Deephaven Sunroom

Photo by Grey Crawford

A spa blue accent pillow and bowl of blue floats (on the table) add a subtle splash of color, while bead trim, tassels, and a variety of fabrics lend texture and depth.

July 2006

By Melissa Colgan

Project: Deephaven Sunroom

Designer: Nan Sloan, Senior Designer
Firm: Gabberts, Galleria, Edina, 952-927-1500

When you view the exterior of the Cotswold Cottage-style rolled-roof home within walking distance of Lake Minnetonka, the design of the sunroom is unexpected; you predict floral chince and wicker. But this room, like the homeowner, is “a surprise behind the French doors,” says Nan Sloan, senior designer for Gabberts. Staying away from everything typical and predictable to a sunroom, the homeowner and designer teamed for a markedly Asian-inspired space, complete with the homeowner’s original photography from her travels to Beijing, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

Sloan didn’t let the architecture of the room dictate the design—what used to be a typical sunroom, complete with white wicker, grass green-painted lattice ceilings, and pastel floral and plaid fabric furnishings— has given way to modern furnishings with clean lines, juxtaposed against the homeowner’s antiques, including a pair of vintage French doors. She incorporated the doors with the words de le order patisserie etched across them—a find of the homeowner’s years before she built her decade-old house—as a way to draw the eyes in. The combination of such different style elements is exquisitely off—with the antique French doors, modern and vintage Asian influences, and a leopard-print rug creating a deliberate paradox, yet all seem complementary to one another.

To tie the room together with the design of the rest of the house’s high contrast color scheme—dark furnishings, light walls, and boldly colored details and accessories—Sloan painted the lattice ceiling a faux soft beige and ivory to match the lightly glazed and paneled walls, letting the black toile fabric of the sofa dictate the direction of the rest of the room. Cane chairs with tan, black, and cream striped cushions, a fully upholstered chair in natural linen, and a chest with an ebony crackle finish rounded out the basic palette. One-of-a-kind antiques and varying textures were used to give the room a flavor of its own.

We Asked Nan

What are you most excited about in design today?
There seems to be a lot of latitude in design to break the rules and go outside the box. Design is freer, less predictable.

Because this room is an all-seasons sunroom, how did you blur the lines between inside and out?
In order to bring the outside in, we used minimal window treatments, just basic matchstick blinds on one wall. The rest of the windows were left unadorned so to not cut off the view of the surroundings.

How do you suggest that people incorporate items from their travels into their homes?
I encourage people in their travels to gather accessories that will add personality to their home. Pick up the things you really love when you are traveling, a bowl, a piece of art, or an artifact. Explore the possibility of how you can put these into you home. These elements will personalize the home and take it to the next level, beyond just good design, and be reflective of the homeowner’s personality.