After an endless search, Mekea Duffy was thrilled when she found a dreamy wallpaper pattern by Julia Rothman at the Hygge & West website.
The cheery birds soaring among the clouds came in three different color schemes — one for each of her young daughters.
But instead of hanging the paper on the walls, Mekea had it hung on the ceiling, adding a whimsical storybook touch to the girls' bedrooms. "They can wake up and look at the sky," she said.
The bird motif is just part of the fun in Duffy's colorful, kid-friendly home. Skittles hues and wild patterns cover the floors, bedding and artwork decorating the girls' rooms.
Starting with a fresh, snow-white backdrop, Mekea has repeated the palette of playful energizing color in the rest of the home. She calls her style "eclectic with clean and simple Scandinavian influences and Marimekko-like pops of color." Her eye-catching interiors garnered a spread in the current issue of HGTV magazine. (See it at http://bit.ly/1xfzntm).
In 2012, Mekea and her husband, Tim, were lucky enough to find a new house being built in Linden Hills, an older Minneapolis neighborhood. The updated farmhouse style had enough space for four bedrooms and a home office for Tim, as well as all the features buyers want today: an open floor plan, a mudroom, big closets, a master bath and main-floor powder room. But best of all, when the Duffys closed on the home, it was still in the framing phase. The couple could choose architectural details and finishes, with the goal of marrying old-house character with the modern elements of a new home.
Mekea's mother, Mary Kaplan, was a strong design influence who continues to offer decorating advice. Mekea remembers her mother experimenting continuously on their Victorian house in St. Paul. "When I would come home from college, the house would be different — the design was always changing," Mekea said.
Like her mother, Mekea often rearranges the furniture and changes up accessories in her ever-evolving spaces. But she keeps the walls and woodwork painted white, Benjamin Moore's "Super White," to help the family weather Minnesota's long cold winters in a setting that's bright and cheery, not dark and gloomy.
"And then I add lots of color and patterns," she said. "That's my style."
LIVING ROOM
• The Scandinavian-style bleached-oak floors and crisp white walls provide a neutral backdrop for layering vibrant hues and big and small patterns and prints.
• A black coffee table from Ikea anchors the room.
• A bold zebra-patterned area rug is balanced by subdued smaller geometric prints in the side chairs.
• An orange painted antique trunk from Hunt & Gather doubles as an end table.
• Mekea filled the built-in bookshelves with artwork, photos, colorful vessels, books and pretty boxes that look like book jackets that she found at Ikea.
• The mismatched throw pillows are in a wide range of patterns, colors and textures — from fuzzy to smooth linen. "Each pillow has a story," said Mekea. "I got the little one from a flea market in New York."
More tips, H5
KITCHEN
• The center island is big enough to accommodate the three Duffy girls — Grace, Mary Ruth and Frances — for casual meals and for doing homework. For the island top and counters, Mekea chose honed Argento granite that resembles cement. "It has a worn look and changes patina over time," she said.
• The bar stools from Room and Board Outlet can be raised up and down for growing kids.
• The shiny polished subway tile contrasts with the matte granite.
• Mekea mixes cool metals in the Emtek egg-shaped cabinet knobs, fixtures and stainless-steel trim outlining the deep windows. "I love mixing gold and silver and matte with shiny — but keep the same shape," she said.
• A funky geometric metal light fixture from West Elm introduces a modern aesthetic.
GIRLS' BEDROOMS
• Mekea artfully mingles four to five different colors with lively large and small patterns and prints that match her girls' personalities. "There's no rules," she said. "Kids are colorful people. They live large and bright."
• She cut and sewed the fabric name banners hanging in the bedrooms.
• In Frances' room, the navy upholstered headboard anchors the space. Mekea pulled out other colors from the Andy Warhol print on the wall.
• Grace loves to read, so Mekea hung five floating Ikea shelves on the wall to display the colorful book jackets and for easy access.
• Mary can lounge in a funky "flower-power" beanbag chair.
• Mekea chose Hygge & West Daydream wallpaper in different color combinations for the ceiling of each of the bedrooms.
WORKSTATION
Mekea carved out a multifunctional niche she calls "grand central station" for her computer and storage. She covered the wall with magnetic paint to display her girls' artwork.
DINING ROOM
• Mekea started with a statement piece — the Ochre chandelier from YLighting. "It's not super modern and has levels of teardrop glass and metal accents," she said.
• The dining table is a distressed farm table built from rough-hewn barn doors.
• Kid-friendly clear plastic chairs from Ikea, and blue-painted wood chairs from Design Within Reach provide seating.
• Mustard-yellow flowers on the window shades add bursts of color.
POWDER ROOM
• The wallpaper is a blend of vintage "grandma botanicals" expressed in a bold orange and lime green pattern. "The powder room is the perfect place to do crazy wallpaper," said Mekea. "The look is my style personified."
• Retro sconce from Artemide is above the Wisteria mirror.
Lynn Underwood • 612-673-7619
