Design Ideas

Scottsdale Renovation: From the Inside Out

How an interior designer helped drive a desert project.

From interior designer Anne Lukan’s point of view, being brought into a project as early as possible benefits both her work and her client’s happiness in the result. It’s a lot easier to create a wholistic plan for a project when you’re there from the outset.

For this Scottsdale project in particular — a modernized Pueblo-style renovation, surrounded by moonscape boulders and Saguaro cacti in the shadow of Pinnacle Peak — Lukan, founder and owner of her namesake design studio, was involved at the exact right point: the start.

“When I first got the call from my client for this area she actually asked me to come house hunting with her,” Lukan said.

But as with so many real estate tales, seeing the home that would eventually become an exquisite, sunny, desert dream was not exactly love at first Internet sight.

“From the photos, I wasn't sure about it,” Lukan said. “But as soon as we walked in and we did a tour of the home, I literally looked to my client and said, ‘This feels like you.’”

For Lukan, it’s a chance to take in the home’s unrealized potential and be part of the discussion from the very inception of a project that she finds so valuable. She’s able to see the space, collect her client’s feedback, and begin to craft the vision for what it will become. It’s not just picking color schemes and furnishings; it’s helping to create a way of living for her clients.

“As an interior designer, when we start a process from the beginning, there is much more of an intimate process,” Lukan said. “It starts with how the client wants to live. You are creating the home from the inside out.”

“The more that you can nail that from the beginning,” Lukan continued, “the more cohesive and authentic the space feels versus something that's trying to be inserted afterward.

With any home project, collaboration is key, and for Lukan, helping her clients find the right partners is paramount. For this Arizona home in particular, that meant teaming up with craftspeople especially skilled in the specialized requirements of a Pueblo-style home, like plaster and drywall expertise. In a house with so many arches and curves, attention to detail was required on both a micro and macro level.

“[Finding the right builder with whom to partner] was something we vetted quite carefully,” she said, “because it relates not just to the smaller architectural details inside the home [like the fireplaces], but all of the transitions between spaces [like the curved hallways].”

As these pictures of the Scottsdale home beautifully show, it is this marriage of the fluid, organic Pueblo design and the thoughtful, thoroughly contemporary upgrades that make this renovation such a standout.

The windows and doors played an important role in the home’s revision. Their selection — and more importantly, their placement — were major design decisions Lukan helped drive.

“The windows are key because they serve two purposes: One, it's that visual, uninterrupted, ‘wow’ moment when you come into this space,” Lukan explained. “And two, I like to think of them as picture frames. You are literally moving and positioning the location of the windows to frame what you believe to be art: nature and the exterior.”

Marvin Modern windows and doors were chosen for a variety of reasons, like UV protection (“When you are investing in the furnishings ... you want to make sure they're going to be protected. We looked at a lot of information regarding the UV protection, that type of thing that can withstand the Arizona sun.”). Then there are the aesthetics, especially in regard to the windows’ narrow frames. (“Clean, minimal ... it’s like you’re making an art gallery.”)

The windows are key because they serve two purposes: One, it's that visual, uninterrupted, ‘wow’ moment when you come into this space, and two, I like to think of them as picture frames. You are literally moving and positioning the location of the windows to frame what you believe to be art: nature and the exterior.”

Anne Lukan

Interior Designer

It's here where the value of having an interior designer — someone so rooted in aesthetics — to help guide the architectural decisions of a project truly comes to the surface. Lukan was able to take one of the home’s great assets — its stunning views — and ensure they were framed and captured just right. The rugged-but-beautiful Arizona desert became well-chosen, ever-changing art pieces, with each vista, sunset, and cactus captured by a perfectly placed window. The home creates memorable moments at every turn, all designed from the inside out.

For a complete look at this Scottsdale renovation, and to learn more about its products, process, and spaces, check out this case study video.

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Exterior of a pueblo-style home in Scottsdale, Arizona, featuring Marvin Modern windows and Ultimate doors.