North Bay Woman

10 NORTH BAY WOMAN | S P R I N G 2 0 1 4 By PJ Bremier Photos by Stuart Lirette When Suzan Barrie Aiken's late father, John, taught her carpentry skills as a child, he left her with a talent she relies on even today both for practical – and soul-satisfying – rea- sons. "I did carpentry work when I was in law school to help pay the bills," she explains. "And, I have always found working with my hands to be incredibly fulfilling." Aiken, a collaborative attorney and media- tor with offices in Sausalito and San Francisco, says she also counted on these skills when she decided to renovate the interior of her Mill Valley residence several years ago after her son left for college. The 1970s-era three-bedroom hillside residence overlooking Tamalpais Valley is em- braced by nature. From almost every room, there are views of Richardson's Bay and, once outside the front door, it's an easy hike to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. "I feel quite blessed living here and I can be in San Francisco to enjoy all of its cultural wealth within 15 minutes," she says. "I'm very lucky." With her son's departure, she poured her extra time and energy into her home and garden. "My goal was to create a place to which I could come home, be at peace, and emerge the next day ready to help the families I serve," she says. Surprisingly, though, she found the process to be just as soothing as she imagined the final result would be. "My work can be quite stressful and I found that coming back home and working on my house was very relaxing," she says. "There's nothing like demolishing some walls to help one's stress level." She found peace in sanding her walls, spending months to achieve just the right tex- ture. "That became my 'sanding meditation'," she quips. Her overall plan was to create an airy, open and minimalist space. She "wanted to open everything up and pull down anything that wasn't structural." That meant that the pair of walls hem- ming-in the staircase leading to her bedroom on the third floor had to go. "It felt like you were in a chute," she says with a grimace. In their place, she designed and installed unimposing metal guardrails that allow an un- impeded swath of volume and light to flow between the foyer and living room. New skylights lightened up the space and a "faux" ceiling of glossy stretched fabric, called a French Ceiling, was applied by artists to completely conceal the original knotty pine ceiling. With a limited budget, Aiken had three things going for her. She knew what she wanted, she knew how to do it and she knew when to ask for help. S anctuary S uz an ' s A journey from sanding to serenity Suzan Barrie Aiken in her redesigned living room surrounded by her favorite art pieces.

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