Designers’ Digs tour to support symphony gigs

If you’ve ever wanted to see what the homes of some of Wichita’s top designers look like, now’s your chance.

Next weekend, Sept. 10 and 11, the residences of five Wichita designers who have designed rooms in previous Symphony Showhouses will be part of the Designers’ Digs tour, a new project by the Women’s Association of the Wichita Symphony.

Over the years, the association has organized 17 Symphony Showhouse events, enlisting the help of area interior designers to design rooms in a selected Wichita home, and offered tours through the showhouse to raise funds to support the Wichita Symphony. The last Symphony Showhouse event was in 2011.

“I have said to the designers over the years, ‘When do we get to see your homes?’ ” said Barbara Crotchett, a Women’s Association member who has been the group’s liaison with designers. “And now five designers have said yes.”

The designers, the businesses they own and the homes on the tour are: Pamela Fruhauf of Finishing Effects, 19 E. Douglas; Lizanne Guthrie of Design Studio, 2735 N. Wilderness Court; Dennis Murphy of Murphy Interiors, 1305 N. Perth; Jerry Olson of Olson-Blackburn Interiors, 134 N. Longford; and Chris Volkman of Kitchen Concepts, 14201 E. Brookline Court.

Fruhauf was the first designer to respond to the Women’s Association’s 2014 initial inquiry to former showhouse designers to participate in the Designers’ Digs tour. She was designing her family’s newly constructed home at the time in the Hawthorne development in east Wichita. Since then, she and her husband, Kenny, purchased and moved into a 1948-built home in Eastborough, but she was still eager to participate.

“I love mixing glam with rustic weathered pieces,” Fruhauf said. Tour-goers will see that in her home’s master bathroom, the only room the Fruhaufs totally renovated when they moved into the house.

She also likes to add pops of whimsical elements, like a silver stag head in the sun room that doubles as her office, and decorate with elements that hold sentimental value, such as several pieces of artwork created by her daughter, Olivia Grant, and artwork that belonged to her mother-in-law. A bonus for tour-goers looking for design inspiration and for her business is that most of the furniture in her home is from lines that she carries as an interior designer.

“I can’t wait to go through the other homes to get inspired and see the pieces that make them smile,” Fruhauf said. “I respect everyone’s style. There’s no right or wrong way to decorate.”

Crotchett said when she toured the homes she was struck that all seemed to have original artwork, some created by artistic and even young family members, and other sentimental family heirlooms incorporated into their designs.

Here are some highlights of the other tour homes from written notes from the designers to Crotchett.

▪ Guthrie’s home incorporates various cultural touches, such as a large Buddhist Goddess of Mercy statue in the entry hall, a tribal flat-weave kilim rug in the dining room and a combination of a rustic antique Asian sideboard and a Leonardo DaVinci print above it. A Native American rug hangs high over the opening to the kitchen. Guthrie’s painting of Madeline – a children’s book character – that was featured in the 1999 Symphony Showcase hangs in one of the bedrooms. Other rooms feature family artwork, including a 3-D jigsaw puzzle of the Eiffel Tower that the family assembled during a Christmas holiday.

▪ Murphy’s home has several pieces of art ranging from 325 B.C. to the 1940s, including a Picasso ink etching, a Birger Sandzen block print, 17th-century Japanese noh masks used for theater performances and a Roman bust from 325 B.C.

▪ Olson’s home has undergone several changes since it has been in his family for the past 27 years. The dining room, for example, was an open walkway to a detached garage. Since he works with color daily, he wrote, Olson uses a neutral color scheme in his home to enjoy what he calls “visual quiet.” He uses primarily local artwork to provide color.

▪ Tour-goers to Volkman’s home in Crestview will want to pay attention to all the high-end furnishings in this newly remodeled kitchen. “When a kitchen designer moves into a home, I’d expect him to make it his own,” noted Crotchett, and that’s what Volkman has done. The kitchen maximizes what Volkman calls a “modern way of life,” with an automated recycling station and other features. The home is a smart home that digitizes everything from lighting to climate control and high-definition audio.

Printed tour guides and docents will be at each residence to help point out elements of interest, Crotchett noted. Tour participants are also welcome to tour the outdoor spaces of the designers’ homes.

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Designers’ Digs tour to support symphony gigs."