Born and raised in New Jersey, Kristen Armstrong finds herself miles and miles away from the seashore.

by Christy Marshall / photography by Ashley Gieseking

There’s a time-worn tradition in St. Louis: Children born here grow up here, go away to college or beyond, fall in love ever-so-frequently with non-natives and ultimately, return, new spouse in tow to have children who will grow up, go away, fall in love and so on.

The non-local quickly learns to deal with the city’s pleasures and its eccentricities such as that pesky question about high school (or parish), the streets which change names without warning, stifling hot summers, chilling winters, brief springs and spectacular falls.

Sacrifices are made. A prestigious job may be lost for one less so. The bright lights of Broadway. A mountain range. A horizon of nothing but water.

Kristen Armstrong knows all about it. Her husband, Rob, is a native St. Louisan while she hails from New Jersey. They met while they were working together in New York City. They got married and moved here in 2009 when Kristen joined graphic design and stationery firm Cheree Berry Paper & Design.

When asked what she misses the most about her native state, Kristen immediately blurts out, “The ocean.”

Designer Amie Corley of Amie Corley Interiors, herself a Louisiana native who relocated here with her St. Louis born-and-raised husband, understands completely. So, when the Armstrongs commissioned her to design their new house, she did her best to recreate the feel of bright, cloudless skies and warm, balmy breezes — with a dash of Miami splash.

“Kristen wants to live on the beach and she lives in St. Louis,” Amie says. “It's that constant fight of how do we get more light in to make it feel bright.”

“I wanted you to walk into the house and immediately feel happy,” Kristen explains. “I think [Amie] really accomplished that with the mix of bright and light colors and pattern play throughout the rooms.”

The resident canine, Sunday, relaxes in the great room.

In fact, Kristen had a short list of specific likes and non-negotiables.

Not too big, or to be more specific, less than 6,000 square feet
No step-downs, no sunken living rooms
Big, BIG windows
No columns
No antiques
Modern touches
All the main living spaces to be on the first floor with an en-suite bedroom for Kristen’s
mother and their visiting East Coast friends and family
Plenty of room to entertain
A music room “where people could gather and sing and play the piano and the guitar,”
Kristen says
Clear, crisp colors.

The Armstrongs purchased the house with the intent of tearing it down and rebuilding — which is exactly what they did. One of the challenges was to create a new house that looked old, like it always belonged in the confines of the well-established Ladue neighborhood. One night when Kristen and Amie were out at Taco Buddha, they penned the layout on the back of a cocktail napkin.

“I wanted the house to feel very symmetrical,” Kristen says, noting that the design incorporated some of the signature details of Cheree Berry Paper such as pattern play, fun surprises and hidden details. “Over my front door is a Chippendale railing and there is an ‘A’ hidden in that railing,” Kristen says.

The wallpaper is by Pierre Frey. Local floral designer Marcie Sherman of Revel & Hearten.

At that front door, sightlines flow straight through the house. Light floods in from every oversized window. The entrance boasts a traditional staircase leading to the bedrooms and a playroom upstairs. Amie points out the Urban Electric sconces: “Cute, little modern updated candy-colored sconces in this otherwise rather serious foyer.”

To the right is the dining room. The walls are covered in a Pierre Frey print Kristen picked. The interior of the white cabinetry is dark purple, the table was built by local woodworker David Stine.

Beyond that is the kitchen (which Kristen calls “humongous”) which opens into a great room. “I think this is where Cheree’s aesthetic comes in,” Amie says. “It’s white with poppy colors inserted. I think this kitchen is like a sweet tart but in a great way. It’s making that aesthetic sophisticated. How do you take that color pop feeling and make it feel layered and lived in? I love a more European aesthetic. There’s a lot of balance in it. The stove is Lacanche; the hardware unlacquered brass.”

A huge space, Kristen Armstrong reports that all her guests end up here at every party. The cabinets are from Amie Corley Interiors. Along the bank of windows are two study areas for the daughter (13 years old) and son (10). The lights are by Urban Electric.

The bright white of the walls is softened by the pale blue gray of the Lacanche stove.

The Armstrongs love to both make music and entertain so there is a designated music room that feels more like a cocktail lounge than the place for their daughter to practice piano pieces and for Rob Armstrong to strum his guitar. “This is where people come after dinner or to have cocktails,” Amie says. The banquette was custom built; the artwork featuring some of Kristen’s favorite Broadway songs was commissioned by Amie from John O’Hara of Forsyth Art.

“This is where people come after dinner or have cocktails,” Amie says. The banquette was custom-designed; the album art was created by John O'Hara of Forsyth Art.

A powder room (with Kelly Wearstler wallpaper) is slipped under the stairs. The walls of Rob’s office are midnight navy (black blue). Brass mesh is added to the doors of the cabinets. “It’s a great way of giving another texture and adding a little bit of shine,” Amie says. A family of avid tennis players, the wallpaper flanking the steps downstairs features tennis balls. In every space, the details pop out.

With its tiled floors and scenic wallpaper, the sunroom is a brief respite. It leads into an en suite ready for guests.

“I love the surprises,” Kristen says. “You walk into a room and you see the room. You walk in a second time and you see something else you didn’t see the first time. You walk in a third time and you see something else, even down to fringe on a chair or a subtle stripe on a lampshade or my decal on my laundry room door (“Laundry today. Naked tomorrow.”). The wallpaper on the ceiling. In the sunroom, even the vent is tiled. The attention to detail is crazy. All of her hidden surprises make it unique.”

“I do love doing bookshelves,” AmieCorley says. “It’s my favorite thing to just mix in art with some natural elements and cool boxes.” Relaxing on the chair is the family’s Sunday.

Off the kitchen are the high gloss cornflower-colored walls of the bar/butler’s pantry.

That legendary attention to detail is just one of Amie’s predilections: She has an army of vendors including her own cabinet maker; each room is a scenario and story unto itself; colors are vibrant and key; she will (admittedly not always happily) reuse existing furniture as much as possible. But one of her strongest penchants is she buys from the U.S., Europe and Mexico. Not China. Never China.

“We did this custom bunk bed that has a trundle,” Amie says. A desk nook hides in the corner. Dinosaur wallpaper covers the ceiling. “Wallpaper is one of the things that is the easiest to change,” she adds. “So just have fun. Do something that you know you're going to like for, say, seven years.”

“I am a tile addict,” Amie admits. “And this was so fun. We took the green soldier run that goes around the room and then flipped it onto the floor to create a border and then brought it back into the shower.”

“I think it's really important to know where your things come from,” Amie says. “I travel all over the world and I get to meet the artisans who are making these items for us. It’s important to tell that story so you feel connected to it. I don't want it just to be stuff. I want it to be something that you know who made it or where it's made or how it's made. I think we've gotten so far from that in this consumerist world of ours. These things are more expensive, but that's not the point. This is your forever house. You can invest in this. I think making people feel more connected to their stuff makes them not want to get rid of it as fast.”

When asked if she too considers this her “forever house,” Kristen demurred.

“I’m not planning to die in this house,” she says. “I hope I’ll die at the beach.”

Living Land-locked … but Missing the Atlantic.