The most difficult project for any designer is one's own house. I recently took on such a project: The 1955 Glendale, CA ranch-style home I share with my husband Jerry. Our home is on Madison Way and served as the inspiration for our company's name. So one might say this is "THE Madison Modern Home." Over the course of 15 or so years, we had slowly remodeled each room (sometimes more than once!), but had never taken a completely fresh look at the home. It was a little here, a little there. You know the story...

So we started with installing hardwood floors throughout the 1,400 square-foot space and painting everything Benjamin Moore's Smoke Embers. Then we cleared out any furniture that wasn't going to work. But we were left with a pretty empty house. So many possibilities, though...