When Aiko Morton and Momoko “Momo” Morton Wong had been developing up in Colorado, each couple of months their mom would generate them from Pueblo—the compact city they called home—to Denver. They’d make a working day of it (go buying and have lunch somewhere exciting), but the most unforgettable moments for the two of them hardly ever experienced everything to do with superior foods or new dresses. “She’d choose us to these actually awesome spots of Denver and push so sluggish, and we’d stare at all the residences,” Aiko remembers. “We’d be like, ‘I like that one particular, simply because of this I really don’t like that one particular, due to the fact of that,’ and people would be honking at the rear of us.”
This home adoration continued into adulthood for the two sisters. In the early 2000s, they’d the two moved to Japan and used a great number of hours walking via neighborhoods to glimpse at homes and perusing design shops alongside one another. “We lived in structure shops in excess of the weekend,” Aiko says. Later, when Aiko moved to Singapore, she kept the loved ones tradition alive there as well. Momoko, on the other hand, worked at several interior style companies right before opening her have, Momo Wong Layouts, in the exact same metropolis that birthed their collective enjoy of the craft. So when Aiko moved again to the United States immediately after 20 yrs overseas, it was only pure that she would have her sister style her aspiration property.
“There was no query that we’d do this together,” Momoko says of the remodel that the 1950s-era California assets Aiko bought in 2017 needed. However the footprint of the property was there, most of it experienced to be reimagined. The dwelling is largely divided into two sides, but since it was manufactured in the center of the past century, the format didn’t sense suitable for a modern way of life. Just before, the dwelling had a compact kitchen and dining place on 1 side—which Aiko didn’t like (she’s a self-proclaimed foodie). Bedrooms and offices took up considerably of the bigger facet of the assets.
The sisters began addressing these worries at a 10,000-foot level. They established bubble diagrams to outline a new movement and format of the residence, which the architect and contractor promptly set into prepare after brought on board. The final result was, essentially, a flip-flopped edition of how the job experienced commenced out. Now, the shared spaces—like the family home, dining space, and kitchen—take up the more substantial side of the house, and the personal places are on the smaller end. “But it saved a good deal of schematic design and style time to already have that figured out,” Momoko suggests.
For the interiors, Momoko required to carry in Asian influences to honor Aiko’s decades residing in Japan and Singapore. “We were being also born and lifted in Colorado, so I needed to integrate some of all those elements—like lovely stones, woods, and metals—into the challenge much too.” Of class, the home’s amazing mountain views were being taken into thought as nicely. “Aiko enjoys pure light-weight, so we wanted to seize the sights in a way the complete spouse and children could get pleasure from.”
In general, cleanse traces and a neutral color palette channel the relaxed and harmonious aesthetic of Japanese structure although complementing the surroundings just past. But that’s not to say there aren’t moments of surprise sprinkled during the home. “If you go into Aiko’s pantry, you locate a really entertaining wallpaper,” Momoko suggests. “I like to set joyful matters in utility locations given that they’re often just for performing.” Now, each and every time Aiko techniques foot in this part of her dwelling, she will get not only a second of pleasure, but also a sweet reminder of her sister by means of her signature transfer.
Even though working on the dwelling was “four many years of entertaining,” the job was generally extra than just a thing to do collectively. Soon after Aiko and her partner put in years dwelling and operating as “expatriate nomads,” Momoko needed to give her sister a place to plant roots, just one that is also conveniently considerably nearer to her way too. “This is her retreat,” she states.
