Photos by Kim Cornelison
Family Friendly
The great room sees plenty of action, from juice-box spills and fort building to board games and TV watching. This meant furnishings needed to be durable and comfortable, but also good-looking, since the space opens to the dining room and kitchen. A Lee Industries sofa from Francis King Ltd. pairs with the ottoman upholstered in a vintage Turkish rug.
When college sweethearts Brian and Gretta Eder built their new family home in Lake Elmo, their decisions were less about what they could do and more about what they didn’t want to do. Adjacent to a park reserve, the land allowed for a sprawling footprint and sky-high rooflines. But that’s not the couple’s style.
“We didn’t need to have 23 peaks in our house,” Brian says. “We wanted it to be simple and clean, something that would age well with our family.”
The simple forms of the modern farmhouse come from mostly white walls and black-trimmed windows, which contrast with dark wood floors. That understated background let interior designer Brooke Voss layer in color, pattern, and texture to varying degrees.
Saddle-brown leather chairs and vintage Turkish and Persian rugs look as though they were collected over time. The pieces will weather well with practical, kid- and pet-proof sofas and chairs.
There’s a balance, Voss says, to creating a lived-in look that’s also stylish and classic. “One of our biggest goals was to not have the place feel like it was time-stamped,” she says. “It’s about adding in some details that feel a little bit old and some that feel sort of new and crispy.”
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On Display
“Not everybody can live in a kitchen that has open shelving, but these homeowners are fantastic at that,” interior designer Brooke Voss says. “They like to see their beautiful dishes and collections.”
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Gather 'Round
Homeowners Brian and Gretta Eder cook and entertain often. The kitchen’s hardy materials stand up to the action with Carrara marble countertops, dark-grouted white subway tiles, and hand-scraped and beveled hickory floors. CB2 leather bar stools warm the island and perimeter cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore’s Kendall Charcoal.
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Perfect Partners
Rustic and modern is the striking combo in the dining room. The solid reclaimed lumber table by The Old Wood Co. in North Carolina is surrounded by sleek black chairs by Donghia. A striped Jaipur rug mimics the surrounding white walls and black trim.
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Dream Build
The Eders commissioned BCD Homes in White Bear Lake to create their modern farmhouse, sited near a lake and woods in Lake Elmo. The standing-seam metal roof and black-trimmed windows by Marvin Windows and Doors add some edge.
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Warm Welcome
A wide-open entry gives way to the dining room and view to the woods out back. A faux fur–covered bench from Etsy, a grid of framed feather art from Ciel Loft & Home, and a vintage rug from Aubry Angelo create a modern ranch look.
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Light and Bright
A pitched ceiling and large windows bring in natural light to the sunroom. The cobalt blue sofa and brown leather chairs are from Room & Board. The rug is from Dash & Albert. “Just as much as I like to think about where to add a dose of color, I’m also thinking about where to add texture,” Voss says.
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Wall Flowers
A powder room is a space where “you can go a little crazy,” Voss says, referencing the bright green floral print the Eders chose from Anthropologie. The paper’s pattern or color “should have the same feeling or same vocabulary as the house, but it doesn’t necessarily have to match the other rooms perfectly.”
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Color Wheel
When 6-year-old Beatrice requested her “rainbow room,” Voss came up with a compromise that pleases both daughter and her parents: Anthropologie’s Blazing Poppies wallpaper. The pattern is fun and youthful but is sophisticated enough to grow into.
Interior design: Brooke Voss, Brooke Voss Design, 707 N. 3rd St., Mpls., 763-227-0008, brookevossdesign.com // Builder: BCD Homes, 4457 White Bear Pkwy., Ste. C, White Bear Lake, 651-274-1894, bcdhomes.com
