Small design projects have a way of snowballing, as redoing one area can make others around it look dated. Such was the case with a home in Oakland County that Troy-based designer Ruth Casper worked on a decade ago.
The homeowners had hired Casper to do a paint consultation on their former house, but the project eventually grew to include a new kitchen, bar, and home office, and a wine room addition. “It ended up being a lot more extensive than they had originally planned,” the designer shares.
Now empty-nesters, that couple purchased a new house 18 months ago and recently hired Casper again, because they wanted to put their own stamp on the residence — a five-bedroom, 1950s Colonial in Birmingham. “Everything inside was a neutral china white, a vanilla color,” the designer explains of the bland before. “I really wanted to infuse the home with the homeowners’ personality.”
Other issues included the fact that the house had been added onto through the years, resulting in awkward spaces that urgently needed addressing.
Casper and her associate, Aimee Sass, helped the couple transition from their old home to their new. “They hired me to see what they should keep and help decide what should come over to the new,” Casper explains, adding that she enjoys helping homeowners through before-and-after transitions.
In the dining room, a crystal-faceted pendant adds texture and dimension. Casper selected this fixture to coordinate with the wallpaper’s flower pod design and bring harmony to the space.
She says she also enjoys helping homeowners build spaces that truly reflects their interests and the way they live. “This home has an abundance of personal touches that reflect my company motto: The foundation of the home is you,” Casper says. One way she achieved her goal was by rethinking the home’s formal living room and converting it into a first-floor wine room designed for entertaining and enjoying. “That’s their passion,” the designer says. “Why not enjoy it every day?”
She redesigned the room to include a glassed-in wine storage structure, as well as several areas — a grouping of velvet chairs and a bar table — that are perfect for more intimate gatherings. There are even leather-wrapped cabinets and a half-wall that’s just what the couple needed for wine tastings. “The wine room has a rich, masculine palette,” Casper says, adding that she drew inspiration from wineries in the Napa Valley.
A mirrored backsplash from Beaver Tile complements the custom leather cabinet doors in the wine room
“I wanted one ‘wow’ factor in each space.”
-Ruth Casper
The wine room is adjacent to the nearby sunroom, which Casper describes as a light-filled and more neutral, feminine space. “The husband and wife each have their own spaces, but they’re connected,” she says, noting that both rooms lead to an outdoor garden. Together, the wine room and sunroom can easily accommodate 50 to 60 people, making the layout ideal for entertaining, especially when hosting large family gatherings — another of the homeowners’ priorities.
Designed for their grandchildren, the nursery is among the wife’s favorite rooms in the renovation.
“This is where all the kids come,” Casper says of the couple’s grown children. “My clients wanted to create spaces both for entertaining and for family meals and movie nights.”
The importance of family is also apparent in the pantry, which features custom wallpaper from Detroit Wallpaper Co. that’s inspired by the wife’s mom’s recipe for apple pie and her favorite phrases. “The homeowner gets to see that every day,” Casper notes, as she points out that the wife’s interests are also reflected in the second-floor space she uses for working out and morning devotions.
While the home’s floor plan didn’t change, the difference between the before and after is dramatic, Casper says. “The house has such beautiful sight lines,” she says of the layout. he difference between the before and after is dramatic, Casper says. “The house has such beautiful sight lines,” she says of the layout. “The rooms all feel individual, but they flow and connect.” They’re also full of what the designer calls “little special touches,” such as including the homeowners’ favorite sayings on the backs of books, among other surprises.
Custom monogrammed blankets from Ruth Casper Design Studio add comfort to this meditation nook.
Everything was intentional, the designer says. “I wanted one ‘wow’ factor in each space,” she explains. Special touches include the cloud wallpaper on her office ceiling, the pheasant on his office wall that reminds him of his dad, the heated tile floor that looks like carpet in the sunroom, and the frog-shaped legs in the bathroom off the nursery, designed to please the couple’s grandchildren.
Challenges included the foyer staircase, which had treads that were too shallow and had to be rebuilt, and incorporating the wine room into the former living room, which involved incorporating a wine compressor in the basement underneath the space, and controlling temperature and humidity. “It’s not just pretty to look at, but it’s functional, as well,” Casper points out.
The wife is partial to the second-floor nursery, but admits she has a hard time deciding on her favorite room in the newly redesigned house. Casper agrees. “You walk into that house and you’re just happy,” she says of the six-month project. “The house feels cozy and wonderful. It feels like a hug.”
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