Design diaries - Inside a luxury downsizing project

0:00Home is where connections are made. Memories are formed and ideas are born, and no one knows home better than NFM. Thanks for tuning in to I Am Home, the podcast that goes deeper than trends and dives into what it means to make your house a home. Hello and welcome to I Am Home the Home Life Best Life podcast. I'm Tyler Weisskup, and I'm joined by my co-host, who's perspective is as welcoming as it is refined. It's Becca Soutbeck. Hi Tyler. Hi Becca. Also with us, she's so fancy her design and sinks come with heated floors. It's Hillary Wultumath. Hey Tyler. Hi Hillary. Today we're entering a house turned luxury townhome crafted around hosting and socializing. We're gonna explore space grounded in natural colors and textures, timeless aesthetics blend with quality and elegance and attention to detail. And guiding us

1:04through it all is the creative mind behind the home. It's NFM interior designer Tammy Griffin. Hi Tammy. Hi guys. So good to be with you today. Thank you for allowing me that opportunity. Are you kidding? This is our pleasure. I'm so excited to talk to you about it. But before we do, let me tell you why we're even doing this podcast. And that's because NFM is more than just your everything home store. We're in the business of improving lifestyles because your home life should be your best life. And you can learn more at nfm.com. So Tammy, we've been calling this style of episode like design diaries. And this is where we look at your approach to the design of a home step by step. We want to learn about the inspiration behind it all and how you kind of came together, how this how this whole project came together essentially. So I wonder if we can start by just kind of getting a overview of the homeowner and what they were dreaming of when they first reached out to you. Well, I just felt so honored that Cindy reached out to me. She's a broker and

2:10she's been in real estate for 30 years. So she could have chose so many interior designers to partner with. And so I felt really honored that she asked me to help her on this because not only was she scaling from a larger home here in the area, she was moving to a social area. And she wanted to pair down, but she still went to entertain. So I was like, oh, this is going to be so much fun, but challenging at the same time. So that process kind of started with evaluating and taking inventory of what she had. And her lifestyle, how it was evolving because she's kind of transitioning herself into a new a new phase of life. And so pets are super important to her. So thinking about the fabrics and the materials that we used and even the color was important. And then it was a new build. So as you know, with construction, you run into some challenges and delays there

3:15often. So just kind of just really making the special orders line up with those finished deadlines. And then because of having the ability to special order, making sure that the space was scaled properly so that in the end, she really felt that tranquil experience that she was looking for and then she could entertain with ease. And then of course, enjoy her pets. And even like just all the things that come with her new lifestyle that she was moving into. So the process was really, I think it went well and it flowed well. She's also used to construction being in real estate. So it was really easy to have those conversations with her. And then I think my background too as an interior designer and then working both in corporate and residential and working off of plans. We were able to talk quickly and you know, her time is very valuable. So just being able to help her

4:18make some really good decisions, I felt was just an honor to get to do that in this process. Oh yeah, definitely. I can tell you had a good kind of plan and discussion going into it. And it definitely showed up in the work. And I don't want to like belittle or belabor the point anymore. Let's jump in and like take a look at this project. Scott, can you pull up the presentation that Tammy sent over to us and we can just kind of like walk through. So this is where we're talking about gathering and entertaining and like what she what she kind of likes to do with with her space. Right. Can you walk us through a little bit of the thinking here and um and some of the planning that went into pulling this all together? Absolutely. So in this slide, you're just basically seeing that main level floor plan. And when she brought it to me, it was just like that. It was kind of an empty show with a very neutral palette. And she worked with the builder and their design showroom there. And then we collaborated together on colors. And then how

5:23we wanted to in the end with the furnishings to kind of like put a little more personality into it. But then talked about how this very light, some of the Scandinavian kind of look was going to come into play a little bit in our furniture. And and also it was going to just still create that timeless design. But with it being split level, just talking about on the main level, and where she would really entertain people. And like I mentioned earlier, looking at the scaling of the floor plan was important. Sometimes a homeowner will go into a model and then they want the exact same thing. But once you dig into how they're going to live in this space, we have to kind of flip the space around a little bit or open it up a little bit just to make it conducive to what works for them. But in this particular one, we did a custom sectional for her. And then we put in and it was really great because just the lines of it didn't make it feel

6:27overwhelming for the space. But we were able to get pretty good amount of seating just on a sectional against that main wall in the living room. And then I was able to customize a lot of barstools there. And then breaking the space apart into three different zones, kind of giving her dining or if she were cooking and hosting or serving wine, then she's got everyone there at the island. And then and a little bit later on, you're going to see the living room. I put a floor plan where she could swivel to that island and entertain her guest. Yeah, let's take a look. Scott punch forward a little bit and see some of the imagery here in action. So as a designer, as you know, I mean, lighting can play a big role in this space. And I think I'm working with her and her builder, just getting that lighting right within having that one over the table to draw you that direction a little more was kind of nice. And then I think

7:31you can just see these barstools here, they're by four hands. And so high quality materials that are going to hold up and last. And then they swivel so they could be brought around to different areas. And so everybody feel like they're part of what's happening. And then we did canadill in the background. And that was really nice because we have performance fabrics there. So just really keeping it light and airy. Yeah. I love that these barstools swivel too. I think of barstool and I think of like, oh, probably not my favorite style, but I also love anything for hands does. But to find a design that's like super functional and design forward is just like everything you can want. And for the people just like listening to the podcast, these are great because they have like a nice back. And it feels like a generous like forum to kind of sit in and just like cradle yourself. Great color on them as well. I think

8:32it's nice. Like is it a white just a pure white or is it off white or like I would say even a little bit of oatmeal, maybe just a little bit of color and a hint of color in there, which is good. That's always a good thing. And then like it had like a gel type feel on the memory foam of and so there's not a big cushion there, but it does have something if you're going to sit there and have a dinner. It was be comfortable. And then because of some of the space restrictions, we thought it was important to do the glass fronts on the upper cabinets. So even though she was downsizing and scaling down from the other home, she was able to highlight some of the pieces that she's picked up during her travels or just that she can look easily to grab for entertaining. Oh smart. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes I can start to feel like a wall of like exactly, you know, so to like bring like a little pop or something like make a little

9:35show showcase out of like a team of saying a specific piece or just easy access to something. Yeah, especially some kind of like centered in the whole whole space that gives them like nice interest to their. Yeah. Should we push forward Scott and see like I don't know if there's a couple more images there, but okay. So this is that custom couch that you were talking about. Oh, sorry. I described this this this chest situation here that's playing playing with it. I walk us through the whole room because it's oh my gosh, it looks fantastic. So you on this particular townhome, you enter on the main level and as you go into the space, you're going to see like a tree top view and actually that overlooks her club where she can also take people to entertain, but it just kind of feels like you're in the trees, right? In the tree top. So when assessing the inventory of her previous home, we selected this piece of art, which is these gorgeous aspen trees and it was interesting enough. She has a home in Colorado.

10:40So I felt like that was kind of tying her personal history to the new space as well. And then what a beautiful palette to work off of. I found this gorgeous rug that we had here in the store. And when she came in, it was just easy to walk her through some things. Some art that she actually has on one of the other levels of the home. This rug had a little bit of pink in it and a little tiny bit of lavender, but it worked so well with all the warm tones that are in that painting. This was a forehand sectional. And I was able to put that alone on that one wall. And it just really kind of like filled that space. And then at the end of the night, if it's just her and her beautiful pet, then they're able to cuddle up on that other end. And we did a performance fabric there as well. And then this gorgeous leather chair from Huntington House. We were able to, we had that on our

11:41floor for her to sit in. And I felt like the back of it kind of represented what we were doing and the dining and at the island area. And then we just changed the leather. So that made it personal to her. And then she was still able to like sit on it. And she took a little leap on following me on customizing the sectional because we didn't have that in the showroom, but we had other forehands pieces that we could share with her. So I love that. Can you walk us through like what is that customization process like? Absolutely. Because like you said, sometimes that can be a little intimidating for somebody if they're like, I can't see it. I can't feel it. Mm hmm. Well, I think that's really a great question and a good reason to use a designer. Of course, Cindy's worked with designers and her line of work. But for like an outside person, we have the ability to pull out source books and which have all the latest and greatest fabrics from forehands. And then

12:43we're able to let you know which ones are going to be more durable or which ones are going to be friendly or even wine-friendly in this case. But so we just picked a really nice performance fabric and having that swatch to be able to lay it on the rug and lay it next to the leather sample. And then use those pieces when I was pulling the pillows and customizing those as well. I think it just it helped her visualize it. And now even with AI, I mean, I did this before the AI was really prominent in my work. But now I would have taken these pieces and then put it on the visual probably, you know, and that would have even helped her. But anyway, the process of special ordering, so what a client would do is once we decide that this is the footprint, this is the piece, and we select a fabric, we price it great at price it based on the

13:45grade of that fabric. And then the homeowner would pay a deposit. Usually that looks like 25% deposit. And then that piece is specially made just for you. So of course, it is a special order which means it's the final sale. So we have to do our job in letting them know how to take care of it and how long it's going to last. And of course, making sure we're picking the right piece for the space because it is special order. And then looking at this particular layout, there were some I'm not going to say challenges, but there were some, there's stairwells because it's three levels, right? So even I had to think about the geometry of how this piece and two pieces with the delivery guys is going to get into that space and then also move from there later on. So right. Yes. Are you doing math in your, you've got to project your out like how did you? I can't figure that out. So funny because actually in school, even in probably design school,

14:50I was like, I hate math. And now I do it every single day. But every day. So usually it starts for me by scaling the rug and then kind of defining the room by the rug. I mean, I don't necessarily pick the rug right away, but I decide what size I want that to be and then how the pieces are going to work. And as you can see, that chair is fully on the rug because it swivels, but it's just in perfect proximity to the island. So if someone wanted to turn and have a conversation, why she was cooking, that was convenient. Oh yeah. So smart. I love it. Thank you. Okay, let's push ahead, Scott. Let's take a look at the next slide here. And talk us through these spaces. Perfect. So the one on the far left is not totally the finished product, but I wanted to show you guys that we took the fireplace wall and we've put Florida ceiling marble or ceramic tile to look

15:52like marble, I should say. We put that there. And then there was a pass through that you could see into her office, which was on the other side. And you can kind of see a little peak of a forehand's office chair there that was going to be paired with her dad's desk. So that was kind of a sentimental piece that we chose to be that's going to come with her from the bigger home into this next chapter of her life. So I thought that was kind of neat to have that pass through. So as she's sitting there and joining sports or whatever, she's got a fireplace that got put into place later a little bit after this. And then she of course did TVs and the sonos sound and all of that with our NFM team. And then in this view, you don't see the window treatments, but she also did window treatments that got that raised, you can raise them from top down or from, I guess, where they work both ways. Let me just say that. And so she had remotes installed. And if she wants

16:56a little more privacy, she can raise them from the bottom up. And then so, you know, even though you don't see that in this view, that was some of the thinking that we thought through the process when we were picking everything, we kept that light and neutral as well. And then the middle picture shows her gorgeous canadelle dining set, which we did a glass talk to keep the space still filling light and open and airy. And then some more performance fabric on those chairs. And then that warm light fixture, the gold tones were brought in. It's beautiful. Thank you. Those were brought in to kind of compliment the vaning and the marble at the fireplace. And then the last picture there was something that we had talked about is with her entertaining and trying to maximize space, we put in a wine bar. And then getting to see more backlighting and under counter lighting. And then of course, I was able to sell her a wine fridge for her collection. And that was fun.

17:57Mm hmm. Exactly. So it took her about six months, but she went with me on that process. And and she was, I remember she sent me a text a few months later saying thank you so much for you know, persuading me or encouraging me to do this. It's just really completes the space and I love it. So I thought that would be fun to show you guys. The wine fridge specifically was like a six month conversation. Well, it was probably in our initial conversation when we were laying out but then once she the investment of all the furniture, maybe it was more of like a budget thing, you know, or just the timing of getting all of that paid for and taking care of and the cost of moving. And then she come back and revisited and had that and all installed. Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it. Yes. So you had the whole plan and you're like, oh, this piece. And then there's some, which I'm sure is natural and conversations with your with your clients on

18:58a typical basis, but like I love to see like your whole plan come together and sounds like she did too. Thank you. And you know, here, both the living area and the dining area have rugs, but I like when you look at it, you really don't see them. They kind of disappear. But when you're in this space, there is definitely movement and pattern on both rugs that complemented both the materials and the furniture and then the art. So I felt like that was a good way to tile that together. Yeah, certainly. And all this performance fabric all the way through. Was that like a big conversation? Like you were saying the pets and like the entertaining and then wine proofing and things like that? Was that like a tough sell or what was like the conversation around like making that a big priority? I would say one, her pets are very important to her. And so going into the project, I knew I needed something that was durable, but I also wanted something that was light. So along with choosing good quality furniture and really quality performance fabrics,

20:07I also early in the conversations started talking to her about our all state protection plan. And that premium protection plan that was going to offer her a one time cleaning, it was going to give her peace of mind if she had accidents that wouldn't come out of this performance fabric. So we really started, I just started early in the conversation with just all the, I feel like important things for her. And then of course she did protect all the pieces that she felt were necessary and from having accidents that wouldn't come out. Of course. Of course. Does she have, do her pets have light colored hair? Is that why you were leaning towards lighter finishes? Actually believe it or not, one does have dark hair. But then being like more of a puppy versus a more mature dog too, I was thinking, Oh, wet paws in the fall or, you know, I just thought, okay, we've got to make sure we have recovered because we do a lot on our end of,

21:12you know, talking with the homeowner of what we think is perfect for their space, but then really being able to back that up with durability is important. Yeah, not have to compromise on what I was going to say is like the performance fabrics now give you that option to be able to to select a color that like you said that you don't have to feel like, Oh, wow, I can't do that because of this and that reason. So I think it's fantastic and seeing so that those lighter finishes makes the space look amazing. So Scott, do we have another image? I'm not, I don't quite remember. Oh, yes. Talk of suit. Like now we're seeing it like kind of like you can see the different angle with the the kind and the curve and how it's kind of like walking through it. Yeah, talk of about like the satisfaction of like getting to the stage when you're starting to get everything in there and see how it responds, how the customer responds, all that kind of stuff. Well, I think this was a really fun image for me because being a designer here at NFM,

22:14I work on furniture sales and I mean, I do a lot of projects that turn them quickly, right? And this was one I had just requested. I said Cindy, can you send me a photo of with the art installed? And so I loved this because the first few images I showed you maybe on installation day when we brought the furniture in. But this was just her and her every day, normal day and she had placed the pillows and they all look beautiful. You know, of course, as designers, we come and bluff and chop everything in this showroom. But I loved this because it's her every day living and I could tell she was proud of it. And her beautiful dog there in the background, enjoying the space as well. And so yeah, it just it really felt good to see. You can kind of to the right see the little pretty uttermost accent table for it to be able to sit down and place a book or a drink and it had that pretty copper glass. And then I think something I probably

23:19didn't mention early on, but mixing the metals I felt like was a good another good use of design maybe so that when she brings in things like let's say it's Christmas and she wants to put a bowl of ornaments or something on that coffee table. And we have gold to the right. There's brass around the base on the coffee table and then her pendant lights were different metal and the faucet and the pools. And so just trying to balance all of that where it's I guess still well thought out. But not too much gold, you know, yeah. We've talked about mixing materials on the podcast before and it can be a tricky thing. And that's where having like an expert like you know kind of guide us through what what levels of that makes sense. Was it too difficult for you to to make those judgment calls when you're looking at all those different kinds of finishes? I don't think it was difficult. I think it was just a good conversation to have with her too because I didn't

24:24provide finished images of her master bedroom, but up there we had gorgeous centri pieces that have gold on them. And then and here actually you'll see there's not window treatments, right? But if she gets when I say that I'm sorry there are window treatments. We have the mechanical shades, but like let's say later a couple of years later she wants to add some drapes. I wanted her to have the flexibility to still choose there and not be limited. So by adding you know a couple of different finishes in the space then she's got a little more options to choose from. Yeah and I don't know that if you're one thinks about that with your mixing. So that's certainly a good idea. Let's speak in the bedroom. I think there may be the next couple images. Okay. Okay. Perfect. Yes. So this was kind of important to me because I think when I'm asking design what is your favorite

25:25space to design around? I love to work on the owner's retreat. I think people often wait till last to do that. And I always encourage people to do that first because the home is such a big investment and we all work hard every day for what we put in it, right? So I feel like you should be able to like lay your head down at night and enjoy what you've worked for. So here we did some timeless pieces like Century and Hooker and then we had some use of high and low a little bit and brought in. I mean I've got those beautiful uttermost lamps that are gold there, the nightstand and the dresser were both by Century and then the accent piece to the left that little table was by Hooker and it went on the top floor of the condominium. So also selecting things that will make those turns

26:26and that the delivery guys are able to get up there in one piece. I'm not going to lie. I was holding my breath a little bit on that dresser because those are mirrored fronts and it was heavy. Yeah, I was really happy. So we had to actually take the drawers out to be able to get that up all the flights of stairs and in there but we did it and it's absolutely beautiful. Yeah, it's pretty. Thank you. Yeah, fantastic. Let's look at the next image there. I think we've got some of, oh, this is the entertaining space. Any more that you want to speak to the owners or treat and how that brought that came together? Yes, so the owner's retreat was just off of this lounge when you top that stairs you can go to the left and go the owner's retreat or you could go to the right and this is kind of her lounge area for her own private unwinding. I guess I would say or if she just wanted to have a girls night and invite a few people over to watch a movie and have some popcorn. We put

27:29a little game table there and this is where I used Jonathan Lewis as the sectional and we customized and we were able to save a little bit of money there and then put more into the other sofa on the main level. Sure. But we used again a performance fabric here and used her existing rug that she had and then her the art that she already owned to pull the color palette palette from. And I think it just turned out lovely. Tell us about like the vibe of this space compared to the like the big show stopping areas downstairs. It feels like a little cozy or maybe was that something that was super intentional in your conversations? Yes, I think so. I think we were trying to like provide just like warm welcoming. She liked the blush pinks and really like those warm

28:31tones. So for both her master bedroom and this lounge area, I kind of leaned on that color palette a little bit and then put that wider chase so that she could cuddle up with her her dog if she wanted to and yeah, I just think it turned out really pretty as far as like bringing in some would you call that cinnamon? I think it's kind of a cinnamon color. Yeah, I think that's a good good way to describe that. Yeah. And it did I did have that color in the rug on the main level so I felt like it was kind of tying that through the space. But then I gave her darker sofa for probably more of her every day. Wow, she's smart. Yeah, absolutely. Well, honestly, this excuse me, the whole project just like really, really came together. Was there like a special area that you were especially proud of anything that like stands out as a part of like the process from start to finish that

29:35you're just like, oh, this was the star. Oh goodness, probably for me, it is that main living here, at the main living area, I just yeah, I gravitate personally to warm tones. So it just feels really welcoming and inviting and a place that I would want to go and just sit and have a glass of wine with friends and enjoy hearing about her travels, she travels often and she is a photographer herself. So getting to sit and see her work on like if she wanted to show that on her screen because it's in our, you know, the TV, the good way to project what she's done. And so yeah, I think I feel really proud of one, we are we're not always she my client, but we're friends. And so just getting to just sit there and enjoy something that we created together and her previous home should have been there for 20 plus years. And I think right away she felt like this was home. And so that

30:38made me really proud. Oh, that's fantastic. Well, you should feel proud, Tami. I think it's, it came together really, really well. Okay, Scott, I think we're done with the slideshow and Tami, I have one final kind of quick game for us to kind of wrap things up in pop culture this week. I love tearing about this story where a duck's friendship helped a golden retriever through some tough times. I don't know if you saw this story, but it was like my, my wife played this video for me because I'm behind in my pop culture. I get it all from my wife, but it was delightful. It was a duck and they were friends and buds and it just warmed my heart. And it got me thinking about unexpected pairings. So my game question, it's a simple one today. What's like one unexpected design pairing in this town home that ended up in your opinion becoming best friends? Let's see, oh goodness. That is a great question. I think probably, which we didn't show you, but the

31:40unexpected thing would be in her backyard, just having, she installed like a teak, oh, it was like high tech, like a patio basically. And that was unexpected because it really needed to be there because in a town home, you don't have a lot of yard, right? And so, and then with it being new construction, the grass and the mud and dirt, that was a really great place to like for when her dogs do go outside that she can just help like keep that from tracking in on the rugs and the furniture. Yeah. So who knew? Like a deck spacer is it like a, okay, also, yeah, it is actually, it's kind of that out. I can't think of the proper name, but it's like tech, I think, but it's like a hearty board that's gonna last a long time. It like, because it kind of, it looks

32:40like wood, but it's not. Exactly. Yeah. So durability, low maintenance, but it's really solving that, solving that issue she needed to from them tracking in on her rugs and furniture. Good space to do that cleanup. Especially with all the light colors in there, I want to make sure we have a chance to get that cleanup until the yard comes in nice and strong. Exactly. Well, thank you so much, Tammy. This has been fantastic. I loved seeing this project from start to finish. You should be again super, super proud of it. I want to thank my co-host, Becca and Hillary are producers and Scott, Megan and Danny and all of you listening. Until next time, here's the making your home life your best life one story at a time. Thanks for joining us today for I am home with Tyler Weiska, Hillary Walton, math and Becca Sudbeck. No one knows home quite like NFM. So if you'd like more information on home design at NFM, please check out NFM.com and leave us a review on the podcast platform of your choice.