Wood built-ins were another way Freudenberger baked in function and flexibility. Complementing the timber is almost infinite glass along the home’s rear, which opens up via large sliders to lush green gardens. With such “remarkable” architecture, Freudenberger didn’t much change the layout, but she did prioritize design that would optimize it for a modern family. “We have things, and how do you put them away and hide them? Everything had to have a storage function.”
Practicality ruled. Together clients and designer would walk in the front door and discuss precisely where keys, purses, backpacks, and shoes would go, in a way that would look cool—and perform double duty—since every square foot counts. There were in-depth conversations about how many people could fit on a sofa, where they’d gather for drinks with friends, and who lays where when watching TV. “They were honest and I listened really closely,” says Freudenberger, “and that’s what we’re really proud of.” Adds Cooke, “The really special thing about Nina is she thought about all those things not just as a human, but as a parent.”
Several new skylights added floods of light—and opportunities for deeper palettes—to showers and the galley kitchen, which was revamped in a slightly more open fashion thanks to the addition of an interior window on the living room wall. According to Vowels, the glass “allows Jeff, who’s the cook of the family, to see our kids and for them to see him. But, as Nina likes to say, ‘You’re not passing hot dogs through this window!’”
While Vowels and Cooke are in creative fields (Vowels is a creative director and Cooke works in gaming), they accepted their lack of experience in the interior design arena and trusted Freudenberger, happily allowing her to push them beyond their expectations while reconciling one’s desire for funk with the other’s tendency toward restraint. The designer took Cooke to a stone yard, where they selected out-of-this-world marble he was couldn’t believe was natural, and also introduced the idea of wallpaper on a ceiling. “There comes a moment in every budget where we cannot clad any further with white oak,” laughs Freudenberger. “But wallpaper is such an effective tool,” thus a kitchen ceiling wrapped in maroon and kraft colored stripes. Cooke calls it “amazing. I never realized people would even do something like that.”
Freudenberger admits she hadn’t done it before, adding that Vowels pushed her “to do crazy things. They were both really into cool ideas and were super down to try things, so their confidence helped me.” This mutual appreciation and affection is imbued in the interiors, which feel effortlessly ’70s-ish and special. A favorite piece of Vowels’s is a ceramic-topped Danish coffee table from the decade they all found while shopping at Lawson-Fenning. “It’s so heavy that my kids can dance on it, but also you can see the wear and tear,” she says. “I like feeling like there’s a story behind every item we own.”
It’s that push and pull of the past with the present that makes for a timeless yet mellow environment for what Freudenberger knows to be a warm, loving family. “I play a lot of Grateful Dead,” says Cooke, “and I think it kind of represents how we live: outside, barefoot, having fun.”