The Michell Residence
Furnishings, custom furniture and cabinetry, window treatments, styling and selected outdoor pieces across the primary suite, office, dining, formal and family living rooms, game room, son's room and patio — nearly every piece custom-designed for the house.
- Location
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Project type
- First major commission — a ~5,300 sq ft custom Scottsdale home
- Scope
- Furnishings, custom furniture and cabinetry, window treatments, styling and selected outdoor pieces across the primary suite, office, dining, formal and family living rooms, game room, son's room and patio — nearly every piece custom-designed for the house.
The challenge
The Michell Residence began during my final semester of design school and became centriKdesign's first substantial commission. Months before graduation, I was suddenly a one-woman design team, furnishing much of a high-value custom home and coordinating directly with my contractor, workroom, installers and fabricators.
Functional requirements
- One cohesive vision across many rooms — almost entirely custom
- Furniture and storage built around each person's real life
- Comfortable sophistication, never ostentatious
The approach
The brief was comfortable sophistication — fine materials and real craftsmanship that never tip into precious or pretentious — and it came straight from the clients. A serious, personal office. A place to store and show a collection of vintage maps; a teenage son, a black Lab and a casual daily life. With a single exception, every furnishing in my scope was custom-designed or fabricated — each piece drawn by hand with dimensions, stains coordinated, and built directly with fabricators — unified by a French-walnut finish with a lightly distressed Spanish influence. Much of the budget went deliberately into those investment pieces.
What it became
The project took nearly a year and moved me from design student to working professional almost overnight — I learned to trust my instincts. More than twenty years later, the client and I are still friends.
Attention to detail
- A custom table built to lay out and protect the client's vintage map collection — flat storage, lined interior, beautiful enough for the entry
- Map-motif ottomans in the formal living room — a quiet nod to the collection without theming the room
- A primary king bed with concealed storage inside the bedposts, and two individualized nightstands (hers felt-lined to her needs, his built differently)
- A swivel-and-tilt mirror in the primary bath so the client could practice ballroom dancing
- A curved office window wall — custom drapery on a specially considered curved rod
- The son's wakeboards displayed as wall art, a poster-scale photo of him over the bed — and a four-foot gorilla elevated into a corner
- A custom 10-ft dining table, fabricated in Montana, with custom chairs, sideboard and draperies
Kim didn't just design my space — she took time to understand how we live. She listened to my ideas and my budget, helped me refine my vision, and understood that I was looking for both aesthetic appeal and functionality. She helped me find the perfect balance between my style and what would feel comfortable for the other members of my family. She made the whole process feel personal and collaborative. I couldn't have asked for a better “design experience.”
