This accomplished jazz pianist and Doctor of Education called the design team to help with a very common design problem—they had tried to work with a local major furniture retailer to design the home and nothing was working. He wanted high contemporary, she wanted true traditional.  Living in a mid-1980’s traditional suburban home in a private lake community, each had distinct ideas about how their interiors were to look.  The design plan called for a marriage of their dated great room and eat-in kitchen. The challenge was to join these two spaces and the client’s opposite design styles into a homogenous theme that would please them both.  After solving extensive structural issues, the Designers created a neutral back-drop in both areas. Walls and trim were first painted in an analogous color scheme. The Designers also specified a beautifully textured, neutral broadloom carpet by Karastan for the great room and professional refinishing of existing hardwood floors in the kitchen.  The furniture package included a stunning monochromatic three-seat sofa from Century with a modern track arm for him, and a skirt for her. Clean lined and updated wingback chairs by Directional in a subtle geometric pattern completed the primary seating group.  Casegoods were specified in a dark mahogany that evoked architectural lines to contrast against the neutral backdrops and provide landing space for hand-selected accessories from Africa and the Far East.  Harmony was achieved through custom silk long panel draperies in both areas, original artwork and sculpture, hand-knotted art rugs, and custom silk floral arrangements that reflected their particular ethnic background.  The result is a space that is unified by color and styling and speaks volumes of the couples’ individual tastes.