A Natural, Non-toxic & Colorful Clay Home in Colorado

Name: Kim and Kip Golden and two kiddos, Shae (9) and Micah (5)
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Size: 1600 square feet
Years lived in: 7 years, owned

We just remodeled our townhome to make it work for our family of four for a long time coming. I am obsessed with a healthy home, and so my most important priority during the remodel was to keep all of our choices as non-toxic and healthy as possible, without compromising our style. There are no flame-retardants, VOC’s, or nasty chemicals in any of the products we purchased. Our walls are covered in American Clay plaster (my husband’s business), which actually improves indoor air quality. Our couches are from 1956 before they even put chemicals in furniture, our rugs are untreated and fair-trade, and all of mattresses are organic. We spend a lot of time here and I wanted to make sure my home is as healthy as possible for my family, but I also wanted to make sure that it was visually a reflection of our personalities, which are pretty big and colorful.

Our house plays a lot of roles…First and foremost it is home to our family of four. Second it is a neighborhood community hub. We are so lucky to live in a hood that has tons of kids who play together all the time and they love to come hang out here. And third, it is a showroom for my husband’s company, we are installers of American Clay plaster, an all-natural and incredibly beautiful alternative to paint, made from yes, clay. So our house has to be 1. functional and cozy for us, 2. comfy and durable enough for our kids and their friends to make huge messes and play hard in the space, and 3. elegant enough to show off our clay walls to clients and leads that come to us interested in clay walls for their own homes.

I’d describe our style as eclectic contemporary, with a tiny (eensy) bit of bohemian thrown in (we are meditators, so there are lots of buddhas around, but not too overdone). I like the house to clean up and feel really elegant, but I am also okay (or I have to be okay) with it getting trashed by a bunch of kids at any moment, so everything we have has to be both beautiful AND durable.

What is your favorite room and why? Tough question, in all honesty, I tried to make each room its own unique space and so I love them all, but if I had to pick, I’d say the entrance/living room.

We have an amazing reading corner with a West Elm leather chair and ottoman that our whole family seems to fight over, but…the real gems in the room are my 1956 couch and chair that I bought on Craigslist for $300 five years ago (we just had them reupholstered) and my custom Angela Adams rug that I spent about 15 hours picking out the colors for. Again, the room is beautiful, colorful, cozy and durable, and we all love hanging out in there.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Spend a lot of time on sites like Apartment Therapy, Houzz, Instagram, etc. to get a sense of your own style and get specific ideas. Try to take your time and not rush it (which I honestly suck at), but once you have the basics in place, live in the space a bit so you can really feel what the space is wanting visually and functionally.

Don’t be afraid of color, in fact embrace it. And finally make sure that all your furniture is well enough made that it will last for a while.

Thanks, Kim!

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