Room of the Day: Elegant and Eclectic Salt Lake City High-Rise

Looking at a client’s fashion style can be a great way to find a home style that fits him or her. In terms of checking out the homeowner’s existing furniture for this project, interior designer Ashley Winn didn’t have a whole lot to go on beyond some photos of what her client liked. “She had just moved to Salt Lake City from a tiny studio apartment in New York City, and all she had was her dresser and a twin mattress on the floor,” Winn says. So the designer looked to her client’s closet.

“She loves elegant classics, like J. Crew, and then she styles up her outfits by adding a little something eclectic to it with jewelry,” Winn says. The designer took the same approach to the bedroom. She started with a stunning hand-blocked wallpaper accent wall, chose simple, classic bedding and topped it all off with bits of shine and bling on the sconces, a crystal pendant light and pretty new knobs on the dresser. The result is a soothing bedroom that’s anything but a yawn.

Photos by Kate Osborne Photography

Room at a Glance
Who lives here: A single professional woman who just relocated from New York City
Location: Salt Lake City
Size: About 100 square feet (9 square meters).

The apartment was pretty much an empty, blank canvas with beige walls and very little furniture. “Working with a single young professional woman starting from scratch was a dream job. It was a lot of fun,” Winn says.

Because of the large windows on one side of the room and the door and closet placement, this wall was the obvious choice for the bed. Winn helped her client choose a beautiful hand-blocked wallpaper from Galbraith & Paul as an accent. “Because it’s made to order, it takes four or five months to arrive, which is hard to talk a client into, but I’m so glad she went for it,” she says. Like most good things, it was worth the wait.

Wallpaper: Lotus, Galbraith & Paul


The wingback tufted headboard has an elegant look, while flax linen fabric keeps it from being too formal. “She wanted her room to be elegant, but wasn’t interested in having it be overly feminine,” Winn says.

A hand-blocked accent pillow from John Robshaw provides the only punch of color on the simple quilted white bedding. “I liked that the fabric on the pillow and the wallpaper were both made using the same technique,” Winn says. “They have a beautiful matte finish, absolutely no shine at all, and they have the same type of little variations and imperfections here and there.” The organic feeling of the wallpaper inspired other choices, while the shine from the sconces, chandelier and knobs provides contrast.

Tip: Sometimes white is easier to keep clean. “I like to choose white for bedding, because you can always fix a stain with bleach,” the designer says. “White is actually really functional.”

Headboad: Zin Home; bedding: The White Company


Swing-arm sconces provide reading light and symmetry, and keep the nightstand tops clear for other items.

Sconces: Visual Comfort


Metal cabinets with glass doors serve as handy nightstands. “My client is very neat, but she needed a good spot to corral her odds and ends. My rule of thumb is to solve this with baskets,” Winn says. Antiqued brass knobs contrast with the polished nickel sconces above. “My only rule about mixing metals is that there are no rules,” the designer says. “The more you mix in, the more eclectic it is.”

Nightstands: Crate & Barrel


Large windows next to the bed offer spectacular views of downtown Salt Lake City and the mountains beyond. A glass pendant light adds a little jewelry overhead. Together with the polished nickel sconces and new knobs on the drawers, these items accessorize the room in an elegant way. Finishes like the black metal on the nightstands, antiqued brass on the knobs and wood for the dresser balance out the eclectic mix.

Pendant light: Overstock


Winn placed a large full-length mirror in the corner to make the room feel more expansive. It also helps bounce the natural light around.

Wall paint: Mascarpone, Benjamin Moore; mirror: West Elm


The homeowner’s existing wood dresser worked well with the organic look. Winn replaced the hardware with more elegant knobs, more pieces of room jewelry that provide a little eclectic contrast.

Knobs: Anthropologie


Atop and over the dresser, Winn helped her client enjoy some of her favorite baubles and scarves by putting them on display. Geode-like faceted glass vases and a mirror add delicate touches.


Prized baubles are displayed with pride in a new glass box. “This project was all about quality over quantity,” Winn says. “We kept it simple.” The result is an inviting balance of elegant, organic and eclectic styles.

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