Comfortable Beauty

When Beth Andersen of Urbandale speaks about her friend and interior designer, Traci Baldus of Trieste Interior Design Group in West Des Moines, she is direct in her praise. “She gets me, and that is so important.”

The two have worked together for 15 years and have developed a rapport and a true friendship. They recently completed an “after” project of remodeling Beth’s main floor of kitchen, dining area, living room, and powder room. Beth and her late husband, Jim, purchased the townhouse in 2001. “It was built in 1984 as one of the first contemporary townhome complexes and has held its look and value for a long time.” Tucked in a beautiful wooded area, it’s a “really surprising gem” in Urbandale, Beth says proudly.

After Jim passed away, Beth was unsure about staying in place, but she decided it was the right thing to do. “We had met Traci when we happened to walk into the former Sue Kenny Interiors studio in Valley Junction, where she was working, and we hit it off right away.” The Andersens followed her to Trieste.

Reimagine, reconfigure

Baldus helped Beth downsize and organize. “Her talents are extraordinary,” Beth points out. “She helps you reimagine personal memories with your possessions and your space in deciding what to keep and what to let go.” For example, Beth and Jim used to cook and entertain friends together. Now she doesn’t do much of that, so her dining space has been turned into a restful den.

Jim, a voracious reader, had built a wall-size unit for dishes and accessories. It has been reconfigured into a bookcase with a spot in the middle for a wall-hung television.

A dining table and chairs have been replaced by a small bistro table and two chairs in front of a kitchen window.
Jim was also a potter, so beautifully shaped pieces he made are displayed in Beth’s repurposed space.

Clean, simple

Beth wanted a clean, simple, and neutral palette to create a welcoming and restful look. Baldus refers to it as “comfortable beauty.”

A new white railing on the open stairway to the bedroom level gives a fresh look. The fireplace, which used to have a white brick surround, now goes floor to ceiling with sleek 18×36 large-scale neutral tiles. It creates a subtle focal point in the room with a two-story cathedral ceiling.

Large windows play to the wooded outdoor view and subtle neutral furnishings—sofa and Danish Sierra chairs with creamy-white marshmallowlike soft leather upholstery. In the den area a gray and white herringbone rug anchors the space. In the living room a large geometric hair-on-hide rug is on the wood-looking luxury vinyl tile that replaced the carpeting.

Baldus added grass cloth for a touch of texture on the back of a half-wall dividing the den and kitchen and on the wall behind the television. “It all helps create a relaxed space,” Beth says. “That’s what Traci creates so well.”

New kitchen

The new kitchen is a vision in openness with new white Shaker-style cabinets and countertops of quartz with a small overall vein in it. Stainless-steel appliances give a sleek look. Floating shelves give a modern, open look. Accessories and often-used dishes enhance the clean, efficient appearance. The kitchen was designed by Angie Taggart of Paramount Kitchen and Bath in Grimes.

“I love the kitchen, down to the drawer pulls, which are dark metal. Traci calls them the kitchen’s jewelry,” Beth says with a laugh.

Matt Hageman of MDH Design Construction of Clive was the general contractor for the project. He, Baldus, and Taggart have worked together before. “It is such a good team, which is what it takes to tackle a project like this,” Beth points out. “All of us were perfectionists. It shows. Professionals do that. They reduce the stress for the homeowner.”

Beth, a former speech pathologist for West Des Moines Schools, and Jim, who was humanities coordinator for Heartland Area Education Agency, loved the central location of their townhome and the community spirit it held. But now she is adding another adventure. She will be moving to Colorado to live closer to family.

With collaboration already in place, there is talk of a road trip to Colorado in Traci Baldus’s future. •