But her greatest feat was balancing the two personalities of the couple, whose design requirements seemed, in the beginning, at odds. “They really wanted to meet in the middle of their preferences for color and texture,” Thienes says. “And we thought a lot about soft corners for future toddlers.” Thienes might have been the best person to accomplish this. The designer, also a mom, spent seven years flipping houses in the high desert before going back to school at Heritage School of Interior Design. Now she is establishing herself as a color maven in a market where many designers work in neutrals. “People used to be so focused on keeping things neutral and not doing anything that would affect the resale of the home,” Thienes says. “But at the end of the day, this is your home and your space — it’s important to bring that personality into it, because it’s going to make it more comfortable and more you.” One way the team accomplished this was by working in the living room, where a fireplace took up a lot of the space. Thienes toned down the size of the feature by using a dark, moody color on the walls and adding an original art piece of Fort Rock State Natural Area by Richard James Yozamp. “Instead of being this giant fireplace, the entire area becomes more unified,” Thienes says. She also brought in the couple’s personality through a curated selection of objects and by incorporating one of the homeowner’s knitted works, which are soft and bright and add a great pop of color. The couple got a fun new Zoom background when Thienes added the Cole & Son “Forest” wallpaper to a bedroom. Small changes added up to a big impact for the couple, like in their dining room, where all they changed was the light fixture and the dining room table. “We kept the penguin decals on the windows,” Thienes says. “I love keeping things like that — this is really how we live.” tricornblack.com A curated shelf feels timeless while nodding to the couple’s embrace of the period of life they are in. A new teak dining table by Ethnicraft and pendant light by Bend company Wood Lighting Design completely transformed the dining room. Heylen Thienes of Tricorn Black Original art by high desert painter Richard James Yozamp, of Fort Rock, is a daily reminder of the couple’s love of the outdoors.
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