Photo by Alise O'Brien
In a quiet Des Peres subdivision, a newly built contemporary home catches the eye, standing out amid the more traditional houses on the street. Its clean, simple lines provide a hint of what lies within.
Artist and designer Lexie Morrison, who shares the home with her husband, Michael Morrison, and two young children, collaborated closely with Schaub & Srote Architects on its unique design, which she had been developing for years.
“When we first started discussing it, we were newly married, with no kids. I started sketching floor plans, and then we had our first kid and I scratched the plan,” she says. “When we had our second child, I changed the floor plan again. I think it was more than six or eight months of coming back to this third floor plan idea when I finally convinced myself it was the one.”
Eighteen months passed from the time she provided her original sketches to the architects to the completion of her dream home. An art history and architecture major in college, Morrison has always been creative-minded. “I think it’s just how I’m hardwired,” she says. “I’ve always loved homes and thinking about flow and design.”
Her husband’s taste skews more traditional, whereas Morrison is inclined toward contemporary modern. She went to school in New Hampshire and, after college, spent five years living in Los Angeles, where she worked in the movie industry and later for a sustainability consulting firm designing green spaces. The look of her house was inspired, in part, by the styles she loved from those two distinct regions.
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Photo by Alise O'Brien
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Photo by Alise O'Brien
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Photo by Alise O'Brien
“I wanted to merge traditional farmhouse elements from New Hampshire with modern, coastal design elements from California,” she says. “I wanted the space to feel serene and minimal with tons of natural light but still feel homey and comfortable.”
Her list of must-haves included a mudroom, an open kitchen with a butler’s pantry, and a flexible living and dining area that could be easily adapted for entertaining family and friends.
The finished home checks all these boxes and more. A foyer defined by a lowered ceiling and herringbone hardwood floor gives way to a long, open hearth room with a soaring vaulted ceiling flanked by clerestory windows that flood the space with light. The centerpiece is a floor-to-ceiling double-sided fireplace clad in whitewashed pine with cozy and stylish seating areas on either side of the fireplace. The hearth room opens to the dining room on one side and the kitchen on the other.
The large kitchen is finished in a combination of light and dark woods, with small peninsulas providing additional workspace and serving areas. Morrison chose brass hardware and Caesarstone’s Fresh Concrete countertops. A striking custom-colored encaustic cement tile backsplash from cementtileshop.com covers a section of the back wall from stove to ceiling. To define the butler’s pantry area, she kept the cabinetry dark and used marble countertops.
“My thought process with the counter space was that people can congregate,” Morrison says. “It was critical to think about the traffic pattern—making sure I could still have my work triangle but not have everybody right where I was.”
The kitchen’s statement piece—a dramatic modern light fixture from England made of banana leaf fiber—was a splurge.
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Photo by Alise O'Brien
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Photo by Alise O'Brien
Though Morrison trusted her gut with the home’s design and finishes, she was at a loss when it came to furnishings. That’s where interior designer Marci Marsh, co-owner of Frill Home in Ladue, came in.
“I had gone into her store, and it was so different than traditional design stores in St. Louis,” Morrison says. “I wasn’t initially thinking of having an interior designer help me, because I really didn’t know anyone in St. Louis that was my style, but Marci just got me. Everything she presented to me was exciting and made sense.”
Marsh suggested most of the furniture in the hearth room, including a pair of sculptural chairs from Blu Dot, situated next to the fireplace. Morrison says it’s her favorite spot in which to sit and read. On the opposite side, Marsh introduced a woven rattan chair by Palecek and had the cushions covered in a vibrant purple fabric to bring in a pop of color. She also helped place pieces that Morrison purchased on her own, such as a long vintage basketball bench that fits neatly against a wall.
“We work well together,” Marsh says. “This house is amazing and totally different, and it’s also a challenge because it’s so open and every room has to speak to the next.”
Several of Morrison’s own paintings hang in the foyer and hearth room. She recently sold a painting in Marsh’s shop and has been assisting family and friends with their home design, even starting her own firm: Blue Rider Design. With her family’s home now complete, she’s hoping that the extra time will present her with more opportunities to design.
