Ten years ago, the Osborns moved two doors down from the home of their dreams.
The family of five bought a handsome house in a lakeside community in Waterloo, Nebraska. Community happy hours took Stacie and Shane Osborn to other lakeside homes, and they fell in love with a neighbor’s place.
Fast forward to 2019, and the nearby dream house was on the market. The Osborns jumped at the opportunity and purchased the place they’d admired for years.
“Our old house had a different feel,” Stacie said. “We loved it, but it was darker woods and colors. This [new home] definitely had more of a beachy feel, with the brights and whites and all the windows with light coming in.”
As the family planned their transition to the new place down the shore, they recognized the need to hire designers for such a drastic style change. They reached out to Fluff Interiors of Omaha in May 2019.
“What I loved about their process was that they came over, blank slate, and just started asking questions,” Stacie said. “We filled out sheets of what we liked to do as a family, what were our side hobbies, etc. We love to travel. We went with a ‘Hamptons meets Nebraska’ theme, so downstairs there are lots of blues and beach colors.”
Upstairs is a cluster of rooms for the couple’s three teenage girls. The sisters’ floor includes three single bedrooms, each designed for that girl’s unique tastes and hobbies and with its own en suite bath, and a shared hangout space.
“We knew moving here, at the ages that they were, this was going to be the last [room] makeover before college. So, we wanted something youthful that would last them before they went off,” Stacie said.
Enter Fluff designer Lorrie Williams.
“The parents were fully on board with letting them choose,” Williams remembered. “It’s so great to do spaces that reflect personalities and not impose designers’ or Mom’s or Dad’s ideas. We had everything from super glam to playful.”
At 14, Addison is the youngest.
“She’s our fun-loving, lighthearted sports girl. She wanted something colorful that she could relax in and enjoy,” Stacie said.
Addison’s room is a light teal with worn beach wood and various fabrics and patterns dotted around her space. Her reading nook looks out onto the water.
“Some of the art on the walls were things she did herself,” Williams said. “She may rotate things out, but we wanted to display those.”
There’s a large, magnetic marker board in her nook space, useful for her doodling and Shakespearean sonnet memorization.
“We think as much about function as we do form. We try to make the home livable and lovely,” Williams remarked.
Alyssa is the middle daughter, at 15.
“Our phrase for her was ‘future influencer,’” Williams added. “She loved all things girly and makeup, and following along with people on social media.” “She is the social butterfly and one who I approve my outfits with before I leave the house,” Stacie noted.
Fluff chose a soft lilac and leafy wallpaper for Alyssa’s bedroom, a big change from the zebra-print walls of her old room. Her carpets and blankets are plush, her space is lit with a drop chandelier, and her nook has sliding drawers for extra storage.
Isabella is the eldest sister at 17.
“Bella’s room is playful and transitional. We added lots of black-and-white elements that weren’t super girly,” Williams said.
“She’s our shoe collector with the biggest closet, and loves dogs. We had a picture of Goldie [the family’s esteemed mini goldendoodle] and they did this watercolor of her,” Stacie said, pointing to a pop art canvas print that Fluff had made from the photo. “It’s one of the favorite things in the whole house.” Stacie then pointed to a door draped with curtains. “She has a little balcony. It’s very Tangled-ish,” she said, referencing the Disney princess flick.
Each of the tiny glass bulbs in Bella’s chandelier were installed by the Fluff team. Her desk doubles as a vanity, and her rose-colored walls are paired with neutral grays and cozy creams.
The final space on the floor is what they call the bonus room, designed with an atmosphere for hanging out with friends, watching movies, and playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii. The couch is deep—as big as a single bed—so the girls can host friends for slumber parties.
“Fluff did everything down to the shampoos in the showers, every last detail,” Stacie remembered. “We brought no furniture, just our personal items. When the floods happened [referencing the historic flooding in western Douglas County in spring 2019], we were within days of taking over the new house. So we ended up donating a lot of things, like our couches, to someone who lost everything. It was good timing in that aspect, that we could actually do some good with it.” “It doesn’t take a lot of convincing to get their friends to come out here,” Shane noted. “I have a feeling this summer is going to be a revolving door with teenage kids. Whatever we can do to spend time with them.”
When the space was finally finished, and the clothes and personal things had been walked or wagon-wheeled down the street, Fluff brought in photographers to capture the girls’ reactions seeing their rooms for the first time. Their faces are surprised, enthused, and dreamy.
“Fluff did such a good job, there’s nothing I ever want to change,” Stacie said.
This article originally appeared in the June 2021 issue of Omaha Home. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
