The walls in musician and singer Peter Olson’s home scream out his family’s love for making art and making music.
The children’s red, white, black and green paintings and drawings of sea creatures, flowers and people join album covers, guitars, chalkboards, magnets, family photos and pictures of landmarks shot by Peter, who collects vintage cameras.
“There’s not really anything in our house that’s totally off limits for the girls. It’s their space just as much as it is ours,” he said.
While they hadn’t planned to tape the kids’ artwork on the walls of the playroom, bedrooms and bathroom of their home in Lake Claire, an intown neighborhood, he said they figured, “Why not?”
“What are we going to do, put this in a folder and look at it 20 years from now? It’s just enjoying celebrating their style, just as much ours,” he said.
Snapshot
Residents: Peter and Alyssa Olson and their kids, Synnove, 5, and Seija, 3, and cat, Buster. Peter, a musician, is a frontman of Yacht Rock Revue and a restaurateur, and Alyssa is an event planner. They're expecting a baby boy this summer.
Location: Atlanta's Lake Claire neighborhood
Size: 3,000 square feet, four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths
Year built/bought: 1999/2011
Architectural style: Shotgun-style Craftsman with Colonial elements
Favorite architectural elements: "Because it's long and skinny, it's nice and deceiving from the front. It's very understated from the front, but when you come inside, it's bigger than it appears," he said.
Renovations: They refinished the hardwood floors with a darker stain and painted the walls to provide some contrast between the two, which originally had the same light look. The kitchen had open shelves, so they added cabinets, a Viking vent hood, and GE Profile, Jenn-Air and Kenmore appliances. They replaced the white Corian countertops with black granite and created a dry bar. The main level floor plan also was a bit too open for them. They found the blueprints and discovered that some doorways and walls were removed in prior renovations. They added a half wall in the kitchen and a wall in the living room, where Peter's piano now sits.
Design consultants: Claire Wire with Claire Wire Interiors for the kitchen design. Custom cabinets by George Emerick.
Interior design style: Shabby chic
Favorite interior design elements: Mid-century modern furniture. Their hometown of Columbus, Ind., began in the 1950s to bring in architects from around the world, including Scandinavian designers, to create public buildings and interiors. As a result, they have some tables and chairs by some of those designers that were passed down from friends.
Favorite collections: Album covers and vintage cameras. Covers on the walls are signed by performers that Yacht Rock Revue has joined. He has signatures from Bobby Kimball, the lead singer of Toto, and Steve Augeri, a former Journey frontman.
Favorite artwork: Their late friend, artist Dolores Williams, painted a portrait of the couple on their wedding day based on an image taken by photographer Sarah Dorio at Piedmont Park. Peter met Williams, a nun who spent most of her life in the Peace Corps in Africa, when he was a fitness instructor at Clairmont Oaks, a retirement community.
Resources: Furniture from IKEA, Intaglia, Kudzu Antiques, ABC Carpet & Home
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