The Long View

With Stewart's help, the couple also made careful choices in textures and tones. "Scott likes things very modern, and Julie always wants things warmer," Stewart says. So instead of white paint in the kitchen, they picked off-white; rather than metal or glass tables in the living room, they went for wood; and for the TV room, they preferred round-edged chairs to those with hard angles. "It's like my clothes," Julie says, "made for women with curves!"

The couple didn't plan on remodeling their kitchen until a neighbor mistakenly crashed a car through one wall. After that "happy accident" they redid the entire room, adding a GE Monogram microwave and installing gold-toned granite counters and bleached sycamore cabinets to brighten the space.