Young at Heart

ANN ARBOR RETAILER DECORATES WITH COLOR AND QUIRK

by jeanine matlow | photos by rosh sillars

Katherine Thursby can’t resist taking her work home on occasion. The 42-year-old owns Red Shoes, a popular purveyor of vintage furniture, jewelry and gift items in Ann Arbor.

Many pieces find their way to her Ann Arbor home, a 1,900-square-foot ’60s tri-level she shares with her husband, Ian; their 9-year-old son, Jackson; 4-year-old daughter, Fiona; and a Jack Russell terrier named Pearl

Thursby used wit and color to transform their favorite spaces, the living room and family room, where the group relaxes by watching movies, reading or surfing the Internet.

She describes her approach to design as “colorful, eclectic, vintage, modern style.”How She Does It

NEUTRAL TERRITORY

Thursby prefers to let design evolve rather than go with an overall plan. Still, much can be gained by studying the choices she’s made. Her furnishings, primarily white, leave plenty of breathing room for bursts of color. “I like white furniture,” says Thursby, who chose family-friendly slipcovers she can toss into the laundry with bleach. “It’s easy to change wall color, pillows and blankets.”

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

“Sometimes it’s better just to paint one wall a color and leave the rest neutral, especially [when using] red, which will enclose a space,” says Thursby. Adjoining rooms are another consideration when you’re choosing colors. “When you have one color next to a room where you can see through,” she says, “you need colors that will complement each other.”

For those afraid to give it a try, Thursby says, “It’s just paint. It’s not rocket science. If you don’t like it, just repaint it.” In her family room, one wall is off-white and the other three are a bright sunflower yellow, while the living room walls are red, light green and off-white.

FOLLOW YOUR ART

Thursby doesn’t believe in buying things to go with a color scheme and adores the art she has chosen for her home, including a vintage Red Cross sign and old school charts. “You just have to buy what you love,” she says. She gravitates toward graphic elements, such as the numbers she painted on dresser drawers in the living room and the numbered pillows she made for the sofas. Thursby likes to use 3 and 5, for their shapes.

This polka dot lamp is a find from discount retailer T.J. Maxx. The frames, collected for their variety of color and pattern, add a sense of fun and contrast with the solidcolored table and walls.

While Thursby was sanding the chipped surface of an old wooden chair, she realized she liked the way it looked. With its peeling paint and crazyquilt seat cushion, the chair has become a folksy piece of art in the family room. The room also sports a vibrant pinwheel rug and Austrian blanket, newer items from Red Shoes. “I love to combine old and new,” Thursby says.

A white armoire conceals Thursby’s television and offers a visual break. Live foliage and real pinecones provide warmth and disguise a set of speakers.