-go she said she liked this blue and this gray,” explains Danielle Kemmesat of Creative Wood Designs.

tailormade to specifically what she liked. She’s always had her heart set on blue and it’s both of our favorite color.”

If you’ve read the last few installments of our Creative Wood Designs series, you’ve learned that the CWD team loves a good pop of color! This story’s featured kitchen and Creative Wood Designs’ team is a

The first thing you notice walking into this kitchen is the beautiful and unique color of the cabinets. “The homeowner came to us and knew exactly what she wanted from the start. We had maybe a total of four to five meetings with them

“My wife went through Pinterest and other online places to figure out what she wanted,” says the homeowner. “We showed the team at Creative Wood Designs every example of what we were looking for and they designed it

The kitchen is an entertainer’s dream with effortless flow, a large island, and smart storage design. The cabinetry surrounding the range includes a pullout spice rack on one side and a pullout with utensil storage on the other. Less

story by Jennifer Kranz

photos by Melanie Sioux Photography

time searching for ladles means more time enjoying festive merriment and making memories.

An efficient laundry room must be at the top of the list for many homeowners and like Santa on Christmas morning, Creative Wood Designs delivered on this one. Beautiful blue-green cabinetry, tall storage cabinets, and a folding counter that fits laundry baskets underneath creates a beautiful, symmetrical, and functional space in a traditionally mundane room.

When it came to working with the Creative Wood Designs team, the homeowners have high praise. “It was zero stress. We knew that whatever they were going to do, it was going to be the right thing.”

Because of Creative Wood Designs’ attention to detail and sheer talent, these homeowners and their family will have anything but a blue Christmas.