OmahaHome October 2022

The Bakers Buy into Bohemia

ENTRYWAY

And just like that, crackling leaves are right under foot and we’re surrounded by the most beautiful hues of crimson, burnt orange, and gold! If you’re like me, you think this season is way too short. I just love the richness that fall brings to our everyday lives.

This time of year also makes me want to cook the comfort food my mother always made, in cluding one of my favorites from childhood good ol’ fashioned chunky potato soup. Over the years, I’ve put my own spin on it, but the foundation is still very traditional and the recipe requires few ingre dients. Scan the QR code above for my family recipe.

If you’re not much for cooking from scratch, check out this issue’s Harvest story on soup kits, on page 20. The kits offer an easy, convenient way to prepare a warm meal in no time. They also make great holiday gifts.

Of course, it’s also football season and everything that goes with that. (Think chili and cornbread, corn hole games, and so much fun!)

Gone are the days of hosting football parties in dark man caves. Homeowners today are opting for light and airy spaces decked out with all the bells and whistles for entertaining even mini wine cellars under the steps.

Check out our stories on two outstanding basements, the Ringenbergs’ lower level on page 38, and our ASID Award feature on page 44.

Make the most of this season. Cook up some com fort food and curl up in a soft throw, or host a fall gameday with friends and family. Cherish these moments they’re fleeting!

Thrifty finds, minimalist rustic furniture, and dappled sunlight fill the dining room of Scott and Sara Baker’s new-build home in Little Bohemia. Story page 22. Photo by Sarah Lemke.

“Autumn us how it is to let things go.” ENTRYWAY Contributing

CREATE YOUR OWN ENVIRNMENT

In nature, evolution can require a process of thousands of years.

At Curt Hofer & Associates, helping you to create your environment is second nature to us. Bring your designs, your inspiration, your preferences, pictures and even pins. Together we’ll move through a process that lets you ease into a flawless execution of your ideal surroundings.

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Friday, September 23 at 11am

Ten Thomas Hart Benton Pencil Signed Lithographs

Western Art

Fine Clocks

Fine Jewelry

Pablo Picasso

Robert F. Gilder

Impressive 23-Piece Sterling Silver Table Service

Dale Chihuly

Franz Von Stuck

Schoolhouse Style

Kylie Murcek, Elkhorn teacher and daughter of Christy Murcek

Christy Murcek crafts her way back to the classroom.

Story - Sara Locke Photography - Bill Sitzmann Design - Mady Bubb

In an early fall ritual, teachers enter their classroom to set the tone for the school year.

They decide on a theme, color palette, and decor to tie it all together, then spend hours prepping the space to create a welcoming environment for learning.

When longtime teacher Christy Murcek found herself needing to step away from the profession she loved, she made creating school-themed decor her means of getting back to class.

“Early in life, I knew I was being drawn into a helper profession,” Murcek said. “I love children, and becoming a teacher was a way I could help make learning more accessible and fun for them.”

She attended Emporia State Univer sity to major in education and got her first teaching job in Wichita, Kansas. After moving to Nebraska, she went on to teach in Omaha Public Schools for eight years, and Elkhorn Public for six. Along the way, she earned her master’s in education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

In 2014, Christy Murcek was a proud mom and successful educator with a life she couldn’t get enough of. Then, a medical diagnosis threatened to cut her adventure short. “It was sinus cancer. There was a lot of aggressive treatment to do. I had a couple of surgeries, and we thought all was well. But in 2016, the cancer returned.”

Murcek, just 50 at the time, wasn’t ready to give up the fight and under went numerous operations to remove cancerous bone and tissue. Through the process, she lost half of her upper jaw, the orbital bone beneath her eye, and even part of her femur to a failed recon struction attempt. She lost her ability to smell or open her mouth more than half an inch, and endured a year on a feeding tube. After 13 surgeries, she was finally cancer-free, but without the capacity for communicating with her students, which had made teaching such a joy for the educator. While she had lost years and a significant amount of her physical person to the battle, she hadn’t lost her desire to contribute to the education of Omaha’s children.

“I was always finding ways to keep a foot in the classroom. I loved working and I missed my students, so I started helping a friend with some of her paperwork for class,” Murcek said. “One day we were discussing how COVID was affecting the students, and she mentioned how mask-wearing was creating some obsta cles. She was thinking out loud and said, ‘It would be so great to have some kind of lanyard for kids to keep their masks on, so they weren’t losing them or spreading germs leaving them on tables or drop ping them on the floor,’ and I thought ‘I could make that.’ I put some [lanyards] together and put it on an Etsy shop and sold 100 of them in four days.”

Murcek was excited about her success and sought out other ways to contrib ute. “I’m not artistic, but I can stencil! I wanted to create some things teachers could use that would make the classroom feel warmer and homier.”

She set to work and soon her shop, SchoolhouseStyle - Etsy was filled with earth-toned, texture-rich pieces that send positive vibes and brighten a space without being distracting or over stimulating. Her items include rag-tie garlands, burlap banners, grapevine wreaths, and wooden signs many accented with seasonal themes or customized with blackboard paint and crisp fonts detailing the teacher’s name or encouraging messages.

Murcek said sales of her rustic, schoolthemed items continue to grow, and not just to teachers for classrooms. Customers are also buying them for homeschool rooms, kids’ play areas, preschools, and dorms.

While a teacher or business owner should never admit to having favorites, Christy Murcek can’t deny that her first customer holds a special place in her heart: her oldest daughter, Kylie, a sixthyear teacher at Elkhorn Public Schools.

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“I was still in college when my mom was diagnosed,” Kylie Murcek said, recalling the diffi culty of following in her mother’s footsteps when she would have liked to be holding her hand. “I wasn’t home as much as I wanted to be, but this community [of Elkhorn] really showed up for her. She’s touched so many lives.”

South farm containers

After graduating from Northwest Missouri State University and becoming a teacher herself, Kylie knew just where to shop. “My mom makes beautiful wreaths and banners. Teachers come to the shop for their classroom, but so many are bringing pieces home because they’re just warm and welcoming. I have parents ask me about my classroom all the time, commenting about how calm ing everything is. My mom really understands how important this space is, and every touch speaks to her love of teaching.”

You can find Murcek's work online at SchoolhouseStyle - Etsy, and in an upcoming issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, which will feature her rustic pumpkin burlap banner.

A BOLD & BRIGHT REDO

An Omaha couple discovers the joy of color— no holds barred.

“There’s a misconception in decorating and it’s widespread that people like neutrals. No one’s favorite color is beige.”

Chris Stout-Hazard

Chris Stout-Hazard loves debunk ing the myth.

“There’s a misconception in deco rating and it’s widespread that people like neutrals. No one’s favorite color is beige.”

The design specialist and co-founder of Roger + Chris explains:

“Most of the time, when people talk about design, they’re repeating things that they’ve read or heard. ‘Calming. Bright. Clean. Works with everything.’ Those are buzzwords typically associ ated with beige.”

But giving the color wheel a spin reveals a multitude of harmonious possibilities for a home, its personality, and the lifestyle it suits.

“Our goal isn’t to bring our look or style to a project,” Chris said of the work that he and co-founder and husband Roger Hazard do as Roger + Chris. “Our goal is to draw out our clients’ style.”

And inevitably, help them build on it. After all, Roger + Chris is a design and furniture brand noted for bold and adventurous style. But Chris is quick to qualify that “we aren’t interior designers. We’re furniture manufacturers with a flair for design.”

Earlier this year, Chris and Roger helped friends make a handful of decisions and transition with confi dence from a classic black-and-white interior to a lively remix of navy, ruby red, and mallard green. The impetus: the couple’s purchase of a 33-yearold West Omaha house with good bones and solid decorating potential.

“It was clear from their past décor that they liked contrast,” Chris said. “It was a matter of carrying that contrast into their current home.” The result achieved largely by the wife’s eye for design is a familycentric abode that’s harmonious, and welcoming. And, of course, full of color.

“These folks have tons of personal style and very sophisticated tastes,” Chris said. “Their home reflects that now.”

THE HOMEOWNERS

Here’s a little about the homeowners, who asked to be anonymous.

He’s in his early 40s; she’s in her early 30s. They’re both self-employed professionals and have an active household with two children, ages 8 months and 7 years, and a small dog.

The couple loves entertaining, espe cially during the holidays.

Last summer, with a second child on the way, they decided it was time for more living space. Their previous

home near 114th and Pacific streets sold within two hours of being listed.

“We were not looking for a tradi tional-style house,” she said of house-hunting in Pacific Springs near 168th and Pacific streets.

“But the original owner of this house was an architect.” That piqued their curiosity.

The first delightful surprise: an artful chandelier in the two-story entryway in the shape of an inverted artichoke.

The artichoke is significant in the husband’s family heritage. “It’s the cornerstone of the Feast of the Seven Fishes, which my family has celebrated on Christmas Eve for the past 106 years.”

The couple also loved the curved staircase overlooking the foyer and the white ceramic floor tile that flows from the entryway into the adjoining dining room. Specialty ceiling treatments, rift-cut white oak cabinetry, and a spacious kitchen also made their eyes light up. The most remarkable feature, however, was the primary bath and adjoining closet.

“When I walked in, I started crying,” she recalled. Her immediate thought: “It’s so spacious, I could have a dinner party up here.”

The couple could tell the house had massive potential.

“All homes can feel dated,” Chris assured them. “This one will be easy to make more current.”

The wife had an overall vision for the redo but tapped Chris in particular for creative inspiration and guidance.

While the homeowners’ tastes and needs drove design discussions and decisions, upholstered pieces from Roger + Chris were key to the overall aesthetic they sought.

Chris’ advice: A house should be adaptable to any given moment, like your personal wardrobe.

“Everything goes together with out being matchy-matchy. I also love how I can move pieces from room to room to change up the look,” she said.

“Chris and Roger definitely influ enced our use of color.”

Their previous house had black accent walls with pops of color largely in artwork. This house would take hues a lot further.

“I got scared a couple of times,” she said, laughing at the memory of considering navy blue paint for the fireplace wall and oak-trimmed coffered ceiling in the living room, and mallard-green paint for the built-in bookcase, walls, and trim in the library.

Selecting the perfect black wall paint for the piano room and entry way presented a challenge she didn’t expect.

“Not all black paints are equal,” she said. “I wasted so many paint samples, a Sherwin-Williams color specialist came to the house to help finalize the choice.

Trust in their decorator friends’ affirmations paid off.

“This house is my style with more direction,” she said.

Here’s an armchair tour.

“It’s the cornerstone of the Feast of the Seven Fishes, which my family has celebrated on Christmas Eve for the past 106 years.”

FOYER

The two-story vestibule has lots of natural light, thanks to a tall, arched window for architectural appeal. White, rectangular floor tiles and white paint on walls and trim add to the airiness. There’s stark drama, too, in a strik ing black staircase. And, of course, there’s that sculpted copper chandelier.

PIANO ROOM

On the right, one's eyes are drawn to the music room’s accent wallpaper Van Gogh-inspired peonies on a dark green background and walls as black as iron ore. A black baby-grand piano and a cognac leather sofa by Roger + Chris also have starring roles here. While she was set on the black walls, her husband admits to initially being “iffy” about the choice. Today, he appre ciates the harmony in the tableau.

DINING ROOM

The piano room wallpaper is repeated in the dining room, to mirrored effect. “I love symmetry,” the homeowner said. The space pops with coral-pink walls and ceiling, a pair of abstract still-life art prints, and an ornate antique gilded mirror.

FAMILY ROOM

The suggestion of a deep navy paint drew adamant objection from the male spousal unit of the household. “Now it’s one of my favorite features of the house,” he admitted.

Accent pillows in a navy-and-cream abstract print soften the punch of four conversation-sparking ruby-red chairs from Roger + Chris, arranged symmetrically in the middle of the space and balanced by a custom, black metal coffee table from their previous decor. A medium-blue block-cushion couch by Roger + Chris is go-to seating for TV viewing. Underfoot, a cowhide area rug adds texture and visual interest to the room. Directly across from the couch, a built-in credenza conceals or reveals the TV with the press of a button.

LIBRARY

A tufted Higgins Chesterfield sofa by Roger + Chris in ruby-red commands a small space originally finished with honey oak paneling and cabinetry. Mallard-green unites the walls and bookcase. A bench upholstered in black angus cowhide doubles as coffee table and laptop computer desk for working from home. The sofa placement leaves just enough space for accessing the bookcase’s lower doors.

“I got scared a couple of times,” she said, laughing at the memory of considering navy-blue paint for the fireplace wall and oak-trimmed coffered ceiling in the living room, and mallard-green paint for the built-in bookcase, walls, and trim in the library.

KITCHEN

Cooking is a dream with professional-grade appliances and ample surfaces for meal prep and everyday dining. The imme diate updates were a reimag ined island and new countertops and backsplash.

The island, 10-feet by 4-feet, is twice the size of the original and topped with plain white quartz.

For the backsplash, the home owners chose white handmade tile from Morocco. Installation, she said, was tedious because of the irregularity of the tiles. “It was a process.”

Rift-cut white oak cabinetry contributes to the kitchen’s light and airy feel. The only color by design comes through the windows and changes with the season.

“It’s a good reprieve from the rest of the house,” she said.

POWDER ROOM

A section of original granite countertop from the kitchen was repurposed for the vanity. Wall paper in a Van Gogh-inspired white blossom print keeps the space light and neutral.

PRIMARY BATH + CLOSET

“My husband is high energy, but I need a couple of relaxing spaces,” she said. The kitchen is one; the primary bath is the other.

Spa music plays in the background as she leads her visitor past a glori ous soaking tub and into a walkin closet with dreamy built-ins for clothing and accessories.

WHAT’S NEXT?

He’s sure their home, built in 1989, is never going to be “done.”

She’s starting to think about the lower level, now that they’ve been in the house a year and have some ideas on how the space might be used.

The week of this interview, the home owners and pals Chris and Roger were talking through possibilities for the exterior. New shingles and paint were givens, but specifics would have to wait. Workers, however, were busy painting the wooden deck off the kitchen in a creamy white as an extension of the interior space.

Roger, as a favor, is consulting on a landscape design that’s likely to be implemented this fall.

The homeowners can’t wait for the exterior to meet up with the interior.

“We get a lot of satisfaction from the house,” the husband said. “I think it was meant to be ours.”

Round Up Your Bill & Help Those in Need

There is a growing need for utility assistance, especially during the heating season. If you don’t already donate to the District’s Home Fund, please consider rounding up your monthly bill to help those in need in our community.

When you round up your bill on a recurring basis, proceeds go to the Home Fund and are administered by local agency partners.

Visit mudomaha.com/billroundup for details.

About the Home Fund: The fund, established in 1983 to assist seniors, people with disabilities and limited-income customers suffering severe financial hardships, has served more than 35,000 households through donations.

The mission: To provide utility assistance by connecting customers in need with the community.

Connecting those in need with those who can help.

Easy soup kits can be a convenient way to experiment in the kitchen.

STORY Sophie Rossitto DESIGN Mady Bubb

HARVEST

Hot, homemade meals are one of the best ways to fend off winter’s chill, and soup kits are a great option that provide flavor-packed results. These collections feature assortments of dried ingredients stored in airtight containers and require the easiest of prep: just add water and cook. Ready-to-heat soup kits also make unique gift ideas for the holidays ahead.

Registered dietician Meghan McLarney and her business partner, Scott Brownlee, run Omaha Soup Company, which sells handcrafted soup kits for under $10 each online and in local stores, including Hy-Vee groceries and Made in Omaha gift shops. The two became friends while working as food vendors at a local farmers market and began making soup kits to sell in December 2019 after holiday event organizers pitched them the idea.

McLarney said she loves running Omaha Soup Company because it gives her opportunities to create and explore new recipes. For exam ple, her culinary team, which has its own production space, mixed citrus, herb, and savory flavors to create the company’s Thai coconut soup kit. “You can kind of put those elements in there and play with it, so that’s been really fun,” McLarney said.

Many customers love the conve nience and simplicity of the Omaha Soup Company kits, McLarney said. Her team has also found success jazz ing up family favorites with unique ingredients, and honoring the strong food community in Omaha. For example, McLarney said she created a corn chowder soup kit to pay homage to her mother, who grew up in Nebraska and introduced this soup to her children.

Those interested in creating their own soup kits at home can find a variety of recipes online, McLar ney said. However, soup makers will likely need to experiment and adjust the recipes multiple times to yield results that suit their personal tastes, she added.

Shoppers can find a variety of dried ingredients–such as celery salt, minced onions, and dried garlic in the spice aisle of grocery stores. McLarney recommended using flavor packets found in quick-toprepare food products, such as Ramen Noodles or instant mashed potatoes, to enhance soup flavors. When converting traditional soup recipes into dried kits, cooks can find conversion charts online for each ingredient, she said.

Those interested in drying their own foods should use a dehydra tor to produce the most uniform results, according to the Univer sity of Minnesota extension office website. Dehydrated ingredients can be stored in airtight containers such as glass jars or plastic, sealable bags, and kept fresh for months.

Many online recipes call for soup makers to stock each kit with a bouillon cube, which typically

consists of stock or dried meat and vegetables. However, McLar ney said cooks can produce strong flavors without using bouillon by adding ample amounts of spices and vegetables, such as dried mush rooms, which contain potent flavor.

To prepare their soup, chefs should simply follow the recipe’s instruc tions for adding water and cook ing the ingredients. Many Omaha Soup Company kits give custom ers the option of preparing the meals on a stovetop, in a pressure cooker, or in a crockpot. McLar ney said that when cooking foods such as dried beans, soup makers can use a pressure cooker to speed up the process from three hours to about 35 minutes.

Making soup kits can be a fun expe rience, as long as chefs have a spirit of innovation and accept that they might fall short a few times before finding the right ingredient combi nations, McLarney said.

“It does take a little bit of creativity and adven ture,” she added.

For more info on making soup kits, visit extension.umn.edu/preservingand-preparing/drying-food.

MEGHAN M C LARNEY

“IT DOES TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF CREATIVITY AND ADVENTURE.”

A distinctive a traditional

Story by Lisa Lukecart Photography by Sarah Lemke Design by Mady Bubb

It’s not uncommon for someone to rattle the building's door handle, peer through the windows, or stare at the brick façade from the sidewalk. Curiosity might stem from a sign nestled above a light fixture on the contem porary structure along 14th Street. BAKER. Who wouldn’t imagine dough dusted with flour, cookies sprinkled with cinnamon, or cake drizzled with melted chocolate inside?

A view of the Bakers’ backyard patio

Building a modern house on a small, vacant lot in a traditional neighborhood didn’t come without its share of headaches.

On this day, however, married couple Scott and Sara Baker were rolling out pizza dough from Rotella’s Italian Bakery in their kitchen, which is nestled inside the modern structure. Sara prefers sausage with banana peppers, while Scott sticks with classic pepperoni. The cheese melted to a golden brown in their 30-inch Bertazzoni range on the pizza setting.

“We don’t eat out,” Scott explained. Neighbors invited over for a party bit into crunchy slices of homemade pizza or sipped drinks poured from old-fash ioned decanters. Alcohol bottles rested inside a handed-down metal toolbox on top of a green tool cart (the “cocktail bar”). French music played, pumped in from the surround-sound speakers which Scott wired himself. A home to entertain friends and family was part of the Bakers’ design vision.

Building a modern house on a small, vacant lot in a traditional neighborhood didn’t come without its share of head aches. Scott sketched out the plans on a piece of paper, and Kenneth Hahn Archi tects erected the couple’s dream home. The skeletal structure has a contempo rary urban style, but with some added character. Parapets edged along the flat roof make it feel as though it belongs in an older part of the city.

The 2,800-square-foot house appears, at first glance, like a business, with its flashy front windows. The backside appears simpler with black paneling, two garage doors, and smaller windows. It’s walking and biking distance to vibrant downtown, diverse Little Bohemia, and breweries enhance the appeal of the once-empty lot. Building the house on a tight lot didn’t come without its share of difficul ties either. The driveway at the rear slopes down into the garage. Scott keeps a 1923 Model T Ford there, which he re-built into a hot rod.

“There was not a lot of room to maneu ver. [The garage] is restricted size-wise, but it fits at the end of the day,” president Ken Hahn said.

Even though the Bakers have only been married for five years, their design styles mesh seamlessly. The result show cases an interior and exterior environ ment of thoughtful decisions. Take the home’s ceiling, constructed of standard lumber…nothing special. But painted a tricorn black, it resonates a hip vibe. The clean, symmetrical appearance of the rooms delivers an airy ambiance. A black 10-foot ceiling fan, the biggest before jumping to an industrial model,

cools the space on hot summer days. Pops of thrifty touches throughout the house never seem unprofessional, partly due to Sara and Scott’s resourcefulness. Scott, 56, credits much of his design and construction knowledge to his 37 years spent with Nebraska Furniture Mart starting at the bottom unloading trains, then becoming manager of the repair shop, and now in his current role as direc tor. His father, Clyde Baker, showed him most of the tools of his trade.

“We were poor. You want something, you better damn well know how to build it or fix it,” Scott said.

This mentality helped him develop many innovative and ingenious designs. For instance, during a snowy day in the winter, Scott loaded old, wooden communion railing from St. Bernard’s Church into his trailer. This “smoking-hot deal,” found in a reseller’s basement, became the bottom of their kitchen island. His father helped with the insanely heavy piece that took them about a day to hammer together. Cabinets on the back side allow a microwave and small appliances to be tucked away. The gray quartz countertop comple ments the oak base, as well as the four retro-style barstools.

Sara, 59, has “shopped smart” since her high school days, she said. She’s picked up pieces from Facebook Marketplace, the Fremont Swap Meet, and vari ous secondhand shops.

“Sara haggles them down,” Scott said, laughing.

“I only buy stuff if it’s on sale,” Sara explained.

She found old-school pendant light fixtures, possibly once from a hospital, at the Omaha Habi tat ReStore for $35 each. They now hang over their kitchen island. A larger, matching fixture from a church hangs over the entryway door.

According to Sara, however, the best deal of the entire house sits prominently in the living room. Sara bought two tobaccocolored chairs an expensive Sherrill Furniture brand for $22 apiece from a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. The chairs sit in front of the immense gas fireplace, made from the same reclaimed brick as the home’s exterior. It retains a timeworn classic mien which both adore.

“You have to add soul somehow,” Sara said.

A hairdryer transformed into a lamp casts a glow over beauty shop chairs reupholstered with a blot of cranberry mohair. Guests can set down their drink, or figure out their foot size, on what was once a shoe-fitting bench turned into an end table.

The couple laugh about their once “gross” and “wet” vinyl loveseat find pulled from a sketchy house.

“We pulled up thinking we are going in, but might not come out,” Scott said.

But the furniture rescue proved worthwhile after he stripped the loveseat down to timber and springs, then covered it with a trendy cowhide rug. Scott some times has to “MacGyver” items, but his handiness with tools is inspired by Sara’s creativity.

Don’t plan on them reselling the house any time soon.

“We built it for us,” Sara said.

MAKE AN ENTRANCE AT YOUR BUISINESS THIS SEASON

Best of Omaha Winner 10 YEARS in a Row!

STANDING TALL FOR YOU!

KAREN JENNINGS 2022 Winner

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate:

TOP TEN NATIONALLY Number of Units Sold Mid Size Team - 2020 Oracle Award for Large Team Producer – 2020 Pinnacle Award for Top Large Team Number of Transactions – 2020 Summit Award for Team Productivity (#7) – 2020

A Home Office toLove & THEORY

STORY - MICHELLE HORST

PHOTOGRAPHY - BILL SITZMANN

DESIGN - MADY BUBB

Years ago, a home office was a nice feature to have, but only used here and there by most homeowners. These days, it’s a work-horse of a room for a growing number of professionals working remote, including me.

Many began their work-from-home expe rience when the pandemic hit in 2020. However, I’ve been a WFH employee for over 10 years. Spending eight hours a day in the space, I realized a while back it was worthwhile to make my office something truly personal and highly functional.

During our home design process, creat ing my ideal home office was near the top of my husband’s and my priority list. We started with the basics. First up, making sure there was a large window to allow in lots of natural light (Vitamin D) for extra boosts of energy, and to allow me to keep an eye on my kids playing in the front yard and riding their bikes.

The next priority was making sure my office had doors for soundproofing the room. (Did I mention I have kids?) My last home office did not have a door, which made for loud conference calls with kids and dogs bark ing in the background. To make sure I was not too shut off from the household while on meetings, we decided on French doors with full glass panes. The boys will often come to the door to say a quick hi, or let me know they need something. It provides just the right balance of privacy and access.

I waited to design the internal parts of the room until I’d had a chance to work in the office and gain a better idea of what I needed for work space and storage. My office soon became the dumping zone for whatever didn’t have a home. But when I became pregnant with our third child, I knew my maternity leave would be the perfect time to finish the space.

The next priority was making sure my office had doors for soundproofing the room. (Did I mention I have kids?)

The primary purpose of the room is for use as a daytime office, but I use it to store craft and kid items, too. I settled on deep cupboards and drawers, which could hold the printer and craft items, freeing up a large working area. My husband wired a large monitor to hang above my laptop, giving me more space on the quartz desktop. We ran shelving all the way up to the ceiling, allowing for more shelfstyling with photos and accent decor, and hung picture lights to highlight the styling. The picture lights function as dimmer lights at night, adding ambiance as well.

A frequent question I get is, “why quartz?” Well, I wanted some thing durable. I’m in this space a lot and did not want the paint to rub off or have pieces of wood chip away from the constant use. The quartz also kept the office cohesive with the rest of the house design. We chose mixed metals for cabinet pulls and other hardware in the office to keep with the house theme as well.

After determining the “needs,” the rest was all about “mommy’s pretties,” as I tell the boys when they want to play in my office.

In the end, I have a functional, yet comfortable and very styl ish place to work from home. If you’re still working from a messy spare bedroom or a base ment corner, I highly recom mend you give your WFH space some TLC!

This article is part of a series chroni caling the design-build of Michelle Horst's Midwest coastal retreat home in West Omaha. Follow her at ThymeandTheory on Instagram.

More than a Man Cave

The Ringenbergs’ basement includes a theater room, bar, and fun for the whole family.

STORY -MEGHAN TOWNLEY | PHOTOGRAPHY - BILL SITZMANN | DESIGN - MADY BUBB

For Scot and Kendra Ringen berg, the goal of their remodel was to transform an unfin ished basement into a casual but styl ish indoor/outdoor space to gather friends and family.

“We have a lot of friends that we like to host to watch football games at the house,” Scot said. “The main goal was entertaining, but it is also great just for our family…the five of us.” The Ringen bergs have three children: Mallory, 16, Garrett, 14, and Cameron, 11, who all love the basement for game days, movie nights, and sleepovers.

“There is this stereotype that people like to do a ‘man cave’ for their base ment, which usually just means a lot of TVs,” said Leah Scheppers, consulting interior designer and owner of Iconic Styling + Design Studio. “We came up with some ideas to keep it balanced and not make the TVs the focal point of the room.”

The basement entertainment area includes a multi-use theater space with a sectional that comfortably fits all five family members, and a sofa table with more seating behind it. The kitchen and bar area has a large 5-foot by 8-foot island with five barstools and an awning window that opens up to the outdoor pool deck.

“We wanted all spaces to blend together the home theater, the entertaining area, and the bar area,” Scot said.

The ceiling slats were the design solution for tying the basement spaces together. Made of painted half-inch by 2-inch wooden trim, the slats draws your eyes upward and away from the TVs on the wall. Scheppers said they chose recessed trimmed lighting rather than dropdown pendants to keep the visual line to the televisions open.

— DESIGNER LEAH SCHEPPERS

“There is this stereotype that people like to do a ‘man cave’ for their basement, which usually just means a lot of TVs. We came up with some ideas to keep it balanced and not make the TVs the focal point of the room.”

Something that you don’t typically see in the Midwest is the seamless indoor/ outdoor flow of the entertainment space.

“The goal was to make that corner an indoor/outdoor space,” Scot said. “You can come up to the window and grab a beer. We can put all the food on the counter of the awning window.”

The window and panoramic door help bring the outside in. It appears as a double French door when closed, but when opened the panels stack flush and only take up 4 inches against the wall.

Interior style was a priority for the Ringenbergs, but so was performance. The homeowners worked with Schep pers to choose materials that were on-trend and polished, yet functional. This included all fabrics, hard surfaces, and flooring.

“Durability was pretty important for them,” Scheppers said. “We did LVP [luxury vinyl plank] flooring, so they wouldn’t have to worry about coming in from the pool or leaving water puddles when they have friends over.”

The kitchen island countertop is quartz, but it is designed to look like soapstone. “Our design aesthetic leans really heav ily towards natural stone, but some times that is not the best [fit] for the clients. It’s [quartz] not something that they have to tiptoe around because it is functional and durable,” Scheppers said.

The designer’s favorite part of the space is the 100-bottle wine cellar underneath the stairs. “When you see it at night, it is awesome,” Scheppers said. “We incor porated that same strip lighting from the ceiling and it makes it feel like it glows from the inside.”

This new family hub was essential during COVID lockdown, Scot said, but will be enjoyed for years to come as well. “It is exactly what we had hoped for,” he added. “We love hanging out down there.”

Little A-frame on the Prairie

Angie Norman’s dream

STORY - KATY SPRATTE SITZMANN

Growing up in The Ozarks, Angie Norman would spy the A-frame houses scattered throughout the hilly countryside on her hour-long bus ride to and from school every day. It was on these journeys that her longtime love affair with the homes with their skeletal framework and steeply pitched roofs was born.

Norman's affinity for A-frames continued to grow later in life. On road trips with her husband, Andrew, from their East Lansing, Michigan home, they’d pull over to view the innumerable A-frame cabins sprinkled around the state’s northern reaches. Somewhere around this time, the idea to own one of these charmers themselves took root.

In 2011, the couple moved to Omaha’s Benson neighborhood, where they bought a 1890s 1.5-story home for their young family. The opportunity to buy the empty lot next door led to the realization of Norman's life long dream: an A-frame creation eventually given the moniker the Dahlia House.

For a time, the Normans and their son, Townes, used the extra lot as a large yard. But as they brainstormed what to do with

the space, “the A-frame sparks finally landed, and we decided to build,” Norman explained.

After much research, the couple tapped Lincoln-based contrac tor Carlson Projects for the job. Co-owner Stefan Carlson shared, “We are consistently building interesting spaces, but at that point, we had not done an A-frame. It was a fun, unique challenge to create. In theory, it is an uncomplicated structure to build, but since it is so minimal...framing has to be more spot-on than a regu lar home. With a smooth ceil ing, it’s even more noticeable if your framing is not straight or in line.”

Carlson continued: “I love how open the A-frame style feels. The spaces’ footprint is not very large, considering standard houses today, but as soon as you walk in, you feel the expanse of the vaulted ceiling, and it is very relaxing and grounding.”

As the project got off the ground in 2020, pandemic delays in materials slowed construction. The eventual result, a year and a half later, was a 1,100-square-foot onebedroom, one-bathroom A-frame home, which the Normans utilize as an Airbnb rental property.

The exterior features charcoalcolored shingles and wood siding, symmetrical trian gle windows that follow the roofline, and a frosted glasspanel front door in a cheery red hue. A concrete ramp entryway, friendly to wheel chairs and strollers, escorts guests inside. Curated outdoor spaces include a barrel sauna, a greenhouse with patio seat ing, an outdoor fireplace, and a stock tank pool. Recreation and entertainment opportuni ties for guests abound.

A mini meadow of mostly native plants and trees, as well as the namesake Dahl ias, constitute the landscaping and were sourced from Benson Plant Rescue, Midwest Natives Nursery, and Mullein Hill Farm, among others. Norman remembers thinking, “Can’t I

just plant wildflowers every where?” and went for it, with a mix of sunflowers, zinnias, milkweed, cosmos, geraniums, and more. The outcome was a pollinator’s paradise of color that pops against the home’s inky-toned exterior.

Overall, the Normans are beyond pleased with their one-of-a-kind creation, a dream come true.

Carlson agreed with the assess ment, adding, “I would say if you are dreaming of doing something unique, don’t give up on it. It’s worth the effort to create something special.” And the Dahlia House is certainly that.

For a look inside the Dahlia House, visit airbnb.com.

GREENHOUSE -PHOTO PROVIDED

For a time, the Normans and their son, Townes, used the extra lot as a large yard. But as they brainstormed what to do with the space, "the A-frame sparks finally landed, and we decided to build."

—Angie Norman

A LIGHT & BRIGHT LOWER LEVEL

Our clients’ unfinished basement served as a blank slate to create a space that showcases their style and allows them to enter tain year-round.

The biggest challenge on this project was to make this space feel like an exten sion of the main floor of the home. With this being a basement, we wanted to make it light, airy, and fresh. We removed three station ary windows and had them replaced with a 9-foot-tall by 12-foot-wide sliding glass door system to allow in as much natural light as possible.

Fresh finishes, great use of glass bring basement out of the dark.

STORY - ALEXIS TROUT | PHOTOGRAPHY - MANDY M GREGOR DESIGN - MADY BUBB

We created an open concept plan, allowing the main spaces to flow seam lessly. The lounge stays completely visi ble to the main areas with the use of a glass pocket doors. The doors can be closed as needed, yet still allow natural light to enter from the main living space.

The kitchen-area island acts as the perfect gathering space for family and friends. This piece was custom made by a local carpenter constructed out of local barn wood from Iowa. The island is centered adjacent to the sliding door system to flawlessly connect the inte rior and exterior spaces when doors are open, as weather allows.

The wine room is neatly tucked under the stairs, making great use of a space that is typically forgotten. With our space limitations in the bar, we wanted to use every inch of room for stor age and display. We added a custom glass wall and door to make this bar area a showcase while keeping the room closed off from the children in the family.

The wine room is neatly tucked under the stairs, making great use of a space that is typically forgotten.

The mix of design materials used in the TV area creates a cozy atmosphere to settle in for a movie or football game. The light wood tones keep things bright, and black-painted brick accent adds an unexpected industrial flare. The lounge gallery wall is a space where the client wanted to incorporate a TV, but didn’t want it to be the centerpiece of the room. We used a “frame” TV that can be disguised as artwork when not in use. We then designed a collage of family photos and artwork to surround the TV to complete the look.

In the end, the renovation met both our initial goals and exceeded our clients’ expectations. It’s a showstopper!

Alexis Trout with D3 Interiors was recog nized with a Gold award for this project at the 2021 Nebraska/Iowa Chapter ASID Awards in September 2021.

ABOUT THE INTERIOR DESIGNER ALEXIS TROUT NCIDQ, D3 INTERIORS

Trout began her design career in 2012 and joined D3 Interiors in 2014. She has worked on a diverse array of residential and commercial projects of all sizes. Her goal as a designer is to create lasting relationships with her clients, bring a fresh creative eye to every job, and create inspiring spaces.

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