By Miriam Landru
For the active Richter family, dwelling in a home that is functional, while showing their unique style, was key.
In 2012, after the family moved into their VanStory home, mother Holly felt the need to consult an interior designer who could help infuse their personalities into the new space.
The Richter’s have tight schedules of balancing the workloads of Brad, an anesthesiologist, Holly, a pediatrician and the fun that comes with two sports-oriented sons who are students at Fayetteville Academy… and their teen exchange student from Turkey. They were looking for someone to put the “fun” and even the “funk(y),” in their home.
After hearing from more than a few people about local interior designer Josh Poindexter, Holly sought him out. “Different people and friends came to me about Josh and I thought, I keep hearing about this guy, so I gave him a call,” she said.
Josh is a transplant from the Midwestern metropolis of Indianapolis, but he spent his early years growing up in a small, western North Carolina town. After graduating from college with a BA in Music, while he was toiling away in the mortgage industry, Josh discovered his true calling. So, he enrolled at Purdue University to obtain an advanced degree in design and technology in order to fulfill his newfound dream of practicing interior design. “I had always had an artistic side. My dad was a carpenter and my mom had an artistic side. I like the ‘built’ environment. I thought about being an architect…but didn’t want to go to all the school,” Josh explained. Following a tenure as an adjunct professor at Purdue and a five-year stint with a design firm in Indianapolis, in the summer of 2009, Joshua came back to his North Carolina roots.
And found himself in the Sandhills.
“There’s an untapped market here in Fayetteville. I’m a young designer and I think that’s something people are drawn to here in town. Having a showroom helps,” he stressed. That untapped market consists of the Richter’s. “One thing I love about them is their fresh eye.”
For Josh, when he meets his clients, he gives them a 17-page long survey to learn about their design interests as well as likes and dislikes. However, he did not feel it was necessary with the Richter’s. “I just asked them about their lifestyle and their kids. They are really a kind of athletic people. Brad is always working out. Holly is a runner. Every time I call her she’s like, ‘I’m running…I’m coming down the road,’” he chuckled.
So far, Josh has only focused on infusing his design influence and bringing out the Richter’s personality, into the foyer, powder room and living room/kitchen area. “They have started transitioning. Their foyer has a lot of traditional feeling…then you get to the back of the house and it’s all contemporary,” he explained. “It’s like business in the front, party in the back!”
The kitchen already had fabulous retro cabinetry, (something that drew Brad in, being a big fan of Mad Men), but was lacking color and texture. Josh suggested adding the smoked glass mosaic tile for the large backsplash, installing track lighting and replaced the aging countertops with smooth cosmos-inspired black granite.
“After the kitchen was done, we started marching through the rest of the house,” said Josh triumphantly.
The living room space is a mix of wood and mid-century contemporary pieces. Again, all very Mad Men. Most pieces are vintage replicas found all over the country thanks to Josh’s large database of amazing furniture designers and lovely finds.
Brad’s favorite piece in the living room (other than the TV) is a long wooden console that looks straight out of the 1960s. “It reminds me of the furniture I saw when I was a kid. Just a long, useful piece of furniture…to store stuff.” Functionality is apparent in the Richter household!
Arguably the most unique part of Josh’s overhaul is the powder room. “Holly had these sketches her uncle made whenever he traveled somewhere. Instead of taking photos, he would sketch a scene. I had this company out of Raleigh, Mural Walls, take the sketches and turn them into wallpaper,” he said.
Josh explained that it’s personal to the family and that’s something he loves to bring into all of his designs. “It’s one of my favorite things I have done in Fayetteville, “ he confessed proudly.
When it came to the foyer and hallway table, Josh and the Richter’s took their ideas from the outside in. “A lot of the inspiration came from being out in nature,” Josh said. The Richter’s are outside people who do the majority of their entertaining grilling or lounging by the pool in the spring and summer.
Holly loves the fact that Josh listens to her and doesn’t step in and take full reign of the project. In other words, he is keen on what his client wants. Brad appreciates that when labor is involved, Josh makes sure the crew gets in and gets out and that he doesn’t gouge prices. “He’s cost conscious. He’s not gonna say oh this is 10-grand but we have to have it,” Brad said.
Josh hopes the couple will continue with their contemporary, mod décor throughout the home so it will eventually be, party in the front, back and all around.
