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Phoenix Home & Garden
Comfort is Key in an Interior Designer’s Home
Author: Roberta Landman
Issue: September, 2011
ASHLYN DESIGNS
ELEGANCE AND COMFORT MELD IN A DESIGNER’S OWN RESIDENCE
Enter what seems like a front door to this home, and you find yourself surprisingly outdoors again, just steps from a swimming pool with magical arching fountains, and nearby arbors that are lush with grapes.
The enigmatic front courtyard setting suits the romantic vision of Arizonan Ashlyn Pohl, the homeowner who had a hand in its design. In fact, she is an interior designer, and the inside of her Scottsdale residence is as engaging as the outside.
Pohl says she always has had a love for fabrics and colors, and that before she became ensconced in her current career she studied fashion design.
One sees hints of her love of fashion throughout the home she shares with husband Andrew and their two children. Drapery fabrics have haute couture appeal. Crystal chandeliers sparkle like diamond jewelry—even in the laundry room.
But, while the ambience Pohl has fashioned is one of restrained luxury, she maintains that this is a family home first and foremost, designed for comfort, with materials that are able to take daily wear and tear.
“Everything is kid-friendly here,” she remarks. Fabrics on seating in the large great room and its sumptuous dining area are washable. Used daily, the custom dining table has a well-worn appearance. “I have beaten up this table, and look how great it looks,” Pohl comments. Dark wood flooring already came with a vintage appearance, she says, “and it looks better the more wear it gets.”
She completed her home’s interior in a neutral palette—a cream/taupe base with dramatic black accents. “I love neutrals because they have endless possibilities,” says the designer. “They are soft and timeless on their own, yet they can adapt and change with the addition of any texture or color.”
Adding to the home’s overall sense of timelessness are organic materials such as stone and wood. In the powder room, for instance, flooring and wainscoting are Italian travertine, and a round onyx vessel sink sits on a travertine-topped wood vanity.
With its own stairway (one of two in the house), the second-story master suite has a classic quality. Under twinkling chandeliers, the bedroom is a spot of serenity in ivory and gold.
Elegance continues in the en suite bath, with its marble flooring and counters, pretty tub nook, and shower clad in tumbled mosaic stone.
As much as this house is enjoyed indoors, it has equal appeal outdoors, says Pohl, noting the strong connection between the two. On one side of the great room, doors open to an interior courtyard graced by a wall fountain. On the other side of the room, glass doors slide open to the enclosed front pool area, joining inside and outside as one.
Summing up the many charms of this home, Pohl says what every designer wants to hear from a client: “I love living in it.”
“I like to be wowed when I walk into a space,” says Ashlyn Pohl. She designed this interior courtyard with just that in mind. Situated off the great room, it beckons with filtered shade from an overhead trellis and the sound of water trickling from a wall-mounted fountain designed by Kirk Bianchi. The font is set within a stone arch and against an onyx backdrop. The rock-encrusted patio floor is made with stones that come on mesh backgrounds for easy installation. Powder-coated aluminum sofas are fitted with cushions covered in weather-resistant fabric.
Believing that no space should be wasted, Ashlyn Pohl purposely opted not to have a living room that might not be used, and made her great room multipurpose. Its sitting area, under a gleaming crystal chandelier,
is tinged with elegance but “absolutely family-friendly,” she says. Fabrics on the sectional and chairs are washable, and the engineered flooring with a distressed finish can take a lot of wear from an active family. Curlicued wrought-iron rods flow with the curve of the arched window and lend single-panel draperies decorative importance.
A beamed ceiling accented with chandeliers, and flooring composed of travertine edged with wood form the backdrop for this luxurious but utilitarian kitchen. The island is big enough for family or guests to dine at and contains a gas cooktop. Joking about the island’s size, Ashlyn Pohl says, “It’s like a small country.” Against the wall, a custom china cabinet contains a built-in coffee maker and plenty of room for storage.
The dining area is well-used, says Pohl. Dressed up as if it were a formal dining room—with elegant drapes to match those in the adjacent sitting area and kitchen—the setting is punctuated with a tall limestone fireplace. A curlicued iron fireplace screen mimics the drapery hardware.
With its soothing neutral tone-on-tone palette, the master bedroom is a vision of serenity. Glints of gold in chandeliers and a chunky mirror frame are elegant complements. Carpeting, with a raised pattern, is pale in tone, but the homeowner says it is quite resilient. “It shows nothing. It is stain-resistant.” A beehive fireplace takes the chill out of cool evenings, and the nearby sitting area is an inviting spot, complete with a comfy chaise and a stone-topped console that doubles as a writing desk.
Iridescent teal silk draperies, a mirror with an antique gold-leaf carved frame, a crystal chandelier, and antique sconces set a lavish stage in the powder room. Light in color and perched on chunky turned-wood legs, the custom travertine-topped vanity has the look of fine furniture.
DESIGN TIP
Using neutral-toned fabrics on large anchor pieces of furniture allows you to add different textures and colors in such accents as pillows and accessories, says Ashlyn Pohl. In the long run, she notes, “This will help save you money when you want to change the look and feel of your home.”