POP GOES THE EASEL
A Mill Valley craftsman blends iconic Pop Art with family-focused design
A Mill Valley craftsman blends iconic Pop Art with family-focused design
Design buffs rarely say “world-class art collection” and “kid-friendly space” in the same breath. But when a Mill Valley couple enlisted Sausalito’s Martin Kobus to redesign their contemporary Craftsman on a slope overlooking the redwoods, he did just that.
With three boys under the age of 10, the couple — she’s a gourmetfood entrepreneur and he’s in hospitality — wanted color, function and playfulness for the five-bedroom, four-bath house, which they purchased in 2012 as a foreclosure. “We wanted the design to reflect our family,” says the wife, “which is a bit wild, loud and fun.”
When Kobus learned the homeowners had been collecting original Andy Warhol paintings for the past decade, he quite understandably decided to base his design choices around the art. “I saw no better way than to lead with such an amazing collection,” he says. “But it was important to get the tones right.”
Several of the main rooms revolve around a Warhol, but instead of matching the palette directly to each painting, Kobus experimented with contrast tones in the same color family to better highlight the art.
In the central dining room, Kobus complemented the red, salmon and turquoise hues of a James Dean portrait by painting the walls a
deep dusky blue. A Lucite table becomes almost invisible, letting a set of sturdy chairs upholstered in charcoal-colored Christopher Hyland fabric shine through.
The star of the living room is literally “The Star,” a mesmerizing Warhol portrait of Greta Garbo in black and red. Kobus knew the wall behind Garbo needed special treatment. He added layers of fiberboard to create a 3-D surface, painted it bright orange just a few shades removed from the red, then lacquered it to a high shine. On the adjacent wall, the pinks and yellows in two of Warhol’s “Love” series are picked up in the paisley drapes, while opposite, Kobus covered a pair of inviting armchairs in a dark blue stamped-velvet fabric from Osborne & Little to give a leopard-skin effect.
Ironically, the most lived-in space, a family room just off the kitchen, doesn’t sport a Warhol on the wall. Instead, the focus is a whimsical rattan ceiling swing and a deep window seat Kobus fashioned to take advantage of the view of towering redwoods. “Ever since we moved in, this room with its huge window and view has always made us feel like we’re on vacation,” says the homeowner. Kobus decided to go with that feeling and aimed for a beachside vibe, employing nautical blues in the custom Roche Bobois couch, window seat and pillows, and woven grass window shades. “I wanted to contain the bold color in a few rooms and then blend in a little more neutrality,” says the designer.
Kobus also went neutral in a sitting room that does double duty as a guest room. To frame a Warhol portrait of John Wayne, he chose a steel-gray palette and white floating bookshelves, then arranged the books by color to match the red, yellow and green in the painting. “It’s so much fun to walk through the house and jump into different palettes,” says the homeowner. “The more neutral rooms are still very slick. They’re not boring.”
White floating bookshelves appear again in the children’s playroom, where striped cloth baskets organize toys and an entire wall serves as a blackboard to encourage the kids to indulge their own creativity.
Though it sits in the hallway connecting the main living spaces, Kobus calls the brightly patterned, 23-foot custom Missoni rug the piece that ties the various color schemes together. Above it, Warhol’s “Bald Eagle” keeps watch in shades of black, white, orange and blue. “The success of this design lies with the homeowners,” says Kobus. “They prove that yes, you can have a cool and colorfully stylish home with young kids running all around.”