Light And Bright Interiors Infuse A Scottsdale Home

Scottsdale newcomers transform dark interiors into a welcoming home infused with antiques and art.

Designer Laura Kehoe devised an iron-framed frosted-glass door, fabricated by Janus Custom Building Products, to allow sunlight to flood the foyer of a couple's Scottsdale home. An Ironware cage chandelier from John Brooks Incorporated complements the door frame; an antique priest's vestments chest is opposite a French painting of the Madonna. "I love her," the wife says of the painting. "I'll never part with her."

Landscape designer Chad Norris used multiple varieties of cactus to establish a flow from the front of the house to the back. "The landscape starts at the driveway corner," he explains, "and we build that drama up to the front entry."

In the living room, Kehoe combined the owners' antique accent tables with a custom turned-arm sofa wearing Kravet fabric and a pair of custom swivel chairs in Glant fabric from Dean-Warren. She also updated the existing wood armchair with a Schumacher fabric from Dean-Warren for the back and Calvin Fabrics upholstery from John Brooks Incorporated for the seat. The blue throw pillows are from Bungalow; the jute rug is from The Floor Collection Design.

For the light, bright breakfast nook, Kehoe designed a distinctive custom table with a hammered-copper top. The custom banquette, featuring Carleton V fabric from Dean-Warren, faces a pair of woven abaca armchairs by Ralph Lauren.

Kehoe tore out the kitchen's existing island and replaced it with a smaller version covered in bright Taj Mahal quartzite from Arizona Tile to make room for the owners' antique drop-leaf table. The antique-brass pendant lights are by Visual Comfort & Co.

Norris reshaped the existing turf to allow more space for planting. The surrounding gardens and terraces are punctuated by the wife's extensive collection of pots, such as the oversize antique French ones containing thornless totem pole cactus.

A flowered ocotillo cactus and Argentine saguaro add height to the garden and draw attention away from the off-centeredness of the pool. Norris mounded earth in front of the balustrade to partially obscure it and to create a cascading effect for the plantings.

On the back patio, Kehoe combined the owners' existing farm table with new chairs by Palecek, accented with tribal-print pillows in Sunbrella fabric. Over the fireplace, she hung one of the residents' "all-time favorite" pieces: a large plate in the style of Italian Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

Kehoe designed built-in shelving next to the master bathroom's Signature Hardware tub. The Lunada Bay mosaic tile is from Facings of America, the stool is custom, and the pendant light is by Currey & Company.

A mixed-media piece by Susan Osborne from Art One Gallery provides a focal point in the master bedroom. Kehoe reupholstered the homeowners' bed in Glant's Geometric Sand and covered their antique armchair in Ralph Lauren fabric. At the foot of the bed is an antique bench the owners found in Paris.