“The best part is meeting the clients and understanding what kind of space they want,” interior designer Shelly Stock says. During this Magnolia remodel, Stock carefully balanced the different styles of homeowners Eric Olson and Larry Yok. Clean lines keep things modern, while wood warms up the space.
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Opposites Attract
A Magnolia home undergoes a charming transformation, and two homeowners with very different tastes find that relationships—and home remodeling projects—are all about compromise

“I love the relationship between the people you are designing for.”
—Interior Designer Shelly Stock


Before: This closed-in kitchen was transformed into a bright, open space.


After.


To hide dirty dishes from dinner guests’ view, Stock installed a Lightblock behind the kitchen sink.


Ceramic tiles and schist counter tops reflect the neutral palette of brown, gray and white.


A blackened-steel fireplace makes a bold yet simple statement, which allows the owners’ art collection to take center stage.


Eric’s own work adds a pop of color to the neutral walls.



A series of blackened-steel panels replaced the original brick and painted-wood fireplace.

Every Sunday morning, Larry Yok reads the paper on the window-seat bench in his kitchen. His partner, Eric Olson, lounges on a daybed at the other end of the Magnolia house. This weekend ritual is a relaxed exercise of enjoying each other’s company while being apart. Just as they have found a routine that accommodates their individuality, Eric and Larry have found a way to blend their personal styles to create a home that brims with charm and character.

An artist and financial analyst, Eric prefers modern and minimalist designs, while Larry,
the vice president for administration at Highline Community College, likes things traditional and comfortable. Larry purchased the 1948 house in 1984, and he did a minor kitchen and bath remodel in the late 1980s. In 2006, when the couple decided to go for a major overhaul, they called on Dan Thane, a friend and contractor, and Shelly Stock and Laura Malkasian-Huggins of design firm Stock & Associates. Stock and Malkasian-Huggins helped them create an ideal blend of modern sleekness and traditional comfort—the perfect mix of Eric and Larry’s styles.

The couple love to entertain as many as 80 guests, so they also wanted their space to be useful and inviting. On the main floor, the original floor plan had walls separating the living room, dining area and kitchen, and a door closed off the staircase that leads to the lower-level media room, where Eric and Larry frequently host movie nights.

“The house was very compartmentalized, and it just felt like a very tiny, little house,” Malkasian-Huggins says. “They wanted the stairs to be a focal point instead of feeling like you were going down to the basement the back way,” Stock adds. 

The first things to go were the walls, knocked down to create a great room with large, east-facing windows. Stock listened to Eric and Larry’s ideas and concerns for each room, then tailored the materials, textures and finishes to fit both personalities. “Shelly gave us a lot of options, and then she’d start working on the next element,” Eric says. “She took [into consideration] the things that we really wanted.”

For the kitchen counter tops, Eric and Larry chose swirly, dark schist reminiscent of sand beneath the ocean waves, and they selected coffee-colored ceramic tile cut into narrow strips for the backsplash. As a creative solution, Stock suggested an acrylic resin Lightblock behind the sink that shields dinner guests from the dirty dishes.

Eric and Larry requested maximum storage space to make up for the cabinets that were lost when one kitchen wall was removed. Beneath the cozy window-seat bench is open storage for large bowls and platters. A built-in shelf on one side of the island houses cookbooks, while a narrow slot next to the dishwasher is the perfect place to keep the oft-used stepladder that makes it easy to access cabinets near the ceiling.

A cable-railing staircase—Larry’s special request—with blackened-steel panels makes a bold statement in the dining area. After considering several options for the dining table, they asked woodworker Art Lockwood to craft a walnut dining table from Eric’s own design.

A striking blackened-steel fireplace—a look that Eric pulled from a magazine and Malkasian-Huggins used as inspiration for her design—greets guests in the living room. Creating it was a labor of love for Malkasian-Huggins, who chose the unfussy design to complement the homeowners’ art.

“The simpler [the design] is, the harder it is,” Malkasian-Huggins explains. “It all had to be seamless.” She carefully addressed details such as hiding the studs that were visible between the steel panels and making sure the slightly slanted floor wouldn’t affect the leveling of the fireplace.

In the living-room end of the great room, the careful melding of Eric and Larry’s styles is apparent. A button-tufted brown leather daybed standing near the window makes a perfect perch for mingling party guests or relaxing homeowners. Beneath a tailored BoConcept sofa, a blush-pink area rug lends a touch of tradition.

And everywhere is art. Much of it is by local artists, with whom Eric has traded pieces or from whom he has purchased work at benefit auctions and galleries; these mostly modern pieces contrast with ornate Asian artworks that Larry inherited from his family. Asian urns and paintings, a carved cedar totem by Steve Jensen, an illuminated “Sorry” sign by Jennifer Elek and Eric’s own work of acrylic paint on aluminum commingle in the great room to stunning effect. The collection is diverse, but the assortment forms a beautiful whole—like a patchwork quilt.

Subtle personal touches reveal careful consideration: Eric and Larry’s baby pictures rest on a side table; glossy maple floors reflect sunlight and brighten the room; wood grain on the kitchen cabinet doors is perfectly aligned; track lighting can be adapted to a frequent rotation of artwork on the walls.

“I love the relationship between the people you are designing for,” Stock says. “How do you make them both happy without causing wars?” In this case, the result is a harmonious home that satisfies both owners. “It looks pretty good, doesn’t it?” says Eric, looking around the room, and Larry nods in agreement. Clearly Stock and Malkasian-Huggins were able to keep the peace. 

Design Details

Interior Design/Architecture
Shelly Stock and Laura Malkasian-Huggins, Stock & Associates, 109 Bell St., (206) 443-0494
 
Construction
Dan Thane, Thane Construction, 5530 Wallingford Ave. N., (206) 548-9127

Metalwork
Mike Danielson, Blu Collar, 1122 N.W. 46th St., (206) 501-5884

Angela Chang is assistant editor of Seattle Homes & Lifestyles.

This article originally appeared in the March 2009 print issue of Seattle Homes & Lifestyles.