Beachy doors in Palm Springs-pink contrast with the psychedelic instrumental rock music, mellowing the entrance into Cara Crawford’s ranch home. Izzy, a seven-year-old chihuahua-terrier mix, lies on an earthy-colored pillow like a white-and-tan freckled Moroccan princess in the living room. The small dog acts like she owns the place, shooting a side-eye, before resting her head on the downy material.
“They’ll have to pry this home from my cold dead hands,” Crawford quipped.
Crawford, 35, moved to five different places in the last six years but couldn’t resist the lure of the geometric-shaped house designed by architect Gary Goldstein in 1965. As an agent with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate The Good Life Group, she knew the importance of acting swiftly and sent photos to her husband, Brendan Bishop, who was out of town at the time.
Six years prior, the then divorced mother of two children, Ainsley and Owen, could barely afford a mortgage on a single income as a non-profit fundraiser and marketer. Crawford, an accounting major, switched careers and earned her real estate license in 2020. She quit her previous job that January, but the COVID-19 pandemic hit the housing market in March. Crawford’s savvy sense of business, coupled with a genuine interest in seeing others happy in their homes, prevailed through a tough time that also allowed her to open COBA Collective with Bishop one year later. The project management and design company fashions unique experiences for clients who need guidance in staging, coordinating, or cleaning before a house sells. Bishop, retired when he met Crawford through mutual friends five years ago, put on his creative hat.
“We are a Venn diagram where we come together, and it just works out,” said Bishop, a former chief operating officer for Hillcrest Health Services.
The two married on New Year’s Eve in Costa Rica this year, making it a week-long adventure with friends and family. Wanderlust dusts the aesthetic of the residence’s interior with memories. Crawford warms the rooms with pinks and browns while Bishop cools it down with pops of wavy blue tones. Tufted terra cotta cushions, a round Marrakesh brown leather ottoman pouf, and a nut-brown checkered rug bring back the spicy streets of their Morocco vacations. Midcentury modern mingles in a stylish vibe with Room & Board rose velvet swivel chairs and a navy leather push-back chaise recliner with a walnut wood frame. Bishop bought it in Boston, his first “adult piece of furniture.”
Sunlight streams from tall windows while sable wood beams add dimension. Ornamental three-dimensional snowy panels hug a gas fireplace, a feature the family takes full advantage of by cuddling on their comfy tan sofa to watch ‘80s flicks during cold winter nights. The Herman Miller saucer bubble pendant designed by midcentury luminary George Nelson teases at the couple’s hippie-swank tendencies.
The pair saw the dove-white walls as a blank canvas to showcase meaningful experiences from their lives, both before and after they became a couple. Bishop wanted to reuse a cherry wood tree stump from his family’s acreage, so he carved it into an end table. His mother’s artwork dots the walls, along with that of Omaha natives Dan Boylan, Justin Beller, and Watie White. The newlyweds exchanged artwork as wedding gifts to add more multi-hued pieces onto their walls.
“Our gray-haired experiences lead into our living environments,” Bishop, 47, said. “My mom taught me growing up that art was essential. She instilled in me the idea that creativity is an integral part of being a well-rounded human being. I always lived that way.”
Under the watchful eye of a Boylan artwork, camel-colored chairs surround a reclaimed walnut table with a brass light fixture glowing overhead in the dining room. The family, though, typically eats in the alcove, an addition constructed in the 1990s, next to the white subway-tiled kitchen. Black plastic IKEA chairs sit around the midcentury tulip table with a marble top, an iconic piece designed by Eero Saarinen. A frosted glass pendant light, shipped from Morocco, is a souvenir from an overseas holiday.
Crawford firmly believes design doesn’t need to feature expensive pieces. The thrifter discovered unique fixtures for under $100, while flexible furniture adds more cost-saving decorating solutions. Rolling a rose chair into the dining area or an end table into the sunken living room, for example, allows for easy interchangeability.
The couple can bask in the serene sunken space after work, tapping their bare feet on the gray-blue carpet while listening to albums or reading non-fiction books on the midnight indigo Mod Lines Vintage Mid Century & Retro couch. The brass barre chandelier illuminates the darker colors and creates continuity. A gunmetal built-in cabinet displays treasured collections on its shelves. Creamy travertine stone lightens the black hedge by the gas fireplace while windows on either side elongate the area.
“I don’t even need to travel anymore because I love my house so much,” Crawford said.
Bishop may disagree, still preferring the sense of nature’s calm vibrations in places like Costa Rica. The eclectic design zooms into focus, showing the story of their lives with more blank walls awaiting additional memories.
Follow Cara Crawford’s aesthetic journey on Instagram @caralovesomaha.
This article originally appeared in the May 2024 issue of Omaha Home magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
