HOUSE BEAUTIFUL WHOLE HOME CONCEPT HOUSE - COLORADO

House Beautiful invited Noz Design to design and bring to life a room in their 2020 Whole Home Concept House, in Franktown, Colorado. The new-construction 5,400 square foot house featured 11 interior design teams’ concepts; ours was the front half of the large downstairs bonus room. (Click here to watch Noz’s House Beautiful episode of Building the Dream!)

Inspired by the effortless coziness of 1970’s home design and the literal coziness of Japanese heated kotatsu tables (the origins of which date back to 15th-century Japan), we created two lounge + cuddle zones in our space, which encourage all generations in a family to put their phones down and connect over conversation, board games, and puzzles. At the fireplace, we designed semicircular arched bookshelves, and created a custom fireplace using eight different tiles from Fireclay Tile. We furnished the space with Phillip Jeffries wallpaper and a collection of vintage and American-made African-diaspora-inspired furniture and vessels from Yaya Situation, Jomo Furniture, and Yonder SF.

In the indoor:outdoor nook that was suggested to us as a “billiards table” area, we wanted to expand the boundaries of Western lounge seating, and conceived of a concept furniture piece that brings the relaxation of ‘70s conversation pits together with the grounded simplicity of floor-sitting in traditional Japanese households, with the all-ages comfortability of Western sofas. The result, which we’ve nicknamed the Convotatsu, is a circular seating ensemble with a sculptural walnut frame, pebble-shaped cushions in 4 different cozy fabrics, and a built-in live edge table with a kickable stacked “pebble” base – created in partnership with Sung Kim Woodwork + Design and Gil’s Upholstery.

Paintings in the space by Kuzana Ogg, courtesy of K Contemporary.

Photos by David Patterson Photography + Emily Minton Redfield