Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion - Sleekness in Seattle


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Text by Tony DiMartino • Styling By Janna Lufkin • Photography by Mike Jensen

That house really needs someone to take care of it,” Laura Zeck would say to herself each time she passed the huge, dilapidated old dwelling on a busy Seattle street.

Built in 1904, it had been deserted for years, slowly deteriorating from stately manor to nursing home to crack den to gutted shell. But Laura, an artist and interior designer, could see its potential.

“One day, I was on my way to get a tamale and I saw a ‘for sale’ sign,” she recalls. She and husband Jesse Doquilo, a graphic designer and furniture maker, were looking for a place where they could live and work, and the house, with 4,300 square feet and five bedrooms, promised ample studio space.

So they bought it. “We figured it would take us a year or two at most to renovate the place,” Laura says. “That was five years ago, and we’re still not finished.”

Dining in Style
(a) In the dining room, orange walls glow under candlelight. “The right color can be just like a glass of wine—it relaxes guests and makes them feel open and chatty.“ Laura’s paintings were inspired by her collection of vintage figurines. The Italian dining table easily seats 10.

Edgy
(b) In the foyer, Laura, Jesse, Grace, and Moby get ready for a walk in the park. The chair, made by Jesse, includes strips of “live,” or unfinished, tree bark. That’s one of Laura’s oil paintings on the wall.

Eat. Paint, Love
(c) In the foyer, Jesse’s black walnut lovers’ bench holds a vase made of woven magazine pages. That’s part of Laura’s chine collé (a layered printing technique) series on the wall. (d) An old steel sign from a thrift store strikes a conceptual contrast to the dining room walls, which are anything but brown.

Enchanted Woods
(e) The insides of the cabinets are from Ikea, but Jesse made the doors and side panels from zebrawood, Brazilian rosewood, and teak. Thrift-store educational charts from Guatemala adorn the walls.

It’s a big house with big rooms,” Laura says. “We wanted to hang on to that open, airy feeling and create a sense of warmth and coziness at the same time.”

   First, they had to rebuild the interior from the bottom up. “The floors were completely rotten. We replaced them with ebonized oak that we stained a great, deep brown-purple-red shade, rich and warm, inspired by an antique cabinet in the master bedroom.”

   Only one of the bathrooms had functioning pipes—“and I use the word ‘functioning’ loosely.” The kitchen was equally challenging. “It took us forever to redo—both of us were working on other projects, trying to earn a living so we could fix up the house. For the first couple of years, we cooked with two hotplates, a grill, and a microwave. We washed dishes in the darkroom sink.”

   Three years into the renovation, daughter Grace came along. “This place is her very own wonderland,” Laura says. “At an early age, she learned to sleep straight through all kinds of noise and chaos—a talent that will serve her well if she ever renovates a home of her own.”

Eclectic, Not hectic
(f) Vintage glove molds wave from the living room fireplace. (g) In the sitting room, mid-century Thai chairs are comfortable, even without cushions. Like a lot of Jesse’s work, the table has moveable panels. “Grace hides stuff in that old steel cabinet, a birthday gift from Jesse.” Randomly collected paintings add color and humor. (h) A steel-and-glass dining room cabinet (rescued from a store that was going out of business) displays antique Chinese checkers games and other treasures (i) .“Every time I slide into the Corbusier chaise, Moby climbs on my lap and we go straight to sleep.”

Seven years ago, Laura launched a business called Short Stories and began creating one-of-a-kind prints, greeting cards, and small books from her original etchings for birthdays, baby showers, and other special occasions. Jesse’s sleekly contemporary, handcrafted furniture can be found at Seattle-based modern object. Both artists’ attention to detail is seen throughout the house, from the expressive use of color to the whimsical displays of artwork and collectibles.

“Neither of us knew what we were in for when we bought this place,” Laura admits. “But working on it together has been challenging and satisfying—like a large-scale art project.”

Pipe Dreams
(j) The third-floor bathroom. “This was our first functioning bath—the only one with useable pipes.” It’s roomy, about 300 square feet. “I’d always wanted a Buddha head,” Laura says of the artifact by the sink. “Jesse found this one at an Asian grocery store and gave it to me for Christmas.” (k) An antique kitchen cabinet has plenty of room for towels, toiletries, and a selection of Laura’s black-and-white photographs. A cushiony contemporary rocker is “so comfy when you get out of the bath.”

Shanghai Surprise
(l) A single piece can set the tone for a room—or an entire house. Laura so loved the color of an 1850s cabinet from Shanghai, that she matched most of the floors to it. In the master bedroom, it’s paired with crisp, casual curtains. “The contrast keeps the room from feeling too serious.”

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