Every time interior designer Carrie Ellington stops by Drew and Hali Stafford’s newly renovated Edina home, she fully expects to find a new painting or sculpture worked into a space. “Hali has a gift for finding great art and for putting together unique pieces,” Ellington says. “Next time, it might be a robot. It could be anything. And in this house, it works.”
That ability to serve as a backdrop for art was a priority for Ellington’s design and the home’s renovation as a whole. Neutral architectural finishes and furnishings, plus a floorplan that finds a happy medium between room definition and openness, ensure the Staffords’ art shines.
But it’s a far cry from where the home started. “It was a 1984 orange-brick colonial with half-round windows all over the place and snap-on window grids that looked like orange slices,” says architectural designer Charlie Simmons. And those were just the issues you could see from the outside. Several redeeming qualities, though, built a compelling case to remodel. “It had good bones, a lot of square footage, and a beautiful property,” builder John Kraemer says. “Drew and Hali actually got more square footage out of the deal with a remodel than if they had built a new home.”
For several years, Drew and Hali spent only summers in Edina, where they could be close to family while on break from Drew’s professional ice hockey career. (Following hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault and the University of North Dakota, he played professionally for 13 seasons, most recently with the New Jersey Devils.) But they knew the city was where they wanted to settle after Drew retired in 2019 and they readied for their next chapter, including raising kids Mason, 7, and Mila and Maddox, 5-year-old twins, as well as building Carte Blanche Art, Hali’s art consulting business. “I kind of dove headfirst into learning about the entire process of planning, design, and building,” Drew says.
But the couple already knew what they wanted. “You live in so many places with hockey that you get to experience different kinds of homes and quickly learn what you like and don’t like,” Hali says. Topping their wish list: a more modern and family-friendly look and feel inside and out, with warmth, nods to classic style, and, of course, plenty of room for art.
“The next thing you know, we’ve basically gutted the interior of the first floor,” Simmons says. “I would say that maybe 60, 70 percent of the interior walls were removed.” The team also squared off window openings, fitting them with new black-framed windows, and specified warm white oak floors, cabinets, and ceiling millwork, which pair with walls painted Benjamin Moore White Dove. “It’s modern but not sterile or antiseptic,” Simmons says.
Depending on the room, art or furniture fabric drove the interior design. “Each space has a different feel, which makes it really magical,” Ellington says. “But we also needed it all to flow together and look cohesive.”
Surprisingly, that happens, in part, through the art. Although every piece exhibits its own personality, they all have something in common: “They resonate with people on a happy level,” Hali says. She points to paintings of a “retired superhero” in the gallery hall and a bright, nearly 9-foot-wide piece in the dining room that depicts a playroom. “It’s so abstract that you can’t immediately tell there’s a train, an alligator, and other toys,” Hali says.
In many ways, that happy quality of the couple’s art has become a metaphor for their home. “Now, the kids can run laps and scooter around the inside of the house,” Hali says. “It’s like the house is living again.”
Architecture: Charlie Simmons and Maria Jose Larenas, Charlie & Co. Design,1601 Utica Ave. S., Ste. 212, St. Louis Park, 612-333-2246, charlieandcodesign.com // Interior Design: Carrie Ellington, Ellington and Co. Design, 612-578-6833, ellingtonandcodesign.com // Builder: John Kraemer, John Kraemer and Sons, 4906 Lincoln Dr., Edina, 952-935-9100, jkandsons.com // Landscape Design: Scott Ritter, Topo, 530 N. 3rd St., Ste. 401, Mpls., 612-929-2049, topollc.com