A note from our editors: 

It’s time for one of our favorite traditions! Each year, we spend the holidays reflecting on the stories and articles you loved most. It’s the “Best of Rue” and this is one of 2019’s top stories. Enjoy!

Previously published on September 4, 2019:

With a soothing gray color palette and glam details, this living, dining, and kitchen area was originally a dated unfunctional space, that was impractical for this family of five in Oregon. “The husband grew up in the house, and they bought it from his parents and have slowly been making it their own,” said Jasmine Vaughan of Maxwell Gray Interiors, the designer that took on this project.

The homeowners have a small Christmas tree farm at the back of the property and run their own firefighting company. For them, the transformation of this space was crucial to meet their needs of hosting their extended family for holidays and gatherings. “The kitchen was firmly planted in the early eighties with an unnecessary soffit that made the space look really short and had highly textured walls,” the designer said. “The kitchen didn’t even have a functioning dishwasher and had a badly laid out u-shape.”

Taking the whole space down to the studs, Jasmine was able to reconfigure the lighting, the layout and hide awkward details such as the garage door that was located right in the middle of the lounging area. “We skim-coated the walls so remove the textured finish, and designed a media cabinet around the garage door with ship-lap covering the whole area to diminish the visual impact of having the door in the TV area,” she explained. Both the cabinetry and the lighting were selected with a brass finish, all from Rejuvenation, to give it that glam look that they were going for.

She placed wallpaper from Porter Teleo in white oak frames as a way to add inexpensive tryptic to the dining area. Finally, earthy elements such as the zellige tile backsplash, soft linens, and unfinished wood were incorporated to soften up the neutral and glam backdrop. “This space took seven months from start to finish,” Jasmine shared. “The homeowners are so happy that we have since helped with the powder room, entry, and the exterior patio.”