arts & life

at home

continued from page 41

ABOVE: Inspired by Where the Wild Things Are, Meagan Tessler commissioned hand-
drawn custom wallpaper from the Detroit Wallpaper Co. in Ferndale to cover the
walls and ceiling of the playroom. “The research I did to have the barn door made
back then is crazy,” says designer Barbi Bell. “Now you can find one on Etsy for $200.”

their interest in yoga], they already under-
stood the idea of creating space and bring-
ing the two ideas together. They were very
aware of how to create something authentic
to them.”
David says, “Our last house had a very
open floor plan. Tile floors, metal staircase.
For this house, we wanted a lot of wood, a
great room, a playroom, kids’ bedrooms.
We wanted it to be more traditional in the
floor plan, but not necessarily in design. I
love the look of old, reclaimed wood and
mixing it with more current designs and
elements.”
Bell brought in builder Alvin Rubin, and
together they tapped the team of architects
Alex Bogaerts and Tony Marszalec, founder
and senior vice president, respectively,
of Alexander V. Bogaerts + Associates
in Bloomfield Hills. “Growing up, I had
a big backyard to play in,” David says.

42 July 14 • 2016

“Traditionally in Birmingham, there’s no
space for a backyard. Alex and Tony did
a great job of balancing living space with
outdoor space.”
“They wanted a place to raise a family,”
Bell says. “But they also wanted to enter-
tain. They wanted elements of real raw
materials — there’s metal, clear-stained
hickory, glass, reclaimed wood. We see this
a lot now, but not in 2011, when we were
doing this house. David and Meagan are
groundbreakers and very innovative.”
In addition to acting as general contrac-
tor on the home, selecting everything from
the steel to the shingles, “Barbi was great
at helping us with the use of space and
colors,” David says. “We wanted a certain
vibe, and we wove the yogi theme through-
out. There are certain areas that have a lot
of color, but other areas are very relaxing,
which I like to think that we are.”

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