If any of you parents out there ever need advice on keeping your kids' rooms tidy, you might put in a call to Susan and Tom Lujan.
This interior design duo, who run their own business, have two teenagers with bedrooms that would make an organized grown-up blush.
But then, as Susan says, it's not surprising. The kids have grown up around a couple who need and want everything to be in its place.
And so it is throughout the entire Oro Valley home the Lujans bought more than a decade ago but really only made their own four years ago.
They'd moved here from Santa Barbara, Calif. (Tom, 45, is originally from Tucson), rented for a while, then bought this spec home with a view to eventually moving on.
But when they started looking at bigger homes and other areas of town, it became clear, says Tom, that they'd be spending as much money upgrading a larger or custom home as they would upgrading this one. "The bones of this house were still really good," he says.
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So it was back to their "vanilla box," as Susan called it, and a six-month overhaul that saw floors, countertops and cabinets replaced and bathrooms reconfigured.
Years of catering to clients, visiting high-end homes and suggesting some of the coolest stuff on the market meant that when it came to redoing their own home, the Lujans were armed and ready with ideas.
Living through the remodel made them more sympathetic to their own customers, says Tom. "We've used that experience to coach them through it, because it's a really trying time."
The Lujans are precise. They know what they want, which is order and calm and surfaces clear of clutter.
And so the transformation included neat little hideaway ideas. Like the two cabinets that face them as they come into the hallway from their garage — one each for Susan and Tom — to store their personal items. And the his-and-hers cabinets on their master bathroom vanity, which store electrical items like hairdryers and toothbrushes.
The Lujans like constant music, mostly the gentle, ambient sort you might meditate to. So the home was rewired to include speakers and controls in almost every room — even the master closet — and a sound system that can play CDs, DVDs, satellite radio or television.
They favor natural materials and an earthy palate of browns, creams and grays. The original carpet and ceramic tile were replaced with mesquite and slate, and the stone continues outside, with tumbled pavers in the front courtyard and backyard.
The indoor-to-outdoor transition is almost seamless, thanks to foldaway French doors at the front and back of the house. And across the courtyard, what was a relatively unused guest room with its own entrance is now a home gym.
"Now we use every inch of the space in this house," says Susan, 43.
The kitchen, replete with high-end appliances including freezer drawers and an under-counter microwave oven, has a copper sink, dark-gray granite countertops, and a glass-mosaic tile backsplash from specialty-tile supplier Fractured Earth . This look is repeated in the bathrooms, powder room and laundry room, with variations in the tile.
And in both the master bathroom and their children's shared bathroom, the tubs were hauled out and replaced with walk-in showers.
Which brings us back to those tidy kids, Mecah, 15, and Josh, 16. Tom and Susan say they remained relatively hands-off when it came to the design of their children's rooms. Both teens were allowed to choose their own color schemes: black, white and gray for Josh; bubblegum pink and brown for Mecah . . . for now, anyway.
Mecah wants to be a fashion designer, and her mind and color scheme are fluid. "It changes a lot," says Tom with a roll of his eyes.
Resources
The Lujans own Aesthetics Interiors, a design firm that partners with Sandra Keeney Interiors. Visit www.aestheticsinteriors.net
The Lujans used the following suppliers:
• Clyde Hardware, 331 S. Olsen Ave., 622-6431
• Fractured Earth, open to the design and construction trade only. 620-6219 or fracturedearth.com
• Westar Kitchen & Bath, 3850 W. Orange Grove Road, 747-0500 or www.westar-sw.com/tucson/ tucson.shtml
• Sun Lighting, 4545 E. Broadway, 322-4303 or www.sunlighting.net
• Plants of Distinction, 6930 E. Tanque Verde Road, 721-4577
• A and R Home Technologies LLC, a custom home-entertainment firm, 908-7252 or www.aravtechs.com
Designer Series
At Home is running an occasional series on the designers who took part in the American Society of Interior Designers Arizona South Chapter's recent Where Designers Dwell home tour. Visit www.asidtucson.org