Annie and Jordan Obermann of Fort Collins, Colorado design/build firm Forge & Bow were tasked with updating this classic mid-century home for modern life. However, preserving the original charm was key. The end result is a space they describe as “if the Kennedy’s and Mick Jagger had a baby.” Over email, the couple tells us more about the project.
First, we’d love to know about your clients. Who lives here?
Matt and Lindsay Siebernailer live in the home with their two adorable sons. They grew up in Wisconsin and worked in the family business harvesting and selling honey. With an itch to explore the west they moved to Colorado bringing their good wholesome vibes of the Midwest with them. They love entertaining, cooking and raising their kiddos.
This house is a gem. What can you tell us about it?
This home is in a quaint neighborhood in Mid-Town Fort Collins, CO with wide streets, mature trees, and 1960 Mid Century American Ranch houses. When our clients bought the house, it still had all the original finishes from when it was built. It was really charming, you felt like you were in a time capsule when you entered. Our goal in any design is to always stay true to the architecture, this is the only way to create timeless design. Our clients’ taste leaned a little more modern and less ‘Leave it to Beaver’ but they appreciate mid-century architecture. So essentially, we wanted to keep a retro vibe while interjecting some chic, modern elements.
What was your scope of work? Any elements you’re particularly fond of?
This project is a great example of how you can enhance a floor plan instead of totally reworking everything and blowing up your budget. We opened up the existing floor plan to allow better access to the outdoors and create a more functional and efficient footprint. We also remodeled the kitchen with modern finishes and improved flow to allow for higher traffic. Skylights were added and we exposed ceiling trusses to open up the space. Natural light now floods the space. Keeping an open-ish kitchen to the main living was a great feature that enhanced the function of the home, the asymmetrical fixture above the peninsula in the kitchen added interest while having a lot of negative space to keep the feeling smooth and minimal.
Did this project have any challenges?
The clients were great, but they had a strict budget. We had to work through several floor plans until we landed on one that honored the original space. Some walls just became too expensive to move. We had to rework the primary suite and bathrooms significantly. They didn’t have the budget to add square-footage, so we had to space plan with great intentionality. We actually moved the laundry room to the basement because the main floor real estate was so valuable. The clients had to make some compromises, but in the end, they ended up with a super functional home for a beautiful family of four.
In total, how long did the project take, and what did the family say when they saw the finished space?
The design process took six months and construction was six months. We finished the project two weeks ahead of schedule, during the early onset of Covid. Needless to say, the clients were thrilled with the timeline and noted in a testimonial that, “We are extremely happy with how the remodel went and is finished. Our house is absolutely gorgeous and everything we could have dreamed of.”
CREDITS:
Lighting: Cedar & Moss; All Modern; CB2; Lumens; Triple Seven Home; SchoolHouse
Tile: Bedrosians; Dal Tile; Crossville Studios; Stone Source
