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Spring 2021
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PERFECTLY BALANCED CONTRASTING STYLES ARE COMBINED TO CREATE AN INSPIRED AND COHESIVE HOME As Featured in Home & Design
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Blending the styles of two different people isn’t always easy, but the team at Design West is always up for the challenge. The awardwinning interior design firm prides itself on a team approach for all projects when working with clients to bring their individual visions to life. For this custom 6,800-square-foot home in the Grey Oaks community of Naples, Design West Interior Designers Caroline Ficquette, Raquel Bloam, and Morgan Jent worked alongside founder Glenn Midnet, combining the homeowners’ personal styles of traditional and contemporary to create a warm and vibrant transitional estate that would stand the test of time. The clients had previously owned another home in the community and wanted to build their first custom house from the ground up. u
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Great Room, Left: The driving force of the great room is an entertainment wall flanked by pocketing slider doors that completely open up to the outdoor living space. “It was important for the clients to bring the outside in to create a seamless transition for their family when entertaining,” says Ficquette. The interior and exterior side of the wall both feature an identical floating white quartz mantle, which marries the two spaces and creates a cohesive design. The white oak wood floors from Modern Tile & Carpet were incorporated into the ceiling detail, creating a relaxed and casual touch of sophistication. Wine Room: Design West worked with the clients to custom design the temperaturecontrolled wine room with glass tile walls and centered custom display boxes. The barrel ceiling features a marble mosaic design highlighted with LED lighting and a small-scale light fixture with cascading decorative chains that layer on top of each other. “The roundness of the fixture ties in with the barrel ceiling, which contrasts beautifully with the squares and hard corners, balancing those shapes,” says Ficquette.
Previous Spread: Everything in the formal living room is designed to highlight the interesting light fixture made from coconut, where light peeks through the spaces of opaque “feathers.” Custom dark wood shelving with an off-white wallpaper background on both sides of the fireplace serves as a nice contrast against the large-scale porcelain tile wall. Design West chose a darker coffee table to keep with the tones but avoided an exact match. “Things feel more curated and put together when they aren’t matchy-matchy,” says Jent.
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Kitchen: The clients wanted a clean and classic look in the kitchen, which features bright white cabinetry around the perimeter, while white quartz countertops offer a simple yet high impact effect. The bold blue upholstered vegan leather barstools pop against the light blue-gray backsplash from Builders Glass of Bonita. Although large in size, the light fixture — made up of five cylinders of clear glass and a polished nickel finish — doesn’t obstruct views. “It visually fills the space and satisfies your eye with composition, but it’s so light that it doesn’t weigh down the room,” shares Bloam. Dining Room: The dining room makes a statement with a bold blue niche and console that has an interweaving undulating pattern featuring inlaid nickel in the wood. The dining chairs are ostrich-patterned vegan leather with wood arms that run seamlessly into the back legs. The light fixture is made up of individually placed twisted glass arms that together create an elongated sunburst. “The clients didn’t want a traditional chandelier,” says Ficquette. “It was important for them to have something that would capture interest, and this was a nice solution to provide high impact in a new form.”
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“The clients are a wonderful couple of juxtaposed personalities and style preferences, and it was a fun challenge to pull ideas from both to make a cohesive design that would appeal to both of their lively spirits,” say Bloam, Ficquette, and Jent. “They also love to entertain and have three sons who often come to visit, so they wanted to create a home that really incorporated a lot of fun family elements into the design.” Design West partnered with Divco Custom Homes, who did the residential design and build on the project. Divco Custom Homes has been building houses in Grey Oaks for more than 30 years and was recently announced as the preferred builder in the community. The company’s design-build approach to home building provides clients with a singular focus, a single point of contact, comforting sense of teamwork, and faster delivery time. u
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Master Entry: The entry to the master bedroom features a porcelain marble inlay from Modern Tile & Carpet that matches the master bathroom floors. “It marries that space and gives you a taste of what’s to come,” says Jent. Design West also incorporated the wood flooring into the ceiling and added subtle wood moulding details onto the wall to create a statement. The wood bead chandelier and sea-inspired handblown glass sculpture pair perfectly with a colorful abstract piece on display from West Bank Art. “The forms of the abstract play beautifully with the marble in the floor and the vibrant colors balance the neutral tones,” say Bloam, Ficquette, and Jent. Master Bedroom: Design West added simple moulding to the walls that wrap around the master suite and introduced white oak flooring into the ceiling tray to join the two elements. All the colors in the room were pulled from the oversized lumbar pillow on the bed — from the bold red throw to the neutral sham. “The headboard is really the star of the show here,” says Ficquette. “We added a metal chrome strip into the channel tufted vertical headboard. It really jumps at you and is a little unexpected.” Master Bathroom: A zero-entry shower achieves a clean, contemporary look, along with light porcelain tiles mimicking natural marble from Modern Tile & Carpet. “The tile installers took extreme care to match up the veining in the material,” says Ficquette. The gray Carrera marble shower bench and bathroom countertops blend seamlessly with the floors. A sleek linear drain and contemporary plumbing fixtures from Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery complete the shower’s stunningly simple design. To create a continuous effect, steel blue glass accent tiles from Modern Tile & Carpet were added in a thick vertical band behind the floating tub and in the shower niche.
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Study: Comfortable and casual, the study serves as a working office and a place where the homeowners can display various treasures collected from their travels. Design West custom-designed the built-in cabinetry. The wallcovering in the center of the built-in is made from real wood cut into thin veneer material and dyed a rich navy tone. A neutral-toned leather sofa from Hancock and Moore and bunching ottomans from Bernhardt Furniture allow for reading and relaxing. “Overall, the space feels warm and inviting, and allowed the clients to display and enjoy their personal pieces that mean so much to them and bring back fond memories from past travels,” says Ficquette.
Guest Bedroom, Left: Sophisticated gray tones lend a relaxed and subdued vibe to this guest bedroom, which features applied moulding on the wall detail that repeats the vertical channel detail seen on the headboard and footboard. The bedding and pillow fabrics offer reflective properties that lend an additional element of sheen to the space. “This room feels nice and contemporary without being too over-thetop,” says Jent. Guest Bedroom, Right: To give each guest bedroom its own personality, Design West applied unique moulding wall and headboard wall details, in addition to different color schemes. This guest bedroom has an elegant and curated feel with lavender and dark purple tones that are reiterated in different ways through the drapes, bedding, and accent wall. The upholstered headboard is made from textural woven fabric with vertical channel tufting. “Whenever possible, we try to select performance fabrics that are going to wear well and offer longevity,” says Jent.
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“The nature of construction requires a high level of expertise and understanding of both the challenges and benefits that come with building and living in this coastal environment,” says Stephen Kauffman, CEO and owner of Divco Custom Homes. “Divco Custom Homes has spent more than three decades creating magnificent homes, understanding complexities, and perfecting the workmanship and skills to embrace this special climate.” The homeowners love to travel, so it was important to have a space where they could showcase some of their finds from their travels, along with their personal collection of artwork. “They wanted to incorporate many cherished, collected art pieces which fostered such honesty in the design,” say Bloam, Ficquette, and Jent. “Splashes of their personalities are sprinkled about the residence, really making it their own.” u
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Neutral and classic background materials were selected by Design West for flooring, cabinetry finishes, and bath tiles, while fun pops of color were incorporated through accent paint, fabric choices, patterned wallcovering, and carefully curated artwork and accessories. Each space has its own personality yet blends seamlessly with the rest of the home. “It is one thing to create beautiful spaces as designers; that is the easy part,” say Bloam, Ficquette, and Jent. “It is another to integrate the personalities of the inhabitants. It is beautiful seeing people living in a space that truly reflects them. It’s like you get an idea of who lives there and what they are like just by standing in the foyer. Before they appear around the corner to greet you, you feel like you know their hearts.” n
Family Room: The wall art in the family room was inspired by artwork the client had seen in a gallery, so Design West worked with an artist to create custom pieces based off the original. “The client loved the idea of the original artwork but wanted something a little different, so we made something that was perfectly custom-made for her,” say Bloam, Ficquette, and Jent. The accent pillows reflect a variety colors from the artwork, creating a marriage of pattern, color, and interest.
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Guest Bedroom: The clients wanted twin beds in this guest room, but to keep it from feeling juvenile, Design West incorporated simple flat-stock mouldings on two-thirds of the wall to add texture and interest, while the bottom onethird of the wall features a custom upholstered headboard made of the same fabric as the foot and side rails. “We picked the paint color to pull the pops of blue from the bedding, as well as the custom side panels on each side of the French doors,” says Ficquette. Dark espresso wood tones on the Loring nightstand from Bernhardt Furniture and Noir Furniture Morten dresser balance the room and add a touch of subtle sophistication. Powder Bathroom: A chunky countertop in gray Carrera marble and a contemporary vessel sink elevate the powder room, which includes an accent wall in a basketweave stone pattern for a multidimensional effect. The mirror, which is made from handmade inlaid pieces that have been lacquered in blue tones, is flanked by intricate sconces with glass tubes. “The light reflects up and down from the center metal piece and you can see straight through the glass tubes, which allows you to appreciate every aspect of the tile,” say Bloam, Ficquette, and Jent. “The under-cabinet LED lighting showcases the cabinetry and creates a fun glow, which is reiterated by the sconces.”
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Lanai: The outdoor living area has a dining table that comfortably seats up to 10 people, along with a large sectional accompanied by a sleek fire pit that doubles as a cocktail table. “The sectional is interesting because it feels like classic rattan furniture, but the large-scale weave adds a contemporary tone so it has an airy quality that doesn’t feel bulky,” says Bloam.
Written by Kamala Kirk Photography by Venjhamin Reyes Interior Designer Design West 9118 Strada Place, Mercato 8130 Naples, FL 34108 239.514.1234 dwest.com Luxury Home Builder Divco Custom Homes 6628 Willow Park Drive Naples, FL 34109 239.592.7222 divcohomes.com
Resources: Builders Glass of Bonita 24181 South Tamiami Trail, Suite 4 Bonita Springs, FL 34134 239.947.1505 buildersglassbonita.com Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery 38 Goodlette-Frank Road South Naples, FL 34102 239.963.0087 fergusonshowrooms.com Modern Tile & Carpet 5450 Division Drive Fort Myers, FL 33901 239.936.8373 mtcfloors.com
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Pool: The backyard is the ultimate resortlike space with golf course views and outdoor entertainment features including an elevated infinity-edge spa, swimming pool, and shuffle board court. A basketball hoop suspended by a glass backboard at one end of the pool creates an unobstructed view, maintaining a sense of connection between the pool and outdoor living area. Fire and water bowl features create soothing and tranquil visual and sound effects.
Instead of a traditional rounded driveway, the clients opted for a clean and contemporary look with pavers in a combination of warm and cool tones that are subtle and seamless. The clients also liked the high-contrast elements of the exterior, which included darker shutters and pendant lighting in a unique propeller shape above the front door. “The really fun element of the exterior is the lighting,” says Jent. “It’s a nice, airy contrast against the blocky and linear look of the exterior.”
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