Intentional Design

For two Ankeny homeowners, every detail has a story. Throughout their new home, you can point to any number of items, and the owners can tell you the heartfelt details behind each and every one of them.

Kinsey and Nate Ward moved from Beaverdale into their home a year ago with their daughter, Rossi, now 2½, and they have had an artful adventure ever since. Their roughly 2,000-square foot home was built by Sage Homes.

“These two have such creative and unique personalities. I loved seeing this come through within their home,” says Emily Mielk, a designer and client liaison for Sage. “I work with homeowners in selecting materials for their homes and this was a fun project.”

Kinsey works from home, and Nate is a construction manager.

“We purchased the last homesite in this area for several reasons,” explains Kinsey. “We wanted an area where people were walking, where we could see the pond, where the nearby park is, and where an elementary school is in place. All four have come through.”

“We planned our home for two years,” Kinsey says. “It was important for us to have all the details correct.” They scoured the Internet and Pinterest for ideas to incorporate.

The couple embraced the design philosophy that Mielk gives: “Start With Ours, Make It Yours”. They did just that. Instead of designing a custom floor plan, they chose an existing one from Sage and made it their own.

Sage prides itself on working with their clients to be creative with their ideas and is always willing to make changes.

CREATED SUNROOM

“We moved walls to customize our plan and created a functional sunroom off the kitchen,” Nate says.

“We love the sunroom,” Kinsey chimes in. “It truly is the heart of our home. It’s where we hang out as a family. We eat there, paint there, listen to music there. It’s wonderful. Watching that room come to life has been so rewarding.” Surrounded by windows, the room gives off good views and good vibes. It has banquette seating, black-edged windows, and wispy café curtains that bring sunlight into the room.

They added subtle and pleasing changes by building shelves and arches over the doorways. Says Mielk, “The simplicity of the shelf niches and arches was such an affordable way to add huge character.”

In the kitchen, the Wards chose a mix of cabinetry for interest. “We went with a set of slim Shaker shelves mixed with two wood-toned cabinet pieces,” Nate says. Sleek and simple hardware was chosen for its design. And, instead of large pendant lighting, the couple chose cylinder lights for their smallness.

CABINETRY MIX

“The reworking of the kitchen cabinets was stunning,” says Mielk, “I loved that they added their own touches with the molding above in this space and headsets over all the doorways. It really tied the simple elegance together.”

The use of quartz countertops with a white and thin gray swirl reflects the simple touch. All baseboards were painted with Sherwin Wiliams Jogging Path. The room features a walk-in pantry and a reeded material on the open side of the kitchen island.

The open living area features a rich-looking sectional facing the fireplace and niche shelves that showcase personal items, from photo books keeping track of Rossi’s growth to pottery pots made by Nate. “Nate is so creative,” says Kinsey. “He does metal fabrication, makes pottery pieces, and enjoys photography.” He created the black iron railing to the lower level too.

CIRCULAR SETUP

Kinsey loves the master bedroom setup. “It goes from bedroom to bathroom, to walk-in closet, to laundry, and to drop zone, creating a circle of efficiency.”

A fun part of the master bath is a pink walk-in shower. With its double heads and a sleek window that offers light, it really stands out. “I love it that Nate was the one pushing for this,” says Mielk.

Rossi’s room, perfect for a little girl, is done in muted pink and purple. A technique to lower the ceiling was painting a top-down area in a different color to create a softened area. “It feels as if you are inside a birthday cake,” states Nate.

The resident who gets the run of the whole house is Kiwi, a Corgi/Jack Russell mix dog they adopted last year. Kiwi likes the new house, too. •