Driving down the street, you can’t miss the Clayton home Amy Rubin lives in with her husband and two little ones. The bright, lime green front door foreshadows the pops of bright colors and abundance of fresh, fun details found in every room.
T&S | How did you come to live in the home?
Amy Rubin | We’ve lived here for about a year and a half. We actually built it—we tore down the house that was on the property, and built a new one. But you’d never know from looking at the outside that it’s brand new. My husband, who is a real estate developer, did a great job making it fit into the neighborhood, which has a lot of older homes.
T&S | Have you built other homes?
AR | Although my husband is more of a commercial developer, he does build a couple of homes each year. This is the fourth we’ve built together—it’s just a fun little thing we like to do.
T&S | From start to finish, how long was the building process?
AR | About a year.
T&S | Did you live in the previous home on this site prior to tearing it down?
AR | No. Prior to this home, we lived in University City, where we’ve built a total of three new houses.
T&S | How much input did you have on the design and layout of the house?
AR | A lot. My husband and I worked together with an architect. With each home we’ve done, we work really hard to make sure it fits into the architecture of the rest of the neighborhood. It’s important to us, and we don’t want a home that doesn’t fit into its surroundings.
T&S | When it comes to interior decorating, how would you describe your style?
AR | We picked out everything, all the finishes, and we worked with a few different designers. I like to mix older pieces with more modern, fun pieces. I love a mix of stuff and think I have a very eclectic style.
T&S | What are some of your favorite features?
AR | I love the powder room with the butterflies. That’s actually a wallpaper designed by Christian Lacroix, a famous French clothing designer. It almost looks 3-D, like the butterflies are coming off the wall. I also love the master bedroom, and the big, screened-in deck that we use all the time. There are two big French doors leading from the master bedroom to the deck, and we often have those open and spend time relaxing there together. Sometimes my kids will have slumber parties out there. Even the dogs like hanging out on the deck.
T&S | Do you have a favorite room?
AR| Probably the family room, because that’s where we end up hanging out together a lot, and I like the way it’s decorated, especially the white coffee table. I also love our dining room. The hot pink chairs in that room were my grandma’s, and we had them refinished.
T&S | The lime green front door is unique! Where did you get that idea?
AR | I saw a picture of a house online, and they had this exact same color on their door. It’s so different, and my taste is so quirky. So I just said, ‘Let’s go for it.’ We actually get a ton of compliments on that door—I love it.
T&S | I love the large painting in your living room. Is that something special?
AR | It’s by St. Louis artist Andrew Millner. We do like art, but we’re still kind of in the process of building a collection. The pink and orange painting we have in our dining room also is by Andrew Millner.
Photos: Suzy Gorman