It's rare for an older home to have only seen a handful of owners – and much rarer for so many original features to still be intact. But as only the third owners of this Mid-Century home in Knoxville, Tennessee, the homeowners were left with almost all of the details added when it was built in 1964, including marble fireplaces, terrazzo floors, and even an authentic green shag carpet.

But the retention of so many features isn't even the most surprising part of this project. Owned by Isaiah and Kayla Nichols, a veterinarian and YouTuber known for his horror and true crime content, better known as Wendigoon online, you'd assume a penchant for dark, gothic interiors. But this home proves quite the opposite, with rooms showcasing uplifting colors, classic patterns, and collected art that give the home a truly unique personality.

'The house sits on a ridge on the outskirts of Knoxville, Tennessee, with sweeping views of the Cumberland and Smoky Mountains. The setting was a constant source of inspiration,' explains interior designer Caroline Levenson. 'Over the nine-month renovation, we watched lush summer greenery give way to brilliant fall foliage, saw dramatic rainstorms roll through, and even experienced a snowstorm. The house gives you a front-row seat to it all. We drew from those changing colors and textures throughout the interiors.'

With great bones and just the right amount of space for the young couple, the plan was always to elevate the existing footprint rather than extend it. 'The tri-level layout is such an important part of the home’s character, and our approach was to make the existing spaces work beautifully for the family while preserving that identity,' she explains.

The clients' brief was clear: 'no white walls.' Instead, they wanted their home filled with color and pattern that felt fun and playful yet sympathetic to the Mid-Century property. 'Preserving the original details was equally important to them. They appreciated what made the home special, so the brief was to carry that character forward while creating a comfortable home for their growing family.'

'The palette grew out of the homeowners’ love of purple, the colors associated with 1960s interiors, and the landscape visible from nearly every room,' she continues. 'Avocado green, mustard yellow, earthy orange, and warm neutrals run throughout, alongside shades of purple and pink. The wood paneling and parquet floors helped bring those colors together. Their warmth gives the rooms a sense of continuity and lets us move between quite bold combinations without the house feeling disjointed.'

The focus on color and preserving original details is clear from the moment you step through the door. In the entryway, the terrazzo floors remain, and a 1960s cabinet provides stylish shoe storage, while a Pierre Frey woodland wallpaper references the picturesque surroundings that became a consistent source of inspiration throughout the project.

In the family room, that balance of family-friendly comfort and homage to the home's era comes into its own. 'We wanted it to have the intimacy of a wonderful 1960s den, with a custom green velvet built-in walnut sectional, a pool table, and a bar for late-night cocktails,' Caroline adds. 'We retained the original combination range and dishwasher in the bar area and added an artisan tile backsplash. The hand-painted Italian tile has a wonderful handmade quality, with terracotta-orange tones that also feel at home in the period. Even the homeowners’ pet snake has a place here, with its habitat skirted in a rich Zak + Fox tapestry fabric.'

Great furniture choices were a priority in the new design – with a baby on the way and frequent guests coming to stay, the clients wanted a blend of style, comfort, and durable fabrics. 'We mixed custom pieces with vintage finds so the furnishings would feel individual to the house. Working with local craftspeople allowed us to tailor the family room sectional to the room, including its wide, sloping arms and bookshelves built into the back,' Caroline explains.

'We also spent a great deal of time searching our favorite vintage shops for casegoods, lighting, art, and smaller surprises, including a bar with two little stools that tuck beneath it. The Togo-style chair in the family room has the relaxed sculptural quality we loved for this house, and recovering it in a whimsical floral gave it a fresh personality.'

While many rooms required building new pieces and sourcing furniture to suit, the kitchen became a real practice in preserving what was already there, and adding to it to make it feel connected to the other rooms. It was a combined decision to keep the original kitchen cabinets and hardware, but an offset black-and-white checkerboard floor and Japanese-inspired wallpaper were introduced to bring retro flair.

'Choosing tile for this project felt a little like being in a candy store. We had clients who were open to expressive choices and a house that could carry them beautifully,' she recalls, noting that despite the playful designs throughout the home, the kitchen was the one room they wanted something a little more subdued. 'We chose a simpler blue backsplash laid in a soldier stack. It offers a cooler counterpoint to the warm cabinetry and orange tones in the wallpaper. Each tile has its own role, whether that is creating a focal point, adding texture, or balancing the surrounding materials.'

But nowhere in the home is Mid-Century style celebrated and embraced more than in the connected living and dining room. Wooden paneling drenched across the walls and sloping ceilings creates a warm, immersive backdrop, which not only pairs beautifully with the parquet floors, but also allows the clients' 'funky furnishings' to shine.

'We knew we wanted a curved sofa and found a vintage white leather piece that we recovered in a durable purple performance velvet, one of the homeowner’s favorite colors,' Caroline recalls. 'We also refurbished the original extra-long cornice boards. Getting them to and from the workroom was quite a feat, but covered in striped Rose Tarlow fabric, they became such an important part of the room. An oversized Noguchi Akari lantern, a candy-pink rug, and a gallery wall mixing museum posters with an Alex Katz print complete the space.'

Upstairs, the palette gets a little moodier, with deeper shades of classic Mid-Century colors creating a cozy feel in the bedrooms. The clients' love for purple is ever-present in the primary bedroom, where a rich purple-red grasscloth wallpaper and a tonal built-in closet create a cocooning drench of color, lifted by earthy neutral textiles on the bed and window treatments for a beautifully timeless feel. 'The nursery and guest bedroom continue that sense of comfort, with layered textiles, soft rugs, and personal touches,' she adds.

In the primary bathroom, the playful tiles return, combined with wooden paneling for a true '60s look. 'Avocado-green tile with irregular geometric shapes brings in a distinctly playful reference to the 1960s,' Caroline adds. Smaller details pack a punch, too. Lighting here references the original entryway wallpaper, a feature the clients loved but was too water-damaged to keep. 'We found the last yard of the vintage fabric in the same pattern on eBay and had it made into lampshades for their bathroom sconces. It allowed us to carry a little piece of the original house into the renovated home.'

For Caroline, the smallest details are worth noticing. While the overall style of the home feels far from the horror aesthetic that surrounds the client's career, it's not without its references. 'We found three resin “blobs” in a vintage shop and immediately knew they belonged in the house. Installed beside the curved stone staircase, they are a playful nod to the homeowner’s work in the horror genre. That personal connection makes them particularly fun.'

Through every room and hallway, one thing is clear: every element celebrates original Mid-Century design yet still feels wonderfully personal to the homeowners. 'We wanted to celebrate the history of this Mid-Century tri-level ranch while giving it the warmth and personality of a home that has continued to evolve,' Caroline concludes. 'The original architecture, the mountain setting, and the homeowners’ enthusiasm for color all shaped the design.'

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In a world where we so often hear about full-scale renovations that involve extensions and complete reconfigurations, this project proves sometimes the most impactful homes are the ones that preserve, rather than replace. It might not be as easy as starting from a clean slate, but there's no denying the extra charm this Mid-Century home boasts.

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Homes with wonderful bones are, unsurprisingly, often the dream starting point for interior designers, and that was certainly the case with this expansive Surrey Hills country house that dates back to 1890. Tasked with modernizing it for family life, design studio Hutley & Humm lovingly embraced all of its history and charm in doing so.

Originally built for the Earl of Lovelace, it is filled with 'beautiful proportions, generous ceiling heights and strong period character, including elements influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and Lutyens-style architecture,' says Melissa Hutley, co-founder of Hutley & Humm. The clients, Theo and Clara and their three young children, had sentimental ties to the property from the outset: it was the home in which Theo grew up, now to be reimagined for their own family.

'The brief was to create a colorful, characterful and highly functional family home that could work equally well for everyday family life, working from home and entertaining,' Melissa recalls. 'They wanted it to feel sophisticated but relaxed rather than formal or precious, and to introduce their own personality while respecting the history of the house.'

The challenge with decorating traditional homes is finding harmony between the old and new, something which this project seems to achieve effortlessly. 'We wanted to respect the traditional architecture and proportions of the house, but bring in a much more colorful, playful and contemporary layer through the furniture, fabrics, lighting and artwork,' says Melissa.

Key to achieving this balance was incorporating design from different periods – think English country decor with a contemporary twist. 'There is a mixture of antiques, traditional shapes, bespoke pieces and contemporary furniture, so the house feels collected and layered rather than as though everything was designed and bought at the same time,' she says.

And while striking the right balance between classic and contemporary was imperative, so was making sure it felt laid-back enough for a family of five. 'They wanted it to feel joyful, welcoming and full of life, rather than overly formal,' says Melissa. 'Longevity was also important. The clients wanted a house that would still feel relevant in 10, 20 or 30 years, rather than something that felt tied to a particular moment.'

Generous proportions set the tone in the entryway: a light-filled space that boasts historic charm and character. 'The original timber paneling and Arts and Crafts staircase were retained, providing a strong architectural foundation for the rest of the house,' Melissa explains.

Alongside the natural wood tones, a soft shade of green on the walls, Farrow & Ball's Vert de Terre adds another layer of warmth, while pops of raspberry red add contrast and balance. 'The result is a strong first impression, but one that still feels rooted in the architecture of the house.'

Although the drawing room is one of the home's more formal spaces, the use of decorating with patterns – from the playfully colored ottoman to the leopard print fireplace fenders – gives it a cozy and welcoming feel.

'Pattern was incredibly important because it adds another layer of character and prevents the strong colors from feeling flat or overly coordinated,' says Melissa. 'Rather than matching everything, the patterns have different scales and personalities, which helps the house feel collected and evolved.'

Among the rich colors used in the drawing room, Melissa turned to natural materials to provide balance. 'The drawing room is one of the more dramatic spaces, with saturated greens and raspberry tones, emerald velvet, aubergine linen and tapestry-inspired patterns,' she says. 'Natural oak joinery and antique brass library lighting soften the stronger colors and give the room a timeless, collected quality.'

Since entertaining is important to the family, what better way to make use of a tiny octagonal room than to turn it into a home bar? Adjoining the drawing room, this small but impactful room is full of personality and no doubt the perfect spot for a drink with guests.

'This is perhaps the most transformative room in the house,' says Melissa. 'The unusual octagonal room was previously underused, but its shape and domed ceiling made it perfect for a dedicated entertaining space. We introduced a bespoke bar with brass, antiqued mirror and bamboo detailing, alongside a round table and banquette that work with the shape of the room,' she adds. 'The burgundy and saffron palette gives it a jewel-box quality, while the brass bamboo lighting adds warmth.'

The kitchen takes on a calm feel with its sleek design and earthy color palette of warm white and muted greens. Rather than going for bulky upper kitchen cabinets, Melissa opted for delicate open shelving and Carrara marble kitchen countertops and backsplash to lift the space.

The green kitchen cabinets – Howdens' 'Reed Green' on the units and 'Fir Green' on the kitchen island – nod to the color story throughout the home, while adding warmth and depth. 'Green cabinetry provides the backbone of the room, with warm timber, mahogany upholstery, brass lighting, and a bespoke dining table adding depth.'

The large kitchen makes room for a roomy dining space, as well as a cozy seating area by the window. 'The existing layout was retained, but the room was completely elevated through the finishes, lighting, and furniture,' says Melissa. 'The circular-to-oval dining table was designed by Hutley & Humm to work for everyday family meals but extend to seat up to ten when entertaining.'

Rather than filling this hardworking room with heavy materials and harsh lines, it exudes warmth and a lived-in feel with natural wood tones, patterned upholstery, and cozy window treatments.

'The study has a warmer, more masculine feel, with rich toffee and dusty mid-blue tones,' Melissa explains. 'Cognac leather, blue-gloss joinery and brass details give it depth, while a Flora Soames striped curtain adds pattern.'

Perfectly fitting for a study, Farrow & Ball's Etruscan Red coats the walls, an earthy, brown-toned red paint, 'creating a warm, cocooning backdrop for the room,' says Melissa.

'The snug has relatively little natural light, so rather than trying to make it feel lighter, we embraced the darkness and created a cocooning family room,' says Melissa, who opted to drench the room with Paint & Paper Library's Hunter Dunn.

'Deep green walls and joinery are layered with raspberry details, tactile fabrics and a log burner,' she says. 'A concealed television sits behind a sliding panel, while a small desk provides a practical homework space.'

A warming caramel hue, Paint & Paper Library's Caddie brings warmth and charm to the utility room, proving that functional spaces don't need to play it safe with color.

'The utility was designed around the realities of family life – laundry, coats, wellies, sports kit and all the practical paraphernalia of a family of five,' explains Melissa. 'Rather than treating it as a purely functional room, the rich toffee color and decorative lighting make it feel like a considered part of the house.'

In the cloakroom, mellow blue wall paneling is teamed with an intricate wallpaper pattern by House of Hackney, once again reinforcing the sentiment that bold design choices don't need to be reserved for large rooms.

The main bedroom is every bit serene with its soft neutral color palette and layered textiles, most notably the bed canopy. 'The main bedroom was designed as a beautiful, calm retreat from the stronger colors downstairs,' says Melissa.

'Soft off-white, brass and dusty blue create a serene feel, with white raffia wallpaper and a Pierre Frey fabric adding texture and pattern,' she adds. 'Antique dressing furniture sits alongside more contemporary pieces, while the bespoke curtained bedhead gives the room a softer, more enveloping quality.'

'The guest bedroom combines deep green, navy, and ochre through a geometric wallpaper, with a full-length deep yellow velvet headboard creating a strong focal point,' Melissa explains. 'A generous desk doubles as a dressing area, making the room flexible as well as decorative.'

The kids' rooms are fun, yet refined enough not to feel disjointed from the rest of the home. 'The children's rooms were designed to feel playful but not childish, with strong color and pattern that could grow with them into their teenage years,' Melissa says.

The same expressive yet elevated feel extends to the other kids' rooms, with playful red window trim bringing continuity between the rooms. 'Existing furniture was retained and reupholstered where possible, helping to make the rooms feel personal rather than completely new,' says Melissa.

The bathrooms pay homage to some of the colors prominent throughout the home: golden yellow and earthy green. In the yellow guest room en-suite, a marble countertop adds a sophisticated touch, while the green family bathroom pairs classic design with more modern touches. 'Green panelling is paired with a slim green striped tile, while decorative lighting and a statement mirror bring in personality without compromising practicality,' says Melissa.

'The converted eaves became a flexible family hideaway, with a huge upholstered mattress tucked beneath the sloping roof,' says Melissa. 'The walls and ceiling are covered in patterned wallpaper, with wall lights making it work for movie nights, reading, and sleepovers. It is deliberately a little magical and informal – a space for the children to retreat to rather than another traditionally decorated bedroom.'

Respecting the history of this home has no doubt paid off – the contemporary design feels every bit sensitive and as if it has been collected over time. The confident use of color has clearly paid off, too. 'Once the house was finished, the clients felt the colors didn't look particularly bold at all; they simply felt as though they belonged there,' Melissa reflects.

'The house has now become a genuine family home rather than simply the childhood home Theo remembers,' she adds. 'The entertaining spaces are being used as intended, particularly the drawing room, dining room and bar, while the snug and attic give the children more informal spaces to spend time together.'

'The house still feels grand and special, but it no longer feels like a house that is simply being looked after – it feels lived in, colorful and completely belonging to this family,' says Melissa.

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‘Oh, she just loves color – she was a woman after my own heart!’ says New York-based interior designer Katie Lydon of the client who lives in this four-story Brooklyn family home, which Katie recently completed. But as well as the project being a meeting of minds, it was also a meeting of hues, patterns, and ideas that, in someone else’s hands, could have been competing. Yet here, Katie manages to bring them all together as one.

‘The client loved peaches and blues, and one of the first things she said to me was that she didn’t want a white kitchen. I just thought, “Thank God!” She was an inspiration,’ Katie says. That love of being bold with color and print is evident everywhere. Various blues envelop spaces, blush tones creep in, and heritage patterns enliven corners. Yet the overall mood – despite all of this – is one of curated calm.

The starting point for the whole project was the curtains in the living room. ‘The client loved Josef Frank,’ Katie says, referring to the midcentury artist behind the print on this fabric. ‘And she told me this was the pattern of her dreams. So I had to figure out a way to make them work in a home that I already knew was going to have a lot of color.’

Katie’s approach was to keep the walls – on the whole – pretty muted, so that they didn’t fight with the livelier pieces. ‘You know, the curtains set the mood for the whole house,’ Katie says. ‘They’re one of the first things you see when you walk into the entryway, and so I’m really glad we incorporated them. They say how happy this house is, they say who the client is. They’re casual but classic and make for a really joyful arrival home.’

That sense of joy was part of the brief. ‘The family who live here are super-casual,’ Katie says. ‘So they wanted a robust interior that could withstand three kids and lots of entertaining.’ The house hadn’t previously been touched since the 1980s, so it was, in Katie’s words, ‘very dated.’

Another way Katie managed to incorporate those curtains was to make them feel less like an outlier by calling back to them at various other moments throughout the house. In the corner of the living room sits this patterned chair, which picks up the red in the drapes, while the powder room is drenched in wallpaper featuring another Josef Frank print.

‘We looked at many, many different wallpapers, and then decided to double down on having something from Josef Frank,’ Katie says. ‘It made the curtains seem intentional, to nod to them again like this elsewhere, and helped to make the overall effect of the decor feel curated and organized, while also being unique and personal.’

Another unifying theme is the color blue, seen on the sofa and twin chairs in the living room, and now here in the kitchen (with more appearances later on). ‘Blue is definitely the common denominator in this home,’ Katie says. ‘Why? Because it gives that warm-cool feel, a contrast to the pinks, terracottas, and red we’ve also used throughout. Blue is such an atmospheric color, and I love to be able to walk into a space and have it feel interesting and vibrant but calm, too. Blue does all of that. It’s calm, but never boring.’

Katie says it took a number of tries to get this exact blue right, but that going lighter here helps keep this bright space feeling airy and large. ‘There would have been nothing wrong with going for a classic gray kitchen here, but it just wouldn’t have been quite as exciting,’ she says.

There was a richer blue at play in the dining snug, a small area that had previously been used as the kitchen but didn’t feel big or central enough for the way a modern family lives today. ‘It’s a little bit of a tight space – it’s only got room for the table,’ Katie says. ‘And had we gone for chairs all the way around, it wouldn’t have felt as anchored as it does with a built-in bench. That banquette makes the area seem complete.’

Just off the kitchen is another very clever use of a tight space, turning a little closet area into a home office. ‘I am delighted with this!’ Katie says. ‘We had this little space and were about to turn it into a coat storage area, and then thought it had so much more potential. By turning it into an office area, it gets so much use. Plus, it’s close enough to the kitchen that a grown-up can work in it and still keep an eye on the kids doing their homework at the island.’

Heading upstairs, the blue theme continues in both the son’s bedroom and the family bathroom. ‘The kids are all young, but not super-young, so the idea was to create relatively grown-up spaces that would age with them and wouldn’t need too much changing,’ Katie says. Meanwhile, in the bathroom, the handmade tiles are charmingly irregular, in keeping with the aim of giving every space character. ‘They have such a lovely inflection,’ Katie says. ‘Those tiles are truly perfectly imperfect.’

The same principle applies to the bedroom shared by the two daughters – currently so cute and adorable with its matching twin beds, but with millwork painted in a color that could just as easily suit a teenager or an adult.

‘You don’t want to spend too much money on a kid’s room,’ Katie says, ‘as they’ll grow out of whatever you do soon enough. But paint is a really smart choice because it elevates details like millwork and can easily and affordably be redone if their tastes change as they get older.’

On the very top floor are the main bedroom and a multifunctional den, a place where the kids can come upstairs and sit comfortably with their parents, or where they can retreat to a quiet space. Truly multifunctional, the room also has a desk along one of the walls.

‘This space had to work really hard,’ Katie says. ‘And I looked at it alongside the main bedroom. While that room is blue with blush tones, this one leans into blush but is very complementary to the other space. I kind of feel like they have a yin and yang effect on each other – one is cooler in tone and the other warmer, but they go together well.’

What Katie has shown in this home is that it’s possible to include a vivacious array of patterns, prints, and paint colors while still achieving an overall sense of curation. The trick is to allow space for those louder ideas to breathe by strategically keeping many of the walls more neutral, while linking the bolder pieces through common threads of color. There is a lot of method here, preventing this brilliant scheme from becoming madness and, in fact, helping it feel calm.

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In this Mill Valley home, California light falls across herringbone floors, floral wallpaper has company in contemporary art, and an heirloom table looks perfectly at ease beneath sculptural lighting. The owner wanted a home that acknowledged her British roots while embracing the more relaxed sensibility of Northern California. Jennifer Tidwell, co-founder of The Workroom Interiors, found common ground in handsome woodwork, tactile fabrics and a generous helping of pattern.

'Our client wanted the house to feel like it belonged in California while nodding to her British heritage,' Jennifer explains. Working with architect Kelly Haegglund, Jennifer undertook a full-home renovation that balanced the owner’s love of bold color and pattern with the practicalities of life with two teenage boys. Furniture from the owner’s childhood helped shape the interiors, alongside a contemporary art collection curated in collaboration with British art consultant and friend Lucie Charkin, featuring works exclusively by women artists.

Step inside, and the owner’s British roots are immediately visible in the entry’s herringbone floors and wall moldings. Farrow & Ball’s ‘Drop Cloth’ creates a warm first impression, while a botanical photograph by Kija Lucas introduces the contemporary art collection that Jennifer worked into the scheme from the outset.

At the heart stands the owner’s round heirloom table. ‘She wanted her heirloom table to greet her guests, so it grounds the space in the center of the room,’ says Jennifer. A vintage Chiton chandelier and an Apparatus sconce share materials across different eras, showing how pairing vintage and contemporary pieces can feel cohesive without everything having to match.

The mudroom takes its cue from the British boot room. A built-in bench topped with a plaid cushion offers somewhere to sit and pull off boots, with handy hooks above and cabinetry for the belongings that tend to gather by the door. Painted woodwork and a patterned floor make this hardworking corner feel as thoughtfully dressed as the rooms beyond.

Two generous sofas face off across a low wood coffee table in the living room, setting up the space for conversation as naturally as the fireplace does for a chilly evening. Farrow & Ball’s ‘Shadow White’ walls and barely-there curtains leave the windows to frame the greenery outside; plaid and checked cushions bring a hint of British woollens and tailoring to the seating, their familiar geometry breaking up the plain upholstery without overwhelming the light-filled room.

Beside the fireplace, Halabala chairs reupholstered in indigo Anne Kirk Textiles fabric introduce sweeping wood curves to the arrangement. Cushioned built-ins make room for an extra perch, with cabinetry in Farrow & Ball's ‘Mouse’s Back’ adding depth. 'Mixing the old with the new in this home was really important, as it gives a home depth and provides a story of the people who live there,' Jennifer says.

The dining room has a particularly good conversation starter overhead: a Trueing chandelier whose glass links loop above the wood table. Chosen early to anchor the adjoining spaces, it sets a more adventurous, ‘edgy and cool’ tone than the traditional woodwork might suggest.

An Allison Gildersleeve painting supplies an equally spirited backdrop. The collection features contemporary female artists, with some works chosen before their rooms were designed. Deep purple in this painting found its way into the Zak + Fox upholstery on Lawson-Fenning chairs. Everything around it is restrained enough to let the artwork have the floor.

The kitchen borrows the familiarity of English cabinetry and gives it room to breathe. Cabinets painted Farrow & Ball's ‘Light Gray’ frame a walnut island, while Calacatta Borghini marble introduces flowing veins among the orderly panels. Burnished-brass Modern Matter hardware adds a little polish; deVOL Creamware pendants keep the lighting pleasingly simple.

'Our cabinetry molding detail was inspired by deVOL,' Jennifer explains. In the pantry, Abigail Borg's ‘Muscari Coal Ecru’ wallpaper and diagonally laid black-and-white stone flooring give everyday storage an unexpectedly decorative setting.

In the family room, nods to British tailoring transition to the walls, with tweed-like herringbone wallpaper and a tartan ottoman framed by oak woodwork. Oak windows, crown molding, and cabinetry distinguish it from the paler rooms, with Phillip Jeffries' ‘Ireland's Eye’ wallcovering adding the texture of tweed. Farrow & Ball's ‘London Stone’ continues the warmth (and British theme) across the ceiling.

'We wanted the room to feel transformative right when you entered,' says Jennifer. A broad ottoman in Holland & Sherry's ‘Sona Tartan’ occupies the middle of the seating group, its generous proportions inviting feet up. Smaller hassocks keep the arrangement flexible.

The study holds the key to the home's color scheme. Madeaux's ‘Samarkand’ wallpaper in Mole fills the walls with expressive pattern, surrounded by cabinetry, trim, and a ceiling painted Farrow & Ball's ‘Brinjal’. Walnut shelves and counters bring a warm wood note to this richly layered workspace.

The owner fell for the Madeaux wallpaper's colors and contemporary pattern early in the project. 'It became the color story to pull from throughout,' Jennifer recalls. The study’s concentrated palette supplied colors to revisit elsewhere, helping rooms with very different patterns feel connected.

The primary bedroom lowers the volume with Farrow & Ball's ‘Charleston Gray’, carried across walls, trim and the wood-plank ceiling. Keeping the overhead surface in the same color makes the room feel enveloping, while broad windows prevent the scheme from becoming heavy. A patterned throw and textured pillows give the bed the layered feel of a well-stocked linen cupboard, with the upholstered headboard adding another tactile note. Workstead sconces with linen shades and a Lawson-Fenning pendant add warm brass, and a wood nightstand with a scalloped apron completes the room.

The primary bathroom carries the bedroom’s interest in textiles onto the walls. FAYCE’s Lapel grasscloth has the finely drawn geometry of a tailored fabric, paired with ribbed walnut vanity fronts that introduce another layer of texture. Calacatta Oro marble provides a smoother counterpoint, while round brass-framed mirrors and small globe sconces soften the angular pattern.

The first of the boys’ rooms gives stripes and checks a lively, blue-led palette. A wood-framed headboard with striped upholstery and small embroidered crosses sits behind fine checked bedding, a broader plaid throw, and a striped accent pillow. The changes in scale make the mix work. Farrow & Ball's ‘Light Gray’ supplies a calm backdrop, with Benjamin Moore's ‘Hale Navy’ deepening the cabinetry. Lostine sconces bring black leather into the scheme, and above the bed, a landscape artwork brings a wilder geometry to the room, its rugged ridgelines contrasting with the orderly checks and stripes below.

In the second boy’s room, green and ochre plaid picks up the warmth of Farrow & Ball's ‘Stony Ground’. A sloping plank ceiling and vertical boards behind the bed give the space architectural texture, while built-in storage fits neatly beneath the roofline. An oak ledge above the upholstered headboard provides a useful perch without crowding the bed. A pale bench with dark straps repeats the room's mix of softness and crisp detail, and a brass-and-black wall light adds definition against the light woodwork.

Morris & Co.’s ‘Marigold’ wallpaper in Bullrush gives the guest bathroom an unmistakable English decorating reference. Its intricate foliage surrounds an oak vanity topped with Calacatta Oro marble, with an oval mirror and ceramic-shaded sconce lending gentler curves to the compact arrangement.

‘Our client really thought through every detail, and she embraced the design process from start to finish,’ says Jennifer. The result makes a persuasive case for taking stock before starting afresh: a favorite chair might need new upholstery, an inherited table a different setting. It is a useful reminder that the starting point for a beautiful room may already be in your possession.

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A house move is stressful enough without having to take the entire building with you. But for this historic Queen Anne home in Roslyn, New York, a change of address was more than just admin. Originally built in 1898, the house had fallen into disrepair before being dismantled and rebuilt piece by piece across town at the base of a duck pond in the early 1990s. It's a surprising backstory for a house that is clearly worth all the effort of saving.

Decades later, its owners called on Danielle Rose Design to help write the next chapter. Having lived in the house for 12 years, they wanted to preserve the character they'd fallen for while making it work for modern family life. 'We wanted our contribution to feel like a thoughtful next chapter,' explains. The result is a home that feels connected to its surroundings spot but refreshingly unprecious, pairing original architectural details with earthy colors, natural materials and a little playful personality. Or, as Danielle puts it, 'warm, collected, and rooted in tradition, with a little playfulness.'

A historic home can have all the beautiful moldings and original windows in the world, but it still needs to work on a Monday morning with a growing family in full swing. When Danielle came on board, the owners already knew exactly what they loved about it. What they needed was a little more breathing room: a generous kitchen, a dedicated home office, and comfortable spaces for everyone to spend time together.

Getting there, however, meant navigating a year-long architectural review, with the homeowners and architect Matthew Korn working through four rounds of revisions to secure approval from the local historic board and the Roslyn Landmark Society. 'That commitment speaks to how seriously they took the responsibility of caring for this house,' Danielle says. It was a careful process, but one that gave the project a clear direction. 'We let those practical needs and the existing architecture guide each other,' she explains, rather than treating the house's history as an obstacle to modern living.

The kitchen is perhaps the best example of that thinking. Its original footprint no longer suited the family, so Danielle reworked the layout, taking inspiration from the existing floor-to-ceiling windows flanking the range. New windows echo their design, while a vaulted ceiling and white oak details bring a sense of space to the extension. 'We could improve how the room functioned while allowing its original architecture to continue setting the tone,' she says. Elsewhere, the living room layout was largely left alone, with a once-awkward alcove turned into a game area with a custom banquette and table. Part of the porch became the new office overlooking the garden, too, making use of the home's connection to the outdoors. As Danielle puts it, 'The house already had so much personality; our role was to help the family enjoy more of it.'

When it comes to renovating an older home, knowing what not to change can be just as important as deciding what to update. 'We looked at each element for both its architectural value and the role it could play in the family’s life,' says Danielle. The original windows, moldings and casings were all deemed worth keeping, but the staircase needed a little more intervention. Years of mismatched repairs had taken it far away from its original craftsmanship, so the team dismantled it and recreated each component, right down to the individual spindles, before refinishing it in rich dark oak. Unlacquered brass toe kicks and stair-runner rods add a subtle modern touch. 'There is something meaningful about putting that much care into a feature they touch and use every day,' Danielle says of the painstaking repairs.

Crucially, she didn't treat this old house like a museum. New V-groove paneling and millwork throughout take their cues from the original architecture, while elements that no longer worked in their original setting were given a new purpose. The former kitchen cabinets, for instance, now bring character to the laundry room, painted in Farrow & Ball's De Nimes and topped with soapstone counters. 'Sometimes the right answer was careful restoration, and sometimes it was finding a new place for something that still had plenty of life left in it,' Danielle explains. It's a practical, refreshingly unfussy approach to a historic renovation – and one that ensures the home's history is part of everyday life, rather than something simply admired from a distance.

With the groundwork carefully laid, Danielle could turn her attention to the details that give the house its personality. The owners were drawn to earthy colors, traditional prints, natural textures, and statement stone, with room for a few unexpected choices. 'The Queen Anne architecture gave us a foundation of beautiful proportions and detail, and the homeowners’ love of earthy color and natural materials helped us make it personal,' she explains. Walnut, mohair, floral wallpapers, and unlacquered brass bring plenty of texture and that playful energy they were seeking. It's polished, absolutely, but not too precious to be lived in.

Color does much of the work, too, but not in quite the same way from room to room. 'We approached color as part of the home's architecture,' Danielle says, using softer neutrals and materials to connect the spaces before letting individual rooms have a little fun. The pantry is boldly plum, with matching marble countertops and wallpaper overhead; the powder room is wrapped in deep green; and an earthy red mohair sofa gives the living room a rich focal point. Brass, walnut, and marble checkerboard flooring recur throughout, so even the more dramatic spots feel part of the same story. There are contemporary flourishes, too, including a sculptural glass light in the office, where a landscape mural wallpaper by Isidore Leroy echoes the pond below the house. It's a clever nod to the setting without resorting to anything too literal. 'We wanted richness without formality,' Danielle says, creating spaces 'where you notice the details but still feel completely at ease.'

Thanks to its now-larger footprint, the kitchen is light and generous with a vaulted ceiling complete with white oak beams. Below, the custom inset cabinetry is painted in Benjamin Moore's Natural Cream, while deep walnut details and marble countertops bring patina and movement to the traditional design. A generous island gives the family a place to gather, lined with upholstered counter stools. The pantry, meanwhile, tells a different story. Farrow & Ball's Brinjal on the cabinetry meets matching deep eggplant marble countertops, with a House of Hackney wallpapered accent ceiling overhead. 'The pantry is the home's boldest small space,' Danielle says of this confident space. 'Brass details, grates, and gallery rails add warmth, and the striped café curtains and marble checkerboard floor tie the room to the foyer.'

Just off the kitchen, a tucked-away coffee nook keeps the morning essentials close at hand, with walnut open shelving and a hammered unlacquered brass sink and gallery rails that tie it neatly into the main space. The dining area makes family meals center stage, with a generous oak table, upholstered chairs, and a built-in banquette that create an inviting spot for the entire family. An ornate brass light adds a little glamour overhead, while a vintage rug brings warmth beneath the furniture. It's a mix of tailored pieces and more relaxed details that feels collected rather than overly coordinated. 'The overall vibe they were after was warm, grounded, and intentionally designed – something that felt both elevated and easy to live in,' Danielle adds.

The mudroom has so much charm for such a practical space, with furniture-style cabinetry, marble countertops, and unlacquered brass hardware giving everyday storage a charming finish. More V-groove paneling, striped cafe curtains, and the marble checkerboard flooring that runs through the house keep things feeling cohesive, while sweet lighting adds a decorative flourish.

The powder room, meanwhile, is moody, intimate and layered with deep green millwork, Morris & Co. floral wallpaper and a petite mosaic floor. 'The room is dramatic but inviting, a small space that leaves a lasting impression,' she says. Danielle explains how she likes to think about how a 'house unfolds as you move through it', adding that 'each room has something of its own to offer, but the transitions feel natural,' she explains. 'The colors feel grounded, with a softness that works beautifully alongside the home’s historic details.'

The bedrooms bring a softer note to the home, with each tailored to its occupant while keeping that same balance of comfort and character. In the primary bedroom, delicate floral wallpaper creates a backdrop for a calm, neutral scheme, while out of sight, Danielle has styled pink mohair lounge chairs with fringe detailing to sit beside the bay windows. The children's bedroom is naturally more playful, with hand-painted checkerboard floors and subtle wallpaper that adds to the 'storybook feel', while a custom built-in bed and desk make clever use of the space. Blush accents, shelves for favorite books and treasures, and a scalloped chair add personality without overwhelming the room.

Not every renovation needs to start with a skip and a shopping list. Sometimes, the best thing you can do with an old feature is find it a new purpose. A spirit of reusing and recycling runs throughout this home, where preserving its history has meant looking at what can be kept, reworked and given a new chapter in the story. 'In a house that was once dismantled and rebuilt so it could have another life, giving those pieces a new purpose feels especially fitting,' Danielle says. Perhaps that's what makes this restoration so successful: it doesn't try to freeze the house in time, but allows its history to keep evolving.

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There is a temptation to think of a guest house as a miniature version of the main home, complete with its own kitchen, living area, and somewhere to sleep. But when interior designer Anja Michals was asked to reimagine a detached ADU in Mill Valley, California, the brief took a different direction. Rather than creating a self-contained home, the aim was to give a busy family of five something arguably more valuable: room to breathe.

Completed in March 2026, the once-forgotten outbuilding has become a colorful, character-filled extension of the family home, connected by a clever new mudroom that makes everyday comings and goings feel seamless. Inside, patterned wallpaper, vintage lighting, and earthy shades of green, blue, mustard, and rust give it a 'layered, eclectic, and lived-in' look that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Surrounded by towering redwoods, this is a retreat designed as much for family movie nights and children's sleepovers as it is for visiting guests – proof that a small space can do so much more when you stop trying to make it do everything.

Having worked with the homeowners on a facelift of their main house in 2019, Anja already had a good understanding of their tastes by the time this project came around. The challenge here was a slightly different one: making an old, neglected structure feel like it belonged to the way the family lived. 'The original detached ADU was an old structure on the property that had not been touched, and the layout was not functional as well as dated,' she explains. Rather than simply giving the cottage a pretty finish, the team worked alongside Richardson-Pribuss on the architectural changes that would allow the cottage to become an extension of the family home.

The most important addition was a new mudroom, which not only creates a physical connection between the two buildings but also gives the family a proper place to deposit the haul of shoes, coats and backpacks. Happily, practicality doesn't come at the expense of personality. Painted in sunny Farrow & Ball India Yellow, the cabinetry brings warmth to the monochrome floor, while generous storage keeps the inevitable clutter in check. 'We design with real intention, and to make the space work hard, built-in cabinetry was paramount. The mudroom, which is the first room you enter the space, is as practical, with the vast amount of storage, as it is pretty,' Anja explains.

Any house without a kitchen might raise a few eyebrows, but here, leaving one out was a rather clever move. With the cottage now connected to the main residence, a second place to cook simply wasn't a priority for the homeowners. Instead, that precious square footage could go towards the things the family would actually use. 'We wanted to create a space that allowed the family of five much-needed storage space and breathing room,' Anja explains. That meant room for the children to hang out and watch TV, a quiet spot to work without interruption, and somewhere for visiting friends and family to feel at home. In other words, they didn't need a duplicate kitchen, but more room for living.

Making every inch count was key, and so storage became something of a hero throughout. In the office, floor-to-ceiling shelving and a built-in desk sit alongside a daybed that moonlights as a chic reading nook; elsewhere, integrated drawers in the bedroom and floor-to-ceiling storage tucked into the bathroom and laundry room keep clutter under control. Then there's the bunk room, where a raised bed and curtained hideaway below make the most of the footprint while giving the children a stylish space of their own. It's a neat blend of architecture and interior design that allows this compact outbuilding to accommodate work, play, downtime, and overnight guests, without trying to cram in everything you might expect of a conventional home.

Designer Anja's Swedish roots are woven into the cottage's aesthetic, but this is certainly not a space draped in pared-back Scandinavian minimalism. Think joyful pattern mixing, vintage finds and colors borrowed from the landscape, then given a little extra punch. 'The design direction focused on mixing prints and patterns to achieve a layered, eclectic, and lived-in aesthetic,' Anja explains. Luckily, the homeowners were very much on the same page: 'As our client never shies away from pattern or color, bringing this vision to life was easy.'

Greens and blues form the grounding palette, warmed by mustard, earthy browns and rusty orange, with colors repeated in unexpected places to give the cottage its own visual rhythm. The mustard tones found in the hallway's Kristy Stafford wallpaper, for instance, pick up the sunny yellow cabinetry nearby, creating a connection between the spaces.

Of course, packing this much personality into a compact cottage requires a little restraint, even when the brief welcomes a riot of pattern. 'The key was balancing bold prints with softer textures, varying the scale of patterns, and repeating colors throughout to create a sense of continuity,' Anja says. Vintage lighting sits alongside new and custom furniture, bringing together pieces with patina and stories, rather than making everything feel showroom-fresh. Even the cabinet hardware was hand-selected for each location 'to tell in every corner.'

'The open lounge room is definitely one space that captures the spirit of this project,' says Anja, and it's easy to see why. A generous, rust-orange sectional sets the tone, its intricate pattern playing against the delicate wallpaper, denim blue paneling, and exposed ceiling beams. Overhead, an oversized woven pendant adds another layer of texture, while a vintage coffee table and pine sconces with little fabric shades keep the space feeling relaxed rather than overly styled.

The living room is full of pattern, but nothing feels too matchy-matchy; the trick is in the balance of scale, color, and texture. 'Our design did not include the arches in the door openings, but as we designed, we felt it would add charm and character that this small space needed,' Anja continues. It's a lovely example of letting a room evolve, whether that's with small, collected finds you add to the space over time or bigger architectural moments that come up throughout the renovation.

The cottage's bedroom takes a slightly softer approach to pattern, but it hasn't sacrificed an ounce of personality. Farrow & Ball's delicate Light Blue on the walls creates a calming backdrop for striped bedding, a woven cane headboard, and a printed Roman shade, while a high-gloss ochre nightstand brings warmth and a contemporary touch. 'We wanted the space to feel rich in character and personality without it being overwhelming with it being on the smaller side,' Anja explains. Storage gets a moment of its own in this bedroom, where custom-built oak cabinetry and open shelving are set against a whimsical fish-print wallpaper. Thoughtfully arranged books, baskets, and framed artwork make the shelves feel collected rather than functional in this relaxing space.

The bathroom continues the cottage's playful approach, with vertical stripes of ochre, caramel and creamy white tiles bringing joy and rhythm to the shower enclosure. Scattered blue floral accent tiles add a little unexpected detail, while marble surfaces and warm wood cabinetry keep the scheme feeling grounded. Anja explains that the bathroom plays off the 'not too serious' energy with 'stripes and a Delft tile or two to catch your eye'. It strikes that balance beautifully: a hardworking space with plenty of personality, right down to the smallest details like the shower niche and bobbin mirror.

Even the laundry room gets the full design treatment, with rich brown-green cabinetry painted in Farrow & Ball's Cardamom, styled with veined marble surfaces and brass fixtures to elevate the everyday essentials. A classic checkerboard floor connects it to the mudroom, while a floral fabric skirt conceals the under-counter storage with a little romantic charm. Woven baskets keep supplies neatly tucked away on the open shelf above, and the cabinetry's vertical tongue-and-groove paneled fronts add texture and a sense of height. If there's one thing Anja's design makes clear, it's that even the rooms you might be tempted to overlook should have a little fun in such a bijoux space.

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This little Mill Valley cottage challenges the idea that a guest house needs all the trappings of a home in miniature format. By swapping a second kitchen for a bunk room, a cozy lounge and space to work, Anja has created something far more useful to this family: a flexible retreat that adapts to everyday life, whether that means children's sleepovers, a quiet afternoon with a book or a comfortable place for visiting guests to stay. Its clever layout makes the most of every inch, while playful patterns, vintage finds and thoughtful details ensure it feels like a destination in its own right.

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Some homes take years to acquire a sense of history. This one was designed with it from the start. Built on land that has been in the owners' family for more than 40 years – and where the couple once got married – this Kansas City home had some rather meaningful foundations to build on. The brief was to create a forever home that felt as though it had grown here naturally, gathering stories along the way. 'Our goal was to customize as much as possible while still making the house feel familiar and nostalgic,' says Tara Davis of architectural and interiors studio Cicada Co. And that is exactly how it feels.

Taking cues from traditional Southern architecture, the 2,500-square-foot home has the welcoming front porch, classic shutters, and time-worn aesthetic of a house with a few generations behind it. But look inside, and the details start to tell a much more personal story. There's a kitchen mural inspired by a painting from the owners' grandparents' home, a garden room that keeps the family's green fingers rooted in daily life, and even a pink toilet that proves a classic home needn't take itself too seriously. The result is a new-build with an old soul – and a personality all its own.

The setting may be urban, but the ambition was decidedly old-fashioned. In Westside, just west of downtown Kansas City, narrow lots often lend themselves to new builds that make the most of every available inch. 'Our clients wanted the opposite: something southern and traditional, with shutters and a real front porch, that felt like it had always been there,' Tara explains. The solution was to work with the site's limitations rather than fight them, widening the front facade as far as possible, working with a linear floor plan, and keeping the rooflines simple. 'We imagined it as an old farmhouse that had been added onto over time,' she adds.

With the land having been in the family for more than four decades, Tara and her team were thinking about how the property would work not just today, but years down the line. A land study helped them plan for a future garage off the alley, with the garden room positioned to connect to it when the time comes.

Just as importantly, the design had to preserve one of the site's loveliest assets: the sunset. 'We made one rule early: nothing could block the western sunset,' Tara says. That simple rule shaped 'more of the house than almost anything else' – including the positioning of the primary bedroom, where the bed aligns with the windows and the evening light. Inspired by the way historic homes let light in, they kept the foundation traditional but 'stayed open to eclectic moments that bring out their personality,' she continues.

The traditional architecture provides charming bones, but the interiors are where this home really lets its personality show. 'Southern traditional with clean lines. Classic with a punch' is how Tara describes the aesthetic – a balance of natural materials, unfussy finishes, and more unexpected flourishes. The larger rooms are kept light and relatively neutral, with natural wood, simple cabinetry and enduring finishes providing a backdrop for the family's evolving tastes. 'Their taste can shift over time through furniture, textiles, and accessories,' Tara explains. 'We saved the color for the smaller, divided spaces, where it’s easier to change down the road.'

That restraint makes the moments of color and pattern all the more delightful. In the smaller, more private spaces, Cicada Co. turned up the personality with colored trim, wallpaper, and playful plumbing fixtures – from a cobalt blue sink in the bar nook to the pink toilet in the powder room. 'Keeping everything else quiet is what lets those rooms stand out,' she adds. These aren't details chosen to impress a future buyer; they're there because they mean something to the people who live here. The clients, Tara says, 'were never worried about resale. They wanted the house to be theirs,' which gave the studio freedom to make more personalized choices. In fact, she sees bespoke design as the very foundation of the project: 'It wasn’t a feature of this project. It was the only way to do it.'

If there's one place where that all comes together, it's the kitchen. The clients asked for a simple white scheme, but Tara felt it needed something more memorable than cabinetry and countertops alone – 'we knew it needed one moment that would give it a story,' she explains. Her solution was to commission a hand-painted tile mural from KV Tile, inspired by a painting that had hung in the owners' grandparents' house.

The original winter landscape was reimagined as a summer scene, with flowers and foliage bringing it to life – and the family's children and pets making cameo appearances, too. 'It became an art installation built into the house,' she says. The mural was designed piece by piece, with careful consideration given to the color of the tile and the way the tones would contrast. It's a wonderfully nostalgic touch, and one that makes the room feel as though it could belong to this family alone.

That instinct to design around real life, rather than an idealized version of it, runs through the rest of the house, too. The garden room is part potting station, part mudroom and part homework headquarters, complete with a generous sink and a window that opens onto the deck, so the children can play outside while someone keeps an eye on everything from within. In the primary suite, a clever half wall allows the closet and bathroom to disappear behind the bed, keeping the focus on the light and those western views.

Mudroom, utility space, potting station, homework hub – this hardworking room has rather a lot on its to-do list. Situated just past the wraparound banquette in the kitchen, a spot designed to seat the entire family for Sunday dinners, this room provides storage for shoes, coats, gardening tools, potted plants, and craft paraphernalia. Separated from the kitchen by a half wall that lets in the light and painted in a soft, dusty blue, with a deep farmhouse sink, warm timber counters, and plenty of woven baskets, it feels lifted straight out of an English cottage. The family has tended a garden on this land for years, so giving that tradition space indoors was important. 'From there you step out into a big, fully fenced backyard, enclosed on three sides by the original limestone walls,' Tara explains.

The powder room is proof that a little space can have a big personality. Striped wallpaper sets a playful tone, while a gathered floral sink skirt, antique wooden mirrors, and warm brass fittings lend the room a soft feel. The celebrated pink toilet is the real star of the show. 'The whole room is full of pattern play and fun,' says Tara, who sees the rosy fixture as 'a little feminine touch in a house full of boys.' It's a lovely expression of the homeowners' personality – and, frankly, if you're going to have fun with your interiors, the powder room seems as good a place as any to go for it.

The primary bedroom is a lesson in making clever planning feel entirely effortless. A tall, blue-striped upholstered headboard brings a tailored feel to the room, set against botanical wallpaper panels that introduce color and pattern without overwhelming the space. There's a lovely collected quality to the mix, too: crisp white bedding, floral cushions and an antique bedside cabinet that looks as though it has a story of its own.

But the smartest detail is tucked just out of sight. 'We anchored the bed on a half wall, with the closet and bath hidden behind it,' Tara explains. 'The wall becomes the focal point, and the bed lines up with the windows and the sunset.' It's a neat solution to the home's narrow, linear footprint. 'The house sits on a hill with clear western views, so we gave them a place to enjoy that.'

The primary bathroom continues the home's old-fashioned theme, although there's nothing dated about the result. A rich, furniture-style wood vanity, marble counters, and brass fixtures bring a touch of quiet luxury, while glossy forest-green tiles give the walk-in shower a moodier edge. Delicate glass tulip sconces and an elegant mirror add a little softness, but it's the commissioned stained-glass window, crafted by local artisans, that really captures the spirit of the project. It's exactly the sort of detail you might expect to find in a much-loved period home, rather than one built from scratch. As Tara explains, the aim was to incorporate 'details you'd find in a house that's been around a while', giving the new-build a sense of history without sacrificing modern comforts.

What makes this home so special is that it never feels as though it was designed to look old – it is designed to be lived in, loved, and added to over time. From the family story woven into the kitchen to the practicality of the mud-meets-garden room, each detail has a purpose beyond simply looking lovely. For Cicada Co., that was always the point: not to recreate the past, but to give this family a home that feels as though it has a history – and a lot of life still ahead of it.

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Move over, rustic farmhouse. Set across 14 acres in New York’s Hudson Valley, this country retreat by Louise Copeland of L.B. Copeland Interior Design makes a rather convincing case for a more refined take on rural living. Timber-clad rooms, rich tones and charming fabrics bring plenty of character, but there’s nothing overly formal about the 3,700-square-foot home. In fact, Louise’s aim was quite the opposite: 'We wanted it to feel relaxed and comfortable rather than precious, almost like a boutique hotel.'

Having already designed the couple’s West Village apartment, Louise knew this second project called for a different pace. Their Manhattan home had a more city sensibility; while here, the surrounding landscape, the changing seasons and the clients’ shared love of color helped set the direction. 'I’d describe the overall style and aesthetic as a refined, eclectic way of living in the country,' she says. Think deep greens, earthy rusts, and wood-grains alongside contemporary finds and patterned fabrics. The result is a country house with all the warmth you’d hope for, but none of those overly rustic clichés.

The couple’s differing tastes were part of the brief for Louise. Having already designed their West Village apartment, she knew that one client had grown up surrounded by antiques, while the other, an artist, gravitated towards simplicity. Rather than choosing sides, she found a happy middle ground, mixing time-worn finds and collected artwork with confident color. 'We brought in antiques and art for her, mixed in newer pieces for him, and added plenty of color, which they both love,' she explains. It’s a mix that gives the home its welcoming feel – there’s history and personality, but plenty of freshness, too.

The landscape helped determine much of the mood. Sitting between the Taconic and Berkshire Mountains, the house is used most in summer and fall, so Louise wanted the interiors to feel 'easy and relaxed with a small mountain twist' – without veering into permanent winter mode.

'The idea was to create a summery retreat that could still feel cozy when there was a fire going and blankets on the sofas,' she adds. Rust, earthy neutrals and deep greens echo the woodland setting, while flashes of teal lift the palette and stop all that richness from feeling too heavy. Tactile fabrics and layered finishes bring depth, but the overall effect blends the intimacy of a mountain cabin – only with a little more polish. 'The house has beautiful antiques, lighting, and custom upholstery, but we wanted it to feel relaxed and comfortable,' she says.

Rather than starting with a strict color scheme for the home, Louise let a few special pieces set the tone. The dining room rug came first, alongside two fabrics by Muriel Brandolini: a finely detailed block print for the backs of the dining chairs and another for the primary bedroom drapery. Both are simple cottons, but their intricate patterns bring just enough detail to make them feel special. As Louise explains, her vision was to find 'natural materials with refinement and detail, without becoming fussy'. From there, she built up the layers, choosing woven wool, paper-weave and printed grasscloth wallpapers for each space. 'We wanted the wallpapers to add texture and feeling to each room, not just an aesthetic pattern,’ she explains.

Louise was equally deliberate about when and where to turn up the color. The living and dining rooms stay relatively muted, allowing the architecture and surrounding views to take center stage, while the guest bedrooms, TV room and snug take a more playful approach. 'We pushed the palette further, with bolder, more saturated colors, since those rooms are more stand-alone spaces,' she says. Even so, there's a thread connecting the rooms: the kitchen's blue-gray reappears in the living room's welting and artwork, while the dining room's muddy sage green tones show up in pillows throughout. 'I think the house has a lovely balance: it feels open, but the rooms remain distinct,' Louise explains. 'No one vast area takes over the narrative, but you can still see from one room to the next.'

Of course, creating a home that feels easy and effortless takes a lot of work behind the scenes. Although the house was in excellent condition when the couple bought it, Louise saw opportunities to make the layout better suit their lives. The primary closet was rather small, for instance, while the adjoining guest bedroom had space to spare. By borrowing around 70 square feet from the guest room, she created a walk-in closet with closed hanging storage and plenty of built-in drawers for the primary. A more unexpected rethink happened in the snug, where a pair of little-used French doors were turned into windows, freeing up a wall for a generous sectional. 'We also closed the opening between the snug and office to make room for a TV,' Louise explains. The change gave the office more privacy, so they turned it into a small bedroom for visiting guests.

The arrival into the home also had a facelift. A new portico, Dutch door, sidelights and transom give the entrance a more welcoming feel, while outside, landscape architects Wagner Hodgson reworked the grounds to include gardens, a pool and a secluded, wood-clad sauna tucked into the forest. The idea was to connect the property to its setting without sacrificing the comforts that make it a pleasure to spend time in. For Louise, the living room captures that perfectly. 'The timber beams and planking on the ceiling, along with the large plaster fireplace, sit beautifully against the refined sheer drapery,' she says. 'That pairing of rustic with refined really sums up the feeling of the house.'

The kitchen takes a slightly more atmospheric approach to traditional country-house style, with dusty yet warm blue cabinetry, curved detailing, and veined marble countertops that bring plenty of personality to the scheme. Tall windows wrap the space, drawing the surrounding greenery into the room, while glazed cabinets keep everyday pieces on display without making the space feel busy.

'The kitchen has beautiful Calacatta Turquoise countertops, two sinks, and windows looking toward a large weeping willow and pond,' Louise explains. That connection to the outdoors was important, but so was making the kitchen work hard for everyday life. The palette feels relaxed yet elegant, with the stone doing much of the talking and the pendants sweetly framed by each window.

If there’s one room that proves 'rustic meets refined' style needn’t be all pale neutrals and reclaimed wood, it’s the snug. Louise went for a rich, enveloping purple here, layering texture with burgundy-toned built-ins, open library shelving and a generous sectional piled with patterned pillows.

'There’s color throughout the house, but we kept the palette from feeling overpowering or jarring,' says Louise. The mix of plaid, geometrics and floral fabrics gives the room vibrancy, while collected ceramics, books and artwork make the space feel lived-in. 'When you come in [to the home], a narrow hallway to the left leads to the powder room and then to what we call the “snug room”,' she says. 'We painted it deep purple, added a new built-in twin bed and a vintage desk, so it can also serve as an office,' she adds of the multi-functional space.

The primary bedroom really leans into the cabin-like side of the scheme, with wood-grain wallpaper wrapping the walls and sloping ceiling in a warm, honeyed finish. Against all that natural texture, Louise kept the bedding and rug relatively understated, letting the timber take the lead. A plaid upholstered bed and floral drapery bring just enough pattern to stop the room feeling too rustic, while antique furniture and layered lighting lend it a romantic feel. 'We wanted the wood grain to be the main attraction,' Louise explains, noting that the bedroom was deliberately designed to feel quite different from the couple’s Manhattan bedroom, where the walls are covered in velvet. 'The palette is largely rusts, neutrals, and deep greens to bring the outdoors in, with accents of teal in the textiles and lamps,' she adds.

In the tucked-away guest bedroom nook, deep mauve paneling clads the cozy sleepover spot, giving the compact space a sense of cocooning, while a patterned Roman blind, layered cushions and a vintage chair keep it feeling collected rather than overly rustic. The new closet in the primary takes a tailored approach, with deep rust-toned cabinetry, woven floral door panels and built-in drawers that make the most of the reworked layout. As Louise explains, the original closet was too small, so she borrowed square footage from the guest bedroom to create a walk-in space. It's a practical change, certainly, but one that adds plenty of character.

This guest bedroom proves Louise’s knack for making traditional spaces feel fresh. Olive-green trim frames the warm neutral walls, windows, and sloped ceiling, giving the room a playful architectural moment, while a floral upholstered headboard and patterned Roman blind bring in a dose of English country charm. 'The roofline creates some unusual angles, so we decided to work with them and celebrate their quirkiness with bold color,' she explains. It’s a little bolder than the primary bedroom, but still has that easy quality that runs through the house thanks to the layering of the sage-green armchair, blue-green linens, and dusky rose bed skirt.

Even the bathrooms offer their own distinct personalities. The powder room takes the moodier approach, with block print wallpaper, olive wainscoting and a marble-topped vanity that brings delight to the compact space. In the primary bathroom, the mood is quieter and more traditional, with classic white tiles, dark grout and warm taupe trim framing a freestanding bathtub beneath a cafe curtain-dressed window. There’s a lovely contrast between the two: one embraces pattern and color, while the other lets its materials and considered details do the talking.

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In this country home, there’s certainly no farmhouse overload. Instead, Louise Copeland has paired the character of a traditional country house with the polish of thoughtful, layered interiors, where antiques mingle with contemporary pieces and earthy colors meet elegant fabrics. The result is a home that embraces its rural setting without resorting to the usual cliches – and proves that escaping the city doesn't mean leaving sophistication behind.

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Four years ago, the interior designer Jessica Summer received a rather inauspicious email from a client about a house renovation in the southeast English countryside. She was traveling and hadn’t replied straightaway; luckily, they emailed again, promising 'I’d want to get involved, Jessica says. A year and a half later and 'we were standing on this massive construction site with half the house missing and new walls going up'. It was only then that the client confessed 'she’d possibly undersold what a challenge it would be,' says Jessica

Having spent time in the wife’s family home during Covid with their four boys, the then London-based couple decided to decamp permanently to the Home Counties in the South East of England after taking over the house from her parents. Working in collaboration with Russell Taylor Architects, the plan was to add 30 percent more to the already substantial four-floor late 1800s house, including a big back extension with a fully glazed orangery, while also updating the interiors with fresh new schemes and finishes. 'It wasn’t in a terrible state, but having been done in the 90s, it was a bit dated,' Jessica recalls. 'It was the biggest project I’d undertaken at that time.'

'It didn’t feel like it needed the full country house treatment of patterns and whimsy,' says Jessica of its neat, chic feel that was more generous Belgravia townhouse than rambling country pile. So instead, the designer wove a sense of 'unfussy modernity' throughout the six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two dressing rooms and home office by pitting characterful antiques and luxurious textures that 'didn’t feel overly traditional' against a gentle backdrop of knocked-back, earthy hues echoing the natural shades of the rural landscape outside.

Restoring cornicing, architraves and skirting boards, while laying mottled English flagstones to complement the existing heavily patinated parquet flooring, 'added a lot more interest and depth to the flat, too crisp feel left over from the previous renovation,' the designer explains. A discerning empathy for marrying the past with the present stems from Jessica’s studies in interior and architectural history. 'It opened my eyes to the beauty of architecture and design,' she says.

Working tonally is essential to Jessica’s ethos. 'Many of the rooms are intentionally light on pattern, choosing to introduce stronger color through either the upholstery or curtains, not both,' she says. Here, long volumes of slubby matka silk, supple glazed linen and sumptuous cotton velvet 'read almost like elegant, fluted columns framing the windows and front door.'

Pattern, too, has been used sparingly so as not to interfere with the feeling of sanctuary; instead, it comes through personal effects such as waku (canoe) paddles and wall hangings decorated with Māori motifs, and textures such as rush, rattan, chunky jute and grainy or burr woods. Meanwhile, 'the power of antiques' sourced by Jessica, teamed with the family’s inherited pieces, brings a pleasing 'collected rather than curated feel.'

Stylish, robustly practical custom pieces elevate many of the rooms, like the cabinet-cum-bar (complete with mini fridge) in the orangery, the ebonized butler’s pantry fitted with a modern sink and Quooker tap, and double-sided central chest-of-drawers in the dressing room. 'We started to look for an old kitchen dresser and antique bar cabinet, but I just knew they needed to fit and function perfectly, so we had them made,' she says.

The same with lighting. 'Finding pairs of antique lights is always so difficult’ says Jessica; so alongside a few inherited crystal chandeliers, there are contemporary Hector Finch lanterns, Jamb sconces and antiqued iron oak leaf pendants in the dining space and orangery that 'really resonate with the views through the vast windows of the woodlands outside.'

The relaxed feeling in every room, despite the generous proportions, comes from Jessica’s belief that things shouldn’t look too tidy 'because the house had a neatness to it already that needed rustling up bit,' she says. Together, the effect is that 'everything works to deliver a wonderful, warm atmosphere', much like a cosseting – if sophisticated and timeless – hug.

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Some homes need more space – others just need a rethink. When a home isn't working quite as it should, the obvious answer is often to build out, but in this 1920s Spanish-style home in Brentwood, the dream team managed to make this 5,200-plus square feet property work harder for the family who had loved it for more than a decade – without adding a single square foot.

'The existing layout didn't necessarily need more space; it needed to work better,' explain Harper Halprin and Aaron Leshtz of AAHA Studio, who spent two years reimagining the home alongside Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe of interior design studio Nickey Kehoe. The result is a house that feels refreshed without losing its time-worn character, pairing terracotta floors and revived Spanish architectural details with relaxed, layered interiors. There are clever solutions tucked throughout this 'highly surgical renovation', too, including a unique space that the designers have affectionately dubbed a 'mudler'.

The transformation is all in the details. Rather than treating each room as a separate project, AAHA Studio took a more holistic approach, looking at how the home's spaces connected and where small adjustments could make a meaningful difference. Doorways and windows were refined, millwork reconfigured, and the flow between rooms reconsidered, all with the aim of making everyday life feel a little better.

It was a balancing act, too: the aim was to open up the main living areas without sacrificing the sense of intimacy that makes a family home feel welcoming. The result isn't one cavernous, open-plan space, but a series of rooms designed to reconnect this family home.

Just as carefully considered was what not to change. The team wanted to preserve the home's original identity rather than impose an entirely new personality upon it. 'We didn't want to recreate a Spanish-style home in a literal way,' Harper and Aaron explain. 'Instead, we looked carefully at the architectural elements that gave the house its identity and figured out where they made sense to preserve, restore, or reinterpret.'

That idea extended to the finer details, from the placement of openings to the choice of materials, with the architects working closely with design duo Todd and Amy to ensure the interiors felt like a natural extension of the architecture. As the team puts it, the ambition was never to make this house feel brand new, but like 'a home that had evolved naturally over time'.

But respecting the home's bones didn't mean turning back the clock. Instead, they took a more nuanced approach, identifying the architectural details worth holding onto and those that could benefit from a fresh new look.

'It was really about restraint and intention,' say Harper and Aaron. Terracotta tile and subtle vaulted details help establish the house's heritage, while some of the original arched windows and doors were intentionally squared off to create a cleaner, more contemporary feel. 'The result is a home that still feels rooted in its original architecture, but which functions for a family today,' they add. 'It has a sense of built-in patina, which was intentional from the beginning.'

That balance between old and new continues in the design details, where Todd and Amy brought their signature layered approach. The entry makes a particularly memorable first impression, with a green, wallpaper-backed home bar tucked beneath the staircase that sets the tone for the color scheme of the home. What could easily have been an awkward empty corner is now an unexpected focal point, as well as a practical spot for entertaining. As the architects explain, the bar nook required a surprising amount of coordination to get right; positioned just off the entrance, it now 'acts as a pivot point between the dining room and the more formal living room'.

The kitchen, handcrafted by Plain English, was where they made the biggest transformation. Previously divided from the living spaces, it was reimagined to work as the natural gathering point of the home, with an open connection to the family room – but with enough definition to ensure the different areas still feel unique. 'At the same time, we were thoughtful about how the individual areas functioned so that the open plan didn't feel like one large, undifferentiated space,' Harper and Aaron explain. 'Each area still has its own purpose and sense of intimacy.'

At the center is the kitchen island, which was high on the homeowners' wish list. 'One of the client's biggest priorities was creating a kitchen island that could truly serve as the heart of the home – a place where the family could gather comfortably and host large celebrations together,' explain Todd and Amy. It's a space designed to do more than look good: there's room for everyday cooking and dining and more lively get-togethers.

Its muted green cabinetry brings a welcome note of color against the pale cabinets, while the textured tiled range hood, exposed timber ceiling, open shelving and warm terracotta floors add vintage character. It's a kitchen with plenty of presence, but one that feels relaxed rather than too practical. Beyond it, the family room brings a softer touch, with warm caramel cord upholstery, patterned accent chairs, and striped pillows adding layers of texture.

The dining spaces continue the home's balance of practicality and personality. The breakfast nook – a space where the homeowner loves to 'host her children when they come back into town' – is the most relaxed corner of the kitchen, with a generous wooden table, upholstered banquette seating, and artwork bringing a softer note to the terracotta floors that flow throughout. 'It creates its own place within the larger kitchen and family room, while still feeling connected to the way the family uses the space,' adds the architect team. Through the arch, the formal dining room turns up the decorative dial, with a detailed scenic wallpaper wrapping the walls above traditional paneling. The two spaces have their personalities, but both reflect the homeowners' desire for a house that feels warm and lived-in.

Sometimes the most exciting spaces aren't often the biggest. Take the 'mudler' – Todd and Amy's ingenious answer to the homeowners' wish for both a mudroom and a butler's pantry, despite the house's existing footprint not quite allowing for two separate spaces.

'We designed what we call the "mudler", a hybrid space that combines the functionality of a mudroom with the utility of a butler's pantry,' explain Todd and Amy. It's a practical room, certainly, but one that feels entirely in keeping with the home's character. Mid blue color drenching gives the entrance a cocooning feel, while a warm wood countertop and a floral door shade soften the hardworking space.

The laundry room carries that same attention to detail, with pale powder blue cabinetry, glossy backsplash tiles, and brass fittings lending a little polish to the boring business of washing and folding. A deep farmhouse sink and open shelving keep everything functional, while the patterned skirt beneath the sink adds a feminine flourish.

There's a certain confidence to mixing patterns throughout the home's various public and private spaces. In the primary bedroom, a floral upholstered bed is layered up with a vintage-style bedspread, with muted tones keeping the scheme calm beneath that dramatic vaulted ceiling. Deep wood furniture, a natural woven rug, and a sculptural chandelier add to the room's collected feel, while a small seating area makes space for a slower start to the day. Todd and Amy describe the homeowner's appreciation for furnishings and objects that 'carry stories and reflect true craftsmanship' – a sentiment that feels particularly fitting here.

The primary bathroom acts as a suite in and of itself, with a series of different rooms and zones that make the most of the home's architectural details. An arched alcove frames the freestanding tub, almost creating a room within a room, dressed with a floral Roman shade and a vintage-style brass chandelier overhead. Beside the tub, a tiny table for candles, a book, or a glass of wine adds to the hotel feel. Pale herringbone flooring and a vintage runner soften the bold stone, veined with deep charcoal and dusky pink, which wraps around the shower and vanity as a striking focal point. Tucked away, a separate water closet and vanity area trades the restrained palette for pattern drenching and moody, deep red marble.

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This reimagined Spanish home is a reminder that a thoughtful renovation doesn't have to mean starting from scratch. By reworking the layout into a 'connected sequence of spaces', embracing the home's Spanish roots and finding inventive ways to make every space work harder, AAHA Studio and Nickey Kehoe have created a house that feels refreshed without losing its story. The clever details may make the day-to-day run more smoothly, but it's the feeling of familiarity that makes the home special. As Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe put it, 'The house now feels entirely renewed while still retaining the comfort and familiarity of the home they've loved for more than a decade.'

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Most houses have a past life or two, but this Georgetown townhouse has enough stories to fill a novel. Built in 1897 by architect N. Grimm, the Romanesque Revival property has served as a rooming house for young women, a family home to journalists Andrew and Leslie Cockburn, and the childhood setting for their daughter, actress Olivia Wilde. Now, more than 125 years later, it has embarked on an entirely new chapter.

For interior designer Zoë Feldman and BVA BarnesVanze Architects, the challenge was to bring this storied 4,000-square-foot home into the modern day without sanding away the very things that made it special. Its carved staircase, original millwork, and gracious proportions had plenty of character; the awkward layout, a little less. 'The strongest influence was the house itself,' Zoë says of the starting point of the renovation, which led them to preserve architectural details while making some decidedly un-small changes elsewhere. Crucially, the house may now have a new layout, but it certainly hasn’t had a personality transplant.

The temptation with an older home can be to strip everything back and start afresh. But in this home, the past wasn’t so easily sorted into keep and get-rid. Over the years, the house had accumulated a few different decorative identities, including what Wayne Adams, principal of BVA BarnesVanze Architects, says included a tapestry of 'distinctly late-70s/early-80s aesthetic' alongside an original 1950s metal kitchen. But the rooms also had an 'intimacy and proportion that we wanted to hold onto,' says Zoë. The trick was working out what was worth leaving in place. As Wayne explains, 'The challenge was to distinguish the elements that gave the house its character from those that reflected successive layers of change.'

Fortunately, there was plenty worth holding on to. 'What was remarkable was how much character was still there,' says Zoë. The beautifully carved main staircase, paneling, millwork and moldings all remained intact, as did the original pocket doors between the double parlors, while several historic doorway transoms were replicated throughout.

'These features helped maintain a sense of continuity with the house’s history while allowing us to introduce a more functional layout and contemporary amenities,' Wayne explains. Rather than dressing the rooms up as period characters, Zoë describes her approach as 'warm, modern classicism'. The architecture set the tone, while she worked on layering in contemporary furnishings, materials, and thoughtful color.

The biggest transformation was moving the awkward rear staircase that was taking up valuable space and interrupting the flow of the ground floor. Removing it proved pivotal. 'The decision to remove the rear staircase was instrumental in unlocking the house’s potential,' says Wayne. Suddenly, there was room to move the kitchen from the back of the house to its center – a change that would alter not just the floor plan, but the way the family could use the house day to day.

For Zoë, the kitchen was always about more than cooking. She wanted it to become the natural gathering point, with the breakfast room doing plenty of the behind-the-scenes work. Alongside boasting a built-in banquette and charming striped ceiling, it accommodates pantry storage and a coffee station, while new French doors connect the space to the terrace and garden beyond.

As Wayne explains, the aim was to 'bring more natural light into the interiors and strengthen the connection to the garden'. Working on a historic property, he says, means finding ways to accommodate contemporary living 'without compromising the integrity of the original architecture'. Here, that meant making the garden feel like a more natural extension of family life, without unnecessarily disturbing the townhouse’s historic exterior.

The clients wanted 'a modern, European-style central kitchen,' Zoë explains of the design. 'Bringing it into the middle of the daily activity gave cooking a closer relationship to gathering and eating,' she adds. The reworked layout also made room for an upstairs office and family room, as well as a ground-floor 'in-law suite'. One staircase, it turns out, was standing between the house and a much more useful floor plan.

With the layout sorted, the interiors could find their rhythm. Warm creams and muted neutrals provide a soft backdrop in most spaces, layered with walnut, honed marble and natural fabrics, while soft greens, blues and dusty blush bring color without competing with the architecture. There is, however, one room that refuses to play it quite so safe. 'We started with the clients’ desire for a very dark dining room and balanced that depth with creamy whites in the surrounding spaces,' Zoë explains. Those lighter rooms are doing more than simply providing contrast, too. 'The warmth of those whites matters. They make the transition feel softer and more natural,' she adds.

Pattern, meanwhile, is very much a case of choosing your moments. 'The clients generally preferred solids and texture, so the patterned moments became particularly intentional,' says Zoë, pointing to the entry cabinet, floral powder room and breakfast-room ceiling. Walnut is another recurring thread, linking the kitchen island and cabinetry with the dining room’s extraordinary black walnut table. This one is more than just a handsome piece of furniture: the tree was felled by the homeowner’s uncle in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and the timber was left to air-dry for five years before its central cut yielded three unique tabletops. One now sits at the heart of the dining room where it 'feels central to the home’s life rather than like a piece being displayed,' she says.

There’s a cleverness to this entryway that reveals itself on closer inspection. The original staircase and traditional paneling preserve the townhouse’s Victorian character, while a bespoke walnut cabinet solves one of the less glamorous challenges of family life: finding somewhere for all the coats. 'We needed coat storage, but we also wanted to preserve the openness around the staircase,' Zoë explains, whose solution was to inset the cabinet doors with botanical de Gournay wallpaper. The hand-painted foliage transforms a practical piece into a whimsical feature, while curved mini storage benches make use of the space on either side. Setting the tone for the color scheme for the whole home, she explains how the 'rose and green in the cabinet’s wallpaper became a thread through the upholstery and more private rooms.'

The living room offers a softer counterpoint to the grandeur of the entry, with creamy walls, full-length drapes, and a beautifully carved marble fireplace creating an elegant backdrop. Zoë's approach was to keep the historic details intact while introducing furniture with a more contemporary touch: a boucle armchair, a rich walnut cabinet, and a deep burgundy sofa that brings just the right amount of drama.

The original double parlor was important to the design, with the designer explaining that 'keeping the double parlor’s living and dining spaces connected was a good example' of preserving the house’s proportions and the relationships between its rooms. 'The reconfigured layout allows the principal entertaining spaces to work together while retaining their architectural character,' adds Wayne.

The kitchen might have been approached as the most contemporary space in the house, but it's also one of the warmest. Cream cabinetry keeps the look understated, allowing the dramatic veining of the honed Paonazzo marble to take center stage, while a curved walnut island brings richness to the room. It’s a combination that feels considered rather than showy: the cabinetry is deliberately simple, letting the natural materials do the talking. 'The simpler cabinetry works within the historic architecture, and the connection to the breakfast room makes the kitchen feel generous without asking it to contain every function,' Zoë adds. A tucked-away coffee nook brings a more playful note, with a vivid red espresso machine standing out against dark shelving and further walnut accents to bring a little fun to everyday rituals.

Just beyond the kitchen, the breakfast nook brings a little more playfulness to the palette. A built-in banquette upholstered in a beetroot red wraps around a chunky walnut table, while the striped, tented ceiling draws the eye upwards, giving this everyday dining spot a 'sense of occasion'. The French doors open directly onto the garden, making this a natural place for slow breakfasts and lingering lunches, with the warm wood tones linking the room back to the kitchen. Tucked alongside it, a walnut-clad home bar offers a more intimate moment, its richly veined stone backsplash and brass fittings lending the compact space a quietly glamorous feel. Zoë explains how these separate nooks help the kitchen to 'feel generous without asking it to contain every function'.

The primary suite is a quieter affair than the entertaining rooms downstairs, with creamy walls, crisp white bedding and a generously upholstered earthy headboard creating a restful space for mom and dad. But it’s the planning around the bedroom that reveals some of the renovation’s more thoughtful details. Wayne points to the hallway leading into the suite, which incorporates 'beautifully detailed millwork' and doubles as a dressing area for the homeowners. It’s a clever use of space, creating a 'gracious transition' into the bedroom while allowing one person to get ready in the morning without disturbing the other. 'A small but meaningful example of how thoughtful architecture can improve everyday life,' he adds. In the dressing area, dusty-salmon cabinetry, delicately patterned window treatments and brass hardware introduce a softer, more romantic note.

On the top floor, the mood becomes a little more playful, with the children's spaces bringing a fresh dose of color to the townhouse. In the daughter's bedroom, soft green walls provide a calming backdrop for a scalloped canopy and floral prints, while a mustard-striped pillow adds a cheerful pop of color. It feels whimsical without tipping into overly sugary territory – a room with plenty of personality that can grow alongside its occupant. The adjoining bathroom takes a retro turn, pairing deep sage glazed tiles with a blush-pink mosaic shower niche and yellow and brass fittings. There's something wonderfully nostalgic about the combination, but the colors keep it feeling fresh for this modern family.

The bathrooms offer two rather different takes on making an impression. In the primary bath, the mood is serene and understated, with a freestanding tub, pale flooring and dramatically veined marble wrapping the shower enclosure. Brass fittings bring warmth to all the stone, while the soft palette makes the room feel more like a 5* retreat than a functional space. The powder room, by contrast, is not shy about pattern. Inky printed wallpaper wraps the walls, set against a sculptural pale stone basin with a curved profile and polished fittings. Red-painted trim adds another layer of fun, while the oval mirror and Murano pendant give the compact room a sense of surprise.

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There are plenty of striking details in this townhouse, but perhaps the most compelling is the careful preservation of the home's history. 'It is about recognizing what makes a place meaningful and using that as a foundation for something new,' Wayne explains. 'Our aim was to honor the lives and stories that came before while creating a home that reflects its current owners,' he adds. After more than 125 years, this Georgetown home has another chapter to add to its story – and, by the looks of it, plenty more life ahead of it.

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At first glance, this Capitol Hill home looks every bit the historic home: beautiful red brickwork, arched windows, and detailed little balconies. Take a peek inside, though, and you'll find an alligator lurking in the living room, a heron taking flight across the wallpaper, and a side table standing on egret-shaped legs.

These are the unexpected flourishes that give this Washington, DC row house its distinct charm – its designers, Brooklyn-based interior architecture studio Evidence of Things, came up with an apt name for the look: 'swamp chic'. 'We wanted people to feel the story before they could name it,' say founders Danielle Connelly and Gabriel Gonzalez.

But while they certainly took inspiration from the homeowners’ South Florida roots, the transformation was about much more than bringing a little Everglades spirit to Capitol Hill. Dating to the late 19th century, the house had been subject to decades of random renovations, leaving behind makeshift interventions and a far from ideal layout. The brief was to create a practical, character-filled home for a growing family, without making its compact footprint feel like a compromise. The answer was a clever reworking of the layout and a design scheme that brings together the homeowners’ history with the charm of their historic surroundings.

Some houses reveal their bones through original fireplaces or beautifully worn floorboards. This one has more unusual clues. Built originally as a modest home for government clerks and workers, the row house had been altered and patched up over generations, leaving a hallway that led nowhere, a back door opening onto empty air above the alley, and a staircase that had been propped up with wooden wedges. As Danielle and Gabriel explain, 'very little of the interior character had survived intact by the time we saw it.' Even the bathroom had an oddly small, square-shaped tub. It was a house full of quirks, certainly, but not necessarily the kind you’d want to preserve.

Fortunately, there was still plenty worth saving. 'What we did inherit and retain was the shell: the brick masonry, the front bay windows, and the wood flooring on the lower level,' the designers explain. Beyond those surviving elements, however, the team took a refreshingly pragmatic approach. 'Everything else required honest reconstruction rather than restoration.' Instead of recreating an ode to the period interior that had long since disappeared, Evidence of Things focused on making the house work for the people living in it now.

The homeowners grew up in Southwest Florida, a connection shared by founder Danielle, and the designers wanted that personal history to shape the aesthetic in a meaningful way. The Everglades provided a rich starting point, from brackish waters and mangroves to the herons, egrets, and alligators that inhabit the landscape. 'On first impression it reads as a well-made historic house: arches, salvaged beams, farmhouse sink, brass hardware,' they explain. 'On a second take, the narratives are revealed: an alligator traced into a rug, a heron on the wallpaper, a side table standing on legs shaped like an egret.' There is a distinctly local influence, too: the herringbone brick used in the entry, kitchen, and powder room takes its cue from the sidewalks and service alleys of Capitol Hill, reflecting the charming neighborhood.

'There's a second, more metaphorical aspect to the setting that we leaned into: Washington's humid summers and its reputation as a political "swamp",' they continue. 'Combining this with the owners' upbringing in SW Florida, we added nods and references to Florida's Swamp, the Everglades,' they explain. The beauty of the 'swamp chic' scheme is that it unfolds subtly. Mossy greens and warm browns evoke the Florida landscape, while creamy walls, natural timber and unlacquered brass keep the rooms feeling warm and lived-in. Dusty blue, deep navy and blush pink add contrast without straying from the wider palette. Then come the fun details that reward a second look. 'We wanted people to feel the story before they could name it,' the designers say.

There was a personal stake in getting this renovation right. Danielle knew the homeowner long before she became her designer, having been childhood friends, and the project began with a visit to the property before the clients had even committed to buying it. 'The property was in rough shape, so it was not easy to give them full confidence that we could turn it around,' they admit.

'However, we understood its appeal, and the challenge was exciting.' That challenge came down to making a compact home work considerably harder. By relocating the main staircase and reorganizing the space around it, they carved out room for the entry hall, an additional powder room, and an open kitchen, while finding space for a laundry closet and a small desk area upstairs. A strategically placed south-facing window above the stairwell draws daylight down into the entrance, too, helping the different levels feel connected rather than closed off from one another.

The brief was particularly pressing because the house needed to be ready for a growing family. And there were some fairly specific requirements to meet. 'Two things were non-negotiable,' they say: a king-size bed, no smaller, had to fit in the primary bedroom, and they had a firm completion date ahead of the arrival of the couple’s daughter, who they welcomed in late August last year. The bedroom measured just 6 ft 9 in by 9 ft 7 in, excluding its charming bay window, so fitting the bed in meant thinking carefully about every surrounding detail. The solution was a custom, asymmetrical headboard that works as a nightstand on one side and a slim ledge on the other, making use of space that might otherwise have been wasted. It’s proof that a small home can work surprisingly hard when every inch is put to good use.

The kitchen is a clever lesson in making a small space work harder without sacrificing an ounce of character. Stretching across the back of the house, it pairs two tones of green cabinetry with warm brass hardware, creamy stone and textured tiles, while a surprisingly generous island backs onto a banquette that seats six – with handy storage tucked beneath the cushions. The herringbone brick floor, which leads on from the entry, is particularly effective at adding warmth and a sense of history to the more polished finishes. It also has a distinctly local connection: as the designers explain, 'Capitol Hill’s blocks are laid out on brick sidewalks and brick service alleys, and we borrowed that material directly: the herringbone brick we used at the entrance, the powder room, and the kitchen is the same pattern you’ll find walking the block.'

Open to the entry hall, the living room sits at the heart of the ground floor, with the staircase visible from the space and the upstairs landing – which doubles as a home office – connected through the same open sightline. 'We were glad that every inch we stretched beyond what was conventional delivered without compromising the natural flow and ergonomics of a functional space,' they explain. So rather than feeling like a series of separate, squeezed-in rooms, the spaces flow naturally into one another, helped by the light that filters down from the window above the stairs.

There’s plenty of personality here, too: a generous chocolate brown velvet sectional, a rounded daybed tucked into the bay window, and whitewashed ceiling beams that lend the room a relaxed, lived-in feel. Underfoot, the custom rug, playfully named 'The Swamp', has an abstract alligator-inspired border woven into it.

To make the king-size bed fit into the primary, 'for the sake of their marriage ', as the designers jokingly put it, the team had to undertake some serious 'spatial aerobics'. The custom headboard doubles as a nightstand, while they used three arches to bring a sense of scale to the small room. 'The bathroom is also accessed from both the room and the corridor, which allowed us to introduce decorative arched doors that brought a lot of character into the space and gave a hotel suite vibe to the primary,' they add. Dusty blue adds a softer note to the palette, set against rich timber, woven textures, and unlacquered brass that is echoed in the custom closets that sit just through the arches.

The bathrooms show two rather different sides of the story. In the primary bath, pale green retro-style tiles, dark oak millwork and unlacquered brass create a warm retreat, with an arched entrance reinforcing the resort feel of the adjoining bedroom. The designers explain that the arches were introduced here as 'a quiet gesture toward a formality the house had lost' – a detail that brings a little elegance to the compact space. The powder room, meanwhile, is a little more adventurous: deep navy beadboard meets hand-illustrated wildflower wallpaper, while an enamel bucket sink gives the room plenty of character. 'Those departures are deliberate,' Danielle and Gabriel explain of the bolder moments in the scheme. 'They keep the house from reading as a single mood repeated eight times, while the green-brown-brass foundation keeps it all reading as one project.'

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For all its clever space-saving solutions, what makes this Capitol Hill home special is that it proves a small footprint needn’t mean a small sense of character. The Everglades references, custom details and carefully considered architectural moments tell a story of friendship, family and a shared connection to South Florida, all within the shell of a historic house. The designers say the nursery best captures the spirit of the project: 'It holds the personal story – South Florida, Danielle and Madelyn’s friendship, the chance to make this into a home for their growing family.' And if 'swamp chic' sounds like an unexpected design direction, this home somehow makes a rather convincing case for it.

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A well-designed home should tell you something about the people who live there – preferably without taking itself too seriously. That’s the thinking behind this Toronto home by interior designer Sabrina Albanese, where vintage and playful pieces come together to create rooms that feel refined, yes, but never stuffy. There’s a worldly, lived-in quality to the interiors, with European influences and Canadian craftsmanship sitting comfortably alongside the objects and details that make a house feel truly personal. As the designer puts it, 'I wanted to make the home so interesting that you were curious to know who lives here.'

And there’s certainly plenty to be curious about. A Milanese-inspired coffee bar comes complete with a discreet spot for the dog’s dinner, while a bespoke bar is cleverly worked into the dining room – proof that the best design ideas can be both beautiful and yet brilliantly practical. These are spaces designed around the pleasures of everyday life, from a properly made morning espresso to an evening spent entertaining. Or, as Sabrina describes it, a house where 'individuality and warmth live side by side' with a touch of 'quiet wit'.

Set in Toronto’s Lawrence Park neighborhood, this three-story, 4,800-square-foot home was ready for a little rethink. With their two children now away at college, the owners were entering a new chapter and wanted their surroundings to reflect it. The brief was to create a home that felt more polished and practical, with less visual clutter and more room for the things that genuinely mattered.

'Less visible stuff, more focus on function and use. Visibly desirable and easy on the eyes. Beautifully clean and refined,' Sabrina explains. This wasn’t about erasing the past or making everything look showroom-perfect; it was about editing thoughtfully, keeping the pieces that told the couple’s story and giving the rooms a renewed sense of purpose. For Sabrina, the goal was to create somewhere that felt 'luminous, enveloping and transportive' – a home that offered a little escape from the everyday.

That meant thinking carefully about how these empty-nesters actually live, from the kitchen (particularly important when one half of the couple is a chef) to the spaces where they gather, entertain and enjoy home life. Functionality was essential, but it was never going to be the whole story. Sabrina wanted the interiors to feel personal, layered and full of character, rather than simply streamlined. As she explains, the home should reflect the people who inhabit it: their lives, their travels, their heritage, and the objects they’ve collected along the way. 'I created this by really using the client as the main character. I drew inspiration from their lives and what they value,' she adds.

The trick, of course, is knowing how to bring all those elements together. For Sabrina, the goal was less about following a particular style and more about creating the right atmosphere. 'It is deeply personal and quietly magnetic,' is how she describes the feel of the home. To achieve that, she embraced contrast rather than sticking to a singular interior design style. European influences sit alongside beautiful Canadian craftsmanship; vintage finds meet bespoke pieces; and tactile materials bring depth to the somewhat restrained palette – which she describes as a 'hybrid of earthy tones and neutral blues and vibrant verts.'

Then come the details that make you want to linger: English mohair plaids, Delft tiles, Italian leathers and vintage Murano lighting. Each brings a different richness to the mix, yet nothing feels out of place. 'My focus was that the home felt collected over time and artfully assembled,' she continues. 'I did this by using a diverse combination of globally inspired textiles, expressive color combinations, and I researched how their travels contributed to informing how they use their spaces,' she adds of the clients.

The coffee station might just be one of the hardest-working corners of this home. Inspired by the atmosphere of a Milanese café, it gives daily rituals a little more ceremony, with porcelain cups, utensils, and a blue espresso machine all thoughtfully arranged in one dedicated spot.

It’s practical, certainly, but it’s also fun to look at – 'modern, tailored, and effortlessly sophisticated', she describes. For Sabrina, it’s a particularly telling part of the project: 'The kitchen coffee station most eloquently captures my design vision and point of view,' she says. 'It was conceived as a refined, multi-functional vignette.' And she certainly didn't forget the four-legged members of the household, either – as she puts it, 'with a touch of quiet wit, it also accommodates the dog’s feeding station.'

That same attention to detail also comes through in the dining room, where Sabrina faced the challenge of integrating a bespoke bar without compromising the room around it. 'Careful consideration was given to proportion, circulation, and sightlines,' she explains. 'The objective was to create a moment that was both clever and enveloping – intimate in atmosphere yet refined.' She describes the final results as a 'beautifully resolved focal point', one that has become one of the most loved spots in the home – 'drawing guests in and serving as a natural gathering point for both lively entertaining and relaxed family occasions.'

The living room brings together sculptural shapes, tactile finishes and a confident hit of ochre. 'Each room had a different brief to accommodate how they intend to use the space,' Sabrina, and it's clear that in here, the brief was relaxation. A generous L-shaped sectional anchors the space, its warm upholstery offset by patterned cushions in blue, green, and earthy tones, while chunky stone coffee tables and a glossy accent table introduce a playful mix of shapes. There’s plenty to catch the eye, from the artwork to the sweet bistro set and the tall sculpture, but the room doesn't feel overdone. Instead, the quieter elements give the bolder pieces room to breathe. It's a space that feels polished enough for entertaining but entirely comfortable for a dog to claim as their own.

The smaller spaces are every bit as vibrant as the rooms designed for lounging. In the home bar, glossy emerald-green cabinetry makes a playful statement, with glazed upper doors displaying glassware and spirits above a bold stone backsplash. The pantry takes a softer, more feminine approach, pairing warm wood cabinetry with delicate Delft tiles, a retro pale-green sink and a floral fabric sink skirt that brings a touch of old-world charm. Together, the two spaces show how Sabrina gives even the most practical corners their own personality: one bold and jewel-like, the other warm and whimsical.

The bedroom continues the home’s balance of warmth and thoughtful functionality, with bespoke oak cabinetry making clever use of the space beneath the sloping ceiling. The caramel-toned custom oak and leather bed brings a welcome hint of color, while deep green bedding adds softness and richness against the timber and pale walls. There’s a lovely mix of shapes and eras, too, from the sculptural bedside table and playful zebra-patterned pillow to the vintage-style rug and traditional fireplace facing the bed. The result feels restful with all the practical comforts you’d hope for from a primary bedroom, but with enough personality to make it feel individual.

The bathrooms offer two quite different moods, but both feel at home here. In the family bathroom, a built-in tub, pale stone surfaces, and delicate café curtains create a calm, almost spa-like atmosphere, with a sculptural cobalt-blue side table and unique mirror adding an unexpected flash of color. The powder room then takes a more dramatic turn, wrapping the walls in patterned teal wallpaper and setting it against a dark timber vanity and an angular, geometric mirror. It’s a bolder, more intimate space, where statement lighting and the deep green palette do the talking.

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Ultimately, what makes this Toronto home so appealing is that it never feels as though style has come at the expense of real life. From the jewel-green bar to the discreet dog-feeding station, every decision has a purpose, but there’s always room for a little surprise. Sabrina Albanese has created a home that feels polished without being precious, practical without being predictable, and personal without trying too hard – right down to where the dogs have dinner. In her words, it is 'a layered home that carries the imprint of creative souls and warm hearts'.

A London townhouse and a spacious, light-filled home might not always go hand in hand, but designer Sophie Garland had a clever way around that. The Homes & Gardens Next in Design winner took on the challenge of giving her family more room to spread out in her West London Home, without sacrificing the character that makes a house feel like a home. But she was equally keen to avoid creating one enormous, cavernous space. Her solution involved removing the walls between the front and middle rooms traditionally found in London houses and giving that precious square footage back to the living room. Proving that sometimes, the best design decision is knowing what you can do without.

Inside, the mood is colorful, layered and wonderfully personal, with patterned upholstery, vintage finds and contemporary pieces sitting happily alongside one another. Sophie wanted the house to feel 'full and vibrant, but also have a sense of calm', a balancing act she achieves through soft, pale wall colors, tactile fabrics and plenty of characterful furniture.

'I think it’s important to mix things up and make sure the overall look doesn’t feel overdone,' she says. Art plays an equally important role, from statement paintings to works by members of her family, including her late father. Add in antiques discovered at auction and furniture that has followed her through the years, and this is a home with real charm.

Sophie knew what she was looking for long before she found it. 'We had a really clear idea of the type of house and layout we wanted, so when we came to see this house, we immediately knew it was perfect for our vision,' she says. Crucially, she didn't want someone else's recently renovated version of a London townhouse.

'I didn’t want a house that had already been recently renovated, as I was keen to do that myself and create the exact home we wanted.' Fortunately, the property was in good condition, so aside from extending out the back, she could focus her budget on the interiors rather than getting caught up in a full-gut, structural rescue mission.

There were still plenty of decisions to be made. Much of the original architectural detail had disappeared over the years, although Sophie was keen to preserve the pretty plasterwork on the living room ceiling. More significantly, the ground floor needed to work harder for family life. She wanted to create an uninterrupted view from the front door to the garden, while still creating rooms that each felt distinct and inviting.

That meant thinking beyond the typical London Victorian home layout. Removing the 'corridor' – a middle room which links the front door through to the back of the house – gave the living room valuable extra width, while lowering the kitchen floor and introducing wide steps helped establish a natural division between the two spaces. 'I was also keen that [the house] didn’t feel like one massive room,' she explains.

With the bones of the house sorted, Sophie could turn her attention to the fun part: making the interiors feel like her own. Rather than attempting to make every element match perfectly, she let each scheme develop much more organically. 'Most rooms started with one fabric, and then the rest of the scheme developed from there,' she explains. While the walls remain 'relatively pale and calming', Sophie really found joy in pattern mixing. 'I like combining patterns, plains and textures, as this helps to create a layered feel without the overall look becoming too overwhelming,' she adds.

Just as important – or perhaps even more so – is the mix of old and new. Much of the upholstered furniture was made specifically for the house, while antiques and vintage finds bring history and a sense that the home has evolved over time. Art is another essential layer to Sophie's home.

'We were also lucky to have so much art, as I have a few artists and photographers in the family. My godfather was a wonderful photographer, and his work, combined with paintings and prints, creates a lovely variety of art throughout the house,' she adds. Going up the stairs, Sophie has filled the walls with oil paintings by her dad. 'He was a wonderful painter, and passing his pictures every day is a special way to remember him,' she adds.

Of course, a beautiful home also needs to work on a mid-week afternoon when the toys are out and everywhere. For Sophie, designing around family life was just as important as getting the aesthetics right. 'We specifically wanted the downstairs space to be somewhere we could all be together, without feeling like we were always getting in each other’s way,' she explains. The trick was making room for the realities of life with two young children without letting the house feel like one enormous playroom.

Upstairs, the children's bedrooms were designed with longevity in mind. 'There is lots of color, but nothing too young that would mean we needed to redecorate in a few years,' she adds. 'There are lots of places to tuck away toys and children’s books,' she continues. The kitchen island is particularly hardworking, concealing a huge cupboard full of Lego alongside drawers for games, arts and crafts.

Despite its generous proportions, high ceilings and abundance of natural light, Sophie was conscious that the new kitchen could feel a little too contemporary for the rest of the house – but she needn't have worried. 'I was worried it could feel too modern and that wasn’t the look I was going for,' she explains. Traditional-style doors and windows helped establish a more familiar feel, while curtains, lamps and an armchair soften the architecture and make the room feel as inviting in the evening as it does during the day. Green granite countertops, with their varied color and movement, bring another layer of character to the scheme.

'I really wanted a stone with an interesting color and plenty of movement and variation,' Sophie says. It's a room designed to work hard without looking as though it does – and one that has become a natural gathering point for everything from everyday family life to entertaining friends. 'We spend so much time in here,' she continues, 'whether we’re together as a family or having people over.'

Oversized double doors lead from the front door into the living room, which Sophie chose deliberately to give the entrance more presence. With so much of the ground floor visible at once, getting the furniture and finishes to work together was particularly important. Instead of having a formal and awkward 'middle room' to dress, the home now boasts a seamless flow through to the kitchen.

To frame that transition, a custom bookcase, built by Blockhouse Build, acts as both a striking feature and a place to display books, objects, and oddities. 'Next to the huge bookcase, which helps to divide the sitting area from the kitchen beyond, is a small table for the record player with two red lacquer chairs, opposite a pair of oversized, deep armchairs. I particularly love the bookcase, as it adds so much character to the room,' says Sophie.

At the very front of the house, the main sitting area is arranged around the fireplace, with a collection of seating that makes the most of the room's generous proportions. A large ottoman anchors the main seating area, while the bay window presented a slightly trickier design challenge.

'Bay windows can often be tricky when it comes to finding seating in the right size and shape,' Sophie explains, 'so I was really pleased with how the kidney-shaped sofa made the most of the space,' she says. Its curved silhouette follows the shape of the window beautifully, while a verdant couch, patterned pillows and blush-pink walls create a playful but oh-so relaxed palette. A red antique cabinet adds another hit of color tucked beside the fireplace, with artwork and collected objects giving the room a further dose of personality.

Upstairs, Sophie's bedroom displays her knack for combining pattern and color without letting it run too wild. Blush-pink walls continue up here, making a soft backdrop for the patterned bed, while sage drapes and crisp white bedding keep the palette feeling fresh. She chose a playful fabric from Beata Heuman for the bed, letting it shine against simpler curtains to 'keep the room feeling calm,' she explains.

Opposite, a chaise lounge purchased at auction adds further charm, while the armchair and ottoman are wrapped in a leopard velvet. 'The red console at the end of our bed is one of the only pieces of furniture we brought with us from our last house,' she adds. 'It was an eBay find about 15 years ago, which cost £50.'

In the children's bedrooms, Sophie has embraced color and pattern while keeping longevity in mind. 'The idea behind both [my son's] room and my daughter’s was to create spaces that would work as they got older,' she explains. Her son's room is painted in Farrow & Ball's Borrowed Light, a soft blue that Sophie often returns to because, as she puts it, 'it’s calm without feeling cold.'

Both rooms make thoughtful use of space – in her daughter's bedroom, Sophie had a bed and wardrobe built in to maximize storage, with a pull-out trundle tucked beneath the bed for future sleepovers, only rivaled by the zingy red bunk beds in her son's room. An old Ministry of Defence desk and an auction-found armchair, painted dark blue and reupholstered in a Kit Kemp fabric, bring a vibrant mix of old and new. Artwork by Sophie's aunt, Edwina Sandys, completes the space.

In the bathroom, Sophie hasn't shied away from pattern, wrapping the walls in CommonRoom's Lucky Leaf wallpaper, where the delicate foliage brings a garden-like feel to the space. 'I love using wallpaper in a bathroom,' she says, and this leafy design makes a lovely statement around the freestanding bath, painted in Farrow & Ball's Red Earth. The warm terracotta hue provides a striking contrast to the walls, while warm oak floorboards add another layer of warmth underfoot. It's a relatively simple combination, but one that gives the room plenty of character, proving that even a practical space such as a bathroom has permission to have a little fun.

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What makes Sophie's West London townhouse so successful is the way it balances considered yet joyful design with the realities of everyday life. Clever layout decisions have created room to breathe, while layered fabrics, vintage finds and confident color choices ensure the interiors never feel too serious or overly polished. There are plenty of clever ideas to take away, but it's the sense of personality running through every room that makes the house memorable.

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When the team at Sees Design first began working with these Dallas homeowners, they weren't designing for this house at all. The project actually started on an entirely different lot, but midway through, the clients changed course and bought a nearly-completed new build instead. There was just one catch: it was already well into construction and almost ready to sell. So, rather than starting from the ground up, Sees Design had to work with a house that already had its bones, finishes, and a fairly well-established plan in place – and then work out how to make it feel like it belonged to their clients.

In less than two years, the Dallas-based studio reworked the interiors from the inside out, swapping materials, hardware, and flooring, removing cabinetry and even moving walls. 'We were challenged with creating a cohesive design in a house where construction was nearly complete,' associate principal Sara See explains. 'We had to undo some of the layout and design and reimagine other areas to customize to our clients' expectations.'

And undo they did. The finished home feels worlds away from its spec-build beginnings, layered with classic details, antiques, and richly textured fabrics alongside sculptural contemporary pieces and cleaner lines. The result is neither strictly traditional nor modern, but something much more interesting.

The secret was less about making the house look old and more about giving it the layers that make a home feel as though it has a past. Sees Design's answer wasn't about mimicking a particular interior designer style either; instead, the brief was to make it feel collected – as though the contents had arrived over time, gathered from travels, hand-me-downs and discoveries.

'We would describe the home as richly layered, collected and deeply personal,' the designers explain. 'It is rooted in traditional architecture, but it is not governed by any single period or style.' That meant they could pair European antiques alongside tailored textiles, English country-house references and cleaner contemporary pieces, with the occasional unexpected moment thrown in for good measure.

The architecture provided the framework, reimagined alongside architect Jerry Coleman to tweak it to their new vision, but the character came from the conversation between all those layers. 'That tension keeps the house feeling alive,' they add. Now, a custom tracery ceiling and hand-painted wallpapers sit alongside natural wood, stone, metal and a deliberately varied palette that keeps appearing throughout. 'The continuity comes less from repeating exact finishes and more from maintaining a consistent sense of warmth, patina, and contrast,' they explain. The effect is beautifully inviting: nothing looks as though it is forced together or arrived in one delivery, and that is the entire point.

The homeowners provided yet another hurdle: they could hardly have had more different design sensibilities – his lean modern and eclectic, while hers are more romantic and traditional. Designing for both could easily have resulted in a house divided into competing camps, but the design team already had a useful head start. The studio had furnished the couple's previous home, so they knew their personalities and had a feel for 'how to coordinate their likes and dislikes.' This time, the goal was not to make his rooms modern and hers traditional, but to bring those opposing instincts together into what the designers describe as 'a portrait of the entire family.'

The dining room is perhaps the clearest example of their blended personalities. Custom de Gournay panels on natural tea paper bring a softness to the walls, while a striking ceiling adds what the designers describe as 'a layer of quiet drama.' A secondary table, topped with an architectural Dennis & Leen Louis XVI fluted base, is both beautiful and practical, accommodating overflow during entertaining while defining the circulation between the dining room and kitchen.

'The challenge was striking a balance – creating a space that felt feminine and traditional, yet remained cohesive with the broader transitional language of the home,' they add. The same push and pull appears in the parlor, where vaulted ceilings and a striking moosehead lend grandeur. Divided into two zones, there's a formal sitting room for her, and a more masculine 'listening room' area for him that comes complete with state-of-the-art audio equipment and an enviable record collection.

For all the decorative flourishes, this is not a house that was simply designed to look good. Despite its vast size, the homeowners wanted to make use of every inch of the substantial property, so Sees took a close look at the 'layout and traffic patterns' to adjust everything to their lifestyle. That, in practice, meant thinking about how the family would actually move through the house, where they might gather, and which spaces needed to work harder than others. Sure, it remains generous and sprawling, but each room has been given a clear purpose, with transitions between them that feel carefully considered and at ease with one another.

The kitchen is the most obvious social hub. Made by Christopher Peacock, a built-in banquette upholstered in performance Rose Tarlow fabric sits tucked into a spacious island and has become the family's favorite meeting place, rivalled only by the custom sectional in the family room and the expansive outdoor dining area. The entertaining spaces continue outside, where a covered loggia, poolside cabana and pizza oven give the family plenty of room to host extended family without everything having to happen indoors.

Even the practical details have been considered with entertaining in mind, and the tweaked layout now allows the house to accommodate a crowd without losing its sense of intimacy. It's a big home, but it sure doesn't feel like one.

The parlor is where the home's personality is really revealed. Sees Design calls it 'the emotional center of the home,' and it's easy to see why: soaring ceilings and exposed timber beams give the room plenty of grandeur, but the furniture arrangement brings everything back down to a more human scale. A plaid sofa, worn leather chairs, and patterned rugs meet a mix of antique and contemporary pieces that make the space feel best suited for cozy nights in, while the monumental fireplace anchors the room. And of course, there's the moose.

'The moose above the fireplace is unapologetically personal, and it brings character, humor, and a connection to the outdoors. Rather than trying to quiet that piece, we allowed it to become part of the room’s identity,' they explain. That sense of confident mix and match is the win here. Nothing is overly coordinated, yet everything feels connected.

The kitchen takes a lighter, more tailored approach to the home's aesthetic. White cabinetry and dramatically veined stone create a crisp foundation, but Sees Design kept the room from feeling too polished with warm brass hardware, dark wood, pleated shades, and sweet floral cafe curtains. The effect is classic without being fussy, with the variation of the marble and wood bringing some of the patina that runs through the rest of the house.

The details are absolutely what give it personality. 'The kitchen is lighter and more tailored,' they explain. 'The built-in banquette and table turn the island into a place for gathering rather than simply food preparation. It is a highly functional room, but still very much connected to the decorative language of the house.'

Adjoining the kitchen, the family room shows the client's more relaxed side. A generous corduroy sofa and deep blue buttoned ottoman make a comfortable centerpiece, while patterned cushions add a layer of personality, picking up the richer tones seen elsewhere in the house. This room also brings together the home's color story in a nutshell.

The palette moves between soft neutrals and deeper, earthier tones – ivory, camel, tobacco, chocolate and charcoal – with touches of muted plum, blue and green adding depth. Pattern is generous but never jarring, appearing in 'softened or historic forms like florals, plaids, botanical motifs,' they explain. 'Repeating these colors and textures in different combinations allows every room to have its own atmosphere while still belonging to the same home,' they add.

The primary bedroom is 'the most enveloping space' in the house, they explain, wrapped in dark, textured walls and ceiling that make the room feel instantly cocooning. Against that moody backdrop, the custom canopy bed (which they describe as feeling like a time capsule) in Dedar silk takes center stage, its pale frame and tailored bedding bringing softness and lightness to the scheme. 'The room is quiet, but not minimal,' they add. 'Patterned curtains, embroidered textiles, antique furniture and carefully chosen objects give it intimacy and history. The dramatic windows and garden view prevent the darker palette from becoming heavy.'

The primary bathroom balances light and dark, romantic and modern. The main area is bright and airy, with pale cabinetry, stone floor, and a pretty floral shade that softens the drama. Overhead, a sculptural freestanding tub sits beneath a curved ceiling lined with aged brass lighting and hardware to match. Behind, a brass-framed glass and marble-wrapped shower dials up the theatrics. The designers were careful to create a really cohesive material palette throughout the home, working with natural wood, stone, and metal in various manners to create a recurring thread. 'Each application is different, but all share a sense of permanence and natural variation,' they explain. 'Together, these finishes create a vocabulary that feels developed over time rather than rigidly coordinated.'

The office brings a softer, more traditional note, with tailored drapery, a floral-upholstered wingback chair, and a cozy fireplace creating a WFH space that feels both elegant and comfortable. Beside it, the powder room takes the opposite approach: dark walls, an antique mirror and a beautifully irregular stone basin give this small space considerably more drama than its footprint might suggest.

'Across the house, the individual pieces suggest homeowners who are confident in their taste and comfortable mixing serious antiques with things that are playful, sculptural or slightly unexpected,' they add. 'The design is polished, but it does not feel overly managed, and that balance was very important to us.' That is ultimately what makes the project work. 'The soul of the project comes from the dialogue between refined and rustic, formal and comfortable, serious and unexpected,' they add.

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Designing a home usually starts with a person in mind: how they live, what they love, hate, and how many pairs of shoes they need to hide. This one started with none of that. Created as a design-led spec home, this new-build in Rutherford, California, gave Eye for Pretty founder Nicole Salceda the unusual opportunity to create a house without a specific homeowner, brief, or list of must-haves to guide her. Instead, the goal was to 'design a timeless home with broad appeal,' she explains. 'One that felt elevated, approachable, and immediately welcoming to anyone who walked through the door.'

Her answer was a warm California-inspired palette of natural stone, white oak and brass, softened by linen, old-world details and subtle European influence. It’s a combination that manages to give the brand-new property an unexpected sense of history.

Crisp architectural lines keep things feeling fresh and modern, while checkerboard floors, statement lighting, textured stone, and carefully chosen smaller details stop the house from feeling overly polished or, worse, like a showroom. The result is a home that manages to feel personal without having been designed for anyone in particular.

With no existing bones to work around, Nicole was careful to consider how the architecture could support the way the future owners would live, not just how the home would look once decorated.

The project marked Eye for Pretty's third custom collaboration with Barale Builders at West Side Builds, and the aim was to 'create a home that felt timeless and universally inviting while reflecting the Eye for Pretty philosophy of thoughtful, livable design,' says Nicole. 'Because it was a new build, we were able to shape the floor plan from the ground up,' she continues. 'Every space was designed to feel intuitive, functional and appealing to a wide range of homeowners and lifestyles.'

So rather than creating a series of rooms that simply look good in photographs, the layout was designed around the natural flow of everyday life for the future owners, with the kitchen flowing easily into the dining and living areas. 'We wanted the kitchen to feel like the emotional center of the home, a space that naturally draws people in,' Nicole explains.

The same principle extends beyond the great room, where layered textures, soft architectural details and a restrained palette make the more private spaces feel inviting rather than formal. It is a practical approach, certainly, but one that Nicole imagines supports gathering, relaxing and 'creating everyday memories.'

Visually, the house takes its cues from California, but it isn't the pared-back, ultra-modern version of the look that we're so accustomed to. 'The home is rooted in warm California minimalism with subtle European influence,' Nicole explains of the home's character. The clever part is that its charm doesn't come from one big decorating statement. Instead, they built it up gradually, allowing certain rooms to be moodier or more traditional while keeping a consistent sense of calm throughout. The powder room, for example, embraces a checkerboard floor and darker walls, while the larger living and hosting spaces remain light and understated. It gives the house variety without making it feel like a tour of different interior design trends.

That was intentional. 'We wanted every design decision to feel timeless rather than trend-driven, creating a home that could appeal to many while still feeling distinctive and full of character,' she explains. This is evident in the way the details have been edited. There are statement pieces, sure, like oversized lighting, stone walls, and bold marble, but they're balanced by quieter elements that let the space breathe. Traditional references bring a sense of history to the newness, while contemporary proportions keep it feeling fresh. Even the decorative details are purposeful, from earthenware pottery and curated artwork to the 'transitions between materials' – think scallops and checkerboard, linen and marble, wainscoting and tile. The idea was less about creating a perfectly styled house and more about giving a new build the layers and imperfections that make a home feel as though it has evolved over time.

The entry is where everything comes together first. 'The entry sets the tone for the entire home,' says Nicole, and it is easy to see why. Rather than filling the space with bold decorative touches, the design relies on a handful of strong yet subtle architectural moments: a tumbled stone wall, a beamed white oak ceiling, and a simple wood console that lets the materials take center stage.

For a brand-new home, there is remarkably little here that feels too new. An oversized mirror, suspended from a leather strap, adds a softer, more relaxed note while bouncing light around the space. It is a small detail, but an effective one. 'The quieter details are often the most meaningful,' she continues. 'They're not meant to stand out on their own, but together they're what make the home feel timeless and deeply considered.' She explains how every detail, from the stone to the ceiling, was intentionally chosen to create a warm, welcoming first impression. Those same materials are then echoed in the rooms beyond, creating connections as you move throughout the property.

The kitchen is very much the showstopper of the home, as Nicole intended. A warm wood island sits beneath a vaulted ceiling with exposed beams, while oversized lantern pendants draw the eye upward and give the open space a more intimate feel. At the back, a dramatic veined stone backsplash brings color and movement to the otherwise restrained palette, balanced by creamy cabinetry and brass hardware, while a hidden niche and pot filler give the cooking zone some vintage charm.

'We designed it to be equal parts functional and beautiful, with an oversized island that encourages gathering, layered lighting that creates warmth throughout the day, and timeless materials that feel both elevated and approachable,' she adds. The connection to the dining and living zones makes the whole space feel welcoming – whether that's encouraging a slow morning coffee or a house full of people.

The kitchen's supporting spaces are just as considered as the great room. Tucked behind the main entertaining area, a quieter prep zone – or back kitchen – pairs light cabinetry with textured tile, dark countertops and warm brass hardware, while glass-fronted cupboards and open shelving keep everyday ingredients and serving pieces within easy reach. A separate pantry run of deep drawers and shelving provides even more practical storage without sacrificing the polished look. It's a good example of Nicole's wider approach: the less glamorous side of kitchen design (where to put the food, appliances, and assorted things you don't necessarily want on display) has been given just as much attention as the parts designed to impress.

The primary bedroom takes the home's palette and softens it further, with a textural upholstered bed layered with soft linen bedding, striped and patterned cushions, and a deep brown throw. A vintage-inspired rug, wood dresser, and woven planters bring warmth and the outdoors in, while full-height linen drapes soften the large windows and keep the room further connected to the surrounding landscape. 'Layered textures, soft architectural details and a restrained palette create spaces that encourage people to slow down, relax and stay awhile,' Nicole advises.

The bathrooms offer two different takes on the home's aesthetic. In the primary bath, a marble-clad tub takes center stage, framed by a large window dressed with delicate café curtains that soften the look while keeping everything light and bright. Warm brass fixtures, a whisper-soft pendant and a simple wooden stool add just enough contrast to the pale palette, creating a space designed for slowing down. The powder room takes the mood in a richer direction, wrapping the walls in sludgy brown paneling and pairing it with a wood vanity, scalloped marble backsplash, and more classic brass fittings. Underfoot, a checkerboard floor adds an unexpected moment of playfulness.

A similar dose of color moves through into the home's more practical spaces. In the office, built-in cabinetry provides plenty of storage while a substantial wood desk, patterned rug and woven chandelier give the room a sense of warmth and personality. The laundry room is equally considered, with muted green cabinetry painted in Porpoise by Sherwin-Williams, a brick backsplash, and woven baskets turning everyday utility into something much more inviting.

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For a house designed without a particular homeowner in mind, this Rutherford property feels surprisingly personal. That is perhaps the cleverest thing about it. Rather than relying on trend-led finishes or a specific decorating style, Eye for Pretty built its character through proportion, texture, natural materials and small moments of old-world charm. The result is a new build with the warmth of somewhere that feels as though it has already been lived in.

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The words 'We want your help with all the lovely bits' were music to the ears of Oxfordshire-based interior designer Olivia Emery when her clients, who happen to be good friends of hers, requested that she weave her magic on their Victorian townhouse in west London.

Having bought a run-down property, the clients decided to live in the house for a few years while they thought about what changes they wanted to make, appointed architect Nathan Beevers and builders TFI Concepts, as well as Olivia, and gained planning permission. The renovation focused on making the interior more open plan by knocking through walls, and reworking the layout of the basement, which was ‘a rabbit warren’, says Olivia.

A contemporary glass-box extension was built at the side of the property to house the staircase to the basement, enabling more freedom with the layout. In addition, the basement kitchen was extended into the garden, allowing for a more family-friendly space. While the structural work was taking place, Olivia planned a joyful interior showcasing color and pattern, along with flourishes of decorative bravura.

The clients were keen to create a vibrant, contemporary and comfortable family home. 'They were great fun to work with as they were not afraid of color and pattern,' says Olivia. 'They enjoyed the process of choosing things and were quite happy to be pushed out of their comfort zone.'

The result is an immersive visual feast across four stories, stretching from the basement that now basks in light, up to the cozier attic rooms, each space singing with personality.

The open-plan kitchen, with its relaxed seating and dining areas, is the beating heart of the home, and here jewel tones dominate. The Shaker-style ruby red cabinetry was designed to provide a place for everything (generous storage was high on the clients’ wish list). 'The clients wanted to be really brave with color. We looked at lots of pictures of red kitchens, and they said “Let’s just do it. We can paint over it if we hate it”,' says Olivia.

An island sprayed in an antique brass paint finish enhances the jewel-box feel. Exquisite Patagonia Green quartzite on the worktops and splashback was the starting point for the scheme and provides a sumptuous foil to the cabinetry, with its emerald hue picked up on the sofa in the seating area.

The husband loves mid-century-style furniture, and the Pierre Paulin reproduction dining chairs by Ligne Roset were given a new lease of life and covered in a vibrant fabric that pulls together the colors in the scheme.

More lovely bits include the considered choice of alluring wallpapers, which take center stage on the floor above, where the more formal sitting room and TV snug are located. The sitting room walls are swathed in an otherworldly landscape design – a bold choice that provides a mesmerising and immersive backdrop. 'It’s a room that isn’t used every day, and it’s wonderful to come in the entrance, and then through to this room,' explains Olivia.

She has woven in dollops of color – including vivid orange lamps – and layered patterns with eye-catching geometric rugs and cushions – to evoke an eclectic scheme. A tan velvet sofa links to the wallpaper and enhances the opulent mood, while bouclé armchairs inject further texture and provide a calming foil. Vintage furniture keeps the look timeless.

Metal-framed glazed doors then open to the snug, ensuring light flows through the interior. The snug was designed to be a cozy, moodier space that’s the go-to for entertaining and relaxing in the evening. 'The clients wanted a space where they could move furniture back and open up the room – they entertain frequently and have lots of people over for drinks,' says Olivia. For that purpose, the deep blue cabinetry includes a bar, as well as a bookcase. Olivia chose an abstract wallpaper to bring a sense of movement to the ceiling. 'I love putting wallpaper on ceilings. I just think it’s so interesting.'

Olivia has conjured up a chic yet very liveable home, and reveals it was a bonus working with friends. 'You have the advantage of knowing how they like to live and their style,' she says. 'It was very much a journey we went on together, and it was wonderful to help them realize their dream home.'

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Walking along a simple dirt track through a landscape dotted with farmhouses, among a patchwork of low stone walls and tall maple trees, it’s hard to believe that the skyscrapers of Manhattan are only 50 miles away. The sound of horns and screeching cabs feels as though it belongs to a different world; instead, the cluck of chickens and the occasional bleat of a goat are the only welcome interruptions to the peace.

Here, in Bedford Corners, New York, a couple with two young children have swapped their city apartment for a wood-sided farmhouse with room to grow. ‘They wanted their kids to experience the feeling of grass under their toes,’ says interior designer Gretchen Farrell, who, 10 years ago, had also left the city and moved to Westchester County, and knew what was needed to make the transition. The farmhouse ‘presented the perfect opportunity to create a forever home shaped by the family’s hands-on sensibility,’ she says. ‘They were keen on a space that could withstand the realities of farm life, from muddy floors and climbing children to a growing menagerie of animals.’

To that end, the couple went back to the drawing board and, with Gretchen, embraced the Shaker principles they had grown up with, grounding the renovation in simple, honest materials. ‘Our vision was to create a warm, comfortable, inviting home for our family, friends and community,’ says one of them. ‘We were very much utility first and design second. Nothing could feel too precious, and comfort had to come before aesthetics.

‘Architecturally, the house had a bit of an identity crisis when we found it. It’s an ’80s contemporary home but with beautiful post-and-beam elements throughout. There were several directions we could have taken it, but we ultimately leaned toward a richer, more collected mix of vintage, handcrafted and unique pieces.’

The main house is attached to a distinctive 30-foot silo that serves as the entryway – a dramatic cylindrical structure through which the rest of the property reveals itself. Inside, a double-height, sunken living room anchors the space, around which a mezzanine gallery, accessed by an interior walkway, leads to the bedrooms. Original beams are exposed, referencing the colors of nature while underscoring the unpretentious nature of the interior: here, there are no tricks; every joint is on display.

‘The farmhouse was in good shape,’ says Gretchen. ‘There was no need for any structural interventions, but the previous owners had gone for a Scandinavian aesthetic. Instead, we wanted to lean into a deeper-toned, mellower feel, creating schemes that could introduce age and patina.’ A lucky discovery was that the original oak flooring, complete with handmade pegs, was intact beneath its whitewash. Stripped back to a light, golden hue, it sets the tone for the rest of the interiors, with their blend of antique, custom-built, and contemporary pieces.

A double-height, stone-clad chimney breast, which Gretchen describes as a ‘natural indoor sculpture,’ rises proudly from the center of the sitting room. ‘The space is expansive, but you can also bake in the sun there, so we had to think about how to make it comfortable. There are solar shades for the summer, and in the fall, the fire, which opens on two sides, comes into its own. We had to rethink access, too, especially with young children around, so we reworked the stairs leading to it.’

A blend of objects, including some of the couple’s contemporary art, introduces the tension that Gretchen believes is necessary to create a layered home. ‘Those Shaker principles can be seen in the kitchen or in the handmade dining table created as an heirloom piece by cabinetmaker Ian Ingersoll,’ she says, ‘but there’s also the rigor of midcentury shapes, the playfulness of the checkered stair runner, or the contrast of a 19th-century carved horse in front of a modern, graphic artwork.’

Now, life here revolves around simpler pleasures. ‘This is a family who love to relax and host, so the house had to feel comfortable, practical and inviting,’ says Gretchen. ‘Everything has been thought through, but nothing is too precious to use.’ The result is a home that feels collected rather than decorated and where an easy connection to the landscape can be celebrated daily.

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Most of us have experienced life in a rental at some point, and for those of us who love good design and want to fill our homes with carefully selected pieces, there is nothing more frustrating than being restricted by a contract. The bones might be beautiful, but chances are the permanent fixtures added by a strapped-for-time, looking-to-make-cash landlord aren't.

So when designer Dora Dmitriev and her well-traveled, art-collecting client were faced with an apartment that had received the "landlord special" – and the challenge of turning it into a bohemian, eclectic home that rivaled the large Victorian home in San Francisco that the owner had left behind – things got interesting.

Luckily, this was not your standard rental. Building management has approved significant renovations, so Dora and her client were free to do almost anything to the apartment. 'The entire apartment had the "landlord special" – multiple layers of paint and small, quick fixes throughout,' explains Dora. 'We meticulously removed these features to recover the beautiful and unique architectural details beneath. Old kitchen and bathroom fixtures with many leaks were also abundant when we started the job.'

The vision was a French boutique hotel, with layers of vintage decor, rich colors, clashing patterns, and, of course, plenty of artwork. 'My client had been living in a large Victorian-style home in San Fransciso, so the goal was to design a way to incorporate his large art and book collections in a smaller space,' says Dora. 'We created a welcoming yet sophisticated environment for him to live in while allowing for flexible furniture layouts when friends and family visit.'

'He is well-traveled and wanted to incorporate inspiration from French and Italian hotels he frequented. Although the unit is a rental, the building permitted renovations to support the client into his twilight years, making the space exclusively his. He had such an amazing story and recited the history of just about any collected object or artwork we pointed to in the home; that was really special for us!'

The artwork became the key inspiration for the project, with decisions about color and materials guided by how each piece would look in its space. In the main living area, the wall color was chosen to create the perfect backdrop. 'We used Benjamin Moore Candle White 2164-70 in the grand parlor and hallways, which had a slight pink hue – funny because the client is a middle-aged man living alone. But you just can't go wrong with a light pink!'

'The artworks really inspired the mood and color direction, as we wanted to ensure the wall color selected would let the art have its moment to shine. In the primary bedroom, we also chose a wallpaper with a black background so that the white and black photographs could stand out and provide a classical feel against a busy backdrop.'

As you would expect, gutting an old rental didn't come without a few challenges – most of which led to more creative and resourceful decisions.

'Due to the nature of the old building, there were several unpleasant surprises when we opened the walls in the kitchen and bathroom,' explains Dora. 'We pivoted from some of our original plans; all of the bathroom plumbing needed to be replaced to resolve leaks, adding to the budget.'

'To help mitigate these unexpected costs, we shifted to sourcing more vintage furniture. This also improved lead times for the items. Our client was leasing another space while work was being performed here, so we had to work under tighter time constraints to have the space move-in ready when that lease was up. Renovating in a rental building led to additional constraints from building management, given how rarely they allow such a large renovation. We had many conversations with management and neighbors to ensure everyone was aware of the plans.'

So how much was allowed to be changed? In short, everything. The apartment was in enough need of an update that any remodel was going to make a significant difference.

'The building management permitted a complete overhaul of the bathroom, given that the pipes were very old and leaking. Breaking up the original steel tub to make room for a shower was a quick way to meet all the client’s neighbors and was a sound I will never forget! A kitchen gut was also allowed to provide additional storage while incorporating a breakfast table and personality into the otherwise very sad and white kitchen that was there before.'

Beyond the major changes, decor and furniture choices did a lot of the heavy lifting to transform this from a white-box apartment into elegant European hotel. 'The project allowed for extensive use of wallpaper in the bedrooms. In the primary bedroom, we designed a custom bed and headboard to speak to the French hotels the client frequented. We also paid great attention to lighting throughout the apartment; most fixtures are vintage or European-inspired, creating more ambiance and mimicking his travels and a nod to his Victorian home in San Francisco.'

'In the grand parlor, we added two ceiling medallions to further speak to the existing architectural details, adding personality to an otherwise plain space. We used numerous vintage rugs from all over the world to create a more worldly and warmer environment. Of course, also displaying and curating the client’s personal art and antiques collection in a thoughtful way transformed the rooms and added a personal touch to the apartment. A large gallery wall was hung in the grand parlor, made up of artwork and treasures – including a stingray shell!'

The most unexpected room in the apartment is the kitchen. Moving from rooms that feel historic and aged, as though they've looked that way for decades and have simply become more layered over time, into the kitchen is a visual jolt.

'The project includes a ‘surprise’ retro-style kitchen at the back of the apartment,' explains Dora. 'Our goal was a bright pop of color, anchored by the bold red appliances. The breakfast table and chairs were sourced from American Chairs, a company that supplies furniture to diners, which helped ground the space in an authentic retro feel. We also incorporated a metal edge around the countertops to complete the look.'

The open-plan living room, referred to as the parlor, is split into two zones – the front is a living space, while the back is used for dining. 'In the front parlor, we incorporated vintage pieces that we reupholstered and restored. The large sofa is also a sleeper sofa for when there is an abundance of overnight guests. We added vintage lighting and custom window treatments, and instead of sheers, we used lace curtains to lean into the European aesthetic. For the dining area, we sourced an expanding dining table. This room functions as an office and working studio by day and a dinner party space by night.'

The ‘guest bedroom’ is another multifunctional space and was Dora’s favorite room to design. 'The second bedroom was transformed into a hybrid drawing room, library and guest bedroom, complete with a sleeper sofa upholstered in a fabric that matches the House of Hackney wallpaper.'

'Vintage bookcases, mixed with some of the client’s existing pieces, line the walls, while blue bookcases display some of our client’s vases and ceramic pieces. Although this is the smallest room, it was designed to serve as a second office and drawing studio, a den, and a guest bedroom when the sofa is unfolded.'

While it's rare to be able to renovate a rental to this extent, there are plenty of lessons to be learned from this project about making a rental feel more like home. Dora's advice? Focus on artwork and lighting.

'If you do not want to invest time or money into painting and repainting the walls, I recommend focusing on artwork and lighting. Just bringing in floor lamps, table lamps and plug-in sconces creates a layered lighting atmosphere that works wonders to transform stark rental spaces that usually have less than ideal lighting.'

'Artwork is so personal that by playing with scale, subject and framing, you can change the feel of a room with ease by creating a gallery wall or a thoughtful grouping of art pieces. Additionally, by incorporating vintage rugs or noteworthy upholstered furniture pieces, you can make even a rental room feel warm and collected.'

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If you looked at this home in black and white, you would likely think it was filled with varying shades of white, cream, and gray – a beautiful, classic property that feels very comfortable and familiar. Turn on the color, and it’s a wonderful surprise to see timeless shapes and silhouettes are actually set against backdrops of bright, bold, layered color palettes. It's a lesson in creating something timeless, without relying on the 'safe' color choice.

Designer Lindsey Herod wanted to do something unexpected with this Houston home, something that made the spaces feel both familiar and original, timeless yet extraordinary. Something had been missing from the owners’ last home; their tastes had changed, becoming bolder and braver, and they wanted this new house to better reflect their Maximaclassic style.

‘This was a new construction project, and my team and I were involved from the very beginning of the architectural phase all the way through installation,’ explains Lindsey. ‘We worked closely with the architect throughout the build and designed all of the cabinetry, along with a large portion of the architectural finishes. Being involved that early allowed us to really think through how the house would function and flow before we ever got to the decorating.’

Being introduced to the home in the earliest stages also meant that Lindsey could collaborate closely with the homeowners, getting to know their personal style and what they really wanted from the house. ‘This was the second custom home they had built together, so they came into the process having learned a lot from their first house,’ she explains. ‘Their taste had evolved, along with their needs as their two children got older, and they wanted this home to feel completely different.’

'Overall, they wanted something fresher and lighter than their previous home. A formal dining room and better flow for entertaining were both really important because that was something they felt had been missing in their old house. At the same time, they have two young, active kids, so everything needed to be durable and family-friendly without sacrificing the polished, pretty feeling she wanted.'

'It was a really easy, collaborative process,' says Lindsey. 'They knew our work and trusted our style, so they were comfortable letting us lead the way, but they also brought some great ideas to the table that ended up becoming important parts of the project. The wife really took the lead, and she was so much fun for me and my team to work with. She was always genuinely excited about what we brought her and very open to trying things. She loves color and pattern and was game to push both, which is always fun for us. It made the process feel really creative and collaborative.'

It’s the colors that give this home its uniqueness. There isn’t a neutral room in sight – greens, blues, pinks, reds – they all mix throughout the home, and yet as you move from room to room, it never feels disjointed or like too much. There’s a cohesion to each color palette and to how they work with one another.

Lindsey explains that her client was ‘drawn to blue and green for the majority of the house, but she also loves a pop of pink, so we threaded that throughout the project.’

‘The trickier part was making all of those colors feel intentional from room to room. The spaces are defined, but because you can see from one into another, they all needed to talk to each other. From the kitchen, for example, you look through the butler’s pantry and into the mudroom. We wanted each room to have its own personality, but the color story still had to make sense as you progressed through the house. It became a huge puzzle and was probably one of the hardest parts of the project.’

‘The aubergine bar is directly across from the dining room, so we pulled that deep color from the Scalamandré wallpaper and the “party perch.” But it also had to relate to the kitchen and mudroom, which are less formal spaces,’ explains Lindsey. ‘The study works in a similar way. It’s essentially a richer, deeper version of the blue-and-green palette in the living room.’

The kitchen might be unexpected in color, but it’s so classic in style that pale blue feels as timeless as white. The shade is Sherwin-Williams Sleepy Hollow, a balanced, slightly cooler blue with undertones of both yellow and gray, so it works in a scheme of both warm colors – the wood tones of the seating – and cool colors – the greens used throughout the adjoining living area.

The subtler decisions were important to Lindsey, too – the things you don’t necessarily notice, but would really notice if they were off. The layout and sightlines of the room were things she considered carefully.

‘We worked really hard on the symmetry of the kitchen cabinetry,’ says Lindsey. ‘I wanted the range hood to line up properly and the island to align with the fireplace. When you’re standing at the sink, I want your eye to land on something that makes sense. Symmetry is one of those things that makes a room feel right, even if you can’t immediately explain why.’

‘Those were decisions we could work through with the architect early on, which is one of the reasons I was so glad to be involved from the beginning rather than having to work around an existing layout later.’

This needed to be a family kitchen that worked hard, too, and Lindsey made small but impactful changes to ensure the space not only looked beautiful, but also suited the busy young family with elementary-aged children who might not be the most marble-countertop-friendly.

‘The client loved the look of marble but knew her family would be tough on it, so she had the marble treated with UV-cured protection,’ explains Lindsey. ‘That gave us the natural material we wanted while easing some of her concerns about damaging it. I especially wanted to use real stone on the backsplash. When you bring stone vertically up the wall like that, I think the authenticity of the material really matters.’

The breakfast nook was also designed with the whole family in mind – a relaxed place for everyone to come together. ‘The breakfast room is a bump-out nook, so we ran a banquette wall-to-wall to maximize the space and create comfortable seating for the kids. The ladder-back chairs belonged to the client, and she really wanted to incorporate them, which I happily agreed to. I think they add a perfect touch of warmth and charm.’

‘We had the dining table custom-made to fit the space exactly, and the chandelier is vintage and was custom-painted for the room. The banquette cushion is laminated, so no one has to worry about spills or messy kids’ projects. It looks beautiful but functions really well, which means the family can actually live in the room without it feeling too precious.’

Creating a home for hosting was a key part of the brief, but this didn’t mean going totally open-plan with the layout. The owners wanted ‘a certain formality to the way the rooms are defined,’ explains Lindsey. ‘But the house still flows very easily from one space to the next. Because we were involved from the beginning, we were able to establish that balance early on. The client wanted clearly defined rooms, but she also wanted the main living spaces to connect and flow together purposefully.’

The kitchen and breakfast nook open out into the main family living room, creating the perfect multipurpose space. This room also connects seamlessly with the backyard. Sliding pocket doors were the right choice, as they can be completely moved out of the way to open up the whole wall to the outside. However, Lindsey didn’t want this modern addition to clash with the more classic interiors.

‘The rear sliding doors pocket completely into the wall, which was something the client really wanted,’ she explains. And to ensure the sleek doors didn’t look out of place, ‘we configured the bookshelves, walls, and curtains around that idea so they could have the functionality of a very open indoor-outdoor connection without making the room feel too modern. I also love adding a little quirk and fun to bookcases, so we played with two tones and an unusual corner detail.'

‘I am so happy with how the tray ceiling turned out. Tray ceilings can easily feel a little old-school, so we used trim and wallpaper to give this one a fresher point of view. The wallpaper almost acts like a rug on the ceiling, defining the living area within the larger open space.’

Lindsey’s favorite space to work on was the dining room. It’s a contrast to the kitchen and living space – those light and airy pale blues and greens are swapped for pale pinks, purples, and deeper teals.

‘It all started with the Scalamandré mural wallpaper, which I had fallen in love with because it gives you that traditional chinoiserie feeling but is printed to scale for the exact dimensions of the room. I was obsessed with the color palette, and it gave us so much to build from,’ says Lindsey.

This room had an interesting challenge, one that Lindsey, with such an eye for symmetry and classic design principles, could not ignore. ‘The large picture window was off-center in the room.’ Her solution was both an aesthetic and practical one. ‘We added the banquette to help balance the architecture and create a great little spot to sit and sip. We aptly dubbed it the party perch. It’s not a huge seating area, but it became the perfect little martini moment. It balances the room visually while bringing in another rich, jewel-toned layer through the velvet.’

‘For the ceiling, we used a beautiful bamboo motif from Fuller Architectural Panels. I had always wanted to do a fun bamboo ceiling, and it paired so well with the chinoiserie mural on the walls.’

The colors get deeper and moodier in the study. In this smaller space, the teal walls feel cocooning yet elegant – perfect for an office, but also well suited to entertaining, which was the plan. It needed to be a space in which to work, but also to relax, and the color scheme does a lot of that work.

The layout was also a consideration in this multifunctional room. ‘I love doing a four-seater arrangement with an ottoman in the center. It’s such a good configuration for conversation and entertaining, particularly in a room like this that needs to serve several purposes,’ explains Lindsey. ‘The study functions as his workspace, but it’s also an alternate seating area and music lounge with a record player, so we wanted it to feel comfortable enough to actually spend time in.’

The bedroom is a large, airy space, and Lindsey wanted to bring it in slightly, balancing those big proportions with furniture and a layout that didn’t feel like tiny pieces floating in a cavernous room.

‘We played with the layout in the primary bedroom and created a seating area facing the bed to help fill and balance such a large room. A side door leads directly out to the patio, so we wanted the arrangement to make sense with that circulation as well.’

‘With the lofty vaulted ceiling, the room really needed pieces that could hold their own against the scale. We used a four-poster bed and a large-scale chandelier to draw the eye up and fill that height. We kept the room traditional but wove in the pops of pink she loves.’

'The primary bathroom was inspired by a garden, which led us to the latticework from Fuller Architectural Panels,' says Lindsey. 'The room has a beautiful barrel-vaulted ceiling, but with so much height, it could have easily felt tall and narrow. Bringing the latticework onto the walls helped visually bring the scale down while adding another layer of architectural interest and reinforcing that garden feeling.'

'In the shower, we used two tones of marble and glass French doors, which I love. They keep such a large shower feeling light and open, and having access from both sides makes it function really well too.'

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When the Seattle-based designer Emily Ruff of Cohesively Curated was tasked with reimagining this 1926 home, the property was uninhabited, having been stripped all the way back to its studs. Her brief was to transform it into a warm, characterful sanctuary that makes hosting a dream.

To do so, Emily began by reimagining the layout to include more bedrooms, while thoughtfully designing architectural details to let the interiors once again nod to its early twentieth-century heritage.

Once the room reconfigurations had taken shape, attention turned to the decor, which was all about imparting warmth while nodding to the charming and cozy sensibilities of English decorating. Throughout, ditsy floral-patterned wallpapers, rich wood tones, warm brass, and textured stone lead the way, while there was a conscious effort to pay homage to the client's favorite color: yellow.

But, in keeping with the timeless, calming feel that runs through every room, decorating with yellow was dialed down – think creamy neutrals, pops of earthy yellow in wallpapers, and a slightly bolder, but still endlessly calming application on the bedroom walls. 'Incorporating the color throughout the home helped to make the spaces feel continuous, but each space still feels special and unique,' Emily tells me.

'Incorporating pattern and color was very important,' she adds. 'We used four different wallpapers, all with different floral block print patterns, and two that were grasscloth to add texture. Without pattern, it is really difficult to achieve the collected, warm, cozy feeling we wanted for this home.'

Adding architectural interest ensured the newly planned interior didn't actually feel brand new, but in keeping with the home's historic exterior style. 'One of the larger architectural ideas throughout the house was introducing curved and arched openings, and the entry sets that language up immediately,' says Emily. 'I wanted those elements to feel architectural rather than decorative, so they are paired with fairly restrained wall paneling and a soft white paint palette.'

Despite the pared-back entryway color palette, the room offers plenty of interest through its vintage decor and rich wood tones. 'The dark wood console, vintage-style rug, and collected artwork keep the entry from feeling overly formal,' she says.

'I wanted the kitchen to feel as though it could have always belonged in the house rather than feeling like a new kitchen inserted into an older home,' Emily tells Homes & Gardens. To do so, she turned to earthy, neutral kitchen ideas, made up of dark walnut-stained wood on the kitchen island and a delicate beige paint, Sherwin-Williams' Natural Linen, on the kitchen cabinets.

'The island was intentionally designed more like an old worktable, with turned legs, an apron detail, and rounded ogee-edged soapstone,' she explains, the dark tone of which was intentionally chosen to add depth to the room's lighter tones.

And while kitchens can often risk looking a bit stark with so many hard surfaces, Emily paid close attention to the details to achieve a much more lived-in feel. 'The large window at the sink, small brass library lights, tongue-and-groove ceiling, and unlacquered brass hardware all add character without relying on anything overly decorative,' she says.

Rather than a closed-off dining space, the heart of the home is open-plan, transitioning from the hardworking kitchen to a cozy dining area and breakfast nook. 'Because the dining area is directly connected to the kitchen, I wanted it to feel related but not like an extension of the cabinetry,' Emily says. To create this cohesion, the kitchen's soft color palette is extended, while the banquette seating, complete with patterned upholstery by Kravet, adds distinction between the two areas.

Kitchen lighting ideas were another important consideration. 'The woven chandelier brings in another natural texture and helps visually define the dining area within the larger open space,' the designer adds. By the windows, Emily opted for brass sconces to 'frame the window and give the nook a more intimate layer of light in the evening'.

Elsewhere in the open-plan kitchen, the arched theme is repeated, with a built-in coffee station made from the same wood as the kitchen island.

The living room is the final element of the open-plan space, but it takes on its own identity with a clever furniture layout, a cozy fireplace, and rustic wood ceiling beams. 'The stained ceiling beams were an important addition because they immediately give the room a greater sense of age and help connect it to the Tudor character of the exterior,' Emily explains.

A lesson on decorating with neutrals, the living room teams warm white walls (Benjamin Moore's White Dove) with earthy tones and the warmth of the natural wood, while texture is added through the fireplace. 'The plaster and Calacatta marble fireplace is the focal point and also ties back to the Tudor architectural style,' she adds.

Compared to the warm whites of the kitchen and living room, the home library embraces a slightly richer shade: Benjamin Moore's Raindance, a hushed gray-green paint. 'The muted blue-green cabinetry gives the room its identity while still feeling soft enough to sit comfortably alongside the warmer tones used throughout the rest of the house,' the designer says.

The built-ins were cleverly imagined to 'take advantage of an otherwise awkward portion of the room – incorporating book storage, concealed cabinetry and a window seat,' explains Emily.

To bring the space together, Emily chose an earthy pink floral cushion for the bench, which 'adds so much personality to the space and is one of my favorite elements of the entire home.'

The downstairs bathroom takes advantage of its small square footage, imparting the feel of a cozy English countryside home. 'I wanted to embrace the scale and make it feel more like a jewel box rather than trying to make it visually disappear,' Emily tells me. The floral wallpaper was one of the most important features, adding an 'English sensibility', while the darker and richer wood and soapstone on the vanity ground the space.

And, as is apparent in every room of this home, it's the details that make all the difference. Here, it's the ceramic wall sconces. 'They are so fun and one of our favorite light fixture choices in the entire house.'

Small rooms are almost always the perfect spaces to embrace colorful palettes, and this is certainly the case in the laundry room. 'We intentionally made the laundry room feel cheerful rather than purely functional,' Emily says. With the cabinets painted Benjamin Moore's Tissue Pink and the small-scale floral wallpaper, this utilitarian room oozes charm and nods to the cottage design influences elsewhere in the home.

Since the homeowner often hosts friends and family, the basement was transformed into a place for them to stay, complete with a bedroom, bathroom, living area, and kitchenette. 'I didn't want the basement to feel like an entirely different house, so we carried the same vocabulary downstairs: warm neutrals, aged brass, natural stone, traditional millwork, and furniture that feels collected rather than overly coordinated,' Emily explains.

In the living space, built-ins provide a sleek backdrop while providing useful storage and a clever home for the wall-mounted television. 'The upholstery is deliberately comfortable and neutral, with the patterned pillows, rug and smaller accessories doing more of the decorative work.'

The striped shower tiles add a playful touch to this small bathroom. 'Alternating soft blue and sandy cream tile gives a very simple material a much stronger graphic quality,' Emily explains. 'The polished brass plumbing runs through the stripes almost like jewelry.'

'We balanced the stripe with quieter materials elsewhere, including a stained wood vanity, honed marble countertop and warm white walls,' the designer adds.

Since yellow is the client's favorite color, it was a no-brainer to include a soft, soothing variation of it in the main bedroom: Benjamin Moore's Antiquity. To tie the scheme together, Emily focused on decor that subtly echoed this soft tone. 'We incorporated a vintage rug and bedding that had similar yellow tones so everything felt cohesive,' she says. 'I love the mix of patterns in all of the bedding and how calming the space feels.'

'The primary bathroom is one of the more refined spaces in the house, but I still didn't want it to feel like a conventional luxury bathroom,' Emily explains. Instead of relying on color, it's all about material choice and texture. 'The starting point was a palette of aged limestone, Calacatta marble floors, Calacatta marble slabs, and warm brass – all materials that become more interesting as they age.'

'My favorite design element is the ogee countertop edges with a double bullnose apron detail,' she adds. 'The vanity is in the center of the bathroom, so we wanted it to feel special.'

The guest bedroom is every bit cozy and inviting with its cottage-inspired design. 'The small-scale Indian Flower wallpaper was paired with tongue-and-groove wainscoting so the pattern feels enveloping without overwhelming the room,' Emily explains. 'Against that background, we used dark spindle-style wood furniture, simple linens, and a small piece of art rather than introducing another major pattern.'

'I especially like that nothing in the room feels too perfect. The antique-inspired furniture, woven textures, and small framed artwork give it the feeling of a room that has developed over time.'

Not dissimilar to the guest room, the kids' bedroom echoes a cottage-like feel with its floral wallpaper and spindle bedframes. 'We wanted the kids' room to feel playful with a mix of patterns and muted color,' Emily says. 'Our client had the idea to add a rounded window, and we love how it sets the perfect backdrop for the twin beds. We found an inspiration image of plaid wraps on wood beds and had our upholsterer make a similar style wrap for these spindle beds. It is the perfect room for sleepovers with Nana.'

Repeating the theme of subdued pink tones, the kids' bathroom is both fun and timeless. The wainscoting was painted with Farrow & Ball's Sulking Room Pink, while subtle color was also added through the floor tiles. 'Rather than introducing a colorful ceramic tile, we designed a custom stone floor using Carrara marble as the field and inset individual pieces of green, coral, gold, blue, and caramel-toned natural stones throughout it,' Emily explains. 'From a distance, it reads as a classic marble floor; up close, the colored pieces become a playful surprise.'

Even though Emily took on this project when it was stripped completely back to its studs, the architectural language throughout nods to that of the exterior, resulting in an interior that feels as though it has always been there. And, perhaps even more importantly, this is a home that is full of warmth; one that makes hosting friends and family a joy. 'It is full of so much character and charm, which was always the primary goal,' Emily remarks.

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How do you give a relatively modern house the warmth and permanence of a much older one? For interior designer Hillary Taylor, the answer lies not in disguising its age, but in building character through architecture, color, and the possessions that already belong to the people who live there.

This 4,000-square-foot shingle-style home in Salt Lake City was built in the early 2000s, but its most noticeable feature was not its newness. The ceiling heights in the living and dining rooms bore little relationship to the width and depth of the spaces, leaving the rooms feeling more cavernous than generous. Acres of white drywall only amplified the imbalance.

Working with Jackson LeRoy Construction, Hillary redesigned the flooring, tile, plumbing, lighting, cabinetry, and millwork, personally drawing every new molding and mantel. ‘Our guiding principle was to add warmth by layering texture on the ceilings and walls, and to create floor plans with a human scale so sightlines stayed at eye level, rather than requiring neck-craning moments,’ she explains.

The owners’ references were colorful English houses and the lively eclecticism of New York’s Crosby Street Hotel, owned and designed by Kit Kemp. Yet Hillary was careful not to create a stage set. She retained the family’s art, piano, klismos chairs and dining chairs carved with their name, allowing the new work to grow around objects with meaning. ‘Anything that is authentic to the people who live in the home is never out of place,’ she says. ‘That consistency shows up, and you can’t fake it.’

The home’s English-inflected exuberance begins in the entry. Gucci’s ‘Tian’ print wallcovering covers the entry in flowering branches, birds and butterflies, while a blue ceiling in Benjamin Moore’s ‘Glass Slipper’ turns the often overlooked fifth wall into part of the composition. A ‘White Dove’ trim contains the exuberance, and the client’s own wooden console lends the polished scheme something familiar.

The entry also establishes the palette that carries through the house: clear pale blues, botanical greens and flashes of deep red. Rather than assigning each room an isolated color scheme, Hillary repeated these shades in changing proportions to make the sightlines feel connected. Through the doorway, the pomegranate-red living room appears as an invitation rather than a shock.

‘The fifth wall is the charm-bringer,’ says Hillary of her decision to decorate the ceiling. ‘It really infuses personality and sets your space apart.’ The idea resurfaces throughout the house, from the raffia-clad dining room ceiling to the enveloping stripe in the primary bedroom.

In the living room, Phillip Jeffries’ ‘Manila Hemp’ grasscloth takes the client’s favorite color around every wall. Its woven surface absorbs the light rather than reflecting it, making the lofty room feel warmer and more intimate. Striped taffeta curtains and a natural rug soften the edges further, while an existing piano and pair of klismos chairs keep the room grounded in family history.

The pattern mix is characteristically assured: a floral Claremont fabric covers the slipcovered settee; checks appear on the klismos chairs and round ottoman; and pillows introduce still more florals and decorative motifs. Hillary gives each one a job. ‘Every room needs a geometric – usually small – an anchor fabric like a floral, and then always a texture,’ she explains. ‘I also always use a stripe. It’s just a must. Even if it’s just a lampshade.’

A once-troublesome doorway shaped the furniture plan. Because the opening had casing on only one side, a previous sofa placement forced anyone entering the room to walk directly into it. Hillary cleared the route and turned the adjoining wall into a decorative passage, centering the fireplace and setting blue-and-white plates among the pale millwork. The collection brings dimension to the wall while guiding movement towards the breakfast room.

The dining room required the most architectural sleight of hand. Its 23-foot ceiling and irregular angles made a room intended for intimate dinners feel tall and narrow. Hillary’s solution was to introduce a visual stopping point rather than physically lower the ceiling. Substantial walnut paneling wraps the walls, capped by an entablature that gives the eye a clear horizon.

Above it, neutral raffia covers the remaining wall and ceiling planes. The structural beam was boxed out and visually strengthened with additional boards, creating a framework overhead. ‘Voilà, no more drywall,’ Hillary exclaims. ‘This is how intimacy is established.’ A ‘Sarafina’ chandelier by Coleen & Company now hangs within this newly defined volume rather than disappearing into it.

Textiles bring the scale down another notch. Full linen curtains, a natural rug and custom serving tables skirted in zigzag linen add softness and improve the room’s acoustics. The skirts also conceal useful storage – a decorative counterpoint to the surrounding walnut. ‘The textiles are the yin to the walnut paneling yang,’ Hillary notes.

The family’s carved dining chairs were refinished and upholstered in dusky sky-blue leather, preserving their personal significance while drawing the home’s cooler color through the darker room. A richly patterned tablecloth adds the final layer, giving the formality of the paneling a more relaxed, convivial note.

From the darker dining room, the kitchen provides a crisp change of pace. Pale painted cabinetry and statuary stone counters keep the working surfaces bright, while polished-nickel hardware and Waterworks fittings add a cool gleam. Hudson Valley pendants, custom painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Lulworth Blue’, connect the room to the softer blues seen from the entry onwards.

Pattern is concentrated where it has the greatest effect. A Schumacher fabric at the window introduces color and narrative without competing with the cabinetry, while Palecek stools upholstered in a neat, checked fabric bring texture to the island. The living room’s deep red appears as a small note within the window treatment, an example of Hillary’s approach to continuity. ‘It’s enough to pull a thread from beginning to end,’ she says.

The adjoining pantry is more saturated. Cabinetry and trim are painted entirely in ‘Lulworth Blue’ and paired with grasscloth walls, warm brass Armac Martin hardware, and a custom checked pendant shade. It is a hardworking room, fitted with additional refrigeration and ovens, but the full color treatment allows it to read almost as a large piece of furniture rather than an anonymous run of storage.

Beyond the kitchen, the breakfast room has the ease of a garden room. A custom settee upholstered in Sister Parish’s ‘Burma’ fabric curves around the table, joined by slender dining chairs and curtains in a relaxed Schumacher stripe. The mix repeats Hillary’s preferred pattern formula on a smaller, lighter scale.

A Visual Comfort pendant hangs above the table, its custom shades covered in a blue-and-white stripe and finished with marine-blue piping. A woven pedestal and urn bring a more sculptural note. The result is informal but not incidental: a room positioned to catch daily family life while remaining visually connected to the kitchen and living spaces on either side.

The family room sits just off the kitchen, but its original proportions made it surprisingly difficult to furnish. A chair rail positioned around 42 inches from the floor bisected the walls, while an overly tall mantel made them feel squat. Hillary replaced both with a more convincing architectural framework: poplar boards with fine shadow lines sit flush to the walls, and the chair rail now runs at 28 inches, allowing the upper panels to appear longer and better proportioned.

Bookcases flow into a newly designed limestone mantel, while matte ‘White Tie’ paint by Farrow & Ball unifies the millwork. Instead of forcing in a sofa that would interrupt the traffic pattern, Hillary arranged four generous swivel chairs around a central ottoman. Each seat has a nearby light and somewhere to place a drink.

‘Where I couldn’t fit a large sofa, I just didn’t,’ she says. ‘It doesn’t make sense to line a sofa up along a traffic pattern just to have one.’ The decision makes the room feel sociable from every direction, while blue ikat upholstery and tiger and toile pillows bring the color and pattern of the more formal rooms into this everyday gathering space.

The smaller transitional spaces take some of the house’s boldest decorative risks. In the powder room, Meg Braff’s ‘Imperial Palace’ wallcovering surrounds a polished metal sink base, while a trim in Sherwin-Williams’ ‘Loyal Blue’ intensifies its deep ground. Yellow moiré lampshades and a custom tortoiseshell-finished mirror add warm flashes against the blue.

The mudroom returns to ‘Lulworth Blue’ across the trim and millwork, offset by glossy black doors and Lee Jofa’s ‘Whitaker’ wallpaper. A black-and-white floor from Paris Ceramics gives the practical passage graphic definition. These compact rooms demonstrate Hillary’s advice for imperfect or heavily trafficked spaces: color, pattern and texture can do as much corrective work as construction, while giving utilitarian areas an identity of their own.

Upstairs, the primary bedroom turns an angular gabled ceiling into its defining feature. Farrow & Ball’s pale blue-and-ivory ‘Tented Stripe’ follows the walls and slopes overhead, making the irregular architecture feel intentional and cocooning rather than visually fragmented.

‘I felt that a tone-on-tone stripe would bring the eye up and pull the drywall in so that the room felt cozy,’ Hillary explains. ‘It’s funny to call a stripe cozy, but when it’s everywhere, it can really disguise and obscure strange ceiling arrangements.’ The continuous pattern also draws attention towards the windows and the strong outline of an Oly Studio bed, which gives the room a natural center.

The scheme becomes richer at eye level. Oyster-colored curtains are edged in velvet tape, while checked chairs, a pale settee and a custom kidney-shaped vanity in Pierre Frey fabric layer shape and pattern without disturbing the room’s calm. The vanity skirt, finished with decorative trim and tassel fringe, balances the more architectural silhouette of the bed.

The adjoining bathroom takes a quieter approach, using the room’s quirks to improve its function. Hillary widened the space and converted knee walls and irregular ceiling areas into custom storage, then introduced mirrored paneling to bounce natural light through the pale interior.

‘White Dove’ painted cabinetry and polished-nickel fittings sit against an intricate mix of Calacatta Oro, Thassos and Calacatta Lincoln marble. The floor is laid in a diagonal parquet pattern, while the shower uses shifts in finish and scale – including a New Ravenna mosaic underfoot – to give the near-monochrome room depth.

The restraint offers a pause after the primary bedroom’s enveloping stripe, yet the attention to junctions, framing and material remains the same. Throughout the house, Hillary’s architecture gives the decoration somewhere convincing to land. ‘The shell is always so important to holding textiles and furnishings,’ she says.

Although the project transformed almost every surface, its most persuasive quality is that it does not appear to have been conceived all at once. Existing furniture and art sit alongside newly drawn millwork, tailored upholstery and fabrics ranging from checks and stripes to florals and ikats. Each room has its own atmosphere, but the recurring reds, pale blues and natural textures maintain a clear visual thread.

For Hillary, this is the distinction between layering and clutter. She considers what is seen first, how a person enters and whether every piece has sufficient space around it. ‘Not too many skirts nor too many legs – each piece should speak to another,’ she says. The finished home feels colorful, composed and deeply personal: not an imitation of an old English house, but a Salt Lake City home given the substance to build a history.

Hillary's first book, Living with Beauty: At Home and in the Garden, debuts with Rizzoli on February 16, 2027.

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Something of a problem child, the renovation of this pretty five-bedroom Victorian townhouse in a leafy North London conservation area did not run smoothly. Originally three separate apartments, it was bought just before the pandemic by a couple who had been living overseas, with plans to transform it into a lovely family home.

However, they encountered numerous hurdles, which led to lengthy delays. ‘At the start of the project, the clients didn’t have any children, and by the end they had three!’ says Angelica Squire of Studio Squire, who was tasked with turning their vision into reality. ‘Of all our projects, this is the one that caused the most challenges. Everything felt long and laborious,’ she adds. Fortunately, she worked with a dream team of RJH Architecture and Kiwi Building, who helped lighten the load.

Key to the clients’ brief was a tailored interior designed to last, so a timeless aesthetic was top of their wish list. ‘They definitely didn’t want a space that felt really traditional and stuffy – they craved schemes that were contemporary and clean,’ Angelica says. Substantial structural work was undertaken to ensure a generously scaled property featuring flowing open spaces, a basement excavation that connects to the garden, a rear extension with skylights that flood the space with light, and a reconfigured layout. ‘We wanted to gain as much square footage as we could,’ says Angelica.

Few original features could be retained, as they were so badly damaged. ‘We tried to honor the fabric of the building. Where we couldn’t keep features, we replaced them like for like so, for instance, the pretty garden doors in the kitchen mimic the original ones.’

A sense of calm permeates the interior, thanks to the largely warm-white backdrop that enhances the airy feel, along with the pared-back schemes. A subtle blend of old and new dovetails neatly to evoke a timeless sense. In the entryway, for example, modern black spindles and a pale wooden handrail bring a streamlined, cleaner aesthetic to the staircase than traditional turned rails, while in the living room at the front of the house, beaded paneling provides a heritage backdrop. ‘The clients were keen to treat the walls differently here,’ explains Angelica. The elegant space was designed to feel laid-back enough for relaxing, yet formal and grown-up enough for entertaining.

A burst of joyful color is provided by the yellow sofa. ‘We had to push the clients with some slightly bolder choices,’ says Angelica. ‘We felt there was an earthiness in the kitchen and, with the calm entryway, it would be lovely to come into the living room and have something punchier.’ A travertine fireplace forms a contemporary focal point – ‘it creates a lovely space for seating to be centered around’ – while a commissioned artwork hides the TV above.

Although pattern has been used sparingly throughout the interior, Angelica wasn’t shy of incorporating considered finishes that weave in texture and nuance, from the beaded paneling in the living room and dappled limewash-painted walls in key spaces to the striking stained-wood kitchen cabinetry. The latter was an experiment, Angelica notes: ‘We were exploring ways of doing something slightly different from the standard painted kitchen cabinets, but it was trial and error getting the right shade.’

A conduit between the living room and kitchen, the middle room – which is often used as a transitional space in Victorian homes – was designed to work particularly hard. ‘The clients wanted an area that felt open, airy and multifunctional,’ explains Angelica. ‘They were keen for the house to be tidy, so we needed to make sure we included ample storage, which took careful planning.’

Storage for the children’s stroller, shoes and bags, and a very generous coat closet, as well as a powder room, were integrated. But the space also has a playful side. Due to its position, it proved the natural site for a bar area, with a handy banquette, allowing for pre-dinner drinks in the living room before moving through to the kitchen-dining area.

This project was certainly a labor of love, but the result has proved to be worth the wait.

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There is a common assumption that transforming a home means changing its architecture. But when interior designer and architect Natalia Miyar first encountered this family home in Florida, the bones were precisely what she wanted to keep.

The setting was familiar territory for Natalia, whose eponymous atelier has offices in London and Coral Gables. She has lived in Miami for more than 40 years and completed her master’s in architecture there, spending her student years studying and drawing historic houses like this one.

The house had already undergone several renovations, but its proportions and architecture remained beautifully intact. ‘My role wasn’t to redesign the architecture, but to reveal it,’ Natalia explains. ‘I wanted to bring warmth back into the house through color, texture, craftsmanship, art and carefully chosen objects.’

That familiarity with Miami became fundamental to the redesign. Rather than applying a generalized idea of Floridian style, Natalia looked to the colors, textures, and materials she had known for decades, allowing the house and its surroundings to inform everything from grasscloth and raffia to saturated blues, leafy greens, and earthy terracotta.

The setting provided Natalia with her starting point. It was developed in the 1920s as one of America’s early planned communities, with original ‘villages’ drawing on different European and Mediterranean architectural traditions. Taking its cues from formal French architecture, the surroundings are characterized by symmetrical facades, stucco, and wrought-iron details.

Rather than imposing an entirely new decorative language on the building, she allowed its architecture to provide a framework for rooms that could comfortably belong to both the house and the contemporary family living in it.

That balance is apparent from the entrance, where vintage furniture sits against subtly textured Phillip Jeffries wallpaper. A Swedish armchair upholstered in blue-patterned fabric sits alongside an antique table, vintage stools, and ceramics, beginning the sense of gradual accumulation that runs throughout the home. Even the blue stair runner was custom-designed by Natalia.

The living room was where the home’s distinctive color story really began. Natalia chose Peter Dunham’s ‘Berber Sky’ printed grasscloth in Indigo, covering the walls in richly textured blue. ‘I had been encouraging the clients to embrace wallpaper for years, and when I showed them this one, they loved it,’ she says. ‘It gave us the confidence to really commit to color and pattern throughout the house.’

Rather than introducing a rainbow of contrasting shades, Natalia prefers to explore variations within the same color family. ‘I would much rather explore twenty different shades of blue, for example, and then create variation through texture, pattern and material.’

Here, blue-gray sofas, striped vintage armchairs and patterned cushions pick up different tones from the walls, while bamboo, timber and linen prevent the palette from feeling overly coordinated. A sculptural vintage Philip and Kelvin LaVerne coffee table brings another layer of history and craftsmanship.

It is a useful approach for anyone nervous about decorating with stronger color. Saturation doesn’t necessarily create visual noise. Restricting the palette can actually give you greater freedom to layer pattern.

The adjoining dining room turns up the contrast. Honey-colored jute walls provide a warm, tactile setting for Natalia’s custom dining table, finished in glossy malachite green. Overhead, a vintage Murano glass chandelier introduces another variation of green, while blue upholstered dining chairs and a bold Deborah Brown painting bring still more vibrancy into the space.

Yet Natalia was careful that the table didn't become the room’s solitary ‘wow’ moment. ‘The art, lighting, wall color and other objects in the room all have enough presence to hold their own, so nothing feels as though it is shouting for attention,’ she explains. ‘For me, successful interiors are always about creating conversations between objects rather than relying on one statement piece.’

That philosophy extends to the home’s vintage furniture and accessories. Natalia spent months sourcing pieces from galleries, antique markets and local dealers, including the dining room’s drinks trolley and ceramics. ‘I never want a house to feel as though everything arrived on the same day,’ she says.

In the kitchen, deep green cabinetry is set against warm terracotta walls, but the palette wasn’t chosen simply because it reads as tropical. The wall color was inspired by a long terracotta wall in nearby Coconut Grove that Natalia has admired for years. ‘That particular shade has always felt very evocative of Miami to me,’ she says.

The combination is brought to life through material as much as color: Arte’s ‘Koumbala’ textured wallcovering, woven pendants and vintage objects sit alongside cabinetry painted in Benjamin Moore’s ‘Salamander’.

A breakfast nook creates an intimate counterpoint to the formal dining room. Patterned upholstery and vintage chairs make it feel deliberately distinct from the working part of the kitchen. ‘The main dining room is designed for gathering and entertaining, whereas the breakfast nook supports those smaller rituals of everyday family life,’ Natalia explains.

Upstairs, the same approach becomes softer but no less layered. The primary bedroom combines pale green patterned wallpaper with striped curtains, a blue vintage armchair, and warm timber furniture, while its dressing area deepens the palette with blue-green joinery and woven textures.

Pattern is particularly effective in the smaller spaces. A bathroom is completely enveloped in Peter Fasano’s ‘Chatsworth’ botanical grasscloth, creating a jewel-box moment around an otherwise simple white basin and vintage mirror. ‘Smaller rooms give you permission to be more immersive,’ says Natalia. ‘I love the idea of opening a door and discovering a completely different atmosphere.’

The guest bedroom shifts into a warmer register, with Mind The Gap’s ‘Mouassine’ striped wallpaper in Turmeric setting ochre, terracotta and powder blue in conversation. Jane Churchill curtains continue the golden tones, while a custom rug introduces cooler blue underfoot, and vintage furniture keeps the mix from feeling overly coordinated. It’s a neat illustration of Natalia’s approach to color families: shades don’t need to match exactly to belong together.

There is a similar confidence in the daughter’s bedroom, where a bespoke scalloped headboard in green sits against a pink-and-green botanical wallpaper. Rather than making the room overtly youthful, Natalia designed the headboard as a piece that can remain while the layers around it change as the child grows.

The same layering continues in the study, albeit at a gentler volume. George Spencer Designs’ ‘Berwick’ buff-toned wallpaper creates a textural base for moss-green seating and a forest-green botanical blind, while a russet-red ottoman introduces just enough contrast. It’s another example of Natalia’s preference for building depth within a controlled palette rather than introducing color for color’s sake.

The home’s boldest decorating move is saved for the attic media room. Faced with its steeply pitched ceiling and awkward roofline, Natalia designed a sprawling modular sofa specifically for the space, maximizing seating where conventional furniture would have struggled.

Then she covered almost everything in the same tiny blue check. Stroheim’s ‘Lettie’ in Sapphire runs across the custom sofa, ottomans and cushions before continuing onto the walls and sloping ceiling.

Counterintuitively, the repetition makes the unusually shaped room feel calmer. ‘Your eye isn’t constantly moving between competing elements,’ Natalia explains. ‘I wanted it to feel like somewhere you immediately wanted to settle into and relax.’ It is perhaps the clearest expression of her approach to the whole house: richness doesn’t have to mean chaos, just as restraint doesn’t have to mean white walls.

Beside the pool, a small open-sided gazebo effectively becomes another room, furnished with a striped outdoor sofa, aqua-upholstered armchairs and a vintage coffee table. The blues, natural textures and mix of old and new deliberately echo the interiors, making the transition outside feel evolutionary rather than abrupt.

For Natalia, creating a soulful interior is ultimately about making a home appear to have developed naturally rather than been decorated in a single moment. ‘I don’t see art or styling as something you add at the end,’ she says. ‘I begin thinking about those elements from the earliest stages because they influence the atmosphere of a room as much as the architecture or furniture.’

By allowing the existing architecture, Miami landscape, the family’s heritage and an eclectic collection of art and vintage finds to coexist, this house now has precisely what its earlier renovations had erased: a personality of its own.

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When renovating an old home, there is often an important decision to make right at the start: do you keep the original layout intact or modernize it with open-plan living? For this charming 1930s family home in Rosedale, Toronto, it was the former. Lovingly restored by interior designer Cynthia Ferguson, the traditional layout provided the starting point to work with, not against.

'We deliberately retained the existing walls and the home’s traditional sequence of rooms,' Cynthia explains. 'The family wasn’t looking to impose a completely new identity on the house; they wanted to uncover its character, restore its architectural integrity, and bring it back to its original glory.'

Home to a family of four, including two young girls, functionality was crucial. Not only was this to be a home full of color with nods to English cottage style, but it also needed to seamlessly respond to the needs of daily life. 'We wanted the rooms to support both the rhythms of everyday family life and the pleasure of entertaining,' Cynthia tells Homes & Gardens. 'The house needed to feel welcoming and comfortable – beautiful enough to inspire, but relaxed enough that everyone could truly enjoy it.'

And while the open flow of modern homes can easily have you think a more traditional closed-concept layout is outdated, this home proves the opposite. A hardworking kitchen of humble size adjoins a separate dining room, while the living room has its own identity. 'The original floor plan naturally creates rooms with distinct purposes and moods,' says Cynthia. 'Rather than opening everything up, we embraced that intimacy.'

'It was never about imposing a new identity on the house; it was about revealing its best self, restoring its beauty, and preparing it for its next chapter,' Cynthia says.

Restoring an old property isn't without its challenges. 'Every modern requirement – from updated building systems to storage and the practical needs of a young family – had to be thoughtfully integrated within the original footprint,' Cynthia explains. 'We couldn’t simply move walls whenever a space presented a challenge; we had to find more imaginative solutions.' One such challenge was finding space for a powder room downstairs – which was cleverly created from an existing cupboard space.

Another important early step in the restoration process was adding back architectural features that had been previously removed. 'The crown moldings and trim had been replaced with profiles that weren’t sympathetic to the period, the walls had been covered in stucco and were missing their decorative moldings, and the fireplaces had been changed,' Cynthia says. 'Our goal was to reintroduce elements that felt appropriate to a house built in 1930 – not to create a rigid historical reproduction, but to restore the sense of craftsmanship, proportion, and permanence that had been lost. We reinstated more substantial crown moldings, trim, and wall detailing, and reconsidered the fireplaces so they would once again feel like natural architectural anchors within the rooms.'

When it came to the decor, the goal was for each room to feel 'layered and collected rather than newly decorated all at once,' Cynthia recalls. To realize this vision, the designer turned to playful but traditional color ideas, antiques, and decorating with patterns, all of which were intended to feel sympathetic to the home's historic architectural style.

'There are elements of classic English country – the layered patterns, antique rugs, rich color, natural materials, and mix of old and new – but the result feels more urban and tailored,' the designer explains. 'Sculptural contemporary lighting and art create a lively tension with the traditional millwork, marble, leaded glass, vintage furniture, and antique finds.'

'We wanted the house to feel warm, joyful, and deeply personal – the kind of home that immediately puts people at ease,' she adds. 'Although the interiors are layered and thoughtfully detailed, they were never intended to feel formal or precious.'

'Above all, the house was designed to feel accumulated rather than decorated,' Cynthia notes. 'Nothing is overly matched or tied to a single period. It is romantic, individual, and slightly eccentric, with the warmth and character of a home that has evolved naturally over time.'

True to the heart of the restoration, the entryway sets the tone with Farrow & Ball's 'Minster Green'. 'The vestibule may be a small, transitional space, but its deep green palette, leaded glass, and jewel-like atmosphere create a memorable first impression,' Cynthia says. 'It signals immediately that this is a house with history, confidence, and a playful point of view.'

'We added leaded-glass doors to the closet, creating a beautiful dialogue with the home’s period character,' Cynthia adds. 'We also sourced and reintroduced period-appropriate door hardware wherever the original pieces had disappeared. Details such as glass knobs, aged metalwork, moldings, and leaded glass may seem small individually, but together they restore the rhythm and soul of an older home. The intention was for these additions to feel as though they had always belonged there.'

The living room is softer, but just as impactful. The delicate pink paint pairs effortlessly with the vintage decor. 'The color is romantic but not overly precious, and the room still feels sophisticated, comfortable, and wonderfully relaxed,' the designer says.

The decor is layered and eclectic, from the vintage chandelier to the patterned drapery fabric by McLaurin & Piercy. 'Nothing in it was forced; it came together naturally, which I think is why it feels so effortless,' Cynthia adds. 'The blend of color, pattern, traditional architecture, and more contemporary elements gives it a personality entirely its own.'

'Vintage furnishings were fundamental to the character of the house,' she continues. 'The clients already owned the majority of their furniture and were committed to using it in their new home. Fortunately, they have wonderful taste, and I genuinely loved what they had collected. Rather than starting over, we moved a few pieces between rooms and added surprisingly little.'

The dining room was modernized so that it wasn't just a place for entertaining, but a space for the family to enjoy meals together each day. Rather than anything too formal, the decor feels relaxed and welcoming, starting with the modern, large-scale wallpaper.

'The clients already owned all of the furniture, yet once it was placed against the oversized wallpaper and paired with the vintage light fixtures, everything looked as though it had been planned together from the beginning,' Cynthia says.

The dining room color scheme is an example of how intentional the color choices were throughout the home. 'Our aim was never to select colors in isolation,' she explains. 'We considered how one room would be glimpsed from another and how the palette would unfold as the family moved through the house.'

Next to the dining room is the kitchen, a room that offers function and charm in equal measure. Although it's not an expansive space, it includes a kitchen island where breakfast can be enjoyed.

A neutral color scheme gives the space a timeless, calm feel against the richer color palettes elsewhere in the home. 'The kitchen is quieter and more grounded, allowing the oxblood-and-cream checkerboard tile, natural wood, and brass details to become the focus,' Cynthia explains.

And although this color scheme is more understated, plenty of thought went into choosing the best neutral paints. 'Rather than relying on one neutral carried from room to room, we chose nuanced shades that respond to the architecture, natural light, and intended mood of each space,' she says.

While the majority of the home's original layout remained intact throughout the restoration, a new purpose was needed for an underused, long room behind the kitchen and dining room. 'We divided and repurposed this area: the portion behind the kitchen became a pantry, while the section behind the dining room became a sitting room with doors opening onto the back deck,' Cynthia explains. 'This gave the family significantly more utility while also bringing additional natural light into the dining room.'

The pantry provides ample storage space for practical items, while it feels like an extension of the kitchen with the same paint shade, Farrow & Ball's 'Old White', throughout.

Since the home was without a powder room when Cynthia embarked on the project, some creative thinking was needed to find space for one. 'We borrowed a small amount of space from the kitchen and converted an existing closet, creating a much-needed amenity without significantly disrupting the original floor plan,' she explains.

Given its small proportions, it provided an opportunity to have fun with color and pattern. 'Working within that very limited space required careful planning, but the constraint ultimately produced something far more memorable,' she says.

Upstairs, the girls' bathroom is filled with pops of uplifting color, turning what can so often be a purely functional room into one that sparks joy.

The main bedroom takes on a much moodier feel than the rooms downstairs. The walls are coated with a hushed blue paint, 'Angel's Wings' by Benjamin Moore, while the richer 'Three-Piece-Suit' brings architectural depth to the trim and ceiling. The fabrics echo the theme of blue, while a pop of yellow on the bed adds interest.

The bedroom color palette speaks to Cynthia's summary of the whole home's color palette: 'rich but not loud, and playful without feeling youthful.'

In the main bathroom upstairs, a sophisticated, equally moody dark red-brown leads the way. Paired with brass hardware and timeless off-white walls, it has been designed to feel elevated yet understated.

In an era of trend fatigue, homes that feel truly personal are more important than ever, and that's exactly what this one is. 'It doesn’t look newly decorated or as though everything arrived at once; it feels layered, personal, and shaped by the family who lives there,' Cynthia reflects.

'The house is not a showpiece,' she adds. 'It is the setting for busy mornings, homework at the dining table, quiet reading, shared meals, celebrations, and all the ordinary moments that eventually become a family’s memories.'

There's also a lesson to take from this home on the often overlooked value of smaller, closed-concept layouts. 'Today, houses can be so large that entire spaces are rarely used, but this project is a lovely reminder that we don’t necessarily need more space; we need space that works harder and feels meaningful,' says Cynthia.

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From the outside, this Idaho project looks every inch the rural escape: a weathered 1910 barn sitting among rolling fields and beneath some seriously big blue skies. Inside, though, it’s a rather different story.

The original barn has been completely gutted and transformed by Élan Design House into a warm, layered vacation home for a family of six – one designed for muddy shoes, movie nights, big family meals and, importantly, 'a LOT of dust'. The property sits alongside the original farmhouse and remaining barns, with farmland stretching out in every direction, so the clients wanted a place to escape the city and spend time together without having to tiptoe around a precious interior.

That family-first, dust-disguising brief shaped the design at every turn. Flooring was chosen to blend in with the dirt; earthy taupes and greens help disguise everyday mess, and performance fabrics, durable wool rugs, and leather furnishings were chosen to take whatever family life throws at them. But practical doesn't mean predictable, nor does it mean boring. Rustic beams, paneled walls, vintage lighting, handmade tiles, and layers of pattern bring plenty of character, while the original wood-burning stove keeps the barn's bones firmly in the picture. 'We wanted the house to feel authentic to its roots, but we also wanted it to be usable,' the designers explain – and that balance is really the magic here.

There’s something rather lovely about the fact that this isn’t a barn designed to look old – it genuinely has the history to prove it. Dating back to 1910, the original farmhouse and barns are still standing, with the clients’ siblings living in the farmhouse as they work through their own renovation. 'One of the barns became the vacation home we designed for the clients', designers Kilian Camp and Alison Green explain. They completely gutted it inside but kept the exterior intact, allowing the building’s agricultural charm to remain while rethinking everything within it. 'We wanted to lean into the rugged environment,' they add.

Inside, the generous main room brings the kitchen, dining area, and living room together, with plenty of breathing space between each zone so six people can actually move around without constantly bumping into one another. 'Family is very important to them, and they wanted a place to gather and spend time together,' Kilian and Alison continue. 'There needed to be flexibility to accommodate different activities throughout the seasons and house a large group comfortably.'

The furniture, therefore, is practical and adaptable: leather ottomans on casters can be pushed around for game nights, while vintage chairs add extra seats when needed; an extendable dining table grows with the guest list, and a generous kitchen island naturally draws everyone together. They also worked hard to ensure the back of the house remained private and cozy, so that 'if anyone needed to escape from the hustle and bustle, there was a quiet area to go to'.

With farmland stretching beyond the windows, there was little point pretending this house existed anywhere else. The landscape is very much part of the experience, from the rolling fields to chickens pecking in the grass, and a 'menagerie of cats and dogs' outside. Élan Design House responded by keeping the interiors grounded and tonal, starting with the main room’s paint color and flooring before layering in warm woods, creams, greens and taupes. 'We wanted the quality of the materials to shine,' the designers explain, and the restrained palette does exactly that, giving the grain of the wood, the woven textures and the aged finishes room to speak for themselves.

Instead of being heavy-handed with their nods to the barn's former agricultural life, the house takes cues from its surroundings and softens them – natural materials, homespun quilts, chunky throws and vintage art create a layered, lived-in feel, while deeper greens and blues and flashes of pattern give each room its own personality.

The original wood-burning stove was kept, becoming the heart of the living room, while new ceiling beams and a mix of old and new reinforce that sense of history without turning the whole thing into a cliché. As the designers put it, 'We love to use a tonal palette, lots of textures and patterns to provide depth and interest,' they add. They then layered deeper tones to feel cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and dialled up the fun out back with bedroom wallpaper to 'make each room feel special'.

The house may have the easy atmosphere of a vacation retreat, but there is a lot of thought behind that apparent effortlessness. This even came down to the flooring choices. 'We designed the space knowing that it would get a lot of wear and tear, so we selected flooring that was a similar color to the dust so that it would blend in,' Kilian and Alison explain.

Good-quality furniture was also chosen to stand up to years of use, then paired with performance and natural-fiber fabrics that could cope with whatever family life might throw at them. 'Leather ottomans only get better with age,' they advise. 'Vintage or vintage-style furniture already is a bit banged up, so more dents and chips don't matter!'

That same level of consideration runs right through the details. Hooks were built into the entryway wainscoting so there would be somewhere for all the family’s stuff to gather and not clutter, while the kitchen island and built-in storage give the main spaces plenty of flexibility.

But perhaps the sweetest example is the picture ledge running around the main living area. Rather than fixing the artwork permanently in place, it gives the family permission to move things around, add photographs, and let the house change with them. 'We love adding in art to projects; it really makes a home feel finished and collected,' the designers say. 'We looked at every item in the home and thought about how we could make it unique or interesting,' they add. This is a house designed to work hard, yes, but it was also designed to gather memories along the way.

The kitchen is not only the heart of the home, but the anchor of the open-plan space, with plenty of room for cooking, baking and entertaining. Soft cream cabinetry and a taupe backsplash keep the palette in step with the rest of the main living space, while graphite appliances were selected to add a little depth – and, conveniently, are rather more forgiving when life gets messy.

The designers were equally careful about the lighting, choosing to 'purposely omit can lighting' and rely solely on decorative fixtures for both task and ambient light, including the trio of wide, black pendants above the island. The smaller details like handmade-look tile, traditional cabinetry detailing, and overhead beams keep that connection to the rural setting, while the island itself gives the family a place to spread out, perch for breakfast, or gather while dinner is being prepared.

Kilian and Alison also wanted the connecting living space to be flexible enough for everything from a quiet afternoon to a full house, so the seating is deliberately generous and easy-going: two deep lounge chairs in a soft gray-green fabric, a substantial sofa, vintage wooden chairs, layered pillows, and a textured rug make the whole arrangement feel wonderfully sink-in-and-stay-a-while.