PERSONAL COLLABORATION REFRESHES BROADMOOR REMODEL

When you look at the home of MiLea Casten and husband Joshua Caulk, they seem well-settled into the Broadmoor mid-century home that they only recently purchased. The fresh, clean, newly refurbished home was a blank, but very nice palette from which to build their comfortable nest. But the truth is that they’ve only lived in the house a remarkable three months, and much of the homeyness was contributed by decorator, Myron Griffing, owner of Space Interiors.

A busy diner owner, MiLea, husband Josh, a land man, and their son, Casten, have busy schedules and hectic lives. They wanted a home to relax in after their long days, but jobs, caring for an elementary school student, and life in general didn’t leave much time to put things together in a new house. MiLea asked Griffing, a decorator and personal friend, to take the reigns of creating a home within a budget that they would love to live in. Although Griffing usually collaborates without the added perk of friendship, it was a fun exercise in synchronicity to work with a friend.

Griffing was lucky to have nearly a clean slate – less than a dozen pieces of the couple’s existing furniture were delivered to the new home. He was able to pick and choose and have a lot of fun sourcing the materials from sometimes unusual places, and truly putting his touch on the purchases. “This is the house that hamburgers built,” joked Casten. Photos and artwork depicting George’s Grill, her family’s business, introduce newcomers via the entryway. Griffing has inserted a wood-slatted drum shade from Southeastern Salvage Home Emporium as the lighting here. Its somewhat distressed look works well with the landmark’s memorabilia.

The neighborhoods in Broadmoor are as popular and desirable today as they were when development began in the 1940s.

The stylish living room is a quiet combination of soothing colors, shapes and textures (right and far right).

To the right of the entry is the soft, relaxing living room. Its quiet combination of color, form and texture make it soothing, but stylish. Muted circles on the rug are repeated elsewhere subtly, almost as though they hypnotize the owners to relax. Another repeated motif in the room is the urn shape, showing up in the legs of various table legs, lamps, drapery finials and objets d’art. Two tailored sofas face each other providing ample conversation space, and two chairs face them. One chair, for the man of the house, is a recliner. Often hard to work into a stylish arrangement, Griffing has softened the look by pairing it with an oversized arm chair and ottoman. The arm chair trimmed in large nail heads, sports a large pillow that reads “madame.” A recurring theme in Griffing’s work is the play of masculine and feminine energy, or as he teases, “Mama Bear and Papa Bear.” For added table space, the decorator has chosen “C” tables that act as functional pieces for snacking, reading or writing as they wrap around the arms of the sofas, taking up almost no room, as their base is under the edge of the couch. A few areas show the true age of the home – built-ins housing sentimental personal items from books to baby pictures – and the pristine, newly redone hardwood floors that run throughout the house.

The dining room also serves as a pass-through to the kitchen, so Griffing selected a round rug and a round dining table so the walkway would remain open. Flanked on the opposite side of this passage is a distressed blue-gray cabinet, echoing a relation to the living room with its urn support. Repeating the circular shapes, a large round engraved copper plate sits atop the dining table, while a cast iron accordion ceiling fixture lights the scene via two copper shades. Mixand-match linen Parson’s chairs again extol the masculine and feminine in their shapes.

A galley kitchen exudes simplicity, with its function leading its form. White cabinetry is paired with a diagonal stone back splash and granite counter tops in honeyed tones with black veins,

accentuate the black hardware of the pulls. A butchers’ block island adds prep space, while lots of natural light pours in the windows. A marvelous family room connects to the kitchen, and MiLea loves its open concept that allows her to visit with family and friends while still working. The attached area is comfortable, with a modern sectional from Dillard’s, and many eastern accents. Two large prints of elephants have inadvertently created a new collection for the family, with their images appearing here and there, just like the frogs that arrived at an earlier time dotting the rest of the house. Two matching wooden tables embellished with a flourish design are just perfect in front of the L-shaped sofa. A beautiful lamp, with an elephant base, from Red Door Interiors was “stalked” by Griffing until the price was right, then snatched up for this home. The decorator has an affinity for lamps, and that is felt throughout the entire house. In fact, there are many interesting decorative pieces in the home. For instance, a mirror in the den is surrounded by spindles salvaged from old chairs. These touches give the home that lived-in look despite being so newly acquired.

Griffing’s choices are not for those who want to drop names. He finds remarkable items, but they often come from places known for their deep discounts. He is not ashamed to use great finds from all over, and takes pride in rarely paying full price for anything.

Steps down from the den, a master bedroom suite was added. The master bedroom is not huge, but has a plush feel. Above a dark wood bed is another dramatic piece – a framed print of an elephant kneeling before a meditating boy. The bedside lamps are exquisite square columns of mother-of-pearl topped with rectangular bell shades. A tripod lamp with wooden legs highlights a reading chair next to a drum table.

Griffing found the bold antique letters for six-year-old Casten’s room and combined them in a clever way.

An inviting guest room serves a dual purpose with a home office tucked neatly into one corner (far right).

Young Casten’s room sports denimhued walls with lots of added whimsy – his name is spelled out in antique letters from various advertising signs found by Griffing. A built-in cubby tucks his desk out of the way. His “room for friends” bunk bed is made of solid wood. Just outside, three wooden posters of positive affirmations in various fonts hopefully reinforce him having a good day as he leaves for school.

The guest room/office is lush and inviting. A rug of large, muted flowers forms a base for the four-poster bed which was one of MiLea’s first furniture purchases years ago, one of the few pieces that came from the old house.

The whites, grays and muted blues of the bed make it look fresh. Art featuring fashion models from the past suggest order and tailoring befitting the office in the corner. Another great choice of lamps – this time quartz-like cubes – sit on distressed antique bedside tables.

The way Myron Griffing has handled the décor of the Casten/Caulk home demonstrates his talent for combining things that seem lovingly collected and not contrived in any way. Due to his talents, and knowing his clients so well, nothing seems thrown together quickly, although the project was done in less than three months. Utilizing pieces from various local places, and with an eye on the budget, he was able to make the home feel well-loved, and lived in.

“Hiring a decorator may seem extravagant at first,” Griffing said, “but in my case, I can usually give clients the look they want for such greatly reduced prices that they don’t even feel it. It makes my services more accessible.” The homeowners agreed. By knowing each other, and trusting each other, the end result is a home where a house once stood.