2007 HC&G IDEA HOUSE TOUR

While the best designers let their imaginations take flight, Brad Ford did this literally, layering the mudroom walls with scores of tropical insects. "Because it's such a small and often overlooked space I wanted to do something really over-the-top," he says. "I knew it would either be the dumbest thing I've ever done or really cool."

Ford took cues from the traditional use of the mudroom as a buffer between indoors and out. "I thought about nature, and the concept of a mudroom protecting the interior from nature, so I wanted to bring nature inside," he explains. Having seen Madison, Wis.—based artist Jennifer Angus's insect-themed work in a home magazine, he asked her if he could order some of her buggy wallpaper, only to discover her bugs weren't photorealistic renderings but actual carcasses—though she had designed wallcoverings before.

Since the mudroom walls reach a height of 18 feet from the bottom of the stairs (which lead up to the library), Ford knew he couldn't cover the entire surface with insects. Instead, he and Angus created circular patterns of bugs that the pair pinned on an insect-themed wallpaper of her own design. Ford also installed earthy green wainscoting that both grounds the space and prevents visitors from brushing against the insects and knocking them off the wall. A window seat with three deep drawers underneath (labeled "towels," "sunscreen" and "Raid") provides storage for the essentials, and at the top of the stairs the entomology theme comes full circle with a large, egg-shaped Akari light fixture by Isamu Noguchi that resembles a beehive.