Emily Choi’s memories of the 1950s house she grew up in are dominated by baby-pink tile, shaggy carpet, a creepy basement, and a laidback vibe. “It wasn’t a cute house in any way, but it was where a lot of our friends would hang out,” the now 40-year-old says. “It was so relaxed. You could put a cup anywhere. There wasn’t anything nice that you could damage.”
But more than four decades, three kids, and two dogs took a toll on the southeast Denver home, and in 2023, the Choi family had to decide if they wanted to sell the four-bedroom ranch house or give it an ambitious renovation. “The backyard is massive and opens up to Wellshire Golf Course,” Choi says. “We wouldn’t have been able to find that nice of a lot [elsewhere], so we decided to hire a contractor and do a full gut.”
With an art degree from the University of Colorado and an impressive resume as a stylist for ads in the automotive and adventure industries—her client roster includes Toyota, Subaru, the North Face, and Fjallraven—Choi has always had an eye for design. “Every time I styled a campaign, I inadvertently mixed textures and colors and worked with fabric weights and patterns,” Choi says, noting the similarities between styling wardrobes and residential interiors…