The Zimmermans first asked her to suggest cabinetry and finish changes in the kitchen, but success with that room quickly morphed into a whole home remodel. They immediately liked that Graber thinks not just about finishes but about the finished environment—not just how to cover space but how to configure it. “My training is in interior architecture as much as interior design, so in my renovation projects I always try to redefine space—not just decorate it,” she says.

“Marcia knew right away that dragging us to many different showrooms and looking at hundreds of fabrics and pieces of furniture was just not our style,” Linda says. “She was able to show us many things we liked and also show us how they worked in the big picture.”

To start, Graber zeroed out many of the previous curves; angles now create a more contemporary aesthetic and practical living spaces. For instance, in the family room the angles of the black granite bar top contrast with the raised glass countertop, which has been sandblasted and back-painted with waves of red and gold. Rectangular space has become exciting space.

Similarly, in the entry, the custom inlay floor design and door handle greet visitors with the home’s new geometry. In the master bedroom, an angled wall contains a large niche above a newly positioned bed and backs up to a custom chest topped by a stone Buddha head. In addition, the master bath, once too linear (“It resembled a bowling alley,” Graber says), is now attractively angular, providing Linda and Howard uniquely configured vanity/mirror areas.

The color palette is primarily earth tones with bright strokes to individuate spaces. Furnishings and glass accessories in the public rooms are shades of red, gold and rust, with occasional ice blue and purple. Much of the colorful artwork in the home is by John Kline, owner of Phoenix Art Group.

To accord with the light travertine floors in the public spaces, Graber applied shades of chocolate to the walls—bittersweet on one of the family room walls; café au lait on many of the ceilings; and milk chocolate on the other family room walls as well as the hall leading to the guest wing, and all but the accent walls in the living room.