Call It a Fungalow – Residence

Client

Rachel Nelson

TYPE

Residential, Refresh

Location

Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

Awards

Detroit Design Awards –
Details: Repurposed Furniture

Detroit Design Awards – Interiors: Use of Color

Photographs BY Kris Ilich & Brett Mountain Unless Otherwise Noted

Showcasing #gratitudeattitude

In this special project, our very own Principal Designer, Rachel Nelson, participated in MDC's Designers' Own Home Tour as a philanthropic effort to raise money for DPTV and their non-commercial, educational programming. In this televised series, she opened up her home and shared an intimate peek into how a professional interior designer styles her own living quarters.

The smaller footprint, along with her desire to host friends and family, challenged her to maximize the use of the space, all while using thoughtful design to make the space appear bigger. Rachel fell in love with this gorgeous three-tiered fringe chandelier from Regina Andrew, and decided to use the same color on the custom wainscoting and custom wall treatment. With this uniform coloring, she was able to make these rooms feel more expansive while adding unexpected depth and dimension to the space.

Rachel has been drawn to the vibrant colors of a peacock ever since she was 5 years old. She distinctly recalls watching a peacock unfurl its gorgeous feather at the Detroit Zoo, and has been inspired ever since. She has now taken that same love of brilliant colors and brought it to life in her Grosse Pointe Park bungalow.

Her Designers Guild Sectional was reupholstered in a gorgeous Osborne and Little chartreuse fabric to bring the peacock colors together tastefully, while maximizing seating. Bold wallpaper in the dining room ties to the jewel tones in the adjoining living room. The mid century modern hutch in the dining room was an heirloom passed down to Rachel and bridges her personal style alongside her family’s legacy.

The 1950s-era sofa found in Rachel’s office was inherited from her husband’s grandmother. Never one to let gorgeous relics be forgotten, Rachel refinished the wood and reupholstered the couch in an arresting royal-blue crushed velvet. It is such a show-stopper that it won a Detroit Design Award for Repurposed Furniture! Rachel explains, “I really like doing a unique juxtaposition…to make it have a funky, fun personality.”