A Room of Her Own
A bright, feminine loft gives its owner a place to work and play—and enjoy her most beloved possessions
This loft in downtown Bozeman, Montana, is every woman’s dream: It’s feminine and pretty, intimate and intentional, with just enough room to give owner Jennifer Perry space to create and think—all by herself.
“My house is crazy,” she says. “I have a husband, two sons and two male dogs, so it’s ‘Testosterone City.’” So when she began running her family’s guest ranch, Glacier Ridge Ranch in Trego, Mont., Perry decided she needed an office space of her own. “I started thinking, ‘If I had a little space to breathe, I could write a screenplay, create some art.’ I have all these ideas. I just needed a place to act on them.”
She discovered this 700-square-foot loft in downtown Bozeman, and with help from interior designer Abby Hetherington, completely transformed it. After finishing the dull-but-essential tasks of replacing the plumbing and electrical system, the two women set to work creating a space that became more than an office. “It’s a story of Jen’s life,” Hetherington says. “The best designs reflect a person’s desires, her history and her future. I love when it gets personal.”
Perry began by showing Hetherington her most beloved possessions, many of them from her maternal grandmother, author Elizabeth Chater. These keepsakes included a poem Perry’s grandmother had written for her to read on her wedding day; an “Indiana Jones” hat her grandmother had worn while traveling; romance novels her grandmother published after her retirement from teaching at San Diego State; and vintage suitcases and hat boxes Perry picked up at local antique stores. “For so long, I had these things stuffed in drawers or stored in my garage,” Perry says. “Now I get to display them and enjoy them.”
The loft is just large enough to house Perry’s treasures: Its modest footprint comprises one large living area, a small kitchen, a tiny dining room, a full bath and a bedroom-turned-workroom. Hetherington decided to separate the large living room into two intimate spaces: a living room anchored by the fireplace, and an office, marked by a beautiful, lacquered custom desk and built-in cabinets.
With so many personal items to feature, Hetherington chose a neutral, grown-up palette of white walls, white kitchen cabinets and upholstered furnishings in muted hues to serve as a clean backdrop. Her color “splurges” are the bold green cabinet in the main room’s sitting area and the turquoise cubbies in the work room. The rest of the loft’s color and warmth come from accessories, tile and art.
“We wanted the end result to feel ‘found’ and meaningful, not just purchased to fill the space,” Hetherington says. And so she gave Perry’s favorite things—and her grandmother’s legacy—top billing. For the living area, she hired a graphic designer to blow up the wedding-day poem and transform it into a piece of art. Beneath it stands a wicker cart that displays antique liquor bottles and crystal Perry inherited from her grandmother. Because Perry’s grandmother wrote romance novels, Hetherington selected art for the kitchen called “Cooked Books” from Natural Curiosities.
Perry is thrilled with her private retreat. “Abby took all the randomness of my life, all these little pieces that mean so much to me, and she made it all look intentional and fun and creative,” she says. “It’s magical here”—so magical, in fact, that she hasn’t yet given her husband a key. Some things just aren’t meant to be shared.
INTERIOR DESIGNER Abby Hetherington Interiors, Bozeman MT, 406-570-4180, hetheringtoninteriors.com ENTRY MURAL Anthropologie, anthropoligie.com BENCH Vintage Gossip Bench, Rose Cumming fabric, Kneedler-Fauchere, 595 S. Broadway, Denver, Colo., 303-744-7474, denverdesigndistrict.com LIGHT FIXTURE Made Goods, madegoods.com DINING ROOM WALLPAPER Crocodilo Vinyl wallpaper, Osborne and Little, Dixion Group, osbornandlittle.com LIGHT FIXTURE Noir, noirfurniturela.com, STOOLS Noir, Nobils Fabric, Kneedler-Fauchere, 595 S. Broadway, Denver, Colo., 303-744-7474, denverdesigndistrict.com KITCHEN LIGHT FIXTURES Curry and Company, curreycodealers.com ART Cooked Books from Natural Curiosities, naturalcuriosities.com APPLIANCES Big Chill bigchill.comTILE Montana Tile and Stone, 58 Peregrine Way, Bozeman, MT, 406- 587-6114, montanatile.com LIVING ROOM POSTER Finn Design MIRROR Made Goods, madegoods.com TILE Montana Tile and Stone, 58 Peregrine Way, Bozeman, MT, 406- 587-6114, montanatile.com PILLOW FABRIC Jane Shelton, Zoffany, Rose Tarlow, janeshelton.com, rosetarlow.com VASE Arteriors, arteriorshome.com OTTOMAN Hickory Chair, Rose Cumming fabric, Kneedler-Fauchere, 595 S. Broadway, Denver, Colo., 303-744-7474,denverdesigndistrict.com SOFA Mike Reagan (Rags) usarags.com, fabric by Andrew Martin CABINET Laura Fedro Interiors, laurafedrointeriors.com CHAIR Noir, noirfurniturela.com SIDE TABLE Made Goods, madegoods.com WINDOWS Osborne and Little, osbornandlittle.com OFFICE DESK Laura Fedro Interiors, laurafedrointeriors.com DESK CHAIR Fabric Opuzen CABINETS Laura Fedro Interiors, laurafedrointeriors.com ART Kirsten Kainz, 5263 Hamm Rd., Belgrade, MT, 406-388-5049 WORK ROOM CUBBIES Rusty Nail Design, rustynaildesign.net WORK TABLE MFGR Design, http://hetheringtoninteriors.com
