Timeless Style

Grosse Ile-based online interior design consultant Vanessa Chaverri-Gratz shares tips on putting together one of her favorite rooms // Photography by Joe Tiano
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Vanessa Chaverri-Gratz’s sunroom was added to her circa-1926 home in the 1940s. She and her husband, Josh Gratz, use it for entertaining, growing plants, watching television, and enjoying weekend breakfasts. Their well-designed home is on a 10-mile-long island in the Detroit River.

Enjoying a glass of wine together in their Plano, Texas, home, Vanessa Chaverri-Gratz and her husband, Josh Gratz, were scrolling through real estate listings when they stumbled upon a historic Tudor-style home in Grosse Ile. Shortly afterward, they were in Michigan for a wedding and, on a whim, they decided to go look at the nearly 100-year-old home. “We fell in love with it and put an offer in the next day,” Chaverri-Gratz says.

The two had lived all over the United States for their jobs, but recently found themselves in remote-work positions. “We could live anywhere, and Josh is from Michigan’s downriver area, so we thought why not? We couldn’t believe the price point and how immaculately cared for the home was,” explains Chaverri-Gratz, who was pining to live in a four-season state. Now that she’s here, she finds Grosse Ile — an island in the Detroit River that’s about 10 miles long and one mile wide — to be a friendly community that’s quiet and feels rural. “People here are neighborly and they look out for each other.”

One of the selling points of the circa-1926 home was a gorgeous sunroom that had been added in the 1940s. It’s a temperature-controlled space and has in-ground flower beds. “We uprooted a good number of plants and did some replanting,” Chaverri-Gratz says. The couple and their 13-year-old Shiba Inu, Kona, enjoy the light-filled space immensely. “We use it as a TV room and breakfast spot. When friends come over, this is the space for watching sports or playing games.”

Chaverri-Gratz is a recruiter by day for Warby Parker; at night and on weekends, she works with clients online to help them decorate their homes. She also creates design-themed content for her social media avenues, and works in collaboration with several home décor companies whose products she features on her Instagram stream (join her 140,000 followers at thegratzlife). “Our home, which is timeless and vintage, is my canvas for my decorating skills. It’s a passion and a fun outlet,” she says.

Here, we get a glimpse of the homeowner’s favorite elements in her sunroom — a great spot anytime of the year!

The temperature-controlled sunroom has in-ground plant beds.

If walls could talk:
One of the walls was “creamy-vanilla yellow and we wanted to pack a punch,” Chaverri-Gratz says. Her husband had the idea of a greenspace mural, and they decided on a landscape from Belarte Studio. “It’s put up in strips, like wallpaper.”

Sofa, so good:
The couple’s sofa was custom-created by Interior Define. “You choose the fabric, depth, fill, height, arm style, and more,” Chaverri-Gratz says. They went with a vintage velvet in Ivy and chose Old English-style arms; in her mind, green is a neutral. “The sofa style feels vintage.”

What lies beneath:
A Loloi rug (a collaboration with Chris Loves Julia, chrislovesjulia.com) feels “modern,” Chaverri-Gratz says. “I like having kind of a modern piece among the vintage.”

Lighten up:
Chaverri-Gratz doesn’t mind blending new and old, and designer and affordable. The floor lamp, for example, is from Target. “I’m a big fan of mixing,” she says. A Tiffany-style lamp over the game table was discovered on Facebook Marketplace.

Thrilled with throws:
“I buy a new throw every year — that’s how much I love them,” Chaverri-Gratz says. The current one is by Minky Couture and is the “crème de la crème of throws.” She says Kona (their dog) is obsessed with it. “Each blanket is created using high-quality sewing machines, quilting clips, and notions,” she adds.

Tray bien:
A handy tray from West Elm is typically on the ottoman — a perfect caddy for drinks and candles.

Wood furnishings and a cozy sectional complement a wallpaper mural from Belarte Studio. “It’s put up in strips, like wallpaper,” homeowner Vanessa Chaverri-Gratz says.

Looking up:
“The ceiling beadboard was here when we bought it, and it was raw,” the designer says. “You could see the stains from the sap.” Chaverri-Gratz wanted more green in the space, so she had it painted in Daily Greens (by Clare, a paint company). The rustic beams were left as is, to echo the wood window casements.

Game for games:
A sturdy wood game table, from Poly & Bark, is perfect for playing cards or chess. “I’m slowly but surely learning how to play chess and euchre,” Chaverri-Gratz says. The chairs are from the Detroit Club via a Facebook Marketplace find.

Drink up:
An old chest that was the previous homeowners’ television cabinet is now home to bourbons, whiskeys, and tequilas.

Dig this:
The L-shaped, 21-foot-long indoor gardening area brims with monstera, corn plants, ferns, a small lemon tree, and a fig tree. The couple uses a dripline to water it. “I think the bottom is concrete and it’s layered with rocks,” Chaverri-Gratz explains.

Benched:
A West Elm mango bench, placed behind the sofa, is a good spot for putting on or taking off shoes, and for holding books and special mementos, like a vintage eagle sculpture that once belonged to Josh’s grandfather.

Favorite home-design collaborators:
West Elm, Voluspa Candles, Interior Define, and Yardbird Outdoor Furniture.

MORE INFORMATION:

Follow Chaverri-Gratz on Instagram — @thegratzlife


 

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