Designer Meta Coleman's deeply individual house in Utah
Taste, as tribal and self-conscious as it can be, is in its purest form a palimpsest of memories. Impressions gathered over the course of a lifetime, re-trodden and adapted, but still bearing an imprint of their original form. The homes that one inhabits, as a child in particular, seem to sink to a deep part of the subconscious, often becoming the building blocks for personal expression later in life. Such is the case at this house in Utah belonging to the American interior designer Meta Coleman, her artist husband Nicholas and their two teenage children.
After separating from Meta's father, her mother ('German, liberal, artistic, blunt - very different to our neighbours') had relocated from Washington, DC, to Provo, Utah, a leafy college town an hour south of Salt Lake City, surrounded by the towering mountains of the Wasatch Front. Meta's childhood summers were spent at the house of her maternal grandparents in Germany. Her grandfather was an architect and a great collector of antiques and art and, though he had died before Meta was born, the home he had made with her grandmother became an enduring aesthetic influence.
'That house shaped how I think about design,' Meta says. 'It made me sensitive to the way you can create an atmosphere with colour and objects. My study is actually inspired by the design of my grandfather's in Germany. There is a lot of his essence in my home. The colour palette - the reds, blues, greens and yellows - in this house are all a by-product of the European side of my upbringing. It's complicated. I don't always resonate with American culture, but I'm also not totally German. That's the wonderful thing about travel, I guess. I'm a big proponent of choosing which parts of a culture you want to embrace as part of your own philosophy.'
Meta went to college in her hometown of Provo, studied photography and married Nicholas. In 2004, the couple bought a plot of land to build a house: 'We were only 27, so it was a little hare-brained.' They based the architecture on what she describes as a classic Colonial style and continues, 'We thought, you can't get that too wrong. But, admittedly, there are some things that are a little off.'
The house remained a blank canvas for years, its decoration evolving over two decades as a series of what Meta describes as 'experiments'. As the couple travelled the world, they would return with new ideas to try: a ceiling frieze inspired by the Wiener Werkstätte in the sitting room; a tile pattern copied from Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris in the bath-room. The house contains a happy confluence of influences - Biedermeier, the Vienna Secession movement, Alpine and Bavarian motifs alongside Josef Frank textiles.
In the kitchen, blond alder wood cabinets reminiscent of an Alpine chalet are coupled with tiled walls that were inspired by traditional Portuguese kitchens. The children's bathroom has vintage Ikea lights and a striking tile pattern - with the look of an amoeba under a microscope - based on a classic Italian design but subtly rescaled and recoloured. Meta says she was trying to evoke the feeling of an Italian bathroom that has been there for ages but got a revamp in the 1960s.
For Meta, who worked as an interiors stylist before moving into interior design, this kind of storytelling is an intrinsic part of the way she decorates. Her house is an accumulation of fragments gathered over the course of her married life, telling the story of their family. But, she explains, it is 'really about the art'. The couple collects 19th-century works and are especially drawn to the landscapes and finely drawn birds of Swedish painters. They encourage their children to contribute and their own drawings hang in smart frames among the older pieces. Their daughter has painted the walls of her room with a mural of manga-inspired characters, which she started (with help) when she was eight and returned to a couple of years ago aged 11. Adding to the creative feel is a portrait of each family member on the respective bedroom door, painted by their illustrator friend Merrilee Liddiard.
'I grew up with children's books by the Swedish artist Carl Larsson and his home in Sundborn, Lilla Hyttnas, has always been an inspiration to me. He and his wife Karin, who was also an artist, created it totally according to their own taste. They just did what they liked because they were compelled to,' says Meta. 'When you look at their neighbours' houses, you realise how different it would have looked at the time. So I don't really care whether or not somebody likes what we've done here. I feel strongly that everybody deserves to have a home that they love, designed on their own terms. I've always tried to live by that kind of ethos'.
Meta Coleman: metacoleman.com
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Dean Hearne4/12A curtain in 'Lennox' from Fabricut with a vintage trim and the Delft tile border add decorative touches round the doorway. Artwork includes a Gavin Houghton plate and a Caroline Roux Beauzon still life next to the door, and a Wiener Werkstätte poster above the stairs.
Dean Hearne5/12The bespoke bench designed by Meta provides an inviting spot to sit and admire the Olof Rudbeck bird prints.
Dean Hearne6/12In the bathroom, 'Wave' wallpaper by Edward Bawden from Common Room and simple tiles are the backdrop for a Biedermeier-style basin unit.
Dean Hearne7/12Patterned tiles feature in the children's bathroom, a basin skirt in Carolina Irving's 'Indian Flower' and a frog stool from a flea market create a fun, lively feel.
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Dean Hearne9/12Paintings by artists including Mosse Stoopendaal, Alex Warnick, Meta's husband Nicholas and his father Michael hang over the bed in the main bedroom, upholstered in Howe at 36 Bourne Street's ‘Mr Men’ linen. Cushions in Beata Heuman's 'Palm Drop' tone with the Rugvista rug, while an oblong cushion in 'Under Ekvatorn' and sofa in 'Primavera linen, both by Josef Frank, introduce stronger pattern
Dean Hearne10/12In Meta's daughter's bedroom. the charming four poster is based on Carl Larsson's bed and has curtains in 'Little F' linen from Howe at 36 Bourne Street with a yellow pompom trim from Samuel & Sons. A long cushion in Josef Frank's 'Tulpaner', and a floral quilt and geometric rug - both vintage finds - complete this sunny scheme.
Dean Hearne11/12Hand-painted murals of sweet characters inspired by their daughter's love of Japanese art and animation create a playful juxtaposition with the classic Scandinavian wooden furniture, including an antique Danish daybed (which both Meta and her daughter slept in when they were small) and a Swedish bedside table bought at auction.
Dean Hearne12/12The front door features a geometric design in 'Stone Blue' by Farrow & Ball, and 'Black Forest Green' and 'Cotton Balls' by Benjamin Moore, which contrasts with the stucco facade.
