September 2024

St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles® Before and After

REMARKABLE REDOS

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stlouishomesmag.com September 2024

Pages of Timeless Transformations

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A L I SE O’ B R I E N PHOTO G R A PH Y

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9808 Clayton Road, Ladue, MO 63124 314.993.6644 / glenalspaughkitchens.com

CONTENTS 20

SEPTEMBER 2024 BEFORE & AFTER ISSUE

FEATURES 20. JUST FOR US

Vowing this will be the last house they buy, a newly retired couple renovates a Chesterfield ranch into their forever home.

28. REFINED REINVENTION

A St. Louis couple collaborates with an A-list creative team to give their classic home a modern refresh while paying homage to its traditional roots.

38. A JOYFUL JOURNEY

Home gardener John Merkle uses his medical background and inspirations from his travels to curate his intricate Compton Heights garden.

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DEPARTMENTS 6 10 12 14 16 48

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Publisher’s letter Trends Fab Finds The Insider Artisan Shaw's Vision

50 55 72 74 80

The Dirt Before and Afters Spotlight Sights Classic or Craze

On the cover page 57.

The family uses the new room far more now than in its previous life, when it was only used on holidays twice a year.

Photography by Megan Lorenz.

St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles (ISSN 1524-8755) Vol. 29, No. 7, September ©2024 by Distinctive Lifestyles, LLC. All rights reserved.

Permission to reprint or quote excerpts granted by written request only. St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles is published nine times a year, monthly in MARCH, APRIL, MAY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER, and bi-monthly in JANUARY/FEBRUARY, JUNE/JULY and NOVEMBER/DECEMBER by Distinctive Lifestyles, LLC, 255 Lamp & Lantern Village, Town & Country, MO 63017, (636) 230-9700.

Periodicals postage paid at Chesterfield, MO 63017 and additional mailing offices.

Transform Your Outdoor Space into a Fall Fireplace Retreat

Call today to schedule a free consultation

slhl HELLO

“TO PLANT A GARDEN IS TO DREAM OF TOMORROW.” —AUDREY HEPBURN

As a gardener, John Merkle states what he loves about gardening is "the process" and that "he can get a lot of thinking done while in the garden." "If you are a gardener, you don't need a therapist. If you are not in a good mood, go outside and work 10 minutes and you'll be reset," he says. John has been working in his plant collector's garden for over three decades. Through those decades he has walked more than 1,000 actual miles around his property and wheelbarrowed 4,000 bricks for the patios and walkways culminating into a gardening masterpiece.

We are proud to share John's labor of love as our 2024 Garden of the Year (pages 38-47).

Studies have shown that gardening or even just taking a walk in the park can reduce stress, fear, anger and sadness while also reducing

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blood pressure, pulse rate and muscle tension.

I can tell you firsthand that gardening is a learning experience. Just because you may have a green thumb doesn't mean you can maintain a greenhouse.

I had so much to learn after my pre-fab 8x8 greenhouse was delivered in July in the scorching St. Louis heat. The greenhouse temperature registered at 115 degrees with 10% humidity! I could barely breathe in the greenhouse, let alone expect my plants to thrive. We went through numerous fans, exhaust fans and misting fans before we landed on a working greenhouse misting fan that brought the greenhouse temperature down.

After purchasing a reflective cover for the roof, I was good to go. I learned to maintain roughly an 85-degree temperature with 80% humidity.

It took a bit of time to learn the ins and outs of greenhouse operation, but now I'm onto the fall and winter cycle and plan on planting vegetables and starting flowers for spring 2025. It's a working greenhouse, but it is also very cute I think!

Enjoy this issue!

Suzie Osterloh Publisher/Owner

PS. Join us for our first Fall Harvest Home Tour in St. Charles county on Saturday, September 14.

There will be in-home demonstrations, and I'll be demonstrating how to decorate your home with plants while keeping them alive! Hope to see you there.

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Please visit our website, FandFHomes.com or call 314-283-6510

A LASTING

First Impression After

PUBLISHER/OWNER: Suzie Osterloh MANAGING EDITOR: Maya Brenningmeyer CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Kim Dillon COPY EDITOR: Melissa Mauzy CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Gina Parsons, Jeanne Delathouder, Jessica Eidson, Kim Hill, Lucyann Boston, Michelle Mastro CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Alise O’Brien, Colin Miller/Strauss-Peyton, Megan Lorenz, Miranda Kimberlin SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Colleen Poelker DISTRIBUTION MASTER: Barney Osterloh MARKETING + SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST: Zoe Miller ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: sosterloh@stlouishomesmag.com EDITORIAL INQUIRIES: maya@stlouishomesmag.com FOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Email bosterloh@stlouishomesmag.com or visit www.stlouishomesmag.com St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles Magazine 255 Lamp + Lantern Village Town & Country, MO 63017 636-230-9700 www.stlouishomesmag.com ©2024 by Distinctive Lifestyles LLC. All rights reserved.

Permission to reprint or quote excerpts granted by written request only.

Printed in U.S.A.

Missouri/Southern Illinois Chapter

PRESIDENT: Suzie Osterloh VICE PRESIDENT: Barney Osterloh St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles is a publication of Distinctive Lifestyles LLC

Before

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• Award winning interior design • Over 30 years of experience • Remodeling & new construction • Biophilic design • Universal design • See our work on pages 20-27 314-610-7288

studioktw.com STLOUISHOMESMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2024

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slhl TRENDS 1. Jylin woven athena sleeper sofa, available at Anthropologie.

ACCESSORIZE IN STYLE

2. Roar & Rabbit swivel chair in blue teal block geo print, available at West Elm. 3. Roar & Rabbit ottoman in midnight scandi garden print, available at West Elm.

Patterned furniture brings new shapes, colors and patterns to everyday living spaces. Transform a neutral living room with a pinstripe ottoman or level up a guest room with a floral bed frame.

4. Eastgate bed in sky performance trellis, available at Serena & Lily.

5. Warren lounge chair, available at Frontgate.

By Maya Brenningmeyer

6. Simone floral effie tripod dining chair, available at Anthropologie.

7. Modern rounded upholstered back chair in palm leopard blush, available at West Elm. 8. Watermark flyta fabric, available at Frontgate.

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9. Magnolia swivel chair in seahaven french blue, available at Serena & Lily.

10. Batavia pouf, available at Arhaus.

11. Kelsey chair in floral printed fabric and saxon bench in green animal pattern fabric, available at Design & Detail.

12. Rue wing chair with palisade dark fabric by HF Custom, available at Metro Lighting.

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slhl FAB FINDS

Bountiful Blooms

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Florals without the fuss! Mix and match to add a personalized touch to any space with a faux flower arrangement or bundle.

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By Maya Brenningmeyer

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7 1. Red fall ginkgo spray, available at Blue Dahlia Designs. 2. Faux flowers, available at Metro Lighting. 3. Faux black olive branch, available at West Elm. 4. Faux lemon branches, set of 3, available at Williams-Sonoma. 5. Dried Dutch field mix bouquet in coral, available at Anthropologie.

6. Tree magnolia branch in fuschia, available at The Abbey. 7. Faux willow eucalyptus bundle, available at Pottery Barn. 8. Allium stems, available at Arhaus.

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slhl INSIDER

Solid Foundation Greg Blanke, of Boardwalk Hardwood Floors, gives homeowners tips on how to choose, install and maintain their hardwood floors.

Edited by Maya Brenningmeyer Portrait Photography by Colin Miller/Strauss Peyton Photography courtesy of Boardwalk Hardwood Floors

From the Start When starting a flooring renovation, a client should evaluate the traffic level of their home. Do they have a lot of traffic with kids and pets? Or, do they have low traffic with lower activity? These types of questions help our staff determine which type of floor, grain and texture is most suitable for their specific situation. Both color and grain will greatly impact the overall aesthetics of the area.

Lighter tones tend to open spaces and lend themselves to a casual, neutral palette while darker tones create a warmer, cozier feel.

Endless Opportunities Boardwalk carries a wide variety of both unfinished and factory finished hardwood floors. We have manufacturers that make simple products like 2 ¼” unfinished strips or we can have custom products made in solid, engineered, wide plank or reclaimed

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in-factory finished or unfinished. If a client can dream it, we have the resources to get it manufactured.

Finished vs Unfinished Finished flooring is finished in the factory and then installed in the home or commercial space. Unfinished flooring is installed as raw wood and then sanded and finished in the space. The best comparison would be purchasing your car. Would you rather buy an unpainted car and have it painted in your garage or have it painted at the factory in a controlled environment? A controlled environment uses finishes with a higher solids content and it eliminates the potential of dust, dirt or even hair setting in the finish, which happens often on site finished floors.

Knowing the Tone Currently, we are seeing color palettes move from medium/dark colors to lighter, more neutral color tones. Lighter tones tend to make spaces look larger and don’t show dirt as much. We are also seeing some projects introduce patterns such as herringbone, chevron or mixed media, a blend of wood and tile, to specific areas of the home like entries, foyers or dining areas.

Sticking to Tradition Traditional hardwood or solid hardwood flooring is still a staple in the industry.

Solid hardwood has been used in homes for hundreds of years and to this day still performs. It adds value to the home and is the most sought after feature for home buyers when looking for a new home. Other look-alike products come and go, such as laminate, vinyl and wood tile, but nothing replicates the beauty of a real, solid hardwood floor. See stlouishomesmag.com for resources.

TIPS AND TRICKS When installing your own hardwood floors, buy a good quality product!

Low-end, inexpensive hardwood floors can be a nightmare to install while spending a little more can dramatically improve the quality of the material and make installation easier. Boardwalk caters to the DIY market, we rent tools for installation and our staff is knowledgeable in the installation process.

Keeping It Clean Once installed, the best way to clean a hardwood floor is to sweep or vacuum to remove loose dirt and grit and clean the floor with a neutral floor cleaner such as Bona Kemi. Stay away from steam cleaners or machines that spray water on the floor and scrub.

These methods will start to deteriorate the materials and actually cause the floor to look dirtier by driving dirt into the grain of the wood.

Reclaim and Renew For homeowners looking for reclaimed products, Boardwalk carries a wide range including flooring, barn siding or even reclaimed beams for fireplace mantels or decorative beams. The reclaimed products we carry are authentic products pulled from old barns or factories and repurposed into building materials, truly unique and one-of-a-kind.

STLOUISHOMESMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2024

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slhl ARTIST

EXPERIMENTS in ART

Artist Ken Wood creates a unique type of printmaking that combines many different techniques and styles.

By Michelle Mastro / Photography by Colin Miller/Strauss Peyton

Art can take on many different approaches and styles. Ken Wood, an artist and professor at St. Louis Community College, combines relief printmaking, the more traditional process of printing, and collagraph printing, a process in which glue and fabric are used to add texture to a print. The end result under Wood’s artistic eye is a smattering of colorful shapes swirling across a white background.

Wood was drawn to experimental art even as a child. “My mom painted portraits when I was a kid, and she was always working on a lot of craft projects, like painted furniture or holiday cards,” he says. “There was this thing every year called the Bizarre Bazaar, and she would enlist the help of me and my sister.” Thus, Wood’s creative work first began helping his mom make quirky knick-knacks and cards to sell.

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But he didn’t set out to be an artist. Wood actually went to college to study architecture. “But art kept pulling me away until I finally gave in, first with painting, then printmaking.” This latter artform, he says, was his entry into art. “Nowadays, I draw inspiration from unintentional compositions I come across in everyday life, like shadows overlapping patterns on buildings, or from color combinations I see.” He keeps a photo diary and refers to it when making his work.

Today, Wood continues to experiment in his art. He has been working with C.R.Ettinger, a printshop in Philadelphia, on a series of photogravures. These are photographs transferred onto metal etching plates so they can be printed as etchings. “It’s a historic process, first invented around the same time as photography, but mostly used in the late 1800s,” he explains. “But I’m using it to print

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photos from my Instagram feed. I like that kind of anachronistic pairing.”

Ever wanting to push his boundaries, Wood also collaborated with Pele Prints, this time to work on a large commission. “I think it was 80 prints and three paintings in all,” he says. It was one of his most ambitious projects, but being on sabbatical from teaching at the time, he could focus all his attention on the project. “It was so much fun,” he says. “I also did a series of 40”x44” printed editions with Pele Prints that year called Writ Large.” Like all his work, this set is unique and eye-catchingly different from what you might expect.

Anyone wanting to see Wood’s art experiments in person can visit Houska Gallery or Haw Contemporary in Kansas City. See stlouishomesmag.com for more photos and resources.

Collagraph/relief prints by Ken Wood.

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SEE OUR WORK ON PAGES 28-37.

reahomesllc.com

KITCHEN & BATH SPECIALIST

forneyplus.com

Just for Us Vowing this will be the last house they buy, a newly retired couple renovates a Chesterfield ranch into their forever home.

By Kim Hill Photography by Miranda Kimberlin Interior Design by Studio KTW Upper-Level Contractor by Grace Construction Lower-Level Contractor by C2 Construction

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Opposite page: Stacked cabinets of quarter-sawn white oak pair with an island stained in Dark Azure, the same hue used for a custom, pass-through arched cabinet between the kitchen and great room. Wide, white oak flooring in a light stain was utilized throughout the public spaces on the main level. This page left: “My heart is always lifted looking outside from the kitchen,” says the wife. “With so many big windows, you look right out into the woods and it’s nice to be in touch with nature.” The lot’s mature trees initially drew the couple to the Chesterfield home.

Bottom: Adam Walters of Espion Furniture built the custom breakfast table. “Walnut can really vary from very blond streaks to very dark, so Adam built this table with exactly the graining she wanted,” says designer Kim Taylor West.

fter nearly a dozen corporate moves and almost as many home purchases, a couple now living in Chesterfield knows how to pick a good house. But as the husband approached retirement, they began to consider where they would live when the choice would be entirely theirs.

“We love St. Louis,” says the wife. “We lived here twice before, and our daughter graduated from high school here and stayed. We have three adult children in three different cities. St. Louis is in the middle.”

While still living in Pittsburgh, the wife was visiting their daughter in St. Louis when she decided to look at homes to assess the market.

The couple had already decided a ranch home would best meet their needs, and a 1980s brick ranch in Chesterfield boasted multiple large windows with views of mature trees, a fairly open floor plan, three fireplaces and a finished walkout basement. “A feeling just came over me that it would be a great fit for us,” says the wife.

The house had been updated only slightly and the lower level would need extensive renovation, but the wife was undaunted. “I’ve decorated and updated every one of our houses, always keeping resale in mind along with return on our investment because we never stayed very long,” says the wife. For this house, however, she longed to select beautiful finishes from her bulging files of ideas without concern of what would be best for resale. Realizing the scope of work might be more than she wanted to tackle alone, the wife connected with interior designer Kim Taylor West, principal of Studio KTW, through friends at church.

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“She had a fantastic long-term vision,” Kim says of the wife. “She wanted the house to be an open, airy, welcoming environment for family and friends, but she wanted it to be sophisticated, stylish and timeless. She didn’t want trendy, but she didn’t want it so traditional that it was stodgy.” Working with Studio KTW interior designer Anna Motz, Kim designed spaces incorporating elements and ideas inspired by French and English country chateaus.

Examples of European influence can be found in the great room, where the home’s original brick fireplace was refaced in marble. Above the mantel, the homeowner designed a graceful, tapered curve that feels very French. Artisan Dave Brinkmann of Missouri River Timber Co. distressed and installed wood beams for the ceiling. And between the great room and the kitchen, a mirrored wet bar was replaced with custom, armoire-inspired cabinetry stained in a navy blue hue called Dark Azure.

Carpet and tile on the main level were replaced with lightly stained white oak from Historic Floors.

The kitchen originally featured cherry cabinets. “They were beautiful, but they weren’t my style, and the kitchen was very dark,” says the wife. Kim brought Beck/ Allen kitchen and bath designer Serena Williams, CKBD, to the project. “We wanted a quarter-sawn white oak for the cabinetry,” Serena recalls. These stacked cabinets by Shiloh were paired with cabinetry in Dark Azure for the island. The arched cabinetry in the great room is actually a pass through; on its kitchen side, doors with mesh inserts The arched cabinetry in the great room mimics an idea from the homeowner’s collection of inspirational photos. The pass-through custom cabinet is stained in a navy blue hue called Dark Azure. “I would never have been brave enough to pick this on my own, but as soon as Kim brought it to me, I said yes,” the wife says of the color. The arched cabinetry replaced a mirrored wet bar original to the home. The ceiling beams, added during the renovation, are the work of craftsman Dave Brinkmann of Missouri River Timber Co.

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“We did this project room by room over a number of years, so each room was a success partly because we didn’t skip the details,” says designer Kim Taylor West.

“We went to a lot of effort to make sure all the accessories, the cording on the pillows, the throws all look great.

She (the wife) has a wonderful eye for design and it was a lot of fun to make her vision a reality.”

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flank the cabinet. “One of those mesh doors hides a pot filler, so you can have some bar service,” Serena explains. “These homeowners entertain a lot.”

On the lower level, the scope of work was extensive. C2 Construction tore out the original, horseshoe-shaped bar and a nearby wall that inhibited traffic flow and removed the interiors walls surrounding a 1980s-era hot tub that had fallen into disrepair.

“We had to backfill all that and pour concrete to make it all good again,” says Chris Castiaux, owner and operator of C2 Construction.

“And we had to relocate plumbing stacks and trench the floor for electrical outlets where the wall was by the old bar.”

The lower level evokes Colorado mountain lodges. Native Nebraskans, the homeowners say Colorado was a frequent vacation spot as they were growing up, and one of their sons now lives in Denver. To capture mountain vibes, Dave Brinkmann wrapped the support columns in wood and created a bar counter in the back. A cedar wall original to the hot tub area was left in place but stained in a new tone. The wife had seen decorative metal walls in Colorado and wanted a similar look for a wall adjacent to the dining area. Utilizing stainless steel proved cost prohibitive, so she and a friend applied metal paint with an oxidizing agent to engineered wood composite boards to achieve a rusted iron patina. “Chris installed the pieces after we’d done that technique, and I then glued brass plumbing caps on them to look like rivets,” says the wife. “I have fun trying to replicate looks

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I’ve seen using materials and skills I have access to.”

C2 Construction built the new, fully equipped bar. Custom cabinets in a black matte stain surround double ovens repurposed from the kitchen remodel; the backsplash wall features metal cabinets with glass fronts. A vertical tile mimics the movement found in the glass cabinet doors. Cognac leather bar stools pull up to the long, granite-topped bar. The husband, who requested as much bar seating as possible, says the lower level is probably his favorite space in the home. “It was just so closed off before, and now it’s all open and a great place to watch games and hang out with friends and family,” he says.

The wife says the renovation process was so successful she wishes she had more rooms to do. “I just loved collaborating with Kim and the team she assembled,” says the wife. “Even someone like me who’s done a lot of decorating in all the places we’ve lived, I can’t stress how important it is to work with a good design team.”

The wife notes she is not a person who is easily satisfied or content for very long. “Yet, I feel at peace in this house,” she says.

“I’m meant to be here.”

See stlouishomesmag.com for resources and additional photos.

Opposite page top: This lower-level area originally held a 1980s-era hot tub with wood paneling. Leaving the cedar panels in place, the homeowner stained the wood in a moody dark hue. With a friend, the wife also applied metal paint with an oxidizing agent to engineered wood composite boards at right to achieve the rusted iron patina of decorative metal walls she’d admired in Colorado. The “rivets” are actually brass plumbing caps. “I have fun trying to replicate looks I’ve seen using materials and skills I have access to,” she says.

Bottom: Stained black cabinetry pairs with metal, glass-front cabinets and a sophisticated backsplash tile with lots of movement for the new bar area in the lower level. Cognac leather chairs and a brass rail hint at a Western vibe inspired by family trips to Colorado. This page: An enlarged deck complete with underdecking keeps the lower patio cool and dry, allowing the homeowners and their guests to take full advantage of the back yard’s mature trees and heavily wooded surrounding area. Poynter Landscaping completed the landscape design and installation, including building the firepit and installing the pavers for the patio.

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Refined

Reinvention A St. Louis couple collaborates with an A-list creative team to give their classic home a modern refresh while paying homage to its traditional roots.

By Jeanne Delathouder / Photography by Megan Lorenz / Builder REA Homes Interior Design by Accent on Cabinets / Architecture by FORNEY Plus Architecture

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Whitewashed brick and black architectural accents redefine this 1960s Neoclassical-style home in a scenic residential neighborhood.

The entrance foyer’s restored parquet flooring honors the home’s traditional bones.

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A

n idyllic setting and great bones are sometimes all it takes to make a home suitable for renovating rather than replacing. Overlooking the picturesque grounds of a local country club, with a back yard nestling into a private wooded oasis with a creek, this late 1960s Neoclassical-style dwelling seemed a perfect candidate for a fresh yet refined makeover. Its unique features include subtle level changes on the first floor, with the foyer and east/west passageways at one height and sinking two steps down into the primary spaces. The slight change allows for generous ceiling heights, lending a sense of grandeur and spaciousness. The homeowners turned to builder Jeff Bogard, founder of REA Homes in St. Louis, to put together a talented team to tackle this project. "Every element is incredibly important, with the builder as the guardian of the budget and client's vision, the architect executing the vision and delivering on design and the interior designer bridging the gap through aesthetics and interior finishes," says Bogard.

“From the beginning, the owner’s expressed desire was to modernize the home,” says Michael Cyr, a St. Louis architect with FORNEY Plus Architecture. “On the exterior, it was determined early on to paint the brick white and replace the windows with black ones. Beyond that, our architectural focus was on the front porch, the entry courtyard and the rear patio. The owners were open to us exploring some playful solutions

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A luxurious new deck along the entire back side gives the home a modern, refreshing update that connects the living spaces to the outdoors.

The study emanates an intimate aesthetic with warm caviar hues, library lights and a cozy bar niche

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to make those spaces more interesting and unique.”

For the front porch, they were looking to incorporate an interesting twist to lighten things up. With the existing classical columns well-proportioned to their height, their close spacing made the area feel closed in and heavy-looking compared to the swooping canopy-like roof they supported. “The solution we landed on was switching them out for pairs of black cast iron columns, giving the entry a New Orleans feel,” notes Cyr. “The slenderness of the columns works well with their tight spacing and makes things feel more open, and the black lends a nice contrast with the white brick.” For the paved front of the porch, the owners and architect opted to soften the space by reducing the hardscape and incorporating more landscape and turf.

“The entire renovation, both inside and out, was started in 2023 and completed in early 2024,” says Jeff Bogard. In following his passion for building, Bogard developed a reverence for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly luxury homes, which became the foundation for his company’s vision. “Nearly all the 5,000plus square footage was gutted and reimagined on the inside, and the exterior red brick was painted white and a lavish deck was installed

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Reconfigured walls allow a spacious open floorplan that connects the kitchen to the dining and living spaces. A newly relocated mudroom/ laundry area connects to the garage.

A large kitchen island offers plenty of space for social gatherings, and impactful accents such as the orbed glass pendant lighting and a lustrous range hood lend elegant designer touches.

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Dressed in a subtle natural palette and contemporary accents, the living area embodies a streamlined California-neutral vibe.

A graceful arched hallway creates a private pathway to the primary suite.

along the entire rear of the home. The new look and feel result from the architect, interior designers, and most importantly, the client collaborating to deliver on the vision they sought.”

The original home contained good-sized interior rooms, but the main living area comprised a series of formal compartments.

To continue modernizing the floor plan, the architects looked to create a more contiguous family room, kitchen and dining arrangement. They accomplished this by reconfiguring the entire right wing of the home. New steel beams and columns replaced bearing walls, and a relocated laundry room helped create an open concept plan. The space boasts views of the home’s front and rear, capitalizing on its scenic setting. A spacious first-floor primary suite features custom walk-in closets and a luxurious bath, including a soaking tub and an oversized shower.

“I think it was the home itself that inspired everyone on this project,” says Lisa Knight, an interior designer who teamed up with colleage Kathy Israel, a nationally recognized interior design expert and the owner of Accent On Cabinets. “The back of the house has a full wall of glass that creates an inside-outside oasis. Overall, the reinvented home emanates a light-filled, lofty vibe emphasizing comfort. A soft and natural interior color scheme filters the beauty of the outdoors inside, delivering a calm California-neutral vibe.”

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The clients also wanted to craft a home per fect for enter taining family and friends. By rearranging some walls in the kitchen and existing laundry room area, the team achieved an airy, open kitchen/dining/living room space and a large kitchen island ideal for get-togethers. In addition, they added a convenient mudroom and laundry area just off the garage. By opening the spaces to the natural beauty of its setting, the home displays a fresh design with the functionality to accommodate larger gatherings. “Working on remodels is totally different than building new construction,” adds Israel.

“You never know what you might find behind walls that are not up to today’s standards. Every day brings new challenges, and you need to make decisions on the fly that are not necessarily part of the original plan.”

The designers restored and built upon some of the home’s beautiful original features, including the parquet floors in the entryway that just needed some TLC. They also painted the existing office molding a warm caviar and added library lights and wallpaper accents to give the space an intimate feel. Significant improvements to the lower level expanded

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A sleek, crisscrossed canopy bed creates an architectural focal point in the primary bedroom. The tranquil, minimalist sanctuary includes a spa-inspired bathroom with elegant finishes, a soaking tub and a walk-in shower. A reimagined lower level creates multiple gathering spots for entertaining, including a new wine cellar area, created

by Lamp Wine Cellars, for intimate tasting experiences and a media space for relaxing with friends and watching sports on game day.

the finished basement area and created additional rooms. These changes including relocating the bar to create a billiards room and converting a prior closet into a wine cellar. "We replaced a series of individual doors for the lower-level family room with a 16-foot-wide sliding door unit, generating a stronger indoor-outdoor connection," adds Cyr. The rooms flow gracefully to accommodate the ease of everyday living as well as large-scale entertaining, while respecting the home's traditional roots.

“Over two decades of doing this, our most successful projects have always relied on a strong team established at the very beginning,” says Bogard. “The synergy of the team and everyone at the table from the beginning is what's able to create award-winning results centered around the client and their vision.”

“Our team was great problem solvers and effectively managed what could have been a complex timeline coming out of COVID,” notes the homeowner. “They coordinated walkthroughs around our impossible schedules, were always prepared and optimized our time. We trusted their decisions without hesitation, and the result was on budget, on time and exceedingly beautiful—in short, we won the renovation lottery.”

See stlouishomesmag.com for resources and additional photos.

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By Lucyann Boston // Photography by Kim Dillon

A Joyful Journey Home gardener John Merkle uses his medical background and inspirations from his travels to curate his intricate Compton Heights garden.

“A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.”

That ancient Chinese proverb makes perfect sense to John Merkle. Physically, his gardening journey, covering 32 years, is locked into his one-acre yard in Compton Heights, southwest of downtown St. Louis. But those who walked the space on the recent Missouri Botanical Garden Garden Tour traveled thousands of miles around the world. They experienced the intricate, geometric beauty of 400 Green Velvet boxwoods artfully designed into an English knot garden; the simplistic and symbolic lines of a Japanese landscape, complete with a tea house platform and dry stream bed; the architectural joy of perfectly pruned birches reminiscent of Colorado or even Russia; the vertical accents of wave-carved, pillarlike Taihu stones from a Chinese lake, and wrought-iron decor from the Paris flea market transformed in poolside tables and wall art.

While a worldwide travel snapshot for garden visitors, John has undoubtedly walked more than 1,000 actual miles around his property in the more than three decades it has taken to create his global gardening masterpiece.

The pathways and patio alone, composed of 4,000 bricks, had to be taken wheelbarrow full by wheelbarrow full, from the street to the back yard, when the truck delivering them proved too large to go under the brick porte cochere covering the driveway at the side of the house. The garden’s design and the majority of the digging, pruning and planting is John’s alone with an assist from weekend and afterhours handymen when a task was too big for one person or required skills he felt better left to others. “I can be a good second assistant or a pack mule hauling things up from the street,” he says with a laugh.

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John, who grew up in Godfrey, IL, on an acre and a half property, has his own set of skills. “My Dad was a gardener and spent a lot of time outdoors,” he recalls. “As a kid I had a little vegetable garden.

I always knew when I had some property, I would have a garden.”

Now, a retired radiologist, he trained and worked in Houston and California before becoming “homesick” for the Midwest and returning to St. Louis. He feels his background in using medical imaging to diagnose and treat disease has been a plus in being able to visualize the design of his garden. “Radiology is overwhelmingly visual,” he explains. “You have to look at images with your eyes and make decisions based on those images. It’s one of the things I do best.”

When he was still in his 20s and in training, John began collecting pictures of what he someday wanted his house and garden to look like. “I read Architectural Digest, Veranda and Gardens Illustrated.

I knew someday I would have a house and yard,” he explains. “I’d take the magazines apart and save pages and articles. I ended up with six or seven binders of things I would like to recreate.” He traveled extensively and when he did, he visited botanical gardens in the United States and abroad. Once he bought his house in St. Louis, “I would jog to the Missouri Botanical Garden.”

John first saw his historic, French chateau-style home while he was on a Compton Heights house tour in 1991 and noticed a “for sale” sign in front of a nearby residence. “The house was so unique, I thought, ‘If it is anything on the inside like it is on the outside, I might have something here.’” For the first couple of years he owned the house, he spent his time and money doing the “invasive and messy” things such as installing central air conditioning and refinishing the floors.

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The main feature of the back yard was a swimming pool dating back to the 1970s. Rather than adding landscaping around the pool, which he planned to eventually replace, John took his first gardening “step” along the back perimeter of the property, planting bamboo in an area, which was choked with weeds, brush and a decrepit chain link fence “I did a bed a year and worked my way around the property,” he explains. His eye for design guided most of the work. He spaded alongside his handymen assistants, many of whom came from Perryville, where John had a hospital affiliation. “I was able to tell them where to start and stop on each project,” he explains. He called on his brother-in-law for help in creating the Japanese-style dry stream bed.

His instincts alone were not good enough when it came to replacing the old pool with a new sa ltwater pool and creating a new patio. That became a two-year effort. A 40-foot telephone pole had loomed beside the old pool. That, John knew, had to go.

Working with John’s ideas, a friend in Chicago created an architectural blueprint that included the pool and multilevel patio and called for burying electrical and gas lines, while providing ample surface electrical outlets for future lighting requirements.

As his garden took shape, John’s love of history, art and architecture became apparent in the ways he creatively adorned the landscape with objects other than plants. Classical herms, Carrera marble

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statues with Greek heads and pillar-like bodies (often used to mark ancient crossroads) and metallic, patina-accented fountains highlight the knot garden. A palm tree made from old airline parts with rounded yard lights resembling coconuts stands poolside. Stone snow lanterns, urns and sculptural bonsai set the mood in the Japanese garden. A Carrera marble crouching Venus rises above a garden bed. And black wire garden obelisks, created from old coat hangers provide, height amidst low-growing plants. Almost all the garden accents were sourced locally, John says proudly.

To find interesting and unusual plants, he scours local nurseries, most of whom know him by sight and name. Timberwinds in Ellisville and Sugar Creek in Kirkwood are two favorites. The mini-mondo grass throughout the Japanese area of his garden, he discovered at Rolling Ridge in Webster Groves. When he finds plants he likes, “I haul them home, unless they are too big to fit into my Jeep. “I like to push the envelope,” he says. “I look for things that do well in this climate. Part of my yard gets sun all day and can get very hot. I look for plants from South Africa and Asia that are in the same latitude. This is really a specimen garden; a plant collector’s garden.”

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Even with careful selection, he estimates that 5 percent of what he puts into the ground “will never make it. You can plant two of the same thing 15 feet apart and one will thrive and the other will die. There is always something that has to be replaced.” One of the first things he planted, the bamboo, grew too well, overwhelming the back of the yard. After several years he replaced it with a line of ‘Royal Frost’ birches and specimen evergreens. As a comical nod to the rabbits who regularly banquet on the perennials in his yard, a bronze aluminum wall hanging of Eric the Hare, from the beloved children’s story Eric and Eloise, decorates a stucco wall by the back door. It “leapt” into his Jeep at Garden Heights Nursery in Richmond Heights.

What he loves about gardening is “the process. It keeps me off the streets,” John explains with a laugh. “I don’t mind being on my hands and knees and getting dirty. If I’d had all this done by a landscaping company, the cost would have been prohibitive.”

Yardwork also is therapeutic, he believes. “I can get a lot of thinking done while I garden. I’ve made major decisions like switching groups in my medical practice while gardening. It is a physical process with an end result. If something is a little overgrown, I can work on it for a half hour, and it goes from ragged to beautiful.

It can be hard work. If you don’t have a passion for it, I don’t recommend it,” he continues. But “if you are a gardener, you don’t need a therapist.

If you are not in a good mood, go outside and work 10 minutes in the garden and you’ll be reset.” See stlouishomesmag.com for resources and additional photos.

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slhl SHAWS VISION

Best of Missouri Market Join the Missouri Botanical Garden for its 2024 Best of Missouri Market® on October 4th through 6th.

By Jessika Eidson Photography courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden

At Best of Missouri Market® you can enjoy the beautiful sights of the Missouri Botanical Garden in early autumn while shopping for artisanal items and goods from the region's best creators at this outdoor market. This local favorite for outdoor fall markets in St. Louis features 134 local vendors selling food, crafts, native plants, herbs, beer, wine, craft spirits, custom jewelry and more. A full list of 2024 vendors can be found on the Missouri Botanical Garden's website.

For kids, enjoy family-friendly fall activities and treats like exploring a mini pumpkin

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patch, pumpkin decorating, face painting, balloon animal art and cake pops. Plus, learn about plants and bugs from experts of the Botanical Garden, Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House and Shaw Nature Reserve.

The 2024 Best of Missouri Market® takes place October 4th through 6th, from 9am to 7pm on Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. The market is set up in the East Lot of the Missouri Botanical Garden, near the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center.

What’s in bloom?

In the early fall, enjoy our roses, pincushion flowers, butterfly bush, asters and garden phlox which are typically in peak bloom in early October

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slhl THE DIRT

Falling into the Season With cooler temperatures on the way, now’s the time to start planning your fall planters. Welcome the new season with a fall-friendly refresh to take your garden to the next level.

By Maya Brenningmeyer

Fall officially starts on September 22nd making this month the perfect time to start prepping your planters for fall. Start rotating your summer plants out for fall a few weeks before the first cold snap of the year—the end of September is a great time to start!

Out with the Old Once you’ve decided you’re ready to prepare your planters for fall, the first step is cycling out your summer foliage. To start, it’s best to remove any leftover summer plants that won’t survive to the next season. This includes any annuals that won’t survive the first cold snap of the year. If you have any tropical plants that you’d like to save for

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next year, move these plants to a climatecontrolled area indoors like a greenhouse, garage or sunroom.

Once your summer plants have been removed or relocated, dig out any root systems that remain in the soil. This helps loosen the soil to create room for new plants. These leftover roots can then be added to compost! The best time to begin this process is six to eight weeks before your first estimated frost, this ensures you have ample time to prep your garden.

TIP: Signs that annuals are ready to be removed include fading blooms, reduced flowers, yellowing leaves, wilting and insect damage.

Ahead of the Game The beginning of fall is a transitional season, making it a great time to plant shrubs and evergreens. While October is the preferred month to plant evergreens, you can get a head start by selecting your plants and beginning the process towards the end of September. The milder temperatures seen this time of year allow the plants to establish their roots before the cold winter weather hits. Shrubs and evergreens that do well in planters include boxwoods, holly, conifer and juniper.

Texture Talk If texture is what you’re looking for, combining different plant textures is an eyecatching addition that adds texture. Plants like purple kale, mexican orange blossom and mums add texture and color to typical green arrangements. It’s important to keep in mind which accent plants will be able to take a slight frost once the weather cools down.

Elevating with Accessories Dried flowers are another low fuss way to incorporate interesting elements into fall planters. Something that is important to note is that dried flowers don’t react well to constant moisture. This makes them more suited to short-term planters or flower arrangements for a holiday event or gathering. They’re a great addition for after you’ve watered your plants and want to add a temporary touch of detail.

Pumpkin Patch Although they’re not entirely in season yet, a spare pumpkin or gourd can add the perfect fall touch. If you’re not patient enough to wait for them to arrive at your local grocery store, try adding fake pumpkins or gourds for early decorations. Once it’s time for the real deal, you can relocate the fake foliage indoors for extra fall inspiration!

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slhl BEFORE & AFTER

Harmonious

DESIGN St. Louis designer hits the right notes with additional usable space for her family.

By Gina Parsons Photography by Megan Lorenz Design by Ellie Redders Interiors

BEFORE

After Ellie Redders, CEO and Principal Designer of Ellie Redders Interiors, and her husband Brian Redders, had their 25-year-old home renovated a few years ago, Ellie realized that reimagining their formal dining room would make the space more useful.

So she transformed the dining room into a vibrant music room and lounge. The family uses the new room far more now than in its previous life, when it was only used on holidays twice a year.

“We’ll go in there to catch up, relax, have a drink, read a book,” she says. “I do a little work every now and then in there. It’s a room that inspires me. It helps me with creative juices when I’m thinking about other projects with clients.” She says she did the remodel to improve the functionality of the house, but also with the color and vibe in mind, to show what different designs can be done.

Ellie had the deep red of the dining room walls replaced with Benjamin Moore’s Slate Teal in high gloss. “My goal for the room was to have it be a moody space,” she says. “It evokes that mood, while not being too dark. It also gives a little nod to fun as well.”

She had drapery made in the same teal, and added a matching teal sofa. They moved the piano that their 15-year-old son Max uses from the great room into the music room.

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A chandelier hangs over the piano, and a collection of artwork graces the walls. Ellie says she already had some of the artwork, and other items she obtained specifically for the room.

“Two (artwork pieces) are framed piano pieces of songs that I grew up with that mean something to me,” she shares. “They remind me of my mom and my family.” She chose the songs and had them framed to go in the room.

At The Refind Room in Brentwood, Ellie found two unique chairs covered with zebra print fabric.

She had thought about recovering them and using them in a different room, but realized they would look perfect as is in the music room. “That was a fun find for me,” she says. “It’s showing how you can and should mix new with old, and make it come together in a more current way.”

Ellie often works with clients in newer, traditional two-story homes, who think they can’t do funky or fun design with their space. But she asserts the way to do that is, don’t be afraid of color, and do think outside the box.

Taking her own advice, she says she designed the music room with a mix of vintage and glam.

It makes her happy. “Every time I look at that room I smile,” she says.

See stlouishomesmag.com for resources.

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At Lakeside Renovation & Design, we recently completed an incredible home makeover. The old siding, windows, and gutters were replaced with beautiful James Hardie Siding, Infinity from Marvin windows, elegant copper gutters with pediments, a stunning front porch update, and new operating shutters.

Our top-quality craftsmanship and attention to detail made this transformation remarkable, enhancing both curb appeal and energy efficiency. Contact us to see how we can bring your vision to life!

BEFORE

Elevating Homes, Enriching Lives Visit our Showroom at 139 Chesterfield Industrial Blvd. Chesterfield, MO 63005 Schedule your free design consultation today!

636.978.5000 lakesiderenovationanddesign.com

Goal: Fix the client’s drafty addition, give them more usable space, add a bathroom, and make it look great.

Challenge: Addition was poorly built, with a questionable foundation.

Summary: We presented the best course of action as total replacement and upgrade to a high performance enclosure. The result was better windows, doors, insulation, and air tight details. Not to mention miter wrapped cedar accents. They now have a more comfortable, durable, and healthy space for their needs.

BEFORE

3121 Arsenal St. St. Louis, MO 314-498-8973 rosetteforeverhomes.com

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE

The Goal: Create a covered outdoor space that can be used by the family for relaxing and entertaining in conjunction with the newly installed pool.

The Challenge: Create a space that visibly ties in with the existing historic home that solves for functional issues such as needing gutters on the new roof structure but is hidden in an integrated pan gutter system to allow only the design elements and details to be visible.

Summary: Our clients got a new space for outdoor cooking, poolside lounging and family time that looks like it's always been a part of the space.

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slhl BEFORE & AFTER

Tranquil Escape

ALSPAUGH KITCHEN & BATH met their client’s vision for this soothing space.

By Maya Brenningmeyer Photography by Alise O'Brien Bath design by Alspaugh Kitchen & Bath

BEFORE

With a 140-square foot bath, a list of wants and wishes and careful planning, this primary bath was completely transformed into a calming, balanced escape. “It was apparent that the existing space would not allow for a separate shower, freestanding tub, double vanities and a separate toilet room,” says Chris Paul, designer at Alspaugh Kitchen & Bath. To accommodate these wishes, additional space was taken from the primary bedroom and the bathroom’s entrance was relocated. “The ideal plan required relocation of the tub, toilet, shower and sinks, as well as existing ductwork and several interior walls,” she mentions.

A sleek shower room with easy-to-clean marble-like porcelain tiles sits to the side of the double vanity. “A steam shower spa experi-

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ence was equipped with a heated seat, rain showerhead, lighted niche shelf, Wi-Fi-enabled shower settings and integral speakers,” says Chris. The custom black framed shower door adds an additional touch of luxury to the space and ties in the black tiles on the ceiling, floor and shower bench.

Across from the shower, a blue chevron tile is a tasteful backdrop to the freestanding bathtub.

The blue of the tile is carried on through the blue of the vanity cabinets where storage can be found under the sinks and in an upper cabinet along the edge of the shower room.

The bathroom holds two separate vanities. One next to the shower and the other across from the shower. This allows the homeowners two areas to get ready in the morning and the ability

to each have their own storage space in the bathroom. Black-lined rectangular mirrors sit above the vanities and are lighted by minimalistic, rectangular lighting.

Overall, Alspaugh Kitchen & Bath was able to accommodate the client’s vision and goals for the space. More storage, a calming atmosphere and separate toilet room, shower and tub were added to the space through substantial changes. “The final project depicts a beautiful space that was achieved through calming colors, ambient lighting, softly balanced patterns and functional design,” says Chris. See stlouishomesmag.com for resources.

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BEFORE

Hamtil Construction LLC 11155 South Towne Square Drive, Suite E St. Louis, MO 63123 314-442-6821 • www.hamtilconstruction.com

Goal: To update an outdated 1990’s kitchen for a busy family.

Challenge: To optimize storage and make major functionality improvements.

Summary: This kitchen problem was solved with a smart design, custom cabinetry solutions, improved lighting, low maintenance countertops, and modern appliances such as an induction cooktop.

The result is a beautiful and useful space that compliments the artful aesthetic of these happy clients.

We’re Everywhere You Want to Live McBride Homes offers ample product lines, price points, and the best value for new construction homes.

McBride Homes has built over 40,000 new homes across the metro area and we are proud to celebrate over 75 years building St. Louis.

We are your hometown homebuilder and a name you can trust to build your new dream home!

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HOME TOUR ST. CHARLES COUNTY

SATURDAY, SETPEMBER 14 10 AM - 3 PM Get your tickets here

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St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles is pleased to present a self-guided tour of 8 new homes, exclusive to St. Charles county. Join us as we are inspired by fabulous home designs, cutting edge products and technology plus educational demonstrations throughout the day and the opportunity to win door prizes at each home!

• Start the tour at any of the homes.

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• The Fall Harvest Home Tour program and map will be available at each home.

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Pre-paid passport to all homes through

Bee Blinds, Oh So Perfectly Posh, AUTCOhome Appliance,

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until end of day Saturday, September 14

Sound Room and more!

All ticket sales are donated to Habitat for Humanity St. Charles.

Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County, has completed the construction of 99 safe, decent and affordable homes—with additional homes underway.

Each home is built by the Habitat St. Charles construction team and the selected homeowner, who join forces with more than 2,000 volunteers donating 14,000 hours each year. The nonprofit community-level affiliate acts in partnership with and on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, an international, non-governmental, nonprofit organization devoted to building strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.

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Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County offers a “hand up” opportunity that transforms lives, builds a strong foundation and forges lasting relationships with communities for a bright future. In collaboration with community partners, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County offers free financial coaching to potential homeowners through the Homebuyer Readiness Program. In addition, the organization guides homeowners through an affordable mortgage repayment process.

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6093 St. Charles Street Cottleville, MO 63304 2,064 square feet • 3 bedrooms • 2 baths • $848,017

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101 Royal Troon Drive Dardenne Prairie, MO 63368

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2,809 square feet • 3 bedrooms • 2.5 baths • $1,036,370

2,206 square feet • 3 bedrooms • 2 baths • $679,757

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201 Randlin Drive O’Fallon, MO 63368 2,956 square feet • 5 bedrooms • 4.5 baths • $893,745

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134 Royal Troon Drive Dardenne Prairie, MO 63368

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807 Little Fieldstone Drive Wentzville, MO 63385

2,548 square feet • 4 bedrooms • 2.5 baths • $360,900 and up

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200 Balmoral Gardens Ct. Lake St. Louis, MO 63367 3,840 square feet • 4 bedrooms • 3.5 baths • $927,639

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Jeff Day & Associates jeffdayllc.com

Donna F. Boxx, Architect, P.C. boxxarchitect.com

Schaub Projects Architecture + Design schaubprojects.com

Lauren Strutman Architects P.C. laurenstrutmanarchitects.com

These architectural firms are doing some of the best work in the Greater St. Louis area.

We’re proud to call them our architect partners. Look to them first for your next project.

Srote & Co Architects sroteco.com

William D. Cover, Architect LLC williamdcoverarchitect.com

Brendel Architects, LLC brendelarchitects.com

Dick Busch Architects dickbuscharchitects.com

slhl SPOTLIGHT

STICK the LANDING

By Maya Brenningmeyer

Peel-and-stick tile is an innovative solution for homeowners looking for a quick, convenient way to upgrade their home.

SMART TILES

Tiling a bathroom or kitchen can be a long, intensive task. With the introduction of peel-and-stick tile, homeowners are able to create short-term solutions for design problem areas throughout their home.

Decorative DIY Peel-and-stick tile is tile with an adhesive backing that can be easily applied to a clean, prepped surface. These adhesive tiles come in multiple materials and typically don’t require any grout, making them a convenient, easy-to-install option when renovating. Peel-and-stick tile is also a great option for rentals due to its ability to easily be removed and replaced. It’s a good way for homeowners to test out different tile shapes and sizes before committing to a style. When the tile is high-quality and applied well, it can last for years.

Wear and Tear Peel-and-stick tile does have it’s downfalls. One of the biggest issues being with the adhesive potentially breaking down over time. This can be especially prevalent in bathrooms and kitchens due to water and steam exposure from showers and stoves. It’s also important to note that the quality of the tile can heavily impact how long it lasts and how real it looks. Lower quality tile can look fake compared to classic tile, and its adhesive may be more likely to wear down. In addition to this, peeland-stick tiles that aren’t applied neatly can look messy and unfinished.

Easy Application Application of peel-and-stick tile is quick, easy and convenient. Start

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by cleaning and preparing the surface for the tile. This includes filling any holes, smoothing down uneven spots and cleaning dust off with a quick wipedown with a sponge. It’s important that the surface is completely smooth as the tile will hang off of any areas sticking up and appear uneven.

Once you’ve prepped the area, it’s time to measure and cut your tile.

Without removing the backing, lay out the tile on top of the surface to measure how much you’ll need and if you need to make any cuts to accommodate outlets or plumbing fixtures. Mark these areas with a pencil or chalk and leave guiding lines to follow during application.

When it’s time to cut the tiles, use a straight edge for accuracy and a saw or sharp utility knife to cut. If the tool you use to cut the tile is too dull, the tile may become damaged or uneven.

Now it’s time to apply! Add a thin layer of soapy water to make it easier for you to move the tile around during application. This can be done with a spray bottle or sponge. Once everything is in place, carefully remove the backing and stick the tile to the wall. It’s best to go in small sections to ensure you catch any mistakes and have ample time to make adjustments. Some peel-and-stick tile will also come with directional arrows, making it easier to see where to peel and place your tile. Finally, if required, you can grout your peel-and-stick tile to add a clean, finished look! See stlouishomesmag.com for resources.

2025

KITCHENS

If you own or designed a dream kitchen, be sure to enter St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles’ 2025 Kitchens of the Year contest. Winning kitchens will be featured in the January/February 2025 issue of SLHL.

For more info, visit stlouishomesmag.com

Deadline for entries is October 4, 2024 2024 Kitchens of the Year, Platinum Winner —Tegethoff Homes and Srote + Co Architects.

Photography by Anne Matheis.

Scan to get started!

slhl SIGHTS

By Kim Hill Photography courtesy of Visit Palm Springs

DESERT MODERNISM Sunny Palm Springs shines as an oasis of mid-century modern architecture.

Palm Springs, California evokes mental images of sunshine, palm trees and a fabulous array of mid-century modern architecture. In the middle years of the 20th century, this resort town for the rich and famous took on a new look that remains today. During the 1950s and 1960s, moneyed clients encouraged modernist architects’ use of new, post-World War II technologies in designing daring looks for their seasonal homes.

With its proximity to Los Angeles, warm weather and relative remoteness in the 1930s, Palm Springs became popular with Hollywood

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elites. After World War II, talented architects drawn to the Sonoran Desert began to experiment with inventive materials and adapted their designs to connect indoor and outdoor spaces, showcase the desert’s beauty and evoke a lifestyle of simple elegance. This design style began to be called Desert Modernism.

Many Desert Modern buildings have four common attributes: simple lines and cantilever roofs extending past the envelope of the house to provide ample shade from the desert sun; clerestory windows extending to the ceiling to maximize light without sacrificing

privacy; brise soleil, an architectural feature of pieced concrete block or a decorative screen, used to deflect sunlight and reduce heat gain while also shielding the indoors for privacy; and patterned brick/shadow block walls with raised or embossed surfaces. Because Palm Springs was a resort community, homeowners were more willing to experiment with daring designs, and architects took advantage of the free rein.

Architect Donald Wexler experimented with steel framing and is known for his work at the Palm Springs International Airport, Royal Hawaiian Estates and the residence of Dinah Shore. E. Stewart Williams designed the Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mountain Station, the Edris House and the residence of Frank Sinatra. High-end attributes were also used in mass-produced homes in Palm Springs and throughout the Southwest. Architect William Krisel designed over 2,000 homes in Palm Springs, including the Alexander Construction Company tract developments of Twin Palms Estates, Las Palmas Estates and Racquet Club Road Estates. Another notable architect, Albert Frey, designed the indoor-outdoor sensibilities of City Hall, Fire Station No. 1, the Movie Colony Hotel and numerous homes.

Palm Springs celebrates the design style during Modernism Week every February with special architecture tours, events and programs.

The average daily high temperature of 75

degrees makes a February visit ideal for outdoor pursuits such as golfing, hiking and biking. The rest of the year, several organizations offer regular tours of Desert Modernism architecture, with modes of transportation ranging from small buses to walking to bike tours. A highly rated offering is Palm Springs Mod Squad, operated by local mid-century modern expert Kurt Cyr, who offers a tour with access to the interiors of several locally owned houses. And when all these groovy homes move you to shop for the perfect breezy caftan or retro lamp, the Uptown Design District is a great place to start combing through vintage consignment stores and antique malls.

See stlouishomesmag.com for resources.

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Marketplace

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Marketplace See our work on page 37.

2/3

OF HOMEOWNERS WANT WOOD FLOORS IN THEIR “DREAM HOME”

Wood floors add natural beauty and timeless style to any décor. A wide selection of quality wood and tile products can be seen at our Design Center on Woodson Road.

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314-730-3100 | BoardwalkHardwood.com

Interior Design by Joni Spear Miranda Kimberlin Photography

Visit our website for more

stlouishomesmag.com + SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER.

Anne Matheis Photography

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Marketplace

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FALL FOILAGE ROAD TRIP

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slhl CLASSIC OR CRAZE

Follow the PATTERN Printed or patterned, furniture can add a unique twist to any room.

Edited by Maya Brenningmeyer

Photography provided by Design & Detail.

CLASSIC

Furniture has been designed for both comfort and beauty. Fabric and paint add artistic character. Choosing a piece of printed furniture can be compared to adding artwork to a room. It can be an upholstered chair or a painted chest. There are a myriad of choices which will add warmth and charisma to your room. Printed furniture will always be a classic because without it we lose a little of our spirit of expression. Georgine O’Donnell, O’Designs Certainly in classic or traditional spaces we will always see printed fabrics. Currently, within the rising popularity of natural and organic inspired interiors, we see prints much less in chairs and mostly in pillows or wall art. Context and purpose matters. It’s not a question of if it’s in or out. Rather, does it serve a purpose or a look? Almost anything made fresh, updated and intentional can be made current, including printed and patterned fabrics in chairs and elsewhere. Dana King, Dana King Design Build Remodeling

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Printed furniture is classic. Furniture pieces can be functional canvases for art. A printed piece makes a great accent in a room and mixes well with other styles and periods. An old piece of furniture can be brought to life again by adding a print.

Linda Kusmer, Interior Design Consultant We love to use patterns and prints in design, and a great place to launch a design scheme is by using printed furniture. Printed furniture patterns come in every shape, scale, size and color and are a perfect way to transform a space into a vibe. It can be used sparingly, such as a piece or two, or in a maximalist way with all furniture pieces having some sort of print. Printed furniture is a design element that will be used for a very long time, which makes it a classic. Barbara Collins, Barbara Collins Interior Design

CLOSETS • GARAGES • HOME OFFICES • ENTERTAINMENT CENTERS • WALL BEDS • WALL UNITS • LAUNDRY ROOMS • PANTRIES • CRAFT ROOMS • MUD ROOMS • WINE ROOMS

THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS TO

Dreams

Call (314) 961-4300 for a free design consultation or email us at info@closetfactorystl.com. We are a locally owned, family business serving the entire St. Louis region.

Showroom 1581 Fenpark Dr., Fenton, MO 63026 ©2023 Closet Factory. All rights reserved.

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