This Minnesota Home Celebrates Its Surroundings with Natural Wood Accents

Go ahead—touch the woodwork. “That’s what everybody wants to do when they come over,” says Margaux Christianson. Guests visiting her family’s Independence, MN, home, she explains, tend to run their fingers along the white oak stair rail, the honey-tone wood window frames, the alder interior doors, and the unexpected arched doorways leading to the kitchen, pantry, and foyer. “Everybody wants to touch the arches,” Margaux says, laughing.

Warm and Welcoming

It’s the generous use of natural wood and the strategic deployment of wallpaper and handmade tile that imbue the modern farmhouse with warmth. “We didn’t want the house to feel cold or sterile like a lot of new builds can be,” says Margaux, who with her husband, Paul, built the house in 2021. “We wanted it to feel welcoming and happy.”

Luckily, the couple had an interior designer in the family who could help them achieve their vision: Margaux’s cousin, Emily Pueringer. “Margaux and I share a lot of happy memories of childhood,” says Pueringer, who is based in Minneapolis and known for her balanced, artisanal-feel interiors. “I knew she wanted to re-create that joy for her boys.” Pueringer guided Margaux toward elevated details while grounding the home in a relaxed scheme that could withstand the energy of three hockey-playing sons, Fletcher, Sidney, and Clark.

Margaux and Paul bucked a trend by choosing unpainted woodwork for much of their home. “I love that they appreciate its natural beauty,” Pueringer says. To unite a mix of woods, she chose similar swirly grain patterns (rather than long vertical ones that can look busy) with golden undertones.

Details Make the Difference

Throughout the home, Pueringer balanced practicality (and budget) with luxurious flourishes. For example, the couple splurged on wood-frame windows on the main level but installed vinyl elsewhere. “I mix and match like crazy,” Pueringer says. “Windows don’t have to match throughout a house, as long as the same style is used in a room.”

The kitchen is at the heart of the family-friendly design. The couple love to cook and entertain, so they wanted a workhorse space that could fit (and seat) a crowd. “Everybody ends up in the kitchen,” Margaux says. One of the first decisions was a French range in a terra-cotta color that paired beautifully with white oak cabinetry and hand-painted Mediterranean-style terra-cotta tiles.

Ceiling beams bring a layer of character to the new home. The decorative beams are a type of foam clad in pine—a lighter-weight alternative to solid wood.

Hand-painted tiles, unlacquered brass hardware, and glass-front cabinets that resemble furniture evoke an old European farmhouse kitchen. The backsplash incorporates one rooster tile, a nod to Margaux’s having raised chickens as a girl and her parents telling her that having a rooster in the kitchen was good luck.

A bold orange-and-forest-green pattern that conjures an English cottage was their gutsier choice for the butler’s pantry. The home’s contrasting mix of creamy white and natural wood is on full display in this functional space. “It would have been boring if the cabinets were all white or all wood,” Pueringer says.“I like pushing the limits and having fun.”

Wood-frame windows share the same light tone as the flooring and dining table in the breakfast nook.

In the hallway mudroom, a bench with storage spots underneath maxes out function beneath windows. Porcelain tiles in a herringbone pattern up the interest on the floor.

Paul and Margaux Christianson’s living room takes its earthy palette from the wooded property outside its windows. Pueringer nixed traditional built-ins for floating shelves. “They’re airy and clean,” she says. The bench on one side of the fireplace reads like a shelf for continuity.

The Favorite Feature

Still, it’s those arched doorways that have proved to be the home’s most popular feature. Hiring a carpenter to make the curved jambs and casings was expensive, Margaux says, but they add a charm that the cousins find overwhelmingly delightful. “When they came in, Emily and I both kind of screamed,” Margaux says. Adds Pueringer,“ They’re the kind of detail that makes you appreciate true craftsmanship.”

Although Margaux leans toward minimalism, she added wallpaper in an homage to her and her cousin’s grandmothers, who owned a wallpaper business together in the 1960s. In the entry, pale cream and gray highlight a sitting nook.

In the primary bath, metal-frame mirrors echo the shape of the arched doorways. The backsplash of terra-cotta tiles—which Pueringer calls ”the jewelry of a house”—also plays into the curved theme. “Earthy terra-cotta or clay tones speak to me and are timeless,” Pueringer, says. “They have a global vibe, as those materials are used for so many things worldwide.”

Margaux and Paul stretched their work-from-home space by building a desk, into an arched niche in their bedroom. The lower floating shelf is short to keep wall space free to hang a television. A wishbone-style chair ensures the bedroom doesn’t scream office.

“Winters in Minnesota are frigid, so most people like wall-to-wall carpet in bedrooms,” says Pueringer, who chose an ultra plush version for the primary bedroom. Painted trim matches the room’s vinyl windows—the couple’s way of making these more affordable windows blend quietly into the room’s design.

Styled by Kelly Kegans