Regional Winner: Angela Free Design
BlueStar is excited to share more about another regional winner, Angela Free Design and Lillian Byers. This project was a full-scale finishes and decorating remodel. The home is in a stunning location overlooking the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The homeowners had purchased this beautiful Spanish Mediterranean home, which had retained the original 1929 period details, with a desire to transform its dark interiors into a bright, colorful, and highly functional home for their family of five. That is where the fun began, and the Angela Free team started to refer to project as “the transformation of the brown house.” Luckily, the home had lovely open and airy architecture and enviable flow – large rooms for gathering and an incredible East facing eat-in Kitchen – a desirable starting point!
A long-time collaboration with this client in several other homes had given the team a clear understanding of their likes and dislikes. In this home, the client didn’t ask for anything specific in the kitchen other than it be “happy” and to use bold color on the cabinetry. At that point, BlueStar, with its swoon-worthy array of color options and workhorse functionality was a slam dunk. In fact, the range was the first item selected and the kitchen was built around it. This product can really perform – it’s amazing that it can be the jewel of the kitchen and be incredibly functional as well. The design team loves to support American-made products, so incorporating BlueStar into the design was really an easy decision.
The design team treasures the trust they gain with clients over multiple projects, it enables more creative freedom. Having been granted so much latitude to transform this house to an exuberant home, and in this case without any major architectural changes was a big undertaking. The joyful excitement of reveal day is incredibly rewarding. Seeing that happiness prolonged over time as their clients’ lives unfold and the children grow up in this home is the pinnacle of success to the team.
All designers are very client driven; their happiness is most important. When designing a kitchen, there is nothing better than working with those who love to cook and really appreciate the equipment and the space. It is critical to take time to get to know your clients, understand how they live, how they cook, how the family interacts and just really getting a sense for their overall lifestyle.
ABOUT ANGELA FREE DESIGN
Angela Free Design is based in San Francisco, CA and started in 2001. Her career began in international fashion, which helped her transition into design where she could bring her elegance and global experiences. Her projects have ranged from incredible San Francisco residences to vacation homes to a winery in Sonoma. Angela Free received the 2014 Institute of Classical Art & Architecture Julia Morgan Award for Excellence in Interior Design as well as being named a Finalist for the 2019 San Francisco Designer of Distinction Award.
