Inside the Myers-Schambach Home

Inside the Myers-Schambach Home

Mark Myers and Jessica Schambach are both public figures, so they treasure the opportunity to unwind in the beautifully designed privacy of their Northwest OKC home.

 

Mark Myers and Jessica Schambach met in the newsroom at KOCO-TV back in 2002. They were both reporters for Oklahoma City’s ABC affiliate, and their desks were side by side.

“It’s pretty common for relationships to start in newsrooms, because you spend so much time together,” Schambach says. “One night we went out as friends, and ended up dancing in Bricktown. We tried to keep it quiet in the newsroom at first, but eventually people started seeing us out together. We’ve been together ever since!”

 

“Comfy and cozy” is how Myers and Schambach describe their den. A coffee table with big drawers holds games and arts and crafts. “We spend most of our time as a family in the den,” says Mark. Carefully chosen accents add character to the space.

 


 

The couple were married in the Bahamas, and this June they celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary. They have one daughter, Mia, and the family pet, Stanley. They invited 405 Magazine into their Northwest OKC home for a look at their family life outside the glare of the media spotlight.

“The older I get, the more of a homebody I become,” Myers says. “We have been able to build a house I want to come home to, and when it comes time to unwind, I love lying on the couch in the den and activating full-on chill mode.”

"I love being home. There’s nothing better than curling up on the couch with a good book, watching a show or playing games together. It’s my sanctuary."

 

“I was afraid the tiles would make me dizzy, but Mark’s idea for the floor was a good one,” says Jessica of the remodeled kitchen. “They’re interesting and uniquely us, and they’re easy to keep clean, which is a definite plus.”

 


 

“We are both homebodies,” Schambach adds. “I love being home. There’s nothing better than curling up on the couch with a good book, watching a show or playing games together. It’s my sanctuary. During the week, I don’t get much time to unwind after work; I get home around 11, and Mark and Mia are usually asleep. So it makes me happy to have a weekend at home where we can all be together. And my mom just moved to Oklahoma last year and lives about five minutes away, so I love having her come over.”

Schambach’s schedule as KOCO’s prime-time anchor keeps her busy during the evening hours, while Myers’ position as spokesman for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s office keeps him jumping, as well.

Mark says, “My favorite design element is definitely the master bath. I wanted to keep the natural light, so we came up with the idea to get rid of the tub, extend the shower and put a huge frameless glass in there.”They bought their house soon after they were married. It was new construction, and through the years (14 of them), they have changed almost everything.

“It looked good back then, but we wanted to make it more modern,” Schambach says. “We started with the paint and woodwork: gray walls, white cabinets. It freshened things up, but looked a bit mismatched. That’s when we decided to change it all, and we had to move out to do it.”

The couple stayed with a friend for a month while the professionals worked their magic.

“They touched every floor in our house: ripped up carpet in the bedrooms and put in hardwood,” Myers says. “They refinished the existing wood floors, swapped out the taupe tiles in the bathrooms for gray and installed black/white/gray wood-look tiles in the kitchen.”

From there, they installed new quartz countertops throughout the house, and changed the kitchen backsplash and all three showers to white subway tiles.
 

 

 

“I’m glad we have a formal dining room,” says Mark. “We use it during the holidays or when we have parties. It’s like a piece of art – great to look at, but we don’t use it that often.” The mix of neutral shades and predominance of wood textures is carried throughout the home, and allows decorative elements to stand out.

 


 

“We even got new toilets,” Schambach says, laughing. “I mean at that point, why not? We updated some of our appliances and changed light fixtures, hardware, fans and the faucets to stainless or chrome. We also had the master bathtub taken out and replaced with a larger, walk-in shower. Recently, my mom and I decided to re-paint the formal living and dining rooms. Those rooms don’t have as much natural light, so we wanted to brighten them up with white paint. It was work, but totally worth it.”

 

 


 

The couple have created a happy life together, whether it’s grilling outside or relaxing with friends on the weekends. Their home has become their private oasis, and next on the agenda may be a pool. But for now, they enjoy the sleek, clean designs that surround them … and cherish their alone time.

“We both come from humble upbringings,” Schambach says, “and have learned that what we have does not define us. We feel blessed to have a nice home. It’s not huge, and it’s far from perfection, but it’s just what we need right now – minus a pool!”

 

“We want to be present and involved with Mia,” says Jessica. She’s going into the 3rd grade and has a busier social calendar than we do! We want to be the house where she and her friends come over and hang out.”