Homestyle | October 2011

October 2011 November 2010

Party roof on the

Welcome the new season by throwing a soiree – with a view

GO BOLD!

Embrace loud colors, funky patterns

Inside the dramatic Ronald McDonald House makeover Page 8 October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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october

CONTENTS SHOP

3 Jazz up a room with accessories and accents in bold, bright and funky patterns.

FURNITURE

6 Take the edge off on one of these seven stylish rocking chairs.

MAKEOVER … FOR A CAUSE

8 A look inside the dramatic Ronald McDonald House makeover.

FEATURED HOME

12 A Beaverdale bungalow gets a dazzling DIY update.

EMBRACE THE BOLD

21 How two Des Moines couples add loud colors to their homes.

ABOVE: Clay and Megan Aronson converted a former garage into a dining room. See page 12 for more examples of their home remodel.

Photo by Paul Gates ON THE COVER: Keep your dining parties classy with a rooftop soiree.

Photo by Eric Rowley

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

ENTERTAINING

26 Throw a rooftop soiree before the weather turns sour.

DESIGNER

30 Meghan Blum mixes traditional with a modern twist.

Editor Tim Paluch Staff Writers Patt Johnson Jennifer Miller Jess Knight Designer Amanda Holladay Staff Photographers Christopher Gannon Mary Chind Eric Rowley Bill Neibergall To place an ad call: Kimm Miller (515) 284-8404 Des Moines Register Magazine Division Vice President, Content Rick Green President and Publisher Laura Hollingsworth Contact us: Des Moines HOMESTYLE P.O. Box 957 Des Moines, Iowa 50306 email: timpaluch@dmreg.com To subscribe to Des Moines HOMESTYLE magazine, call (515) 284-8359.

These materials are the sole and exclusive property of the Des Moines Register & Tribune Co. and are not to be used without its written permission. © 2011 Des Moines Register & Tribune Co.

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MAKE IT

POP Revitalize a room with accents and accessories in bold, bright and funky patterns.

by JENNIFER MILLER photos by ERIC ROWLEY

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October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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Add a dash of panache with pretty pillow patterns.

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Add some flair to your workaday kitchen with a retro-looking potholder and graphic tea towels. Potholders, $26; towels, $16 each, Domestica.

This glass lamp, with its hand-painted lampshade, offers both form and function and is a piece of art unto itself. Set it off with a whimsical print, “Block Party.� Lamp, $195, Calypso 96; print (unframed), $20, Domestica.

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

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ROCK ON Whether you’re soothing a fussy baby or your own frazzled nerves, the calming effects of a comfy rocking chair can take the edge off.

by JENNIFER MILLER

Fans of bold pattern will be drawn to the black and bronze fabric on this Candice Olson swivel rocker. $1,409, By Design.

photo by James D. Fidler

The “Zazu” black leather swivel rocker by Candice Olson has a contemporary feel with the warmth of leather. $1,409, By Design.

photo by Christopher Gannon

The “Big Daisy” rocker’s country style is perfect for an informal space. $458, Amish Haus.

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

photo by James D. Fidler

This Candice Olson “Morgan” does it all: swivels, glides and reclines, plus it has classic library style in leather with brass nail-head trim. $3,255, By Design.

Mission style combines with leather panache in this McCoy rocker/recliner. $1925, Amish Haus. photo by Christopher Gannon

photo by James D. Fidler

What munchkin wouldn’t love a brightly painted kidsized rocker? $495, Kenilworth House.

A Hickory Hill child’s rocker with oak slats is sized just right for the smallest member of the household. $282, Amish Haus. photo by Christopher Gannon

photo by Christopher Gannon

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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A home with a

HEART

Families with sick children can retreat to a renovated and cozy Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines thanks to a local publisher.

BEFORE

Above: Midwest Living magazine designers took the dated great room at the Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines and added warm colors, comfortable furniture and fun accessories as part of the house’s makeover.

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

BEFORE

by PATT JOHNSON • photos by MARY CHIND

M

ost nights, the 12 bedrooms in the Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines are filled with families who have children being treated at nearby hospitals.

The rambling building at 1441 Pleasant St. offers visitors a kitchen, library, family room and toy room where struggling and tired parents, and sometimes patients, can relax and enjoy a piece of normal life.

And now, thanks to a Midwest Living magazine revamp, the hodge-podge of mostly donated furniture, accessories, appliances, wall coloring and flooring that used to fill parts of the house at 1441 Pleasant St. has been replaced with soothing, comfortable and very usable furnishings.

The redo of the house’s common areas was done by the Meredith Corp.’s Midwest Living magazine. The Des Moines-based publishing company took on the project as part of its annual “Idea Home” feature for

Midwest Living senior home and special projects editor Carol Schalla created the design for the project and coordinated the group of sponsors that donated goods to the revamp.

2011. Last year, Midwest Living redesigned the interior of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry’s all-green Smart Home.

Trevor Meers, magazine editor, suggested a Ronald McDonald House be the 2011 project after his family stayed in the Iowa City Ronald McDonald House while his daughter underwent spinal surgery at the University Hospitals.

“Each house we do has its own charity and we decided the Des Moines house had a significant need,” he says. “The bonus was that it was in our town. It was nice to give back to a community we’ve been in for 25 years.”

Top: The home’s game room lost a blue plaid sectional couch and gained buttery leather sofas and colorful pillows.

Above: The library got a new coat of medium blue paint and a large beige couch.

Midwest Living senior home and special CONTINUED >>

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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National and local companies that donated products, materials and labor include: Jeld-Wen windows and doors, La-Z-Boy, Kohler, Merillat Cabinetry, Morton Salt, Benjamin Moore Paint, LG Electronics, Gilcrest-Jewett, Roland Mechanical and Granite Transformations.

BEFORE

BEFORE

Top: The house’s kitchen had the biggest transformation. Designer Carol Schalla added new wood laminate flooring, cabinets, slab tables, colorful chairs and a flat-screen television to the dining area. Above: The prep area was streamlined with a large granite covered island, stainless steel appliances and large sinks so that families could all gather to cook and eat after a long day.

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

BEFORE

Above: A wall of puppy photos was added to the playroom, which was decluttered and painted a soft and calming blue as part of the Ronald McDonald House’s makeover by Midwest Living magazine. Families with young children find the space a respite from days in treatment at nearby hospitals.

projects editor Carol Schalla created the design for the project and coordinated the group of sponsors that donated goods to the revamp.

“The facility is older and the help they get in (outfitting) it is piecemeal,” she says.

“Everything was dated and mismatched.

They rely on donations for most everything and we saw an opportunity to help them update their look.”

What resulted from the four-week project is a modern, coordinated and warm makeover that offers visitors a cozy and comfortable space in which to relax and rejuvenate between hospital visits, says Brenda Miller, executive director of the house. The makeover, which will be featured in Midwest Living’s March 2012 issue, is also a great way to celebrate the Des Moines house’s 30th anniversary, she says.

Along with painting and adding new furniture and accessories to the common areas, Schalla added several special touches, including custom white doors for guest rooms, entryways with large carved hearts and specially painted elevator doors with portraits of dogs by local artist Kathryn Finney.

The overall goal, says Schalla, was to keep the space usable and child-friendly, all while giving it an updated look.

The entryway was polished up with new

beige and ginger furniture, beige paint and a wall rug with big bold flowers.

Workers gutted the kitchen, adding cherry cabinets with satin nickel pulls, and countertops from Granite Transformations in Urbandale. New wood-look laminate floors, stainless steel appliances and faucets, large apron sinks and a large center island, room for storage and seating were also added.

Schalla chose soft beige Granite Transformation backsplashes to complement the bright blue walls. She added several slab dining tables with bright blue chairs along with a bank of cabinets that holds a 32-inch flat-screen television.

“We opened up the kitchen so it feels more welcoming and homey,” she says.

Families often congregate in the McDonald House kitchen in the evening where they are able to eat dinners prepared nightly by volunteers.

The first-floor library got new cabinets and a desk area, deep blue paint, comfy furniture and accessories. A nearby bathroom was updated with new cabinets, countertops, a sink, faucet and shower, and a coat of soft gray paint.

Upstairs, where a majority of the families stay in private rooms updated a few years ago by local business sponsors, Schalla revamped the great room at the end of a

long hallway. The walls were painted navy, while large carpet floor tiles in big blocks of caramel, beige, dark brown and navy replaced old carpet. A large sectional sofa and several comfy chairs were added, along with a table for board games and puzzles and accessory tables and lamps.

Navy and white pillows added a pop of color to the room.

A 55-inch flat-screen television and Finney dog painting on the elevator door complete the great room makeover.

“The house had a lot of red brick throughout, which we painted a soft white,” Schalla says.

The face-lift also included sprucing up a playroom on the lower level with new paint and a wall of fun puppy photos, updating another bathroom and a laundry room, and adding new furniture, paint and television to a game room.

The big challenge in completing the large project was to not disrupt families staying there, Schalla says.

Jenna Wilkerson, 29, was staying at the Ronald McDonald House during the renovation while her daughter, Sophia, was being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit at nearby Iowa Methodist Medical Center.

“I love the colors. And the rooms are more open and useable than before,” Wilkerson, from Cresco says.

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

DIY With a Deadline Brightening a Beaverdale bungalow before baby

by CRAIG SUMMERS BLACK • photos by PAUL GATES

I

f Clay Aronson could do one thing differently with his refinished, remodeled Beaverdale home, he says, “I would have done it slower.”

The couple moved into their Craftsman-style home three years ago, and for two years lived in the middle of a top-to-bottom do-it-yourself construction project. But at a certain point, Clay did speed things up.

“The majority of the work was done when she became pregnant,” he says.

“He put it in fast-forward,” his wife, Megan, says. “The kitchen was gutted four weeks before my due date. I remember sobbing.”

CONTINUED >>

Megan and Clay Aronson decorated their Beaverdale Craftsman with the help of Megan’s boss, Kelli Schulz of K. Renee fashions.

(Her home was featured in the May HOMESTYLE.) “She’s like a torpedo – on a mission,” Megan says. “She can do a whole interior in a day – and on a budget.” In the dining room (left), the sofa is from Slumberland. The house’s exterior (above) is cedar shake siding and stucco with concrete windowsills.

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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The Aronsons converted the former dining room (above) into an office. The desk/ library table belonged to Clay’s great-greatgrandmother. The office chandelier, matches one in the master bedroom.

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

She’s laughing now, though. Kind of.

“I remember one morning trying to toast a bagel,” she says. “And he’s above me using a nail gun or something.

Sure enough, this black dust is falling on my cream cheese “But I’ve learned he works much better with a deadline – under pressure, under the gun, get it done.”

College trained Clay, 32, well. “Late night projects,” he says.

“College did not train me well,” says Megan, 31. “One night after midnight I was trying to put curtains on a rod, and he said, ‘Just give it to me.’ I couldn’t do it. I was so tired.”

Well, in a full-house DIY renovation there is tired. And there is injured. “Clay donated a tooth to this project,” Megan says.

Seems he was jacking up a beam in the upstairs bathroom, which had sagged.

“And you know how you just have to give it one last crank?

Well, I gave it that one last crank and the jack kicked out,” he says. “A 4x4 caught me in the mouth, knocked out a tooth and split my lip.”

Clay built the bench at the foot of the stairs (above) to replace one that had been removed. It has storage space inside and a cold-air return on the side.

CONTINUED >>

‘

We had a towel in the ceiling for two years where the bathroom leaked. People would say, “Do you have a dead body up there?”’

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The kitchen (left), with its LG fridge, opens to the dining room. In the transition space (below), Megan framed a grid of drawings of a peony opening by her sister, Missouri artist Katie Neubauer.

So he acquired some stitches. “But I never did find that tooth.”

Now here’s where it maybe gets a little testy. Still.

Clay – a woodworker, furniture maker and renovator with his own company, Aronson Woodworks – has a love of old wood and fine grain that Megan understands, but does not fully share. So when they decided to buy their Craftsman, with its characteristic rich oak trim, Clay made sure to say they could only do so if they did not paint that trim.

Then Megan lived with the place for a while. With the neighborhood’s mature canopy, dark trim stain and prepicture-window-era lighting, Megan decided to – ahem – reopen the negotiations.

“You can see how much influence I have,” Clay says.

But … “I said if it’s going to be painted I’m going to take all that oak out and reuse it. Now the trim is poplar.” And he’s planning to make a desk out of the old oak paneling.

CONTINUED >>

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

‘

THE

I had to scrape every single groove of every single plank. I’ll never do it again.’

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In the guest bedroom (above), the floral graphic comforter is from overstock.com; the lamp and curtains are from J.C. Penney Home Store.

The cotton quilt in the master bedroom (near right) is from overstock. com; the poppies print, from World Market. The dining room (far right) formerly was the garage and converted to an indoor space by a previous homeowner.

The chandelier is from Lowe’s.

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

Now that all the single-pane windows – with their rattling, shadow-producing cross-barred storms – are replaced, now that the wood trim is painted white, now that doorways and passageways are widened, now that large mirrors are placed selectively throughout and glass tables and reflective surfaces are appointed, this 1914 Beaverdale bungalow glows from within.

“We wanted to brighten the space inside.

Natural light is very important to me,” Megan says. “We wanted the home to feel current, but still cherish its character. It’s peaceful and calm.”

Megan, who is manager at K. Renee fashions, compares renovating and decorating to dressing a woman.

“You bring out the assets and camouflage the flaws.”

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

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Dare to go

BOLD

How two Des Moines couples embrace loud colors and fanciful decorating touches.

by JENNIFER MILLER • photos by ANDREA MELENDEZ

Clockwise from top left: Todd and Mary O’Brien’s re-covered settee. “Red Man” hangs in Judy Quick and Jim Spooner’s kitchen. “Church Ladies” and a rainbow trout snacking on a bear are two of Quick’s favorite pieces. A view of the O’Briens’ striped stair runner and deep blue accent wall.

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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go bold

Low risk, high impact Brave wall colors set off boldly patterned accents

W

hen Todd and Mary O’Brien bought their Des Moines home 11 years ago, they knew they were in it for the long haul. So resale value is not one of their considerations when they make decorating decisions.

Good thing. A real-estate professional might scoff at the bright orange, deep red, saturated blue and dark-chocolate colored walls. Neutrals – not “crayon box” colors, as Mary calls them – are what sells, after all.

Above: Todd and Mary O’Brien. Top: The O’Briens’ dining room is painted a deep, saturated red, which is accented with just a few complementary pieces of art.

Opposite: A Bill Luchsinger print of a pineapple – a traditional symbol of hospitality – jumps off the rich, blue wall when visitors walk through the front door.

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

The rich colors are mostly Todd’s doing. An architect, Todd is the artsy one in the family. “My first apartment, I painted everything, and I mean everything, white, from baseboards to ceiling. I thought it was great,” says Mary, a nurse. “I have had to force myself to branch out.”

A testament to Mary’s affinity for all things sterile, there are very few tchotchkes perched on surfaces. Pieces of art, carefully chosen as a couple each year as anniversary gifts to each other, are hung as focal points unto themselves, not as part of groupings or cozy vignettes. But despite her purported reluctance to part with hospital white, there is nothing stark or cold about the O’Brien house. The rich wall colors are art and style and mood unto themselves. Besides, says Mary, it’s just paint. “If you get tired of it, you just repaint.”

A little more daringly long-lived was Mary’s fabric choice for the upholstery on a Queen Anne-ish settee and chair that came from her grandparents’ home. The bold floral in reds, pinks and oranges complements the curves of the furniture and pops against the chocolate walls.

BABY STEPS If you’re new to decorating or just new to branching out from builder beige and bright white, Des Moines designer Cynthia Wanamaker offers these tips for decorating with bold colors and patterns: START SMALL. If you’re thinking you’d love to have chartreuse as part of your mix, buy a few accessories in chartreuse and see what you think – some throw pillows, a lampshade, a vase.

START INEXPENSIVELY. Pick up things at discount stores or borrow from a friend.

Even a bouquet of flowers will give you a sense.

LIVE WITH IT FOR AWHILE. Don’t make a snap decision about whether you hate it or love it.

“I’m not a frou-frou person,” Mary says, “but I wanted to do something funky, something to liven it up. I think they would like it.”

The addition of a striped, multicolored staircase runner was another leap of color for Mary. It is one of the first things a visitor sees – and can’t help but notice – when entering the O’Briens’ home, and sets an unexpectedly light-hearted tone in the very traditional 1934 house.

Working with a designer, Mary saw a picture of a runner with varying widths of stripes. The designer brought in carpet samples galore to piece together a custom rug, and the pair arranged and rearranged them, overlapping them until they hit on the perfect combination of colors and stripe widths.

The family room is one of the few spaces with a more subtle paint job, but the warm butterscotch-y color is the perfect foil to show off the room’s many doors and windows and the almost retro looking window treatments – vibrant red with accents that pick up the greens from outdoors and the golden color of the walls and carpet.

As a reformed white-lover, Mary’s advice to color-phobes is to “just go for it if it feels good to you; you’re the one living there. And paint you can always and easily undo.”

On how she made the plunge herself, Mary says, “We spend a lot of time here, we’re raising our kids here and we wanted it to be a happy, joyful place.”

IF YOU DECIDE TO GO AHEAD WITH COLORFUL PAINT, START WITH SAMPLES. Paint a large piece of posterboard with the colors and hang it in the room you’re going to paint. Try to hang the posters near the woodwork, behind a piece of artwork you’ll be using in the room and close to any window treatments you’ve decided on. Leave it up for several days so you can see it at different times of the day and on sunny days and gray days. Move it from wall to wall.

IF YOU’RE READY TO COMMIT IN A BIGGER WAY, TRY A RUG. Upholstery will get your point across but be careful – it’s a time and financial commitment, as is wallpaper.

USE PATTERN JUDICIOUSLY. You don’t want to walk into a cacophony of colors and patterns. Maybe one main piece of furniture could be patterned and rest more subdued. If your wall will be the focal point, lay off on patterned furniture and vice versa.

THINK ABOUT THIS WHEN MAKING DECORATING DECISIONS: Is this something I would wear? Will I feel good, happy and comfortable in that room? Don’t use colors that don’t look good on you.

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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go bold

Folk-art funk

West-side couple has no fear when it comes to decorating

Y

ou don’t even have to get inside Judy Quick and Jim Spooner’s Des Moines home to know that despite the house’s 1948 birth date and traditional neighborhood, there might be some surprises beyond the front door. You’ll know it by the nearly 6-foot-tall, brightly painted scrap-metal rooster standing guard out front.

Over the 19 years the family (which includes teenage son Jack and Duke the dog) has lived there, they have, bit by bit, nipped and tucked and added and redone. And, as folk art and antiques collectors, they have also brought a bright, brave aesthetic to the house, mixing old with new, crazy colors with vintage wood.

“It’s getting to be quite the hodge podge,” Quick says.

“I grew up with antiques because, well, that’s what we had – old stuff,” says Quick, and there’s plenty of evidence of that in the house. But what really catches the eye are the colors and shapes and random subjects of their folk art – and the couple’s unconventional and fearless use and display of it. “You have to really know who you are and decorate like that,” Quick says.

Top: The seating area is defined by a pie-shaped table topped with copper and an oversized wooden apple core. An oversized jack rabbit presides over mealtime and a chandelier made from ceramic mugs and silverware dangles over the scene. Above: Game boards are framed and hung on the diagonal for family-room art. The window treatments incorporate vintage college pennants.

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

Over the kitchen window, instead of a valance, four wooden panels painted with a farmers market scene are mounted on a sturdy cornice. “It was really mostly about logistics. Because there are four pieces and they tell a story when they’re put together,” Quick says, “they need to hang together. They looked like they would fit about right over that window.”

On the kitchen table, where most might put a basket of fruit, sits a giant

Above: A custom-built cabinet matches the kitchen table and offers lots of storage to satisfy Jim Spooner’s taste for organization and plenty of display space for the couple’s olk art. The yellow-framed picture, at far right, is son Jack’s contribution to the family collection. The center section of the cabinet is outlined with “the twins,” two antique piano legs. Below: Judy Quick and Jim Spooner pose with their doorman, an oversized metal rooster.

added in 1998, Quick and Spooner planned shelf space for both display and organization. The built-in unit in the kitchen was mostly Spooner’s doing, Quick says. “Jim does not like clutter. Everyone has a space in there for their stuff – he calls it command central.”

wooden apple core. And instead of a dusty fake plant, a life-size jack rabbit watches from a shelf over the built-in kitchen booth. A mirror framed with dominoes, bottle caps and dice hangs in the entryway, where one might expect key hooks or something a little more formal.

“You have to trust your gut,” Quick says, “And go with what you love. There’s no right and wrong in decorating.”

When the kitchen was remodeled and the family room and master bedroom

While the cabinet and matching table were custom-built, they look as though they came with the house. A couple of funky touches, however, betray the couple’s creative sensibility. Oversized dentil-type molding, stained with bright colors and two antique lady-shaped piano legs are incorporated in the design, and the tabletop is covered in pie-shaped sections of copper, now nicely patinated.

In the family room addition, a weathered white-painted sign that says “C’est la Vie” would certainly be au courant with the shabby-chic- and

faux-weathered-loving crowd, but this is the genuine article. “That sign hung on my grandparents’ beach cottage (in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula). It was in my parents’ garage and my dad wanted to scrape and repaint it,” Quick says. “Thank goodness I got to it first.”

Luckily, Quick and Spooner are on the same page when it comes to their love of an aesthetic road less traveled — though Quick says resignedly, “Well, you know how it goes. There’s always compromise. I would go for even more color, and more stuff on the walls. But Jim really likes to edit.”

Despite any editing, there’s still plenty to look at, and it’s hard to decide, Quick says, what her favorite piece is. “I really like what we call ‘the church ladies’ picture. And the carved fish with a bear in its mouth? That makes me smile every time I see it. I mean, who could look at that and be sad?”

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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entertaining

PARTY ON THE ROOF

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Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

Summer’s opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine on the rooftop with friends is over, so take advantage of the last few warm evenings and late sunsets with a rooftop soiree. Here’s what you’ll need for a flawless early-season rooftop cocktail party.

by JESS KNIGHT photos by ERIC ROWLEY

Serve light hors d’oeuvres in mismatched (but coordinating) bowls and platters for an informal look. If you choose a heavily patterned tablecloth or runner, use simple or solid serving bowls.

Below: Fill metal drink buckets with ice to stock cold beverages in a stylish container that’s prettier than a cooler.

by CRAIG SUMMERS BLACK • photos by PAUL GATES

Invite. Let guests know about your party four weeks in advance. This will give them time to clear their calendars and R.S.V.P., which will help you finalize planning for the big event. It’s also helpful to include what to wear, so a simple “casual” or “coat and tie” is appropriate on the invitation.

Prep. The last thing you want to do the day of your party is clean, iron or wash.

Press your tablecloths, napkins and placemats (if necessary), wash off your patio, prune flowers and potted plants and make sure dishes and glassware are spotless a few days before the event. If you’re using an iPod or making mixed CDs for music, make those ahead of time, as well.

Pick a theme. Coordinating glassware, linens, flowers and dishes CONTINUED >>

October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

27

entertaining

Above: Keep seating areas a bit away from food and drink tables to avoid creating a congested area. String lights to mimic the twinkling cityscape. Top right: Easy finger foods like chips and dip and seasonal fruits make snacking a snap before the main meal. Bottom right: Dress your tables in warm colors for fall.

Marigold linens, glasses and salad plates are balanced by crisp white dinner plates and cloth napkins.

look put together instead of thrown together.

Choose a warm color scheme for the end of summer, like rich yellows and golds, burnt oranges and warm reds. Remember, it’s October, so pastels or preppy greens and whites will look out of place so late in the year.

Organize. Think about the placement of your tables (for dining, food and drinks) and extra seating. Arrange your patio so the dining area is away from the food table, which is away from the bar, so guests can fill their plates and glasses without reaching over guests who are eating.

Keep food and drinks away from each other so one group doesn’t monopolize both tables. If there is enough room, create a large nook with cushioned chairs or benches where guests can gather comfortably once the meal is finished.

The bar. A cocktail party has to have a wellequipped bar. Make sure you have the essentials on hand: A shaker, bottle opener, ice bucket (or

28

Des Moines HOMESTYLE October 2011

two), cocktail napkins and glasses for various drinks, including champagne flutes, wine glasses and rocks glasses. Keep as many glasses as possible on the bar, with extras stocked in a safe place nearby. Slice fresh citrus fruits and pile in a bowl for garnish. Frozen grapes and strawberries are pretty in champagne. Line liquor on the bar or table top, keep beer cold in ice buckets on the ground next to the bar. If you’re concerned about drinks spilling on a tablecloth, buy one in a dark shade to hide stains.

Food. A rooftop gathering can be elegant and intimate, but informal. A menu served on a buffet-style table will encourage them to relax and enjoy the views and the crisp night. Set out hors d’oeuvres (such as artisan cheeses, crackers and bread, homemade dips, tomato and basil crostini and shrimp cocktail) before the main meal so hungry guests can mingle before the meal.

When the meal is ready to be served, clear away

archadeck outdoorliving ®

Better Building by Design

remaining hors d’oeuvres and bring out easy, selfserve entrees such as grilled chicken skewers or ready-made sandwiches.

Clean- up. Since you’ll be on the roof and probably away from the kitchen sink, bring a makeshift one with you. Designate a pretty tub or basket (tie a wide ribbon around it for polish) for dirty plates, bowls and flatware. Don’t spend time cleaning after the food is eaten. Simply move the basket indoors or make one trip to the kitchen and leave it to clean up later.

What you see here: Gold drinking glasses, white dinner plates, yellow salad plates, flatware, napkins and napkin rings, clear bottles and pitcher, World Market. Lights, bud vases and large flower vases, Hobby Lobby. Metal drink buckets, Target. Table linens and green and white serving bowls, Younkers.

Fall & Winter are great times to plan, design & build your outdoor dream spaces. To learn more, visit our web site at central-iowa.archadeck.com, download our free Design Guide and request a free Design Consultation.

archadeck of Central Iowa

®

2925 99th St Urbandale (515) 266-8844

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October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

29

distinctive designer

Meghan Blum Interior designer mixes traditional elements with a modern twist.

by PATT JOHNSON

D

esigner Meghan Blum, 28, describes herself as a traditionalist at heart, but with a modern edge. The Carroll native graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Iowa State University, studied in Rome for a semester and is now an interior designer at The Mansion in Des Moines. Blum also writes a blog, Living in Style (meghan-blum.blogspot.com), in which she features homes and fashion that inspire her.

GO-TO DESIGN SOURCES: I read design blogs, magazines, and from my surroundings. You never know when and where inspiration will strike you.

FAVORITE DESIGN TREND: I am not always one to jump on the trend bandwagon, but in the last few months I have used suzanis (embroidered textiles from central Asia), coral and mirrored furniture.

PREFERRED ROOM COLOR: While I am not tied to an overall room color, I feel that every room needs a little black. It adds a little sophistication.

MUST-HAVE ROOM ACCESSORY: I am a big believer in having a mirror in every room. And it doesn’t have to be your traditional mirror on the wall. Maybe it is a coffee table, lamp or tray that is mirrored.

FAVORITE ROOM TO DESIGN: I really enjoy designing the great room. It’s an area where people spend so much of their time, so I like making it an area they truly love.

THE MANSION 2801 Ingersoll Ave. (515) 280-7161; themansion-interiors.com.dsm/

FAVORITE EXTRAVAGANCE: A really outstanding chest is a great item to splurge on for your home.

DESIGN PET PEEVE: It drives me nuts when rooms look too matchy. I like a room that looks collected rather than decorated.

FAVORITE DESIGNER: My top three are Suzanne Kasler, Mary McDonald and Jan Showers.

30

Des Moines HOMESTYLE photos

by Rodney White

October 2011

Get Ready

photos special to Homestyle

Designer Meghan Blum offers these rooms as examples of her interior design work. The top and bottom photos are from an Urbandale project in which she started from a blank canvas. The middle photo is a Des Moines home in which she used some existing pieces and added to them for a finished look.

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Your Style Your Comfort Our Expertise

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3030 100th Street Urbandale 515.727.7900 • www.roomtoroomhf.com October 2011 Des Moines HOMESTYLE

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