S
tephanie Sarro's Liberty Lake home is flooded with light and punctuated by color, a joyous yet serene place that accurately captures the versatile designer's personality.Light pours into the great room — her favorite space — from every direction: the glass entryway, the slider onto the enclosed patio, and through a series of rectangular windows that line the upper floor where Sarro has her studio.
Next, color! Dania chairs and a live edge dining table sit atop an abstract turquoise rug, a color reiterated in art prints on the entry wall, but also the subdued teal tone of a leather chaise-couch. Variations on orange and red appear in pillows, the glow of glue-lam ceiling beams, the fox motif rug in the grandchildren's playroom off the main entry, and numerous artworks, including Sarro's large watercolor of leaves that hangs over the fireplace.
Her favorite item — located just off the great room — is a vibrant, rainbow-striped quilt visible every time she walks in the door, like a beacon.
"It's called 'The Hope,'" from the story of Noah, explains Sarro.
Sarro's interest in art and design started as a youngster growing up in the Washington, D.C., area. She remembers designing and sewing intricate outfits for her dolls. Her grandfather worked in a furniture factory, which he eventually took over, and Sarro knows that both his ambition and being around furniture influenced her. Likewise, her uncle was an artist, and Sarro's mother enrolled her and her sister in all kinds of lessons at a young age: swimming, skiing, cooking, acting, knitting.
Sarro was drawn to architecture and attended North Carolina State University's School of Architecture/College of Design. Her mother's best friend — a female — was an architect, which was an eye-opener for Sarro. "I thought, 'I can be an architect and a mom, both,'" says Sarro, who raised and homeschooled four children, all grown now.
Interior design seemed a better fit, however, and perfectly synthesizes Sarro's interest in art, design and helping others.
She's maintained her skills in art — still hand-rendering all her clients' interior designs — and is particularly attuned to watercolor. As a young mother she provided art lessons to local children and later, Elizabeth Kincaid's book Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light fueled her passion for painting. Although she has sold many of her pieces and continues to exhibit, she says, she hasn't wanted to try to make a living with her painting. And she still sews, creating custom draperies for clients.
"I don't have a favorite style," says Sarro, whose own home is mostly midcentury modern, while her current projects include a Tudor-style remodel, a farmhouse chic project and a Craftsman.
What's important to her, says Sarro, is that she's accommodating clients with their style.
