When Else Kerkmann and her husband bought their modest cabin in Sisters, they knew it was going to be a project. From the original wood ceilings and brick fireplace to the shag carpet and poorly remodeled bathrooms, their investment needed a light and heavy touch. As luck would have it, Kerkmann—a content creator in the design and DIY field—is a master at these kinds of projects, from home renovations to redesigns, and she leaned heavily on her innate artistry to bring bursts of color to the home’s blank slate. While the home was absolutely livable, the dark brown palette left over from the 1970s, when the home was originally built, made for a dark and dreary space. Wood-paneled ceilings ran throughout the home, and the walls maintained a dark and textured appearance.
I always had a fun side to my designs, but I finally had more freedom to explore and play with it. My style evolved from here, and I got a little braver with what I wanted to create.”
From Drab to Dazzling: The Bathroom Transformations
The guest bathroom had the most recent remodel, but it was uninspired in tones of brown, brown and more brown. In addition, the remodel was hastily done, and water leaked into the basement below. “We hate throwing usable things away, but this [bathroom] was really ugly,” said Kerkmann. “We just worked with the bones a bit.” The first step to livening up the dreary space was to add pops of bright turquoise tile to the open shower.
Kerkmann realized how fun it could be to add more color and be a bit more playful in her design. She then painted stripes on the wall and it snowballed from there. “I always had a fun side to my designs, but I finally had more freedom to explore and play with it,” said Kerkmann. “My style evolved from here, and I got a little braver with what I wanted to create.”
That bravery extended to the primary bathroom. The original powder room had low, scratched and abused counters and an offset sink, touches that felt less thought out and more of an inconvenience to such a well-trafficked space. In the spirit of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Kerkmann pulled together items she had leftover from other projects: a floating cabinet for the vanity, a marble-style sink, a gold swan faucet—all items that reflect her personality and design goals. Paint came to the rescue once again on the bathroom floors, where Kerkmann painted over the existing vinyl flooring. “I knew what was under the top layer of vinyl flooring, and it was a lot of other layers which are such a pain to pull up,” said Kerkmann. “I thought, why not just paint over it.”
Embracing the Past with a Playful Twist
When looking at the rest of the home, Kerkmann loved many of the ‘70s elements, but wanted to bring the design into modern day in simple and whimsical ways. “I decided to embrace the bones of the house and then use art and color to transform it,” Kerkmann said. This is seen in the massive gallery wall displaying her husband’s skateboard collection—with a backdrop of a handpainted mural—the surrounds of the bay window in the dining room painted peach with pops of oranges, and the multicolor entryway to the downstairs living quarters.
The playful additions don’t stop at using paint, however. Kerkmann knows the value of adding bold print to an unexpected place, and the white spaces of the home’s many nooks and crannies allowed her to experiment with wallpaper and patterns in a surprising way. A hallway leads from the main living space to the first-level bedrooms, and the area always felt tight and restricting. Kerkmann added a bold and daring touch: black wallpaper designed with large pink flamingoes, an unsuspecting counter to the narrow thoroughfare.
The A-frame continues to be a work in progress, and with each new corner of the home that is lovingly tended to, Kerkmann’s vision comes more and more into focus: to build a home reflective of her colorful spirit and love of creating, to fashion something new with items that might have been discarded or tossed aside, and to showcase her art through creative design.
Follow Else Kerkmann on Instagram for more inspiration as she continues her renovation.
