- Article & Context
Title: In a long-awaited home renovation, designer Jasmine Galle helps a couple find compatible solutions
Author: Anne McGregor
Date: September 8, 2025
Location: Spokane (Green Bluff area), Washington State; the homeowners are the Low family: Tanya and Dallas Low, with their children.
- Home & Family Background
The home is a Northwest-style house built in 1991, located on a private hillside with views toward Green Bluff farmland.
The Low family has lived there for about 10 years.
The house features: a massive rock fireplace (vaulted ceiling), a large “wall of windows,” dark wood interiors, and flooring that had become worn, making the house feel heavy and dated.
- Motivation for Renovation
The interior’s aging appearance and worn materials began to frustrate the family.
Functional needs were evolving: the family needed dedicated spaces for music and art.
A trigger: replacing the refrigerator would require removing their kitchen island. That spurred consideration of bigger changes.
- Design Approach & Process
The Low family hired Jasmine Galle of Sage & Soul Interiors.
An important design challenge: Tanya enjoys color; her husband Dallas is more sensitive to visual energy. They needed a compromise so spaces feel both vibrant and calm. Jasmine’s job was to balance their tastes.
A method used: figuring out what Tanya didn’t want, helping clarify her preferences via “seeing” design ideas rather than starting with preferences alone.
- Key Interventions & Design Solutions
Space Change / Element Purpose / Effect
Living room Whitewashing the horizontal wood paneling; pale neutral carpet; large area rug over carpet. Brightening the room; softening heaviness; introducing texture. The rug was a compromise that Dallas initially resisted, but it helped visually anchor the room.
Kitchen & Main floor Expanded kitchen footprint; installed island with pendant lights (Visual Comfort & Co., Kelly Wearstler collection). More usable workspace; lighting that bridges midcentury and industrial to harmonize with vintage elements.
Color choices Moderate color usage: enough to satisfy Tanya; moderated for Dallas by using neutral tones elsewhere.
Entry / transitional zones Adding comfortable seating; vintage-style pieces that feel new; personal art pieces (e.g. painting by family artist).
Lighting / fixtures Thoughtful pendant lights; letting natural light flood living room, through large windows.
- Outcomes & Reflections
The renovated main floor feels lighter, more open, and more reflective of both personalities in the family. The balance between Tanya’s desire for vibrancy and Dallas’s preference for calm has been largely achieved.
Tanya describes the living room as “happy paradise,” indicating strong emotional satisfaction with the space.
Dallas admitted to initially doubting the need for a large area rug over carpet — a design decision that seemed redundant — but later acknowledged it “absolutely” made a difference.
- Lessons & Principles Highlighted
Compromise in design: When multiple people share a space, success often lies in identifying tension points (color, texture, light) and then designing around them so both feel their needs are acknowledged.
Seeing vs. verbalizing preferences: For some clients, visual examples help clarify what they like or dislike more than describing abstract preferences.
Small elements matter: Things like area rugs, lighting fixtures, even refinishing wood or changing trim / paneling can significantly shift mood without a full structural overhaul.
Natural light & neutral backdrop: Using neutral tones to let natural light shine minimizes visual heaviness, especially when ceilings are vaulted or large windows exist.
- Challenges & Trade-Offs
Budget / scope creep: What began around kitchen change turned into a full main floor renovation. Larger scope = more cost & disruption.
Balancing character and modernity: Keeping some vintage elements, but updating others so space doesn’t feel dated.
Emotional / aesthetic resistance: Some design suggestions (like the area rug) were initially resisted. Requires client trust and designer persuasion.
- Summary
This renovation shows not just physical transformation (lightening interior finishes, expanding kitchen, changing flooring, etc.), but also personal one: reconciling different tastes and lifestyles in shared home spaces. Designer Jasmine Galle succeeded in making spaces functional, visually lighter, and emotionally satisfying for the Low family by listening, using sample visuals, and making thoughtful design-choices that strike compromise without dullness.
