A Smooth and Stunning TransitionHaving found the perfect house, these homeowners teamed up with the pros to create a French Transitional beauty in River Hills.

BY NICOLE BELL | PHOTOS BY RYAN HAINEY PHOTOGRAPHY

First impressions truly do matter, especially when searching for your dream home.

When these homeowners first saw their house in River Hills, they were entranced

before even setting foot inside. “We loved the beautiful exterior, the brick and stone terraces, landscaping and garden,” one homeowner notes of

what first drew them to the property. “The previous owners made some renovations several years ago and spared no expense in the design and finish.”

Those past renovations included impressive work on the kitchen and the addition of a great room, screen porch, laundry and mudroom, as well as another addition with a breezeway, attached two-car

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garage and private guest suite. But there was one thing the homeowners still considered vital to purchasing their new home: They wanted Deep River Partners to help update the bathrooms for their kids.

Licensed architect Nicholas Blavat and interior designer Natalie Erickson teamed up with the homeowners and got to work refreshing two existing bathrooms with new flooring, cabinetry and wallpaper, and adding a third en suite bathroom under the attic to give each of the daughters their own private bath and the boys a Jack-and-Jill style restroom to share.

When the homeowners saw the quality of the work, they commissioned their own dedicated master suite, which Erickson notes was designed as a relaxing retreat for the busy parents. Complete with a luxurious en suite, makeup area and shoe closet all with a sophisticated design, the addition again surpassed the homeowners’ expectations.

They asked the Deep River team to look at other areas of the home.

“It kind of grew into a whole-house transformation,” Blavat notes. “You have this family who relocated [and wanted to] make this home feel like theirs in all aspects. It’s fun to be part of that. It snowballed as we kept going … because they’re like, ‘If we’re going to do it, let’s do it all right now and then be set up for the next bracket of our life.”

To round out the transformation, Erickson says the homeowners came to Deep River Partners with a few ideas, but she notes that they were “very trusting” of what the team offered in return.

“Most people come to Deep River because they know they want a great design, but they’re looking for a professional to lead it,” Blavat adds. “They’ll have concepts, but it’s up to us to execute them. They don’t necessarily have normally specific ‘this has to be this, this and this’ — that’s between Natalie and I. We craft the interior architecture together to create that aesthetic.”

And that aesthetic, the pair explains, turned into a French Transitional style after the homeowners’ ideas and the exterior of the house provided some inspiration.

Left: This lower-level media room is the perfect place for a movie night, so interior designer Natalie Erickson created a dark, moody space to feel more like an elegant home theater.

Right, top: Enthusiastic game lovers, these homeowners wanted a place in which to play cards and board games, resulting in this sophisticated banquette.

Right, bottom: The dining room offers a perfect gathering area when hosting big family dinners.

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“I would say we incorporated it all together and created the style, because the client was asking for more contemporary, cleaner lines,” Erickson explains. “They were gravitating toward cleaner lines and we wanted to make sure that the house feels whole and everything relates well together, design-wise. We wanted to marry the interior and exterior, and this was a way to make it feel cohesive.”

To help refine the look, the team added beams, and arched cased openings and French doors — which, Blavat adds, typically feature gentler arches in the French Transitional style. They also added molding to match the pre-existing feature for a consistent look.

“We weren’t going to rip out all the trim and millwork throughout the house,” Blavat stresses. “Whenever we go with a remodel, we try to be respectful to [the era of the home], [and] this is a really nice house. ... There were a lot of ‘good bones’ that we could work with.”

The team carried those details throughout the home, even into the lower level entertaining area fitted with a giant — and functional — Scrabble® board on the wall for game nights.

“We were looking at other games like shuff leboard and stumbled on this Giant Wall Scrabble® game at Restorat ion Hardware,” the homeowner explains of the addition. “We liked this game because it

Left: After stumbling upon this giant Scrabble board at Restoration Hardware, these homeowners added it to their lower level game area for a fun family game and an artistic addition all in one.

Above: The blue cabinetry in this new bathroom adds a pop of color that pulls from the artistic tile on the floor.

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L A K E S I D ES t o n e w o r k s

5333 Beaver Creek Parkway • Brown Deer, WI 414-354-6100 • lakesidestoneworks.com

Tile & Stone Showroom Open to Public

L A K E S I D ES t o n e w o r k s

5333 Beaver Creek Parkway • Brown Deer, WI414-354-6100 • lakesidestoneworks.com

Tile & Stone Showroom Open to Public

doesn’t take up any floor space and it fit perfectly into an existing bay. Also, it doubles as art. Another perk. We have been playing with our kids, who are teenagers and young adults, so that is fun.”

The game room also features a sitting area, a Bubble Hockey table, electronic darts, a multipurpose game table and a bar with a sink, dishwasher and microwave drawers. Beverage and wine refrigerators complete the space.

The lower level also features a media room, which still maintains the French Transitional look, but a little “moodier,” as Erickson explains. Blavat adds that one of the features both plays into the look and serves an architectural purpose.

“The funny thing is, these beautiful stained beams are actually hiding some pretty massive steel beams that we did as some structural gymnastics,” he says. “We used an actual aesthetic element to hide the non-aesthetic metal steel beams that we had to keep in the base to support the other room above.”

Taking on a renovation project can be stressful, but the homeowners agree that working with the right team can make all the difference.

“Adding on and renovating like this can be really overwhelming,” the homeowner says. “I really enjoyed working with everyone at Deep River Partners. They are genuinely nice and really talented. They actually made the process stress-free.” MKE

Pleased with the renovations in their children’s bathroom, the homeowners decided to update the bathroom in their own master suite, resulting in this bright and airy retreat.

BARSTOOLCENTRAL.COM 262 754 8989

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