Serious Play

September 17, 2025

A strategic main-floor remodel redefines a tired layout with game night and cocktail lounge vibes.

Words
Kimberly Winter Stern
@kimdishes

Designer
Stephanie Stroud Interiors
@stephaniestroudinteriors

or more than 20 years, Karen and Mike Dreyer’s Leawood home followed the script of a traditional layout: a formal living room rarely touched, a separate dining room reserved for holidays and special entertaining, and a hearth room that buzzed with daily life. But in 2022, after working with Stephanie Stroud Interiors on a refresh of their kitchen eating area and family room, the couple felt ready to tackle the rest of the main level—and give new life to the rooms that appeared suspended in time.

The design firm’s goal was to transform the seldom-used formal living room into a sultry, art-filled combination lounge and game room imbued with personality—a space where Mike could stir a batch of old-fashioneds, the house cocktail, without missing the action, and where a heated game of Spades with friends might stretch long into the night.

The project’s design brief?

“We’d used our formal living room maybe a handful of times,” Karen says. “We wanted a space we’d actually use—a fun, moody, comfortable lounge for entertaining and a room equipped for playing cards. My husband came up with the idea to turn it into a game room, and I said, ‘Let’s go!’”

Stephanie and assisting designer Caril Duncan were immediately inspired.

“Karen is a painter and ceramicist who shows locally at the Plaza Art Fair and nationally—her work is incredible, and so is her mother’s,” Stephanie notes. “Karen and Mike’s home was already filled with a small gallery’s worth of meaningful art, so we didn’t need to hunt for inspiration. It just became a matter of which art we would incorporate into our design throughout the renovation.”

“It’s a designer’s dream to have that much inspiration and a client all in with our design plan.”

Surprisingly, a portrait of a glowering bull, painted by Karen’s mother, artist Toni Arnett, became the design’s North Star.

“We pulled it from Karen’s office and used its deep tones and unexpected chartreuse accents to guide the color palette,” Stephanie explains. “Then we layered in texture—velvet upholstery, menswear-inspired drapery, antique mirror, brass mesh cabinetry—to create an intriguing atmosphere.”

The custom bar—designed to showcase Mike’s curated whiskey assortment, starring his favorite J. Rieger bourbon whiskey—boasts an antique glass backsplash and marble and brass accents, all carefully lit to set the mood.

It’s a room brimming with personality: It’s elegant, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
– Stephanie Stroud

Photos (below)
Laurie Kilgore
@lauriekilgorephotography

“He wanted a place to mix drinks and still be part of the conversation,” Karen says. “It feels like him, just as much as the art and ceramics reflect me.”

The room’s seating is as stylish as it is social. A curved velvet sofa anchors a game table, while a cluster of swivel chairs in a grouping opposite the card action encourages flow.

“It’s a room brimming with personality,” Stephanie says. “It’s elegant, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

Throughout the home, Karen’s distinctive pottery appears in unexpected moments, such as the creamy tulip vase set in a custom-built cabinet near the dining room.

“At the end of the project, we both bought one of her vases,” Stephanie says of her and Caril’s obsession with Karen’s work. “That tells you everything about how personal this transformation became.”

Next on deck for the project?

A full house, so to speak—with the lower level remodel already in the works. And if the main floor is any indication, the collaboration between Stephanie and Karen is holding nothing back when it comes to designing a home that’s equal parts style, substance, and serious play.