A Queen Victorian Dream
Two years ago, Bryan and Lily Stork moved their family of six from Leawood, KS to a three story, all brick Queen Victorian home in the Longfellow neighborhood of Kansas City. The family immediately stepped into a house steeped in history - complete with a grand staircase, original wood work and a (gasp!) third floor ballroom. Over the past few years, the Stork’s have thoughtfully and meticulously added their own touches and updates to the 130 year old home, while both respecting the age and style of the house and integrating a fresh and creative perspective, to create a truly inspiring and stunning home. It doesn’t hurt that Bryan is not only a doctor, but also a tremendously talented wood-worker and Lily, who is the creative genius behind @loveletter_studio, has a gift of using colors and textures to create beauty in the spaces around her.
GH: When decorating your current home, what did you use as inspiration?
LS: I feel like we've just settled into "our style" in the last 5 or so years, so where-to-look has been honed down into stores and designers we like, and of course, Pinterest is a wealth of inspiration when you're in the right mood to not get overwhelmed.
GH: How has your style evolved since you decorated your first home?
LS: Oh goodness, it's evolved so much. I think we've always had fairly minimal décor taste but have been able to make it a lot more interesting with this house. Also so many more plants.
GH: How would you describe your design aesthetic?
LS: Mid-century modern, minimal, but also meaningful.
GH: What is your favorite room in your home?
LS: Probably our living room, although our dining room and master bedroom are a close second.
GH: Do you have a favorite piece of furniture, art or décor?
LS: We're fortunate for one of us to be an incredibly talented woodworker, so the latest favorite piece is our bed that Bryan just recently finished. I also love so much art, but don't always necessarily want to pay a ton for bigger pieces, so I love a good gallery wall.
GH: What is your philosophy on new and old when it comes to furniture? Or splurge pieces vs. affordable?
LS: As many vintage and used pieces as possible! We definitely had to get our fair share of new items, but we really tried to shop vintage stores locally (and through our talented friends who have thrifting resale businesses) when furnishing this home.
GH: Is there anything you are still on the “hunt” for?
LS: Nothing big, we got really lucky to get everything we needed fairly close to when we moved in. The last piece of furniture we're waiting on Bryan to build is a dining room table.
GH: How does your family play into the way you design/decorate?
LS: It's nice, because our kids are a little older so we can manage to keep our main living area fairly uncluttered (except for the inevitable socks tucked behind couch cushions.) We've always incorporated their things into the aesthetic, we never wanted it to look like we didn't have four kids.
GH: Where are your favorite places to shop for furniture and décor in Kansas City?
LS: We love First Fridays in the West Bottoms, Urban Mining in midtown, estate sales, and although this sounds like I'm just saying it because they're interviewing me, Gather Home! Thrift stores also have great frames, which come in handy for all of our gallery walls.
GH: When designing your home, who or what do you use for Inspiration? We’d love any resources you’d like to share.
LS: I think it usually starts with a piece or two that we like, and then I'd like to think I have a good eye at deciding what might look good in a space and how we fill the rest in. I'm also incredibly fortunate to have a husband who can build what's in my brain, if I can't find exactly what I need at a store; i.e. our living room bookshelves and our record player table.
GH: Anything else you'd like to share with us about you, your ideas on decorating or design in general?
LS: I think it's hard to put into words, it's kind of more of a feeling? I had one of my best friends tell me years ago that none of my art matched and I think that's one of the greatest compliments I could receive regarding my/our aesthetic.
GH: You recently remodeled your third floor ballroom. What was the most important thing to you when planning out your space?
LS: That it was a hangout space for the kids and their friends, but also a really sweet guest space.
3rd Floor Ballroom
GH: Did you have a decorator? If so, who?
LS: The wonderful ladies at Kobel and Co. (@kobelandco) helped us design the main space, we did the bathroom and guest bedroom ourselves. Amy Thurston (@amytkc) has also helped us with past renovations and she's equally wonderful.
GH: Was there a supplier or resource you couldn’t have done it without?
LS: No, we did get really lucky - it was the middle of the pandemic, but supply chain issues hadn't really started yet so we didn't have to wait on anything too long.
GH: Is there anything you would change?
LS: The mural was a lot harder than I thought it would be to install and didn't turn out perfectly, so I would probably pick a few pieces of art to put there instead even though I really love how it looks.
3rd Floor Mural
