Reflect Your Own Personal Style Whatever your inspiration, the experienced design professionals in a Wood-Mode showroom can help you create the exact look you’ve always wanted for your home.
VERSATILE DESIGN ELEMENTS The Best by Broan range-hood inserts will fit almost any type of decorative hood, from wood to stucco. “I love to use the PIK model for its built-in capabilities,” Helgeson says. “It is not too deep or too big, so it works in all kinds of designs.” bestbybroan.com
Located off Highway 50 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 262.245.9600
www.genevacabinet.com
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luxury home quarterly
NOV / DEC 2010
Her favorite aspect of the business is something she calls “Dream Vision”—a computer program that generates a detailed rendering, right down to the color on the wall and room accessories, so that homeowners can envision the end result of their design.
unanalyzed. Custom, hand-painted knobs in the laundry room show a farmhouse in the country surrounded by red and white checks on soft yellow cabinetry. A craft room boasts specialty storage for activities ranging from quilting to scrapbooking. Helgeson used Wood-Mode and Medallion cabinetry throughout the home, and the tour de force is a stunning, leaded-glass transom into the master bath.
Whatever the challenge, Helgeson hits her high note when brainstorming solutions. For one home in Geneva National, she encountered limited kitchen-wall space and came up with a high-function layout. Her design accommodated built-in appliances—a 48-inch Wolf dual-fuel range, 36-inch Sub-Zero refrigerator with panels, and a 30-inch Sharp microwave drawer—as well as the owners’ prized collection of knickknacks. For the kitchen, Helgeson selected Wood-Mode brand cabinetry in maple with a vintage lace finish and antique glass doors. An additional island and a dining hutch were constructed of Wood-Mode cabinetry in cherry with a black forest finish. It was a perfect combination of elegant simplicity desired by the clients.
Perhaps Helgeson’s favorite project was a Geneva National home that she describes excitedly as “clean and crisp.” The palette is dominated by whites and pale blues, and the décor is pure East Coast beach. “The kitchen is open to the dining room, great room, and the outdoors, through the door [by Nano brand] that literally removes the wall to the inviting outdoor space,” Helgeson says. Bella Tile, a local store, provided spot-on tile. The master bathroom features his-and-her vanities in a unique back-to-back design, giving each a separate entrance to a large shower. “What I loved most about this house was coming up with a great getaway place that you want to go to every weekend,” Helgeson recalls. “My main goal was to make it feel…comfy.”
Another project Helgeson worked on that touched the community’s heart was Angel’s Flight, a beloved historical property—with an angel’s view of Lake Geneva—where discerning buyers built a new home. No surface went
The beauty of Helgeson’s cabinetry lines is that they range from distressed French country to American breezy. “Every client that comes in is like a whole new piece of art,” she says. “It’s like starting over with a brand new palette.”
that they need to make the home up here a little more relaxing and country-ish.”
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