Fortune favors the bold, an ancient adage claims. You’d get no argument from Elizabeth and Brandon Knapp, who were ready to take some design risks when they built their new home in Portage, Michigan, outside Kalamazoo. “In the past we’ve lived in gray and white houses, so we did not want any gray in this home,” Elizabeth says.
That was music to the ears of Liz Hoekzema and her team at KLH Custom Homes and Ten Design Studio in Kalamazoo—they specialize in helping clients take design roads less traveled. “Brandon grew up in a home that had pattern, wallpaper, lots of color and so on,” Hoekzema says. “So he was perfectly comfortable with playing and taking some risks. And Elizabeth was on board as well.”
The least risky choice was where to build. The couple couldn’t have picked a more picturesque site: a parcel backing up to 335-acre West Lake and near a nature preserve. Elizabeth lived on a lake “Up North” as a child and wanted her family to have the same experience. “We love being outdoors,” she says. “We like how West Lake is smaller. It gives a sense of community.”…