'This House Could Take It' – Inside a French-Country-Meets-Folk Retreat Full of Collections and Color That Dances Throughout Each Room

Tucked into the pine-covered slopes, near Lake Tahoe, this ski house retreat had all the makings of a perfect family getaway – but little in the way of soul.

'The space was good, but the character was lacking,' says designer Heather Peterson. Rather than overhaul it completely from the original house design, the approach was more nuanced: to work with what was there, refining and reinterpreting while introducing layers of warmth, personality, and charm.

Existing features – from the kitchen cabinetry to the corner stove – were retained and reworked, with what Heather describes as a strategy to 'add character where possible and distract from items that we would not have chosen, but did choose to keep.'

'The lot is full of pine trees, and even in summer, there is a whiff of winter.'

'We leaned in to the alpine vibe, incorporating some European mountain antiques in some of our furnishings but keeping the aesthetic of the American West in some of our textiles and other elements,' Heather explains of the influence from the surrounding landscape.

'Our work tends to be eclectic, and we typically name our projects with two opposing keywords that describe the mix. This house is French Country meets Folk,' she continues.

'French country for the pattern-on-pattern maximalism, the ruffled valances and skirted sofas, the French textiles and the red gingham that threads throughout.'

'Folk for the rustic, handmade elements, found objects, and references to craft like needlepoint,' Heather adds. 'We wanted the house to feel rooted in old things, but new nonetheless.'

The result is a home that feels layered and personal, where pattern drenching, folk decor, and Scandi maximalism are carefully mixed.

The clients, returning collaborators, were clear in their vision for this second home. 'We had worked with them to design their primary residence in the Bay Area,' says Heather. 'They wanted a very different vibe and did not want to repeat anything we had used in their main house. Here, we went much heavier on the pattern and included more traditional lines and more layers, ruffles, and flounces.'

Thanks to the home’s generous proportions and vaulted ceilings, Heather was able to really lean into this brief, balancing moments of maximalism that are offset by the calmness outside. 'The house could take it!' she says.

'In the great room, the soaring ceilings and white walls leave plenty of breathing room for color and pattern, and we used baskets as a neutral and a texture to add warmth,' Heather explains.

A big part of that balance also comes down to repetition. Rather than introducing endless new motifs, Heather threads familiar elements throughout to create an 'underlying sense of order' – most notably the red gingham, which appears in different scales across multiple rooms.

'Repeating the red gingham in different scales on each floor of the house was a strategic choice,' she adds. 'We also make sure that colors dance through the house in different applications.'

'For example, the blue that drenches the mudroom reappears on the living room sofas, then hops up to an accent color in the loft walls.'

Just as important is how the house is zoned. Many of the boldest spaces are deliberately kept out of each other’s sightlines, allowing each room to fully lean into its own personality.

If there’s one space that encapsulates how this house makes maximalism feel livable, it’s the great room, comprised of kitchen, living, and dining room with soaring ceilings and a wall of windows.

Within this airy space, the seating arrangement does the grounding work. 'It was important to maximize the seating, as this is a large family and they like to host,' she continues. 'A pair of sofas in a Swedish blue buffalo check ground the area, with a pair of the client's existing chairs reupholstered in a cozy fabric and the John Derian Mantis chair, which the kids call "The Weird Chair," rounding out the arrangement.'

Rather than replace, Heather's design approach builds upon what was already there.

While they mostly kept the original floor plan of the home, there were a few tweaks made here and there. 'The cabinetry was in good shape, and the wood finish made sense for Tahoe,' says Heather.

'In the kitchen, we kept the cabinets, countertops, and stainless steel appliances but dressed it all up with more cottage-inspired pulls and backsplash, and drew the eye away from the original fixtures, with layered textiles and a slew of baskets collected for just this purpose,' she adds.

Like something out of a storybook, the vintage kitchen oozes whimsy and charm.

'We punted on any larger renovation and just spruced things up for now, with a charming backsplash from Tabarka that reminds me of an otomi textile and white porcelain pulls that really freshen up the cabinetry,' Heather adds.

'A paisley ruffled valance in an Amy Karyn textile really brings the French Country vibe, and we skirted the sink cabinet to warm up the stainless steel,' she continues. 'A little pendant from Matilda Goad is the icing on the cake.'

In the bedrooms, the home’s maximalist approach becomes more cocooning, rich in pattern, texture, and narrative.

All three rooms are wrapped in wallpapers from House of Hackney, yet the similarities end there. These are spaces with their own vibe.

However, that sense of individuality is balanced by a consistent thread of texture and craft. Striped wool carpets run through the guest rooms, 'reminiscent of handknit sweaters,' grounding the schemes with a softness that nods to the home’s folk influences.

'These rooms are truly immersive environments,' says Heather.

The twin bedroom is a standout space that captures the spirit of the house. 'It is a wholly unique and complete environment that really showcases so many of the themes of the home,' Heather agrees.

'The room is swathed in a magical wallpaper and grounded with carpet that feels like a Fair Isle sweater,' she continues. 'The two-poster beds are an antique find from Chairish that add some whimsy and drama, and really expand the feeling of this tiny room.'

'The faux bois table gives woods, and the birchbark lamp and Pendleton blankets really nod to the American West.'

Perhaps the most cossetting room of the house is the primary bedroom, in the 'darkest corner of the house,' says Heather.

'We leaned in with a moody mauve wallpaper that reads a bit like a quilt, and graphic elements like the striped headboard,' she explains.

Smaller in proportion than the main living areas, the room leans into its intimacy, with carefully chosen furnishings that feel appropriately sized. 'The tiny little nightstands feel as if they were picked up in the same flea market as the foosball table in the family room, and they are the perfect size to squeeze into the room,' she adds.

The loft offers a gentle change of pace from the cozy bedrooms. 'Upstairs, the loft feels like a treehouse, with large windows looking into high branches of the pines,' Heather describes, adding 'to come up here is to ascend into a very different mood.'

'While the lower and main level are full of quite strong, warm colors, this space is soothed by a linen fabric used as wallcovering in cool shades of green and blue. The space is filled with folky vintage finds and a mix of textiles,' she adds.

The newly created bonus room continues this sense of calm and flexibility.

'Off the main room is the new bonus room, with new bookshelves, a custom daybed with trundle (always maximizing the sleeping options), and a drop-leaf table for maximum flexibility,' she explains.

'I love the faux bois chairs, found locally in Minneapolis and reupholstered in a favorite Pierre Frey embroidered print,' Heather adds. Together, these upper-level spaces prove that even within a maximalist home, there is room for pause.

Choosing to work with the bones of the house wherever possible meant they were able to enhance or reinterpret some key elements, Heather explains.

'In the living room, a stove in the corner previously had an oddly placed stone running up the wall and meeting the ceiling asymmetrically,' she says. 'We kept the stove but added a mantel to create a spot for tile and replaced a contemporary stacked slate with a more traditional clay-bodied tile.'

'The bar in the basement was the same – not high quality but not junk, and worth keeping... but not good looking,' she continues. 'These were the main areas where we used distraction as a key tool!'

Look closely, and it’s the act of collecting that binds this home together.

'This house is full of collections,' says Heather. 'The layer of baskets is a real connective tissue. We collected over 100 baskets in different sizes, colors, and weaves, mostly flat enough to hang on the wall, but some also live on the top of the cabinets and the mantel in the living room. They allowed us to fill in blank spaces in a sculptural way, rather than adding another wall pattern.

'It is always a joy to be collecting for a project. It really keeps our eyes and hearts attuned to the home while we are working on it!'

There’s a sense of joy in the details of this project, and above all, a feeling that this is a home designed to be lived in, not just looked at. As Heather reflects, the result is 'Happy and energized. It’s such a little world of its own!'

Love beautiful design ideas, expert advice, and inspiring decor trends? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.