You’d Never Guess This English-Style Carriage House in Colorado Is Hidden Above a Garage – Or That It Was Designed as a Temporary Home

At first glance, this project was a practical solution: a temporary home built above a family garage. But step inside, and any expectation of utility quickly gives way to something much more whimsical.

Designed by Oho Interiors founder Melissa Oholendt as a stopgap for her family, the 1,500 sq. ft., two-bedroom carriage house design is far from industrial; in fact, it unfolds much like a layered English cottage.

When her in-laws offered up their land, plans for the garage evolved into a 'graceful and wonderfully generous stopping point' for Melissa. And while the footprint may be modest, the design never feels like a compromise. 'No matter where I live, I will always bring the English cottage life with me, even into the Rocky Mountains!' she says – and here, that sensibility is woven into every corner.

The story begins, like many in 2020, with a shift in priorities. 'Deep into Covid, we decided we wanted to make the move to be closer to family in Colorado. It took an additional 2+ years for us to physically make the move as we were mid-renovation on our own home, but in that time, my in-laws offered up a portion of their property to build a carriage house on the land.'

'By mid-year in 2022, we found ourselves with approved plans for building and dove head-first into design and planning,' Melissa explains.

'It felt like a great moment to be able to get the best of both worlds,' she adds. 'An RV garage, to take advantage of the grade of the property, and a carriage house above the garage provided a great solution for both of our needs.'

From the outset, the home was conceived not as a forever home, but as what Melissa describes as a 'graceful (and wonderfully generous) stopping point for us on the path to finding our own land and building a larger home.'

'There was a need for careful space planning,' she adds. 'We were very mindful of what we actually needed in a residence we knew would be short-term, and knew we could sacrifice certain things to make the square footage make sense and still feel very livable.'

But, rather than scaling back for a smaller, short-term space, Melissa leaned fully into the details that matter most to her.

'From the outside, the carriage house matches the main house,' she explains. 'However, when you step inside, it feels like walking into a cozy English cottage, filled with the breadth of a lifetime of collecting and living, nestled in the black forest of Colorado.'

'I knew I wanted to embrace the size and embrace the quirks that come with trying to fit a full house into a smaller footprint, but I didn’t want to minimize style, pattern, or surround ourselves with the items we love or the collections we’ve spent years working on,' Melissa explains.

Instead of scaling back, she doubled down – layering wallpaper, textiles, and meaningful pieces throughout to create a home that feels rich and entirely her own.

'I think in a smaller space, the impulse is to keep it quieter overall, but I know that is not a home I want to live in, so I did not hold back when it came to wallpaper and textile patterns and overall architectural details,' she adds.

The key lies in the balance. Function is carefully considered, while personality is left absolutely intact.

If there’s one space that captures the spirit of the home, it’s the living room, says Melissa.

'The layer of pattern and personality is a personal favorite of mine,' she adds – and it’s easy to see why.

The fireplace acts as an anchor to the space, with cabinetry built by her husband Matt adding both storage and a personal touch. Atop the fireplace sits a Delft mantel clock that Melissa had been looking for 'for what felt like forever'.

'As I was designing the fireplace, I had this moment of “you know what would be perfect here?” And there started my hunt for the perfect one,' she explains. 'It took almost a year to find one that was both in great condition and not insanely outside my price range, so when I found it, I scooped it up as fast as I could, and now it truly is one of the items I would grab if running out the door from a fire.'

'The undersized bench ottoman is the perfect scale for the space, and the two armchairs in the corner really help carry the personality of the space,' she continues. 'Architecturally, the traditional fireplace surround speaks the same color language as the staircase and helps the space feel cohesive.'

'This is the space we gather most as a family – the cozy apricot sofa with the ruffled skirt is a very expensive dog bed, but also the place where I find myself fireside most early mornings and cozied under a blanket with a good book (or my laptop if work demands it) most nights.'

In a home where every square inch counts, the kitchen takes on multiple roles – functioning as both a place to cook and a space to gather. 'The kitchen is always the workhorse of a home, but especially here as it plays both dining and kitchen roles,' Melissa says.

'While it’s not the most generous kitchen for hosting, it does allow for one chef to carry the weight and the other chef to refill the wine while carrying the conversation with the daily download,' she notes.

Forgoing upper cabinets in favor of a custom-designed range hood, created in collaboration with a local carpenter, was a risk, particularly in a smaller kitchen. But it’s one that has more than paid off.

'The range hood is fully custom and is something I worked hand in hand with a local carpenter to design and bring to life,' Melissa adds.

'Every detail was carefully planned to make sure it both felt at home and proportional to the space, but also to maximize the fact that we were choosing to sacrifice upper cabinets & countertop space in a small kitchen in favor of a mostly decorative design element,' she continues. 'The end result speaks for itself, and I’m so glad the risk was worth it, as I haven’t missed an upper cabinet a single day I’ve lived there.'

Thoughtful accents also make the compact footprint work harder.

'The shelf over the sink provides the double duty of being the storage spot for the fresh produce for that week’s meal plan, but also allows for easy access to glasses and the perfect ledge to grow those fresh herbs throughout the year. The tapestry fabric cafe curtains carry the tapestry theme from the living room and help the spaces feel cohesive.'

In the main bedroom, color drenching takes center stage.

'The primary bedroom is wrapped in Farrow & Ball’s Sulking Room Pink, which is somehow sophisticated and playful at the same time,' Melissa says. It’s a confident choice, particularly in a smaller space, yet it softens the room, enveloping it in warmth.

'We use a lot of color, so making sure that room to room it feels like a cohesive story is a natural place to operate from,' she explains of the color scheme for the whole home. 'Some of this is using the same colors in multiple rooms and locations, other times it’s simply gathering all of the paint swatches in one place and ensuring they all feel great together.'

'In fact, that is probably my best tip overall: to gather all the paint swatches in an entire home and lay them out together – if a certain paint swatch stands out while viewing the collection together, it surely will stand out when walking a home with those paint colors in action,' Melissa advises.

'Elements like the tapestry lumbar and rattan lamps bring cohesion throughout the home, while elements like the cabbageware plate wall give it a personality all its own,' she adds of the cohesive design choices in the bedroom.

Rich in pattern and atmosphere, the primary bathroom leans into a more-is-more mood – more color, more pattern, and more storage.

'The primary bathroom is drenched in Morris & Co’s Pimpernel wallpaper with a moody green trim,' Melissa explains. What keeps it grounded is the thoughtful mix of patterns, tones, and materials, while set against the darker walls, the cabinetry introduces a softer, fresher note

'The light green vanity plays off the wallpaper and trim color but offsets the color story in a way that provides levity in a moody space,' she adds.

Upstairs, Melissa's daughter's bedroom feels like a gentle extension of the home’s style – layered, characterful, and designed with longevity in mind.

'The upstairs bedroom is the perfect space for a little girl to grow,' says Melissa. In here, she finally found the perfect spot for a wallpaper she's long loved.

'Surrounded by Colefax and Fowler wallpaper and French blue trim, it’s a grown-up yet playful space for a 7-year-old to enjoy,' she adds.

Here, the traditional floral print sets a soft, romantic tone, brought to life through a thoughtful mix of patterns, including gingham, stripes, and florals layered together in a way that feels playful rather than stuffy.

Moments of function are also woven in just as carefully as the decorative details. Melissa adds that they designed a 'window seat to watch the deer in the backyard' and selected a 'twin-size bobbin bed to dream in.'

Altogether, it's a bedroom befitting of someone much more stylish than the average 7-year-old.

In contrast to the pattern-filled bedroom, the upstairs bathroom takes a quieter approach.

'The bathroom off the upstairs bedroom is a story of restraint,' Melissa describes. 'Using floor-to-ceiling beadboard gives the space instant character while grounding the space with a walnut vanity.' The combination feels unexpectedly classic and considered for a children's bathroom.

Of course, this is still a home that embraces personality, and it comes through in carefully chosen moments. 'Mulberry Home’s Morning Gallop as a shower curtain gives the space instant personality,' she adds.

Beyond the layers of pattern and considered palette, it’s the personal details that give this home its soul.

In the 'tiny but mighty' entry, Melissa positioned a few of her most treasured antique finds. 'An antique decoupage umbrella holder that provides great function for Colorado’s wild weather, but also holds its own in the space. Above that is another antique find – a treasured oil painting of an unknown bearded man on canvas that is slightly wonky and so charming.'

The banquette chairs in the kitchen area, for example, were also sourced second hand. 'They were a fun Facebook Marketplace find, and I had little tie-on ruffle cushion slipcovers made out of extra fabric we had from the living room armchairs, made by our workroom to really make them sing,' Melissa explains.

What makes the bijoux home feel so cohesive isn’t just the palette or the patterns, but the threads that run through each space. One of the most effective is the use of repeated shapes.

'You will see a few themes repeating themselves throughout the house – one of those being the shape of the shelf bracket on the kitchen shelf over the sink,' Melissa explains.

'We carried that same shape into the rangehood alcove, the brackets on the pantry cabinets, and the corbels on the banquette seating. You’ll even see that same curve reflected in the decorative toekick and even played a part in how and why I selected the sofa and armchairs I did – to bring more of that curve into the soft surfaces as well.'

If there’s a feeling Melissa hopes this home evokes, it’s a sense of ease. 'I hope they feel like they can let down their shoulders and just relax,' she says. 'It’s a cozy spot but one that I really hope instantly puts you at ease.'

For a home that wasn’t meant to be forever, it certainly knows how to make an impression.

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