The forests of Sun Valley, Idaho, are like Bavarian woodlands transported to the American West: dense with spruce and conifer trees, glass-clear streams and a fringe of snow-frosted peaks. To suit the scene, designer Mark D. Sikes’ clients hoped to imbue their longtime family retreat with reverence to the locale’s mountain magic. “They wanted warmth, pattern, texture, layers, and to ensure that the design told a holistic story,” Sikes recalls.
The home’s previous incarnation was decidedly contemporary, with a darker palette of inky tones. “How do you stay appropriate to the architecture and the vibe of a house, but also add in softness? That’s always a challenge,” the designer reflects. For Sikes, the answer here lay simply in connecting the interiors to the serenity of the surrounding natural landscape.
In a place where the air often smells faintly of pine resin and snowmelt, the designer set out to mirror the calm of the mountains across fabrics and finishes. “Sun Valley is so beautiful with all the trees and different shades of green,” he says, pointing to reflective selections, like the painterly woodland-printed linen he used across the living room club chairs and the mossy-hued chevron striped batik that now envelops the den’s sectional, walls and ceiling. “We like to punctuate certain rooms with one fabric on everything, especially if they’re adjacent to a space that has a mix of elements,” Sikes says. “It creates a pause.”
To take the edge off the angular architecture in the dining room, Sikes hung a romantic floral wallcovering whose palette of ice blue, leaf green, warm cream and sandy brown served as inspiration for the home’s overall scheme. “It really emulates the colors of nature here,” he says. Wallcoverings in the bedrooms similarly bring “some newness,” per Sikes, including batiks and stripes in soft, neutral shades. Rounding out the redesign, a medley of lighting fixtures in rich metallic finishes, from antiqued brass to bronze and verdigris, imbue “gravitas, presence and texture,” he adds.
The result is a house that harmonizes with the moutain landscape, creating an ambiance of peace and tranquility—and an Eden for R&R. “The palette, the textures, the fabrics and the mood of this home look and feel great no matter what time of year it is,” muses Sikes. “It’s that perfect balance of light and airy in the spring and summer months, and cozy and warm for fall and winter.”
Tour The Home:
In an Idaho home by designer Mark D. Sikes, Jasper’s Lacquer Stripe cozies up the walls and sofa in the den. The window treatments are by Namay Samay; the floor lamp is Visual Comfort & Co.
