“Ever heard the song ‘Welcome to Boomtown?’” Yolanda asks, organizing trays of gluten-free thumbprint cookies behind the counter at Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen. “Santa Fe is boomtown,” she says.  

After more than a quarter century in their Webster Groves home, empty-nesters Anne and Karl Dunajcik were ready to freshen up spaces that had scarcely been altered since the Clinton Administration—a time when light, bright and airy weren’t necessarily high on the design aesthetics checklist.

one: By David Klass, Klassmore. Photography courtesy of David Klass. 

two: By Rich Mortensen, Luxe Design Build. Photography by Michael Hillman.

three: By 2to5 Design. Photography by Dustin Halleck.

four: By Stefani Stein. Photography by Tessa Neustadt.

The fairest of them all, you ask? Thanks to the task mastering, all over flattering, latest and greatest in bathroom mirror backlighting, the answer will always be “you.”

With a toddler in tow and a penchant for the contemporary look of their East Coast roots, Kristin Santi and Matthew Diddy wanted a clean, bright and well-functioning kitchen in their Chesterfield home. Dana Dunbar of Lorrien Homes, the general contractor who spearheaded the young couple’s renovation, says the space felt slightly claustrophobic thanks to dim colors and its lack of light, natural and otherwise.

Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center, St. Louis, MO
Photography by Sam Fentress
The new Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center, designed by Trivers Associates, is sited in Laumeier Sculpture Park. The goal of the project was to create a controlled environment to display artwork year-round. The new gallery and event space is now one of the most prestigious open-air museums in the country.