COZY CONTENTMENT

Jordahl Custom Homes

Words and Photography by Jill Ockhardt

Mike and Heather Nelson’s puggles, Zoe, 3, and Bailey, 6, rule the roost until the couple returns home in the evening to their Jordahl Custom Home. In preparation for building this their third Jordahl Custom Home, the couple brought in their own ideas and pictures to the consultations with the Jordahl design and drafting team to help them achieve their thoughtful home design. Now, when the couple enters their spacious two-story house, they’re greeted by the wide-open floor plan and all the design features they were dreaming of. It’s easy for anyone to imagine coming home here.

When I asked what she thinks the dogs do all day while she and her husband Mike are working, Heather Nelson said, “It’s funny you ask that, because I think they’re having their own little party,” recalling how lately they’ve discovered Zoe can jump on the guest bed, leaving the covers messed up and the pillows all over the floor by the time they return home from work.

Heather’s first stop when returning home from work is her main-level office, finishing out her day working on scheduling and tying up other loose ends. “Our old house had the office in the basement. I just felt so secluded,” Heather explained. “She just ended up spending a lot of time working at the kitchen counter or table,” added Mike. So now, just off the front entrance, the new home office offers plenty of window light and those main-level comforts.

The main living areas of the home―the living room, kitchen and dining room― all face south, bringing in warm bright window light, illuminating the mix of cool and warm tones the couple chose for the home’s basic color scheme. “Heather likes grays and I like the more neutral colors, browns and greens,” Mike explained.

There’s a definite cohesion of style, attributed to Mike and Heather’s similar tastes but also to the process they went through when designing their Jordahl Custom Home. “Mike’s a construction project manager and with my business I see a lot of different home interiors,”