WYLIE

Contemporary Treehouse

Laura W. Jenkins Interiors transforms the interiors of a family’s house to reflect their history and inspirations, and to complement their expansive garden.

- Architectural Digest

The home now looks like a 19th-century building that underwent a Bauhaus-era renovation.

The interiors’ fundamentally Japanese and Scandinavian language indeed traces to the fenestration and the kitchen scheme. Paul adds, “Laura kept steering us back toward handmade, locally crafted items whenever possible. That’s not a style; it brought soul to the soulless.”

Katarina recalls sharing with Jenkins, “I want our kids to be surrounded by artwork and interesting things that inspire us or speak to places we’ve traveled. Maybe they’ll become nostalgic about these things, like how I have a sense of nostalgia for how I grew up.”

“Laura has allowed us to embrace the best versions of ourselves. You can feel it even on an emotional level.” They not only agreed to Jenkins’s creative insights, but also actively contributed to her vision. The couple, who lived through the renovation with their son and daughter, “got in the weeds about our options,” Katarina says. “We would send Laura lists like, ‘Here are 10 chairs we love,’ and she would send us back something even better.”

The homeowners believe that the completed renovation is helping their children become equally curious, participatory, and talented young people. “You don’t realize how much design influences you, and the kids are surrounded by things that feel like Paul and me,” Katarina says, adding that the large and attenuated apertures specifically foster connections to the garden that started this journey.