For a long time, Alicia and Craig Oberg liked their house so much that they didn't want to invite anyone.
“We were actually embarrassed,” Ms. Oberg said of the Plymouth, Minn., home, whose interiors were from the 1990s and “just so far removed from what we considered aesthetic.”
But the 3,800-square-foot ranch house, built in 1981, had a lot going for it. For one thing, there was plenty of space: The couple, whose twins are now 14, bought it in August 2013 for $584,000 after outgrowing their previous home. And they loved the idyllic setting between a horse farm and a small lake, but only 15 minutes from downtown Minneapolis.
“There was a need to find a location and the crowds were incredible,” said Ms. Oberg, 47, founder of Destination Directive, a travel company.
“When we bought the house, we knew we had to remodel it,” said Mr. Oberg, 47, who works in investor relations and mergers and acquisitions at a publicly traded company.
However, it took more than seven years for the renovation to begin. “We saved our money,” he said.
Stuck at home during the pandemic, they finally decided they couldn't wait any longer. In 2021, they contacted Anne McDonald, an interior designer in Minneapolis who had worked for some friends.
“What I love about Anne is the depth of her work. There are colors, feelings and emotions behind everything she does,” Ms. Oberg said. “I didn't want anything white and shiny.”
Better yet, Ms. McDonald often worked with her father, Jim McDonald, a contractor who ran McDonald Remodeling before he recently retired, so her hiring seemed like a turnkey solution.
For her part, Ms. McDonald felt as if she had been given carte blanche. “Your disdain for this house was a green light for me to give it a whole new life,” she said.
With her father at her side to reassure her of what could and could not be done, Ms McDonald undertook an ambitious colon clean-up. To create a more spacious living room and maximize the lake views, they moved the stairs to the basement and vaulted a previously flat ceiling. They added arched doorways and doorways, installed more windows and refreshed the exterior with new fiber cement siding and a new roof.
To complete the remodel, the Obergs gave away their old furniture and worked with Ms. McDonald to find new vintage and contemporary pieces. The focal point of the living room now features an Arabescato Corchia-clad fireplace and a sleek television mounted in a custom wooden frame that resembles a painting. For furniture, Ms. McDonald found vintage leather armchairs, a coffee table made from tree roots and plum-colored swivel chairs. And Ms. Oberg selected large photo-based artworks by Xan Padrón to add to the mix.
In the dining room, the McDonalds removed an unused fireplace, smoothed the wall and added an antique cabinet that Ms. McDonald found at the Original Round Top Antiques Fair in Texas. The walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's dusty pink “Dead Salmon,” a color Mr. Oberg initially rejected because of the name.
“We presented him with three samples and told him to pick the one he liked best,” Ms. Oberg said. “He picked dead salmon.”
Ms. McDonald designed the kitchen around an oversized island with seating space on three sides, believing the Obergs would spend much of their time there. And indeed: “We live on this island,” confirmed Ms. Oberg, “even if we didn’t have one before.”
They painted the kitchen cabinets a deep green and created two pantry-like areas with black zellige tiles: One serves as a breakfast area and garage for smaller appliances; In the other is a bar filled with special bottles the couple collected while traveling.
“I just got back from South Africa and brought Craig Amber Gin with me,” Ms Oberg said. “It's so fun to open this when people come over now because in a way it tells our story based on what We serve.”
They have been inviting people regularly since the renovation was completed in August 2022 and cost about $215 per square foot. In fact, the interior is so appealing that it has brought in a little extra income as a photo shoot location for Minneapolis-headquartered Target.
“It just feels like it really reflects us now,” Ms. Oberg said, “and that makes all the difference.”
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