{decorating with style} Touring the Denver Life Magazine Designer Showhouse

Yesterday I had an opportunity to tour the Denver Life Magazine Designer Showhouse, a brand new, 4,700 square foot modern home featuring 15 fully decorated spaces designed by 13 of Denver's top interior design firms.

I shared a some photos from the house on Instagram this afternoon, so if you follow me there you already got a few sneak peeks. If you live in Denver, you can tour the house yourself through the weekend for a $15 donation that benefits Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver. But for those of who can't visit in person, here's a quick tour via my iPhone snapshots.

Just inside the front door, you find yourself in the open concept dining and living room designed by Castles Interiors. The first thing I noticed were those gorgeous light fixtures above the dining table!!

It's not often that I have the chance to go inside a house with high, thin windows like the ones I have throughout my house, so I was excited to see how the designers used the expansive wall space below the windows. While I am a huge fan of the giant modern art that they chose, the anal, symmetry loving part of my brain is a bit bothered by the fact that the paintings on the left and right are not centered below the windows. However, the dark paint color behind the paintings helps to disguise this fact.

I always love the combination of dark grey walls with white furniture, so the living room is singing my tune!

Just off of the living room is the eat-in kitchen, designed by Studio 10 Interior Design. The first things that caught my eye in the kitchen is the way the beautiful wood grain is contrasted against the sleek, grey wall and cabinets behind. The pink flowers add a perfect pop of color. {There is also a solid pink rug below the table, which I didn't capture in my photos}.

The modern, metal sculptures on the counter behind the kitchen table reflect the pink flowers and rug, giving this art even more interest and dimension.

The thin windows above the cabinets bring a lovely glow of the light to the kitchen.

The wood slatted wall divides the kitchen from the stairway, but the spaces between the boards maintain an open, airy feel.

I was so excited to see the finish on the kitchen island, because it's exactly what I've been envisioning for my own kitchen island. And now that I've seen it executed so beautifully, I am even more excited about doing it in my home!

Leaving the kitchen and heading toward the garage, you pass through a mudroom with a stunning, deep blue wall, designed by AK Interior Design.

And how fun are those hooks?

Off of the mudroom is a powder room, also designed by AK Interior Design. This was a hard space to photograph because of it's small size, but these two photos capture all of my favorite elements of the space - starting with the graphic wallpaper! I love the industrial light fixture that hangs in front of the mirror, as well as the modern art above the toilet.

Also on the first floor is a home office designed by Lola Gray Home & Design. This office is very small, but the design is lovely, and I love the large scale art behind the desk.

Heading up the stairs, you can't help but stop to admire this chandelier!

Who knew there were so many different styles of industrial light bulbs?! I'm sure I would have major sticker shock if I knew the price of this light fixture, but man would it look good hanging in my two-story entry way!!

Gray walls and white details are my jam, so you know I love this master bedroom designed by Aneka Interiors, Inc.

My favorite detail in this bedroom is the molding around the ceiling. This simple addition creates the look of a modern tray ceiling, and could easily be added to just about any room to create instant architectural interest!

The master bathroom is beautifully light filled...

...and talk about a bathtub with a view! Of course, since this bathroom looks out over the street, the future owners will certainly have to come up with an effective window covering solution!

Down the hall, this girl's bedroom, designed by Design 5 Seventy-One, is a cute combo of navy blue, white and pink.

My favorite design element in the girl's room is definitely the wallpaper in the en suite bathroom!

The spacious laundry room, designed by Addison Design, is awash in this busy pattern, but I assure you that feels {a little} less overwhelming in person than it does in these photos. It's a bold choice, but it a laundry room is a perfect place to make a design statement that might be too much for another room in your home...but even then, this might be too bold. I do think, however, that if the designer asked my opinion, I would hang some photos or art in white frames with wide, white mats to help break up all the pattern on the walls and give your eye a place to land.

Across from the washer and dryer are floor to ceiling shelves. At first glance, I thought, "that's nice to have lots of storage in the laundry room..."

...but then I did a double take and realized that there is a door on the other side of those laundry room shelves, creating a pass through linen closet that is accessible from the hallway. Talk about convenient!

The basement home theater and game room, designed by MC Design Studio and Kaleidoscope Design, is all about entertaining.

Check out these fantastic club chairs with the gold frames and fuzzy, fur pillows!

This house is full of fabulously industrial light fixtures, and this one above the pool table is another great example!

Tucked into a small nook on the other side of the basement is a stylish game table. While the table fits quite tightly, the glass top maintains a spacious feel and it's a very effective use of space!

The basement also includes one more bedroom with an en suite bath, designed by C2Design, which would be perfect for guests. I am still on the fence about whether I like the wallpaper treatment behind the bed that continues all the way across the ceiling...

I'll leave you with this one last photo... the view from the basement looking straight up through the open, industrial steel staircase toward that amazing chandelier.