Making a new house feel old is a surprisingly difficult design trick. Usually, the history is already there: a worn stone wall, a centuries-old beam, a floor plan shaped by generations of people who lived there before. At Estancia Madera, interior designer Jay Jeffers had none of that to work with. Rather than making this sprawling California estate feel like a shiny new build, he wanted it to seem as though it had gathered character, stories, and a few very good antiques over the course of a century.

That gave way to Jay's idea of 'imagined history', played out across the Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel Valley. Surrounded by rolling hills, mature oaks and protected wilderness, the house takes its cues from Argentina's great estancias, early California ranches and the area's own past. Stone, wood and tile give the architecture a sense of permanence, while vintage furniture, antique rugs, contemporary art and one-off pieces add the layers that a new house would otherwise lack. 'We were creating a believable history from scratch,' says Jay – and, true to its 10-year project timeline, it really does feel as though the house has been collecting its stories for years.

Despite the land itself having a wonderful history – and 20,000 acres of protected open space – being an entirely ground-up construction, there was nothing to preserve here. So the question wasn't how to restore what had been left behind, but how to make something entirely new feel as though it had a past. 'The challenge was almost the opposite: how do you give a brand-new house a sense of history and make it feel as though it has always belonged there?' says Jay. The clients' own history with the property offered a meaningful place to start: they were married at the Santa Lucia Preserve, then later bought the site knowing that, one day, they wanted to build a family retreat here.

Working with his longtime friend Richard Beard Architects, they naturally looked to the landscape for inspiration. The clients had traveled through Argentina and Chile, finding a connection between the horse properties there and the ranching history of their property. 'The great estancias of Argentina were a major inspiration, along with early California ranches and villas,' says Jay. 'Richard used stone, wood, and tile in ways that connect the architecture to the colors and textures of the surrounding land. Horses were also part of the dream from the beginning, so this wasn’t simply an aesthetic reference. They wanted a true family retreat with stables, expansive indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, and a connection to the land.'

The architecture follows that same idea of a house that has grown organically. Three courtyards connect the property, while breezeways connect its different wings. Guest rooms and children's spaces are separated from the main living areas, allowing the house to feel more intimate when it's just the immediate family and expand when friends and relatives descend. There is even a dedicated bunk wing, with two rooms designed to accommodate not only the children today but visiting families and, eventually, grandchildren. 'This is a large house designed for a crowd,' Jay explains, 'but you never want a family of four to feel as though they’re rattling around in a resort when nobody else is there.' Thanks to Ground Studio, the buildings 'settle into the trees and landscape rather than announcing themselves. That was important to all of us,' he adds.

The aesthetic Jay coins as 'new rustic'. 'We never wanted to create Argentina in California. Nor did we want a clichéd Western ranch house,' he explains. Instead, the romance and rusticity of those historic estancias were filtered through a more contemporary, collected lens. 'Throughout the house there’s this tension I love – rough stone against beautifully tailored upholstery, antique rugs with contemporary furniture, handcrafted pieces mixed with serious contemporary art,' Jay continues. It is a combination that keeps the rooms from feeling too polished or too rustic. They sourced antiques and one-of-a-kind pieces over several years – 'I think that’s why the house feels layered rather than themed,' he says. 'You don’t walk in and think, "Argentina." You hopefully think, "This place has been here forever, and some very interesting people have been collecting things here for generations".'

The same thinking extends to the materials: 'We wanted the materials to feel honest and connected to the land – stone, wood, tile, leather, steel, woven textiles – materials that will actually become better as they age.' If there is one room that defines that, it is the great room. Jay imagined it to feel like a 100-year-old stone barn, with the rest of the house 'growing around it'. At its center sits a 12-foot antique limestone fireplace, sourced from an Italian estate and tall enough for the 6'3" husband to stand inside, which immediately gives the room the sense of permanence that was so important to the project. An enormous late-19th-century Oushak rug grounds the space, while denim blue sofas, comfortable armchairs, and contemporary art bring the space into the present.

'I felt strongly that this house needed things that already had a life. That rug helped establish the palette,' he adds of the color scheme. 'We used dusky blues and rich reds inside, while the exterior spaces pick up warmer yellows and greens from the landscape. I didn’t want the interiors competing with what’s outside the windows,' he continues. The smaller details in this grand space reinforce that feeling of a house whose story has been accumulating over time. 'We sourced things over years and from all over, and I wanted objects to feel as though they had stories attached to them,' he adds. A vintage steel coffee table has been given a bespoke tooled-leather top by artist Casey Gunschel, depicting local flora and fauna, while Mexican artist Mike Diaz created the hand-carved bench. 'It’s grand but comfortable, rustic but sophisticated, old and new, serious and a little playful.'

'You really experience the house as a series of reveals,' says Jay, of the way Estancia Madera unfolds from one space to the next. The architecture creates a rhythm of discovery, with courtyards, breezeways, and connecting spaces leading you from one personality to the next. The deep green mudroom is practical and hardworking, but treated with the same attention to color, materials, and detail as the more formal rooms. From there, the family room shifts the mood again, with its generous plaid sectional, mural-wrapped walls, and mix of vintage and contemporary pieces. It is this sense of progression that makes the house feel like somewhere to truly explore.

The architecture was deliberately planned this way: 'The guest rooms and children’s rooms are arranged separately so that when it’s just the immediate family, the primary living spaces can function almost like a smaller, more intimate house,' Jay explains. The primary bedroom blends the house's rustic-meets-refined aesthetic. The stone-clad walls and vaulted timber ceiling give the room a sense of age, while the delicate patterned textiles, upholstered headboard, and softly colored rug make it feel decidedly more restful than rustic. There is plenty of texture, but nothing feels heavy: sheer curtains soften the timber four-posted bed, while a carved antique nightstand adds character, and botanical patterns echo the views beyond the windows.

The guest rooms continue the house’s layered approach, but with their own individual personalities. In this suite, a carved wooden bed, vintage dresser and metal chandelier give the bedroom an established feel, while patterned fabrics, berry tones, and contemporary artwork keep it from becoming too formal. The adjoining bathroom is even moodier, wrapped in glossy plum-colored tile and finished with warm wood cabinetry and playful art. 'That’s the mix I love. A serious piece of contemporary art doesn’t suddenly become “rustic” because it’s hanging on a stone wall. In fact, I think both become more interesting because of the contrast,' Jay adds.

Down the hall, this guest room leans into a quieter, more traditional mood. A four-poster bed, striped wallpaper and carpet, and gathered drapes give the bedroom a slightly English country persona, while the plaid throw, woven textiles, and dark accents keep it relaxed rather than formal. At the foot of the bed, a sculptural plaster fireplace creates an inviting focal point, with an upholstered chair making the most of the natural light. It feels like the kind of guest room designed to encourage a slower pace – somewhere visitors could settle in for a few days and genuinely feel at home.

'The bunk wing is one of my favorites,' says Jay. This particular bunk room is his 'modern interpretation of a treehouse,' with built-in bunks tucked beneath a pitched ceiling and wrapped in a leafy wallpaper that makes the space feel a little like its own little hideaway. The playful details – from the sculptural rope chandelier to the flower-shaped lounge chair and patterned tiles – give it plenty of personality, but the restrained palette and considered furnishings keep it from feeling overly childlike. 'They’re playful, but they’re designed for adults as much as children because this house needs to evolve with the family,' he adds.

The more intimate spaces are where Jay lets the pattern and personality dial up a little. In the guest entry, an eclectic gallery wall fills almost every inch of the walls, bringing together paintings, photographs and found pieces, while an antique Moroccan sofa and ornate carved seating add a history of their own. The powder room takes that same love of pattern and pushes it further, wrapping the walls in a botanical print and pairing the busy backdrop with a salvaged stone sink and vintage mirror.

The long covered veranda is more than a generous place to sit outside – it is an extension of the house itself. 'The main living spaces connect to this long covered veranda, with separate outdoor areas corresponding to the great room, dining room, and family room,' Jay explains. 'So essentially every important interior gathering space has an outdoor partner.' Here, a long dining table turns the veranda into an inviting setting for al fresco meals, while the open sides keep the surrounding landscape firmly in view. He was careful, however, not to make these spaces feel like living rooms that simply happen to be outside. 'I also don’t like outdoor rooms that try too hard to be indoor rooms. I want them to feel unmistakably outside. I love steel, teak, wicker, and stone – materials that weather, patina, and get better with time,' he says. 'If a little moss starts growing on the stone, fantastic. That’s part of the story.'

The courtyard that greets you on arrival brings the idea of Estancia Madera full circle: rather than simply creating the appearance of age, Jay and his team used small, personal details to suggest a history that belongs specifically to this family. Among them are custom concrete chairs set at the entry, incorporating the family’s crest – a detail that could easily be missed at first glance, but Jay describes it as 'a tiny detail that helps build our fictional history.'

And perhaps that is what makes the house feel so convincing. The architecture, antiques, and weathered materials may have been carefully considered from the beginning, but the most meaningful layers are the ones that cannot be designed in advance. 'I love the idea that we were building this completely new house, yet creating something that feels as though it could have been part of the family home for generations,' he continues. 'That really speaks to the entire concept of "imagined history". We weren’t trying to make a new house look artificially old. We were creating layers, details, and objects with meaning that can become part of the family’s history going forward,' he adds. This was always intended to be a multigenerational retreat, and after nearly a decade of planning and collecting, the house finally has what it set out to create: a place that already feels as though it has a story, with plenty more to come.

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'Rooms shall be timeless and very personal,' declared legendary interior designer Sister Parish, and the beautifully curated interior of this elegant Georgian villa in north-west London certainly epitomizes this concept. The owner has a passion for mid-century design, especially Italian and French, as well as mid-century female art, and the property, with its soaring ceilings and decorative plasterwork, is an exquisite canvas for showcasing her carefully considered collections.

'We wanted to resurrect the fabric of the building, to make it feel like a Georgian villa, but also provide a clear space where the client could layer in art and furniture,' says interior designer and co-founder of online interiors destination, Salon, Alice B Davies, who was enlisted to transform the dated and 'over-the-top' 80s interior, which had been stripped of original features, into 'something much more demure. We aimed to make it very traditional but with a light touch.'

Substantial structural work was undertaken, in collaboration with KSR Architects, to create voluminous, flowing spaces. The house was gutted, and a three-story extension was built at the back, as well as an extension at the side, while the lower ground floor, which had originally been servants’ quarters, was enlarged. Doors and windows were replaced, with generous windows offering extensive views of the garden, and an elegant new staircase was constructed at the center of the property.

The client already possessed the artwork, but furniture and lighting were sourced with Alice’s help, which included several visits to Paris together to shop at the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen. 'I have always loved the 60s and 70s in terms of style and it was wonderful to work with a client who had such a passion, knowledge and appreciation of mid-century. Working with dealers from all over the world to find original pieces was a fantastic experience, and we also got to know the family of designer Willy Rizzo,' Alice says.

Furniture and accessories were chosen to reflect the abundance of light, from moiré fabrics, glass tables, pendant lights and chandeliers to chrome finishes and mirrored detailing. 'One of the references was the client’s mother’s 1970s mint green and pink striped moiré sofa, and it led to many of the design decisions.'

In the vast living room, palest pink moiré sofas edged with gleaming chrome were specially crafted. 'I wanted to evoke a feeling of lightness and fun,' says Alice. French curtain designs were also introduced, inspired by a trip to Paris. 'They have a delicate feel, which was essential for the house.'

The kitchen-diner, the heart of the home, was greatly influenced by 70s design and features grounding walnut cabinetry and a generous island. 'We wanted that dark wood and blocky aesthetic that you see in many mid-century kitchens, but it obviously needed to function as a modern kitchen,' Alice says. 'What was really important, as with all the other modern joinery that was added, is that it felt separate from the fabric of the building.' That same philosophy applies in the powder rooms, where vanity units were designed to feel distinct. 'We did a lot of research into Willy Rizzo’s pieces, and we found an image of a console that we replicated with the pink onyx vanity.'

While the upper floors revel in the breezy ambience, the lower ground floor features more cosseting schemes that lean into the semi-subterranean location. The games room, a hangout space for friends and family, showcases an inviting 1970s design classic, the B&B Italia Camaleonda sofa, with its rich caramel color bringing warmth and depth.

'I try to persuade clients to have some spaces that are bolder and moodier,' explains Alice. 'Because the adjacent dining room was windowless, we made it cocooning with walls painted in mid-brown gloss. It creates instant atmosphere. Gloss paint is your friend when you don’t have any light, and it feels really luxurious. This project was a really fun journey with the client, with both of us discovering what she really wanted and making it happen.'

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From the outside, this new-build home in the rolling hills of Arrington, Tennessee, looks as though it has been sitting in the landscape for decades. Stone, timber, weathered finishes and a palette that echoes the surrounding countryside give it an established, storied quality. And indoors, that sense of soul continues – all the way through to the Irish pub. No, not a 'pub-inspired room', but a genuinely authentic Irish pub, hand-built in Ireland and shipped over to Tennessee.

'It all started with the pub,' says designer Marie-Joe Bouffard of JFY Designs. When the homeowners suggested that a quintessential Irish pub should sit above the garage, Marie-Joe met this idea with pure excitement. What followed was a home designed around a family of five, with space for extended family and friends, hidden nooks for the children and, importantly, a sense that nothing should feel too shiny or new. The couple wanted a house that felt as though it had evolved rather than been built in one go, so they layered in reclaimed woods, vintage and patinated materials, antiques, and pieces with a sense of history. The result is a playful home that manages to feel both wonderfully old and very much of its time.

The biggest challenge was making a brand-new home feel as though it had a past. 'We created a sense of history and permanence by layering materials and details that felt as though they had evolved over time rather than being chosen all at once,' she explains. Marie-Joe describes the homeowners as 'somewhat maximalist when it came to charm, storytelling, antiques, and lived-in elements,' with a style that fuses historic-traditional and industrial in a 'playful and organic way.' Even the materials in the home have a story: walnut from a tree on the property became the floating staircase treads, while the husband made its metal components himself. 'It not only felt very intentional and meaningful,' says Marie-Joe, 'but the two combined turned out beautifully and are truly the focal point of the front hallway.'

The same thinking shaped the furniture and decorative layers, with vintage pieces treated less as finishing touches and more as essential ingredients in the story. There was plenty of treasure hunting along the way – sometimes hours on the phone with the clients, sending finds back and forth and imagining where they might belong. 'The antique pieces add the story, the spunk, the character to the space,' she says. 'A key to designing for timelessness is weaving new with old.' It’s this mix that stops the new architecture from feeling too pristine: contemporary elements are softened by timber, patina and pieces that already have a life of their own.

For all the thought that went into making this new-build feel as though it had grown organically from its surroundings, the most unexpected part of the brief was laid out from the very beginning: an authentic Irish pub above the garage. The idea grew from the homeowners’ love of Ireland, but it was also a deeply personal project – an homage to the husband’s great-great-grandfather, who came to the US from Cork, and a tribute to the couple’s own love story. Even the pub's name, 'The Master Plan', nods to the life they have built together. Marie-Joe describes the clients as 'dreamers' ('no idea was too lofty!') and the pub set the tone for a house designed around family, entertaining, and the things that genuinely mattered to them.

Naturally, they didn’t stop at making it look Irish. The pub was hand-built in Ireland by The Irish Pub Co., with everything shipped over in sections, while the furniture, fabrics and accessories were carefully selected to recreate the authenticity of a traditional Irish pub. Inside, the walls are adorned with family photos and sketches by an Irish artist of every pub the couple has travelled to. 'It is built with true authenticity to the pub culture and layouts of Ireland, featuring a Slide Snug, Whiskey Snug, Open Snug, and Bed Seat,' she continues. The result is a long way from a glamorous home bar.

Back inside the 'main house', as Marie-Joe describes it, the entry immediately shifts the mood from the grandeur of the exterior to something much more relaxed and lived-in. A long, weathered console topped with substantial ceramic lamps, a softly patterned runner, and a mix of antique timber pieces give the space an easy, collected feel, while the tall black-framed arched glazing and custom staircase add a more architectural edge. 'Because the treads float, we utilized the space underneath the stairs for a little vinyl nook, so right off the bat, you have an entrance with a surprise and a deeper meaning than what first meets the eye,' she adds.

The house then opens up into its impressive central axis, where the kitchen, dining room and living room flow together beneath the vaulted ceiling. It’s a generous space, but Marie-Joe was careful to make sure all that volume still felt like somewhere you’d actually want to settle in – helped by the long stone wall that runs through the main hall and anchors the rooms. In the kitchen, pale cabinetry and quartzite counters keep things light, while warm walnut shelving, brass hardware and the mossy green range bring in plenty of character. 'The little eating area off to the side' is one of the designer's favorite details, with a vintage Belgian table and petite banquette creating a relaxed spot for the children right beside the action. 'We envisioned this space for the three children to have a charming space of their own near the kitchen,' she says, 'as we all know, everyone gathers there.'

Tucked just off the main kitchen, the scullery has a slightly more practical feel while still carrying the warmth of the rest of the home. Cream cabinetry, open shelving, and dark countertops create a calm backdrop for an eclectic collection of earthenware, glassware and everyday pieces. The room was actually designed around an antique 1800s French farm table – exactly the kind of characterful find that helped give this new home its collected feel.

The dining room makes the most of the home’s setting, with fifteen-foot windows framing the rolling hills and pond beyond. 'The room called for a round table with a large, curved banquette,' Marie-Joe explains, before revealing just how seriously they took the hunt for the right finishing piece: 'I think we spent two years hunting for the perfect antique vitrine cabinet.' Set against the stone wall beside the double-sided fireplace, that beautifully weathered cabinet is almost as much a character in the room as the view.

On the other end of the kitchen, the living room has a more relaxed mood. 'Despite the height of these spaces, I would argue that because of that stone wall, there is a sense of a lived-in footprint that makes each space cozy and inviting,' Marie-Joe continues. She deliberately kept the room comfortable rather than overly precious, using performance fabrics alongside a vintage leather chair and a contemporary take on the classic wingback. 'This room invites leisure,' she says. A pair of black-framed metal dividers, made by the husband himself, separates the kitchen from the living area, adding just enough edge to the otherwise warm, layered space.

The primary bedroom takes the palette in a quieter direction, with soft creams, warm taupes and muted natural tones allowing the sculptural four-poster bed to take center stage. The restrained scheme feels particularly restful against the greenery beyond the black-framed windows, and is part of the wider approach to using color as a way of connecting the interiors to their surroundings. 'Greens play a huge role throughout the home,' she explains, noting that the intention was to 'blend with the landscape' – while the creamy white used elsewhere in the house, Piano Room by Portola Paints, adds subtle texture and the feeling of something gently weathered. Here, that quieter palette lets the architecture and views do the talking.

The children’s rooms take the home’s more neutral palette and give it a playful little twist, with soft blues, muted pastels and plenty of pattern. 'We layered deep blues and taupes as well as muted pastels for the kids’ spaces so that they felt youthful in a subdued way rather than sharp and bright to ensure there was a timelessness,' she explains. In one, twin beds are paired with vintage-style trunks and a soft paneled backdrop, while a built-in bunk room turns bedtime into something of an adventure, with a world map covering the walls and a cozy reading corner. 'They truly wanted to lay a foundation that would allow their children to fully be children,' Marie-Jo adds.

As you move through the house, you'll find the 'homework hall' – a space between the kids' bedrooms designed as a dedicated spot for creativity and schoolwork. Three vintage schoolroom desks sit beneath a chalkboard, while the walls are finished with thin-plank wainscoting that gives the space a cozy feel. A slide leads down to the children’s secret playroom, where wallpaper continues across both the walls and ceiling, creating an immersive little world below. 'These two rooms with the slide exemplified the couple’s intent to build a home that paved the way for all of the chapters of childhood, and that really meant a lot.'

The bathrooms blend the same old-meets-new sensibility with a little more drama. In the powder room, a beautifully irregular stone basin sits atop an antique wooden vanity, while a deep green mural gives the tiny space an indoors-outdoors feel. 'The home comprises an amalgam of layers, from textures to patterns, to pieces new and old,' Marie-Jo notes. The main bathroom takes a more contemporary approach, pairing a moody dark tub and warm timber vanity with pale tile and a generous black-framed glass enclosure that brings in those 'touches of modernity and a little bit of edge,' she was hoping to achieve.

For all the unexpected reveals and beautiful rooms in this Tennessee home, some of its best details are the ones you might miss at first glance. Marie-Joe's approach was to think about 'each individual element and piece, and how they all come together,' creating a home that feels cohesive despite the fact that its furnishings, materials and architectural details were accumulated through years of treasure hunting. And that is ultimately what makes the house feel so much older than it is. 'The patinas and stories behind each piece are what makes this home so special,' she adds. From the materials pulled from the local surroundings to the antiques, treasures and an entire Irish pub, every element has a story to tell.

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Bold color and timeless design don't always sound like natural bedfellows. So bringing the two together was the challenge for designer Chloe Heath in this Spanish-style home in Santa Monica, created for a young couple and their two small children. Fortunately, there was no need to start from scratch: the house had what Chloe calls 'great bones', with beautiful floors, windows and doors and a layout that already worked for the family. Rather than gutting it, Heath Interiors instead used custom cabinetry, decorative details and a considered mix of finishes and furnishings to give it a much more joyful personality. 'It’s their forever home,' says Heath. 'They wanted a house full of color and pattern that would still feel timeless as the family grows.'

That meant embracing character without letting the house become a hostage to interior design trends, while making sure all that pattern could survive the realities of family life, too. There was plenty of room for bold decisions along the way – and not all of them came from the design team. That confidence runs throughout the house, from the bold color to playful wallpapers, textiles and unexpected vintage pieces. The overall effect is 'playful, eclectic, warm, and happy' – and proof that timeless doesn't have to mean toned down.

Practicality was woven into the design from the beginning, Chloe explains. 'Every choice had to hold up to the reality of life with two young kids. We also needed function – like the entry cabinet that we added for more storage to house backpacks, coats, etc,' she explains of the much-needed butter yellow drop zone. Chloe also took cues from the British interiors she and her clients admired, where color and pattern tend to be layered with much more confidence, adding in details like floral cabinet curtains and a graphic Sophie Cooney stair runner. 'The overall aesthetic is playful, eclectic, warm, and happy!' she notes.

Keeping that much personality from becoming chaotic came down to creating moments of 'overlap'. Chloe gave each space its own color scheme, but allowed certain colors to travel through the house, creating connections that you might not notice immediately. 'The color palettes really changed in each space, but we had overlapping colors to create continuity – except for the kids' rooms, which were more specific to their personalities,' she explains. In the kitchen, the greens and orange tones spill into the adjoining family room while the butler's pantry picks up the same green marble, and the powder room echoes those colors yet again. 'There's always some overlap, though each palette is distinct,' she adds. It's a subtle trick, but an effective one: every room gets its own moment, while the house still feels like one very happy, very considered whole.

Built in 2005, the house may not have the character you might expect from its Spanish-style architecture, but it had something Chloe was keen to preserve: unusually good bones. 'Many Spanish-style homes built in this era tend to have cheaper architectural elements, but that was not the case here,' she explains. Instead, the house came with beautiful floors, windows and doors, along with a layout that already made sense. There was little reason, then, to redraw the blueprint. 'The layout was great,' Chloe continues. 'We worked within the existing footprint and did not move any walls.'

That meant the transformation happened in the smaller details. Custom millwork became one of the project's biggest interventions, adding storage and purpose without disturbing the architecture, while new finishes, lighting and furnishings could bring the color and charm the clients were after. Even the smallest decisions had a big impact. 'I love the hardware we selected in the house. The entry cabinet knobs were a little rope detail from Beata Heuman, and the kitchen hardware was a gorgeous unlacquered brass from Classic Brass,' she says. 'Hardware feels like the jewelry of a house to me, but adds so much!' It may feel like a relatively restrained approach to a home renovation, but one that feels less about starting over, and more about making a good house better.

The existing kitchen didn’t need to be ripped out and started again; so instead, Chloe updated the cabinet fronts, finishes, and countertops, giving the room a much more considered direction. The cabinetry was then painted in Farrow & Ball’s Vert de Terre, a soft sage that might sound minimal on paper, but paired with the dramatic green marble countertops, it takes on a much bolder presence. 'The green marble was really the showstopper,' says Chloe.

Getting to that point, however, involved a little persuasion. Chloe initially presented a more muted green for the cabinetry, but her client wanted to push it further. 'I’m so glad she pushed for that because it turned out so well!' she says. 'It really paid off.' While the green may have been the bold choice, the rest of the palette is deliberately grounded, allowing the marble to take center stage without competing with it. The veining runs continuously across the countertops and backsplash, giving the room a sense of movement, while the pendant lights and warm wood furnishings give the space a slightly collected quality, helping the kitchen feel comfortable rather than like a purely functional space.

Tucked alongside the kitchen, the breakfast nook was created by removing a section of existing cabinetry and installing a custom banquette seat in its place. Wrapped in a floral and striped Jasper fabric, the orange tones bring a welcome hit of warmth to the otherwise verdant kitchen scheme, paired with a generous round wooden table and chairs. Designed for family-friendly feasts, this relaxed dining spot has been styled with splattered ceramic, woven blinds and a scalloped pendant to elevate the ultimate breakfast-meets-homework corner.

At the other end of the kitchen, the butler’s pantry carries the same green marble in a moodier direction. Here, Chloe paired the dramatic stone with deep, inky cabinetry and a berry-hued wallpaper, creating an enveloping space that feels worlds away from the pale sage kitchen – while still belonging to the same story. The continuation of the marble links the two spaces together, creating that 'overlap' Chloe was so keen to achieve throughout each room. With its brass open shelving, dark wooden door, and ditsy wallpaper, the pantry feels almost jewel-box-like, proving that even the more functional corners of the house were given plenty of attention.

The adjoining family room takes the green and earthy tones from the kitchen and translates them into something softer and far more relaxed. A deep green sectional anchors the space, layered with floral and striped cushions, while the yellow patterned Sinclair Till rug brings in another hit of color and pattern underfoot. 'We redesigned the family room with a new custom mantle and all-new furnishings, anchored by a yellow patterned rug, a custom sectional, and textiles layered in from Penny Morrison and Jasper Fabrics,' says Chloe. 'We really just had fun selecting textiles that had that happy and fun feeling that our clients were after.'

Upstairs, the children’s bedrooms were given a little more freedom to be playful. The updates were relatively light – new built-ins, carpeting, lighting and furnishings – so Chloe let pattern and textiles do much of the visual work. One room pairs a soft blue-and-white striped wallcovering with a denim-blue upholstered bed and playful artwork, while the other goes all in on a charming floral wallpaper, framing a built-in window nook that makes the most of the architecture. Window treatments were an important part of the schemes, too, with Chloe noting that the clients were particularly excited about the wall patterns and window treatments. 'It was a good jumping-off point,' she says.

The two bathrooms take very different approaches. In the powder room, Clarence House’s orange-and-green wallpaper wraps the walls in an exuberant botanical pattern, paired with a vintage marble sink, Italian bamboo mirror, and brass fixtures that give the room a wonderfully collected feel. 'We went through dozens of wallpaper options,' says Chloe, before the clients settled on the joyful orange-and-green design. The guest bathroom is quieter by comparison, with handmade zellige tiles, warm wood cabinetry and a dramatic arched bath nook. They kept the existing layout in both spaces but completely reinvented their personalities and, as with the rest of the house, allowed each space to have its own distinct character.

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What makes this Santa Monica home so successful is that its color and pattern never feel like decoration for decoration’s sake. Every decision has a sense of purpose behind it, from the brighter-than-planned green kitchen cabinetry to the hardworking built-ins and family-friendly upholstery, while the repeated colors and mix of natural materials give the whole house a sense of cohesion. Most importantly, Chloe created a warm, playful foundation that can evolve with the family in this forever home.

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'Old-lady chic' isn’t the first thing you’d expect Chicago-born, Milan-based designer Eric Egan to say about his style. After all, he has created inherently glamorous, elevated and storied interiors for the likes of Mandarin Oriental in its hotel on the shores of Lake Como, and Belmond hotels in Venice and on the Amalfi Coast.

Yet it’s a thread that runs through his own one-bedroom, two-bathroom 19th-century apartment on Piazza Castello. It features windows swathed in Fortuny curtains and quirky porcelain dogs, but blended with 'a more modern, masculine, New York-style “alter ego”,' says Eric.

Located in his 'favorite and most sought-after piazza in all of Milan', opposite the 15th-century Castello Sforzesco and verdant Parco Sempione, the property has been Eric’s home for 20 years. He shares it with his husband Diego Cuña, also an interior designer, and their dog Camilla. He originally found it when he spotted it was available to rent while zipping past on a scooter. 'No one ever moves out of Piazza Castello, so I took it despite its terrible layout,' says Eric. 'It was a good size, around 100 square meters, so I knew I could do something with it.'

Most of the space was used for a living room and lobby, with two tiny bedrooms, so Eric tore down the interior partitions to transform the 'glorified hallway'. He took the windows running down one side as his cue to create an enfilade of rooms, defined by arched openings, from the entrance hall and past a powder room, compact kitchen and library, through to the sitting room. Here he lowered the ceilings to three meters to make it feel more intimate, but also to conceal an air-conditioning system. 'I’m American; I wanted it to be fingertip cold in the house!' he says.

After the pandemic, the designer was inspired to undertake a major refresh of the interior in line with the beginning of a new phase in his life. He envisaged what the Milanese pied-à-terre of his stylish, jet-setting, adventurous, 65-year-old future self might look like. He pulled together a presentation for himself as if he was the client. 'Decorators’ houses risk looking like the greatest hits of their previous projects, so I limited myself to three ideas, not 300,' he says.

The panel of stainless steel positioned in the middle of the long sitting-room wall – inspired by his design hero, French decorator François Catroux – provides a focal point that breaks up the wraparound Haiku wall mural that Eric designed with Fromental. Inspired by traditional Japanese screens from the Momoyama period, the wallpaper is edged with a Venetian marbled print in the same way that kimono fabric would have been used as a border for the 16th-century screens.

The furniture and art filling each space have been collected over time. Dead-stock rolls of vintage fabrics were used for curtains, cushions and upholstery. 'I’m really lazy,' says Eric. 'I don’t do showrooms; I just find things sitting around at the upholsterers and say, “Let’s do this one”. An Empire-style headboard and a minibar used as a refrigerator for fragrances were 'salvaged from an old hotel project, otherwise headed for the trash'.

In the kitchen, simple IKEA cabinets have been elevated with lacquer and stainless-steel fronts and a deep, purple marble worktop: 'It had to be lifted in with a crane. That was not a good day,' says Eric. Polished plaster ceilings and gilded frames by Florentine artisan Giovanni Baccani sit alongside '1980s New York' elements – ebonized-wood floors and stainless steel – inspired by the way designers like Philippe Starck and Andrée Putman 'played with glossy black lacquer and tubular steel at the time'. Mirrored walls add glitz and boost 'views' around the apartment.

Finally, Eric styled each space with eclectic auction finds, such as photographs by Francesco Scavullo and Robert Mapplethorpe, and vintage suitcases ('they give my restless spirit the feeling I can leave any time.') It’s the perfect space for a designer who is often on the road: 'I wanted it to feel calm, with proportions that were generous, not mean,' Eric says. 'It’s a very comfortable, but private, place to come home to. It has everything I need, and nothing more.'

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There’s a long-standing idea that when it comes to decorating a small home, you have to keep things light, keep things simple, and, above all, don’t put anything too big in there. Lovall Cottage, a petite retreat tucked away in Sonoma, California, clearly didn’t get the memo. Instead, designers Austin and Alex of Hommeboys went all in on the small footprint, wrapping the walls in painted wood paneling, filling the rooms with rich earth and jewel tones, and making space for substantial furniture, vintage finds, and plenty of wonderfully tactile materials.

'People can often be afraid of using color and appropriate furniture scale in small spaces,' the designers say. 'We find the opposite often ends in a better overall result.' And they have a point. Rather than trying everything to make the cottage look bigger, there’s bespoke stone, intricate millwork, ornate wallpaper, and vintage lighting, all layered against the earthy colors and natural materials inspired by the landscape. The overall effect is part traditional cottage, part contemporary California, and, most importantly, it's a home that feels as though it has been gathered together over time.

For all its old-world charm, the cottage has a secret: there was nothing old about it to begin with. The house arrived as a 'plain shell', completely devoid of the fun details that might give a cottage its character. With no original paneling, period millwork, or decorative features to uncover and restore, instead, Austin and Alex had to create the sense of history themselves. 'Our design intent was to add what was missing, to give the home an identity and make it look like it had been there for many years,' they explain. So they set about giving the house the kind of details that suggest they have always been there. 'We leaned into the small footprint, opting to create cozy spaces with rich, moody colors, artful stone and lots of texture,' they add.

Designed for Alex's aunt, who was also an interior designer, Alex and Austin saw the space as somewhere that allowed her to showcase her impressive collection of antiques and art. 'We wanted the home to be a jewel box for her, where every room was both inspiring and effortless. Elevated, but comfortable,' they say. They looked to traditional English cottage style for their design cues, but stopped well short of pastiche.

Vintage furniture and Alex's aunt's collections bring genuine history into the rooms, while contemporary furnishings, sculptural shapes, and more unexpected materials keep things feeling fresh. 'We enjoyed creating a juxtaposition between that more traditional style and some of the more modern touches in the home,' they explain. 'Overall, it results in a space that feels really collected and authentic.'

'The size was everything!' say Austin and Alex, and in Lovall Cottage, that meant treating the compact footprint as an opportunity to make each room feel distinct and considered. The designers didn't want the spaces to feel like scaled-down versions of larger rooms; they wanted them to have their own atmosphere. So they clad the entire home in wood paneling before color-drenching it in rich earth and jewel tones, creating a backdrop for the furniture, art, and antiques. 'This provided a welcoming, enveloping space that was the perfect vessel for art and artful furniture pieces to shine,' they add.

Inspired by the surrounding gardens and vineyards, they took tones from the landscape beyond, drawing on the earthy, organic hues. 'The color palette leaned heavily into a base, with walls and flooring of rich earth tones, and accents of deep jewel tones throughout,' they continue.

'The cottage is full of natural stone, carved wood, and the hues of the Sonoma landscape. They were also thoughtful about furniture scale rather than automatically opting for the smallest pieces available. In the snug, generous upholstered seating makes the room feel like somewhere to properly snuggle into, while the dining area is anchored by a striking custom red marble table surrounded by rush chairs. 'The overall goal was to create a home that felt like an embrace,' they add.

The bathrooms are where Hommeboys really let themselves have some fun. Their small footprints became an invitation to go more decorative, not less, so they brought in bespoke wallpaper, custom-carved stone sinks, intricate millwork, vintage finds, and unlacquered brass fittings to give an unusually rich level of detail to these tiny rooms. 'Working with smaller footprints, we wanted each element to be truly bespoke and unique,' the designers explain. 'We wanted it to feel like you were stepping inside a little jewel box, into a sense of timelessness and enduring, romantic design.' It is a deliberately indulgent approach, but the scale of the rooms means that even the most unexpected details feel intimate rather than overwhelming.

The two bathrooms each interpret the idea in their own way. Downstairs, botanical wallpaper, a fluted vanity, and a custom marble sink give the space that romantic quality, while upstairs the primary bathroom turns moodier, with deep blue wallpaper, a carved stone basin, and sculptural lighting. Much of the cabinetry was created in Haus of Hommeboys, the designers' own millwork studio, allowing them to push the design far beyond what a standard vanity might offer. 'The millwork is the standout detail for us,' they say. 'Because we have our own cabinetry and millwork shop, we are able to ensure our designs are executed exactly, which allows us to really be creative and detailed with what we design.'

At the heart of the semi-open-plan living space sits the snug, dining area and kitchen – which all work hard to perfect the balance of old and new. A stone table acts as the centerpiece to the dining space; its sturdy proportions set against the murky painted paneling and textural chairs, while an oversized woven pendant brings a softer, more organic note overhead. It is a traditional eat-in area in spirit but not remotely stuffy, with contemporary shapes and tactile finishes giving the room a more relaxed feel – exactly the kind of mix the designers had in mind.

The kitchen also pairs traditional cottage-style cabinetry with some decidedly contemporary thinking. The rich burgundy joinery has the look of painted furniture, but instead of individual inset panels, the designers used a cut detail to keep the cabinetry from becoming visually overwhelming in the compact space. A deep walnut countertop adds a rich counterpoint, while unlacquered brass hardware was chosen to 'patina and grow more beautiful with time and use'. 'The kitchen really captures the mix of modern and traditional English design,' they add. 'It shows the subtle ways we were innovative throughout the project to make big design work in a small space, as we did with the custom cabinetry.'

Upstairs, the primary bedroom is moody yet wonderfully restful. The turned-wood bed is the room’s obvious showstopper, while layers of linen, wool, and a deep berry throw keep it feeling soft rather than overly styled. A small vintage wooden chair and dresser add to the mix. Nothing feels too matched, too precious or too obviously decorated; instead, the combination of natural materials, rich color, and collected pieces gives this compact room the feeling of somewhere that has been assembled over time. 'The result is a space that feels very true to the client, while still being an elevated version of what had been before.'

The primary bathroom turns a tiny footprint into an excuse for even more decorative drama. Blue-gray botanical wallpaper envelops the walls, creating a moody backdrop for the chunky carved-stone sink and ornate vintage mirror, while sculptural sconces add a little glow. 'The space surrounds you in deep oceanic blues and continues the primary suite experience of serenity and luxe detailing,' say Alex and Austin.

Perhaps that’s the most useful lesson here. Small spaces don’t necessarily need fewer things; they need the right things. A beautifully made piece of furniture, a dramatic wallpaper, a vintage mirror, or a slab of stone can give a room far more character than a carefully edited collection of space-saving pieces. Lovall Cottage may be tiny, but its designers have given it something that can't be measured in square footage: the feeling that there is a story behind every room.

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At 16,000 square feet, this Wisconsin lake house is on a rather different scale to your average family home. Designed for a large, extended family, it has seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, multiple living areas, a bunk room, games rooms, a wine cellar and a dedicated bourbon room. The clients' six children were already grown-up and beginning to have families of their own, and the couple wanted a house that could accommodate everyone, whether for a summer at the lake or Christmas celebrations. For interior designer Emily Winters, the challenge was how to make this extraordinary space feel like a home, whether there were 25 people in residence or just two.

Emily was fortunate to come in right at the start of the project, in fact before there was even a house to decorate. The clients had bought a plot of land on Oconomowoc Lake in Wisconsin’s Lake Country, and architect Wade Weissmann was commissioned to draw up the plans for the house. He recommended Emily, who is principal designer at Milwaukee-based Peabody’s, to take on the interiors. ‘We started with a blank slate,’ she says. ‘We could dream up what the interior would look like from scratch.’

It was, at that point, the largest project of Emily’s career, and the scale took some getting used to. ‘It was exciting. It was scary. It was everything all at once,’ she says. Her solution was to mentally divide the house into manageable sections. ‘What I found myself doing was breaking it down into smaller parts and viewing it as three smaller houses.’ That was partly a practical necessity – ‘if I looked at all 13 bathrooms at once my eyes spun right out of my head’ – but it also became a useful design principle. The house needed to feel coherent, but each area had to have its own personality.

Each decision was guided by how the spaces would be used, and crucially, by how many people. The house needed to work equally well whether there were 25 people in residence or just two. The great room – the first thing you see upon entering the house – and adjoining formal dining room are designed for crowds, as is the kitchen and, upstairs, the charming bunk room that can house half a dozen grandchildren.

Elsewhere, smaller spaces offer somewhere to retreat when it’s just the couple or a smaller family group at home. The breakfast room – an inviting nook off the kitchen with a wallpapered ceiling – was designed as a spot for morning coffee, while the billiards room and adjoining bourbon closet form a retreat built around the husband’s collection and a pool table for when the sons are home. ‘It was really entertaining finding a spot for every person in the family,’ Emily says. ‘That was really important and the driving force behind designing this house.’

With many large rooms to work on, Emily found that one of the biggest challenges was catering to the grand scale of the rooms while ensuring that they still feel inviting and domestic. In a house this size, ordinary furniture can suddenly look miniature, while oversized pieces risk making the people who use them feel insignificant. ‘You definitely have to consider all of that as you’re designing,’ Emily notes. ‘I can’t put a tiny little sofa in a huge room, but also, when the homeowners aren’t gigantic, you don’t want a gigantic sofa.’

The architect’s work was essential in this respect. Thankfully, Wade had resisted the temptation to design very high ceilings, except in a few spectacular places, and kept the ceilings of the main living spaces to around 10 feet. Introducing beams also helped to keep the rooms at a human scale. In the great room, for example, an intricate coffered pattern across the ceiling adds visual interest while subtly reducing the sense of height.

For Emily, color and pattern were key to making everything feel inviting. The great room, for instance, is a relatively formal space, but she was determined that it wouldn’t feel too stiff and imposing. Pattern-on-pattern schemes, informal cottons and linens, a pair of sunshine-yellow chairs by the fireplace and a coffee table with playfully bobbled legs all soften a room that might feel overwhelming in other hands.

Color also helps create a sense of continuity throughout the house. That was part of the balancing act of designing such a large project: Emily often worked on several adjoining rooms at once, allowing colors and patterns to talk to one another. The kitchen, breakfast room, sunroom and butler’s pantry, for example, were considered together so that they would flow naturally while still retaining their own identities.

Blue is a particularly strong thread, nodding to the lakeside setting. ‘There can be a cliché – the blue and white with a little sandy color that happens throughout lake houses,’ she says. ‘But I wanted to make that a little more interesting.’ Various tones of blue were the answer, from the azure of the kitchen dining space to the grayer tone of the bunk room, with plenty of other hues in between.

The actual lake, of course, was a character in its own right and can be viewed from almost every room. It’s especially lovely in the kitchen, where a wall of windows keeps the lake in view in what is arguably the busiest room in the house. But the house also needed to respond to the practical realities of its setting. With people coming in off the water all summer, performance fabrics were used throughout, chosen as much for how they’d hold up to wet swimsuits as for color and texture.

And because this is a house used throughout the year, not just in the summer months, the interiors also needed to feel warm and welcoming when the Wisconsin winter set in. The challenge was to create spaces that could feel light and breezy in summer, but cozy and enveloping when the snow started to fall. The four-seasons room perhaps best illustrates how Emily struck that balance. Its large windows overlook the lake and, in summer, provide ‘a beautiful breeze’, while the stone walls connect it to the exterior of the house. But rather than allowing those hard surfaces to make the room feel cold, Emily layered patterns across the sofa, chairs, rug and tablecloth ‘to soften the feel of the space.’

That sense of permanence was important to Emily in other ways, too. For all its size, she was keen that the house should never feel as though everything had arrived at once from a showroom. ‘I think that’s really important, especially in a new-build home, to make sure that it feels like there’s a previous life there,’ she says. She incorporated vintage, antique, and the occasional bespoke piece throughout, giving the interiors a sense of personality and history.

One of the most meaningful examples is the vast dining table, which was made from trees removed from the property when the house was being built. Rather than allowing the timber to go to waste, the contractor saved it and transformed it into a table large enough to accommodate the family gatherings the house was designed around.

‘It was a really great way to use our resources and create something very special for the family,’ Emily says. Reclaimed timber also appears in the main bathroom, where exposed trusses made from salvaged wood from old factories and barns in the area lend character to the soaring height of the space, and lend it an immediate sense of age.

Such details are immensely important in a new-build house, rooting it in its context and preventing it from feeling anonymous. Through them, the house feels connected to its setting and the land around it, but also connected to its owners and the rituals of their life. It’s a remarkable achievement in a building this size, and one that will only grow with time as the family – all three generations of them – settle into their new home.

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This San Francisco pied-à-terre may take its cues from the 1920s, but it is far from a copy-and-paste of the past. Set on the sixth floor of a Beaux-Arts building in Pacific Heights, the apartment has all the period features you might expect – original millwork, paneled doors and generous sash windows – but its interiors are considerably more playful thanks to rich color, expressive art and beautifully considered materials that bring an eccentric edge to the historic bones.

Designed by Merritt Amanti Palminteri of Merritt Amanti, the apartment was conceived as a city retreat for a Carmel-based family. The designer describes the house as 'jaunty, self-assured and well-tailored, much like the client's handmade suits. There is an "old-fashionedness" to the rooms that is a speculative nod to what we imagine the apartment looked like when it was first furnished in the late 1920s,' Merritt adds. Where history may have provided the starting point, personality was very much the point.

The project was a continuation of a long-standing relationship. Merritt had previously designed the family's country house in Carmel Valley, a vacation home in Idaho, and other residences, so she already understood their sensibility. This apartment had a more specific role: a place for the husband to live during the working week, with his wife and children joining him at weekends. The aim was for him to be able to 'walk home from work and feel truly at home but still part of the city,' while the interior provided the things that make a house feel lived in – a comfortable dressing room, spaces to read and think, and somewhere to entertain casually.

The renovation took the apartment back to the studs, but much of the original floor plan was retained, with the main changes focused on creating a more generous primary closet and bathroom. Rather than erasing the history, she looked to reimagine the past with a looser interpretation of the 1920s era, with its original architecture providing the framework. 'The rooms are lined with large sash windows that offer views of the bay, the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts and the Golden Gate Bridge,' Merritt explains. 'Some original millwork and paneled doors remain, particularly the swinging dual-action door off the kitchen.'

The client's 'beautiful and prodigious' art collection became one of the starting points for the scheme, helping to shape the colors and mood of the rooms. For the dining room in particular, the team looked to a specific work of post-cubist painter Claude Venard. 'This piece in particular was the touchstone for early color palette studies for the dining room,' says Merritt, who was drawn to its 'richness, saturated green, and confidently rendered black outlines.'

From that first hint of green, the palette begins to travel through the apartment, picking up different notes along the way. 'We started with a pale celery in the dining room, to complement an olive-stained Art Deco sideboard. From there, we took the amber from the Murano chandelier and drew that into the primary bedroom and closet, balancing it between saturated greens and tans, sometimes offset with an intense dark brown, a dusky gold velvet, sometimes a floral,' she explains about the color scheme.

Light is the thread pulling it all together. 'All the selections were meant to complement the dusty lemon Northern California light that dances through all the rooms in the apartment,' she adds.

Rich materials, confident color, and unexpected references give the rooms their character, balancing the more formal backdrop with something warmer and more playful. The biggest surprise comes in the primary bathroom, where the designer was given permission to really go for it.

'We love that the primary bath is over-the-top layers of green marble, studded with the opalescent sconces,' says Merritt. 'We were thrilled that the client let us do that much marble!' The space is traditional, certainly, but with enough personality to keep it from feeling too sleek.

Elsewhere, the playful moments are smaller and more easily missed. The kitchen, for example, may initially read as 'deceptively simple', says Merritt, with creamy off-white flat cabinetry and a traditional monochrome checkerboard floor, but it's the glossy tabletop in the dining nook that really rewards a closer look. 'The tabletop in the kitchen is glossy black Formica with a chrome edge made by a tiny company from upstate New York that makes reproduction 1950s diner furniture,' Merritt explains of the design. These small moments of nostalgia and personality build up gradually in the scheme, rather than demanding attention.

Beyond the compact kitchen, an arched doorway reveals one of the apartment’s more unexpected flourishes: a jewel-like home bar. The shelves are lined with the client’s silver collection, alongside glassware and barware that catch the light from the windows, giving the small space a sense of joy. After the relatively pared-back kitchen, the wet bar feels like a fitting place, perhaps, for the apartment to loosen its tie.

The living room is deliberately restrained, allowing the art and the San Francisco light to do much of the talking. Anchored by a pair of 'overstuffed, mint-green roll-arm sofas' that soften the room, the expansive space also boasts a frosty gray fireplace, burl writing desk, and views through to the dining room 'awash in a pale and luminescent green'. At the far end, a 'stupendous' Guy Anderson painting provides a counterpoint to the western-facing windows and the views beyond.

The primary suite is the warmest corner of the apartment, with a palette that leans into the amber and brown tones introduced elsewhere. Merritt describes the scheme as deliberately layered: 'The primary suite gets wrapped in a hay-colored grass cloth with shiny deep brown trim and layered floral draperies, a gingerbread velvet bed, a Biedermeier bureau, a plush rug underfoot.'

The effect is rich without feeling heavy, with the walls clad in a 'moody tan reminiscent of a caramel M&M' and golden yellow tones woven in through accents. 'The dressing room has papered and painted casework with cozy broadloom sisal and opens to the green, marble-clad bath,' she adds.

At the opposite corner of the apartment is the children's suite, which is 'calm but layered in subtle patterns'. Merritt describes it as a soft collection of sophisticated pastels – dusky blues and yellows,' with two upholstered beds layered in plaid fabrics and pale blue-and-yellow coverlets. An inlaid chinoiserie chest adds a little intrigue, while Scandinavian blankets bring a relaxed, unfussy note. Even the drapery gets a whimsical note, finished with a stripe of decorative tape featuring tiny Westies.

The children’s ensuite keeps things simple, but there’s plenty of charm in the smaller details. Traditional 'lemon-ice-colored wall tile' wraps the compact space, with a slim band of sea-green tile introducing a fresh accent that ties it back to the palette of the bedroom. A sculptural vintage mirror, polished nickel fittings, and a chunky green stone sink add a little more character, while the glossy tile catches the light and keeps the small room feeling bright.

For all its references to the 1920s, this is not an apartment that gets stuck in the past. Instead, the details reveal themselves gradually: a flash of amber picked up from one room to the next, an unexpected piece of pattern, a gleam of silver or a playful little reference hidden in the joinery or drapes. As Merritt puts it, 'each room builds on the last,' creating a home that feels collected rather than decorated all at once.

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There is very little about this cheerful Texas ranch that suggests it was once a college rental. Built in 1967, the house had spent years being 'Frankensteined', with makeshift bedrooms, a converted garage, and a series of ill-advised renovations designed around a simple equation: more bedrooms, more renters, more rent. So when designer Callie Windle took it on as her own home, she knew a pretty makeover wasn't going to cut it.

Rather than turning the ranch into a period piece, Callie borrowed the era's bright colors, tailored lines and playfulness, then mixed in traditional details, European antiques, vintage florals and plenty of unexpected moments. There is tomato red, lemon yellow, cantaloupe, deep chocolate and soft pink; there are hand-painted tiles, and mirrored walls. 'When I'm the client, I get to say yes to every idea, every desire,' she says. 'Every house shares what it needs. It's my job to create the best possible version of the home, a space that feels inevitable.'

'The poor house had been subjected to several ill-advised remodels, primarily intended to increase the number of potential occupants as a college rental,' she explains. The answer was a fairly radical rethink: out went a hallway between the bedrooms and a poorly executed garage conversion, while a full bathroom was converted to a half bath and the surviving original wood floors were refinished. The biggest – and most painful – change was removing the fireplace that sat in the middle of the kitchen. 'While it deeply pained me, removing a fireplace from the kitchen completely freed up the layout for contemporary, single-family living, while still honoring the spirit of the home,' Callie says.

Without it, the plan could finally breathe, making space for a proper kitchen and separate dining area, alongside a larger primary closet and distinct bedroom wings. It was less about erasing the house's past than giving it a chance to work properly again. 'The simplicity of the home's layout and architectural style allowed me to play with color and patina,' Callie says. 'I love contrast. Every room is an equation, a balance of texture, material, line, form and color.' And she certainly wasn't about to let a sensible floor plan get in the way of having fun with it.

With the floor plan finally working for family life, Callie could turn her attention to the part of the renovation that was considerably more fun. One of the smallest spaces in the house ended up making one of the biggest impressions. The entryway was little more than a tiny vestibule, too cramped for furniture and easy to overlook, but Callie saw an opportunity to turn an awkward transition space into something with real personality. Her solution: mirror every wall, mirror the ceiling, and then hang a vintage mirror directly onto one of the already mirrored walls.

The idea had been brewing for years, inspired by a visit to Louis Armstrong's house in Queens and, specifically, its famously mirrored bathroom. 'I loved all the trades' faces when I explained what we were doing – they thought I was crazy,' she recalls. 'It's an absolute joy. Mirrored on all four sides and the ceiling, it invites you in with light and fun.' Callie recalls how her son used the entry for outfit checks, danced before school, and took selfies in the reflection of the ceiling.

The house was a mid-century Colonial ranch, but she was careful not to turn that into a decorating theme. 'So many things come to mind at the mention of "mid-century", from atomic style to Dorothy Draper to Palm Beach,' she explains about the era. Instead, she borrowed the era's bright colors, tailored lines, and sense of play, then mixed them with traditional touches that nodded to the home's roots.

A 1970s Gubi pendant hangs above the kitchen table, while brick pavers, a rosewood table, and collected antiques bring a sense of charm to the clean cabinetry. 'I wanted to avoid cliché silhouettes or creating a caricature of a home; it still needed to feel current,' she adds.

Pattern gives the rooms another connecting thread. Florals appear throughout, while grids and checks turn up in rugs, glass, velvet, and chenille. Then there is the color scheme, which Callie treated almost like a mood running through the entire house. 'If this house were a season, that season would be summer,' she notes. She thought in terms of fruit – tomato red, lemon yellow, and cantaloupe – while her son's room draws on the ocean and horseback riding, and her office gets a cotton-candy-colored ceiling. These are the colors the house needed,' Callie says.

The living room is a lovely example of Callie’s balancing act: traditional enough to feel established, but relaxed enough to feel like somewhere you actually want to curl up and stay awhile. A classic brick fireplace anchors the room, while floral-upholstered armchairs, pale blue patterned ottomans and a soft green sofa bring in the house’s summery palette. There’s plenty of old-world charm in the carved consoles, ornate mirror and collected artwork, as Callie puts it, 'antiques and collected pieces lent the house a little polish and warmth, while the mid-century, simple architectural backdrop kept things casual and inviting.'

'The kitchen encapsulates the renovation for me,' Callie says, 'as I wanted to improve and modernize the space without losing the feel of the home.' Crisp white cabinetry and sleek appliances keep the room feeling fresh and contemporary, balanced by dark, heavily veined stone that adds a little drama, while bright, unexpected red bar stools bring in just enough playfulness to stop the room from feeling too polished. It is a relatively restrained space by this house’s standards, but that restraint makes the flashes of color feel all the more deliberate.

The laundry room is where Callie really lets print take over. Wrapped in Carleton Varney’s exuberant tulip pattern, the walls and window shade turn what could have been a purely practical space into one of the house’s most joyful little rooms. 'The florals used throughout the house are all vintage patterns: Carleton Varney’s tulips in the laundry room, a beautiful tulip chintz from Colefax & Fowler on chairs, the Gracie wallcovering with its white bamboo and purple and peach flowers,' she adds. Against the white cabinetry and dark stone countertop, the riot of tones adds a little fun to the tiny space.

The home office has a quieter personality, with an antique writing desk, a floral-upholstered chair, and a wall of books giving the room a collected feel. But look up, and the restraint gives way to a 'cotton candy on the ceiling,' in the form of a glossy pale-pink finish that catches the light above the more traditional furnishings. It’s a small detail, but an unmistakably fun one.

The powder room is full of drama. Wrapped in a joyful yellow floral wallpaper, the tiny space feels jewel-box-like, with an antique-style mirrored splashback, a richly veined stone vanity and traditional brass fittings. It's extravagant without feeling chaotic – thanks to the petite scale, which permits Callie to really go for it.

The primary bedroom is perhaps the most cocooning room in the house, wrapped almost entirely in a soft, peachy-pink palette that makes the morning light feel even warmer. Callie describes the effect beautifully: 'At daybreak you wake in a glowing womb, peachy pink and enveloping.' A simple four-poster bed adds to that sense of enclosure, with a soft canopy above and relaxed linen softening the frame. An antique armoire and traditional pieces keep the room from feeling too sweet. The result is formal yet soft. ' I wanted a peaceful, romantic space, a room all my own,' she adds.

Her son’s bedroom takes the palette in a moodier direction, with deep plummy brown walls creating a rich backdrop for fresh blue quilts, patterned linens, and a pair of traditional wooden twin beds. 'My son, for better or worse, has a designer for a mother, so his bedrooms are always a little insane,' Callie explains. 'This time I wanted to do my own take on a cowboy-themed room, which all started with the Scalamandre wallpaper (it reminded me of tooled leather),' she adds.

In the adjoining ensuite, which Callie refers to as her 'favorite creative leap', she joined forces with Jo Briggs of Such Stories, and together they worked with artist Laura Carlin to illustrate the tiles for her son's bathroom with 'horses, trains, wagons, roses, snakes and even a little boy standing on a cattle gate,' she notes. A simple white tub keeps the scheme fresh, while the scalloped shower curtain, edged in mustard-yellow trim, adds a touch of whimsy.

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What was once a chopped-up rental has become something far more exciting: a home that feels collected, joyful, and, above all, lived in. 'I love designing for myself. I often hear designers say their own homes are their biggest challenges,' says Callie. 'Honestly, I feel quite differently – every home shares what it needs. It’s my job to create the best possible version of the home, a space that feels inevitable.' Perhaps that is the real trick here: she simply gave the home the chance to become the most joyful version of itself for her and her son.

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There are plenty of reasons to escape to a country home for the weekend. This family, however, had a rather different ambition: to make staying home feel more exciting than going away. With five children, the owners of this historic Surrey estate had reached that familiar point when grown-up children start disappearing off for weekends with friends, checking into hotels rather than coming home.

So when they briefed Linda Boronkay of BORONKAY Studio, the request wasn't really about a particular look; it was about creating a house everyone would actually want to return to. 'A place where the children would bring their friends and where spending the weekend at home felt more exciting than going away,' says Linda.

So, rather than treating this grand historic property as a collection of formal rooms to be admired, Linda designed it around the rituals that make a house a home: cooking, reading, long lunches and late-night parties, music, cocktails and quieter moments of retreat. Two new wings now anchor the house, one a generous kitchen and family hub, the other a glamorous party room complete with piano, DJ console, bar and concealed wine room. But while it boasts all that grandeur, this isn't a home dressed up to impress, but one to be really used. 'It isn't a house created to be looked at; it is a house created to be lived in,' she adds.

'The history of the house was one of the things that fascinated us from the beginning,' says Linda. The original building dates back to the 16th century, although it was later destroyed by fire and rebuilt closely following the language of the original architecture. There are still remarkable traces of the property's earlier lives: an old fives court, an aviary and, across the grounds, magnificent Cedar of Lebanon trees all remain. Even the guest list has its own pedigree. 'We discovered that Charles Darwin had spent time at the property and worked on his final book there, which gives you a sense of the many lives the house has already had,' she adds.

The house was already in very good condition when the clients bought it, having been refurbished only a few years earlier, so Linda and her team could approach the new chapter with much more freedom. 'This wasn't really a restoration project in the traditional sense,' she explains. 'Internally, our work was much more about creating a new identity and a home that genuinely reflected the family, while externally the historic character of the architecture remained very important.'

The trick was knowing what to preserve and what to play with – to let the architecture retain its presence while bringing in enough personality, color and whimsy to reflect the family today. 'Historic houses can become terribly serious if you are too respectful of them,' Linda continues. 'Of course you need to understand the architecture and know which rules you are breaking, but once you do, I think there should also be room for humour, surprise and things that perhaps don't immediately seem as though they belong.'

The existing bones of the house might have been substantial, but for this family, size didn't quite equal usefulness. BORONKAY Studio made significant changes to the way the property works, extending two wings to create very different social spaces: one for day-to-day family life, and one nicknamed the 'red room' that works for when family life becomes considerably more lively. 'Both were conceived around how this particular family actually wanted to live rather than simply adding more formal square footage,' explains Linda. The aim was to create reasons to use every part of the house, rather than simply adding more rooms to a grand country-house plan.

'The kitchen, for example, is deliberately much more than a kitchen,' Linda continues. 'There is a large communal table, but also a reading nook, a fireplace and comfortable seating, with doors opening directly towards the garden and pool. The idea was that ten people could be occupying the space in completely different ways – someone reading, someone cooking, people talking around the table – and they would still feel together.'

At the other end of the property, the second wing turns up the drama. Coined by Linda as the 'evening counterpart' to the kitchen wing, this is a glamorous multi-functional space designed for entertaining. It boasts a baby grand piano, DJ console, home bar, and concealed wine room. 'Creating these two anchors allowed the more historic rooms in between to remain intimate rather than forcing every room to perform every function,' Linda explains. Rather than asking every room to be everything to everyone, she has given each space a reason to be enjoyed.

If the layout was dictated by the way the family lives, the interior design style was guided by something rather less prescriptive. Linda finds it difficult to give the house a single definition – and that, she says, is part of its strength. 'It is unmistakably an English country house, but it also contains references to Italy, Asia, Scotland, South Africa and many other places that have been meaningful in the clients' lives,' she explains. 'The Victorian idea of collecting was an important influence for us,' she adds. 'We wanted it to feel accumulated rather than decorated in one moment, even though in reality we had a relatively short period in which to create it,' she adds, referring to the client's Christmas deadline. The sense of playfulness is also deliberate. 'I like interiors where you discover something slightly unexpected and where not everything has been resolved into one perfect stylistic language,' says Linda. Instead, the house moves between drama and restraint, with each room offering a slightly different view into the family who lives here. 'It makes a house feel much more human,' she adds.

'Color was very much about rhythm rather than establishing one palette and repeating it throughout the house. I think when you have a property of this scale, every room being equally dramatic becomes exhausting, but equally, if everything is restrained, you lose the sense of discovery,' Linda explains about the color scheme for the house.

The formal living room is perhaps one of the quieter moments in the house, bringing together the traditional architecture with a layered, collected approach that runs throughout the home. A carved deep red marble fireplace, ornate chandelier, and patterned curtains provide the classic country-house backdrop, while deep green upholstery, richly patterned cushions, mirrored surfaces, and eclectic artwork keep the room feeling warm rather than overly stately. 'I wanted walking through the house to have a rhythm – compression and release, drama and calm, formality and playfulness. That variation is what keeps a large house feeling intimate and alive,' she adds.

The kitchen wing, or the 'daytime heart of the house', may be one of the newest interventions, but its details are deliberately far from sleek or showroom-like. At its center is a substantial black kitchen island and range, softened by traditional off-white cabinetry, warm timber floors and tiled walls, while the sociable lounge and dining zones make it clear that this is not a room designed around cooking alone. The detailing has a pleasantly old-fashioned quality – glazed doors, brass hardware, classic cabinetry – but the oversized island and generous proportions give it a much more relaxed, social-first feel.

There is a similar attention to the everyday in the adjoining pantry and separate coffee nook (accessed via arched doors) where open shelving has been used to display rather than hide the family's collection of crockery, glassware and kitchenware. Rows of mugs hang beneath brass rails, alongside colored jugs, green glass and copper pans. Together, the two spaces capture something Linda returns to throughout the project: even the most practical corners have been given enough character to make you want to linger.

In the red wing or 'party room', the scheme takes the idea of entertaining somewhere altogether moodier. 'Everything becomes glossy and glamorous, with an antique mirror, the marble mosaic bar, piano, and hidden wine room,' says Linda. Rich timber cabinetry wraps around the space, its glass-fronted shelves filled with ceramics, glassware and collected curios, while patterned bar stools bring a hit of graphic pattern to the otherwise enveloping scheme. A glossy ceiling adds to the idea that this is a room intended to come alive after dark. It feels somewhere between a country-house cocktail room and a very good private members' club – only considerably more lived-in.

Upstairs, the mood shifts from the theatricality of the entertaining spaces to something softer. 'The primary bedroom is intentionally calmer and more restrained', Linda explains of the warm neutral tones, paneled walls, and flowing drapes that provide an elegant backdrop for the striking four-poster bed. At the foot of it, a patterned upholstered loveseat introduces a little more color and personality, echoed by the muted blue-green cushions and dark bedside lamps. There is pattern and texture aplenty, but nothing is competing for attention, allowing the proportions of the room and the quality of the materials to do the talking.

The primary suite continues the quieter mood, but with plenty of detail to keep these spaces from feeling overly tonal. In the dressing room, dark oak cabinetry with curved glazed doors gives the closet space a boutique-like quality, while the ensuite bathroom opens out into something lighter, with a freestanding tub positioned beneath the windows and a dramatic marble dado running around the room that Linda says brings a 'subtle English eccentricity'. The combination of the polished timber, stone, antique-style fittings and patterned upholstery manages to feel luxurious without becoming too glossy.

The guest bedrooms take the opportunity to be a little more playful, and this one is particularly immersive, wrapping the walls in a delicate botanical print that makes the room feel almost garden-like. Against it, a softly curved striped headboard, antique wooden furniture, and a richly patterned armchair bring in layers of traditional character, while deep burgundy curtains add a touch of drama around the window. The palette is earthy and muted rather than sugary, allowing the abundance of pattern to feel surprisingly restful.

If the previous guest room embraced pattern from floor to ceiling, the bedrooms beyond it take a slightly quieter approach – but they are no less characterful. 'The bedrooms allowed us to lower the volume, where the palette becomes much softer, and the emphasis shifts towards texture, proportion and comfort,' says Linda. Each has its own palette and personality, with the first pairing a softly scalloped, patterned headboard with jewel-toned blue-green bedding, while next door, the mood becomes deeper, with warm brown walls, striped curtains and a tactile blue bedspread balanced by an antique chest.

Elsewhere, the bathrooms provide some of the house's more unexpected design moments. The powder room goes all-in on atmosphere, with a verdant tapestry -style wallcovering enveloping the room and a sculptural green marble basin sitting atop a simple oak vanity. A sunburst mirror and antique-style brass fittings add to its slightly theatrical character. The steam room takes a more graphic approach, pairing deep teal and pale blue-green tiles in a striking checkerboard effect, with a timber-lined shower floor and brass detailing adding warmth.

The same sense of occasion extends outdoors, where the backyard has been designed as an extension of the family's entertaining spaces. A traditional pergola shelters a green outdoor kitchen and dining area, with a generous table set up for long lunches and summer suppers. Beside the pool, rows of upholstered loungers and fringed parasols create an altogether more glamorous spot for summer days at home.

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For Linda, the success of the project comes down to something much more personal than its scale or decoration. 'Ultimately, that is what I hope people notice about the house: beneath the scale and decoration, everything was designed around the rituals and personalities of the people living there,' she says. The red party room perhaps captures that balance best: 'It has confidence and a sense of humour, but it is also incredibly personal to the family.' Which, given the brief was to make staying home more appealing than going away, feels like a rather perfect result.

Interior Design: BORONKAY Studio

Architecture: OSP Architecture

Garden Design: Landform Consultants

Photography: Martin Morrell

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This was no ordinary project for interior designer Jessie Schuster. Designing a home for her sister meant honoring history and weaving childhood memories into a design that needed to feel as emotionally resonant as it was beautiful.

The house itself – a shingle-style property dating from the early 1900s, complete with a guest and pool house – had fallen into quiet decline over the decades, with many of the original features covered up. The house is surrounded by lush gardens and mature trees and imbued with a relaxed coastal atmosphere that feels both refined and unpretentious. Jessie knew she wanted to preserve the architectural soul of the place and establish a dialogue between the home’s historic framework and a more modern way of living.

'Inspired by East Hampton's unique combination of coastal ease and sophistication, rather than impose a completely new identity, we stripped back layers of previous interventions and highlighted the beautiful bones, intricate millwork, and architectural details that already existed, allowing us to reconnect with the home’s history in a meaningful way,' says Jessie. 'From there, the goal was to soften some of the formality through furniture, art, and materials.'

Before any design decisions were made, Jessie and her sister spent time walking the property, reflecting on its history and revisiting memories of summers spent in Nantucket as children. Sensory touchstones – the scent of cedar, the sound of a screen door and barefoot summers – became the foundation for the home’s new identity.

The result is a restrained yet inviting color palette, with bolder moments emerging through the art. 'Art served as a guiding force throughout the project,' explains Jessie, who worked alongside Art Advisor Margot Bram. 'The collection includes works by Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Mangold, Arlene Shechet, Issy Wood and Peter Beard. Most of the artwork was sourced through a combination of trusted galleries, dealers, antique fairs and long-standing relationships with collectors and artisans. The mix of contemporary art, vintage furniture and handcrafted objects gives the home its layered, soulful quality.'

The overall effect feels calm and cohesive, allowing the architecture and natural light to take center stage. 'Natural materials were essential to creating warmth and authenticity throughout the property,’ explains Jessie. 'We incorporated oak, wicker, stone, linen, wool, performance textiles and unlacquered finishes that will continue to develop character over time. They help ground the interiors and create a sense of permanence.'

With a large, multigenerational family, Jessie’s sister wanted a retreat that could comfortably accommodate both everyday living and frequent large-scale entertaining, while feeling effortless to live in.

'Comfort, functionality and flexibility were essential,' says Jessie. 'One specific request was to avoid heavy patterning, which led us to explore depth through texture, color, art and materiality instead. The collaborative process allowed us to create something that felt deeply personal while remaining true to the home’s character.'

The scale of the project meant coordinating renovations across the main house, guest house, pool house and gardens simultaneously, which required an enormous amount of collaboration and precision.

'Thankfully, working alongside builder John Hummel and landscape designer Perry Guillot made the process remarkably seamless,' says Jessie. 'Managing such a broad scope within a demanding timeline required constant coordination, but watching the various layers come together – from architecture and landscape to art and furnishings – was immensely rewarding. By the end, it felt less like a decorated house and more like a home that had naturally evolved over generations.'

Despite its scale and architectural significance, there is nothing precious about this family home. Every space invites use, whether that’s gathering with family, hosting guests, reading in a quiet corner or spending time outdoors. It functions as a true retreat – beautiful, welcoming and deeply practical. The result is a home that feels calm, timeless and quietly sophisticated – a place where family life unfolds with ease against a backdrop of thoughtful design and enduring character.

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When New York-based designer Jennifer Hunter was asked to transform two neighboring Upper East Side apartments into one home for a young family of four, the brief wasn’t to create a quintessential Manhattan apartment. Instead, her clients wanted somewhere that felt softer, warmer and altogether more personal, a home that embraced color, pattern and craftsmanship over the polished minimalism so often associated with city living.

The result is a 2,400-square-foot apartment that looks to English decorating for inspiration without ever feeling like imitation. Botanical wallpapers, grasscloth walls, handwoven textures and earthy colors (consistent pops of plum) create a countrified thread that runs from room to room, while every design decision is rooted in the realities of family life. There is hidden storage where it matters most, spaces that effortlessly shift between entertaining and everyday living, and just enough whimsy to make returning home feel like a breath of fresh air.

‘Many people in New York want something simple, elegant and swanky,’ says Jennifer. ‘These clients really admired the way I use color and pattern. They wanted something different from the classic New York apartment, something with a nod to English design.’

Rather than treating decoration as something separate from function, Jennifer approached the project by first understanding how the family actually lived. ‘My first question is never what color a room should be, but what happens in it. Before we talk aesthetics, I ask clients to walk me through a day in their life,’ she explains. ‘When you come through the door, where are the bags going? The keys? The kids’ backpacks?’

The entrance is a neat summary of that approach. Jennifer began with the rug, whose rich greens and plum tones set the palette for the rest of the apartment. Grasscloth walls and olive-painted joinery create the backdrop, while a wicker credenza that looks decorative has a far more useful job. ‘It functions like a post office,’ she says. Packages, returns and deliveries are hidden inside, while the adjoining concealed closet has been reworked with cubbies and hanging space for the family’s everyday clutter.

Just beyond, the powder room demonstrates Jennifer’s belief that compact spaces are the perfect place to take decorative risks. Botanical wallpaper wraps every surface, while painted cabinetry, hand-painted ceramic sconces and marble flooring transform what could have been a purely practical room into an unexpected jewel box. ‘I think you can always go bigger on pattern in smaller spaces,’ she says, encouragingly. ‘It’s a fun surprise when someone opens the door.’

Perhaps nowhere is the home’s balance of beauty and practicality more apparent than the breakfast room. Originally envisioned as another sitting area, Jennifer persuaded her clients to create a space that could evolve throughout the day instead. ‘The children can do homework here, but it still feels beautiful enough for entertaining,’ she explains.

A hidden television is discreetly framed within the cabinetry, while scrolling botanical wallpaper by Penny Morrison introduces the countryside-inspired motifs that appear throughout the apartment. Painted moldings in a soft dusty blue temper the richness of the pattern (and bring some blue-sky energy indoors), while reupholstered vintage dining chairs and an oak table with unlacquered brass detailing reinforce Jennifer’s signature approach of mixing old and new.

The adjoining kitchen received a lighter touch. Rather than replacing perfectly functional cabinetry, Jennifer simply repainted the units, updated the hardware, and introduced a vintage kitchen runner to soften the crisp marble and white cabinetry. ‘It’s not a huge kitchen,’ she admits, 'but it already worked really well. Sometimes it’s about elevating what's already there rather than starting over.’

Beyond, the apartment opens into a sequence of entertaining spaces that become progressively richer in mood. The dining room is deliberately restrained, with softly limewashed walls catching the changing daylight, natural stone and timber introducing warmth, and velvet-upholstered dining chairs elevating otherwise accessible pieces. ‘I love mixing high and low,’ Jennifer says. ‘You don’t need everything to be expensive. Sometimes it’s just about putting beautiful fabric on a simple chair.’

The living room continues that evolution, introducing deeper blues and plums alongside a confetti-like rug that Jennifer describes as ‘perfect for celebration.’ Even the seemingly relaxed details have been carefully considered. The skirted sofa falls slightly imperfectly by design, lending the room an ease that prevents it from feeling overly composed, while a bespoke painting depicting a street with personal significance to the family subtly anchors the space in memory.

Hanging decorative plates on the wall is a familiar hallmark of English interiors, and Jennifer gives the idea a personal twist here. The pair flanking the painting weren’t sourced for the project at all. ‘We were going through the owners’ china sets while they were moving and found them,’ she reveals.

The botanical references become subtler here too. Rather than relying solely on wallpaper, Jennifer threads nature throughout the apartment in more understated ways: leafy textiles, handcrafted ceramics, fresh flowers and natural fibres that soften the urban backdrop beyond the windows.

The mood shifts completely inside the den, concealed behind pocket doors. Wrapped in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Brinjal’, the room embraces cocooning color without ever feeling oppressive thanks to its glossy finish, ditsy wallpapered ceiling and striped rug. ‘I wanted it to transition beautifully from day to night,’ Jennifer notes. ‘It’s somewhere for movie nights, reading or having a drink after dinner, so it could be a little moodier than the rest of the apartment.’

The bedrooms each interpret the home’s wider palette through their own distinct personalities. The primary suite combines printed grasscloth walls, powder blue cabinetry, and a striped upholstered headboard with woven bamboo furniture and ceramic lighting, maintaining Jennifer’s characteristic balance between traditional craftsmanship and cleaner contemporary forms.

In the adjoining bathroom, rope trim applied to the vanity transforms standard joinery into something that feels closer to freestanding furniture.

The children’s bedrooms are equally considered, but never overly themed. The daughter’s room layers custom scalloped upholstery, playful wallpaper, and soft lilac tones around a concealed reading nook carved from a former closet.

Hidden behind curtains, complete with bookshelves and integrated storage beneath the seat, it’s a princess-coded sleepover space that feels straight from a storybook, perfect for cozy afternoons curled up with a book.

The son’s room, meanwhile, swaps florals for more masculine textures, pairing olive velvet, stitched leather, wool and warm timber with artwork depicting a vintage Land Rover. ‘We wanted something that could grow with him,’ Jennifer explains. ‘Not too little-kid, but still playful.’

Despite the apartment’s confident use of color and pattern, what lingers most isn’t any single wallpaper or fabric. It’s the atmosphere Jennifer has created, one that feels surprisingly rooted in the countryside despite its Manhattan setting. The clients often tell her that although they adore their beach house, returning to the city now feels ‘like a big hug’. It’s a fitting sentiment for an apartment that never tries to compete with the city outside, choosing instead to create a world entirely of its own.

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From the outside, this 1,300-square-foot home has all the ingredients of a storybook cottage: a terracotta Dutch door, warm timber, leafy views and cozy proportions. But this was never supposed to be a full-time home for five. Originally purchased as a pied-à-terre, the cottage became the family’s primary residence after they tragically lost their Los Angeles home in the wildfires. Suddenly, this little house needed to become somewhere the family could put down roots – comfortable, practical and, above all, a place that felt like home.

Designer Alex Spielman, founder of The Little Things, was brought in to make that dream possible, beginning with an attic that had previously held just one bed and now needed to sleep three children. 'What started as a spatial puzzle grew into something much bigger: a full home, transformed in under two months,' Alex explains. Rather than trying to make the house feel bigger, Alex leaned into its compact scale and quirky architecture, turning awkward spaces into opportunities for custom joinery, hidden storage and moments of pure whimsy.

'Our first priority was the kids – we knew from the start we had to figure out a way to make that upstairs attic work for the three of them,' says Alex. But the rethink didn't stop upstairs. 'As far as the rest of the house, it was clear that every square foot mattered.' The team looked at the spaces that weren't pulling their weight – under the stairs, the entry, a garage nobody parked in – and gave each a new purpose. Now, there's a sleek bar tucked beneath the stairs, a tailored entry that doubles as a mudroom, and the former garage has been transformed into a quaint playroom. 'None of it feels added on. It feels like it was always there,' she adds.

That all came down to custom millwork. In a home this compact, standard furniture would have eaten into the already limited floor space, so the designers built storage and functionality directly into the architecture. 'Anything off the shelf costs you inches you don't have,' she explains. 'Custom millwork allowed us to build storage into the walls instead of adding furniture on top of them.' Even the bar's cabinet pulls out to become a custom dining table on locking casters, giving the family a proper place to eat without dedicating precious square footage to a dining room.

For all its cleverness, though, the house never feels like a collection of small-space solutions. 'We stayed classic on the foundation – trim, floors, cabinetry – nothing this family would ever get sick of,' she says. 'Whimsy came in after that, in the layers – a wallpaper, a curtain, brass hardware from Beata Heuman – and only where it felt like it belonged, never like it was trying too hard.' The same thinking shaped the balance between the adults' spaces and the children's world above: 'What mattered most was peaceful and relaxing downstairs, for the parents, and whimsical and playful upstairs, for the kids. All of it cottage-y, all of it very Montecito.'

The home's look grew naturally from its setting and its original character. 'The family called it "the cottage" from the very beginning, and it really does feel like it's out of a storybook, like something from a Nancy Meyers movie,' says Alex. That sense of easy, nostalgic charm became the starting point for the interiors, with deep greens, soft earth tones and warm wood giving the downstairs rooms a relaxed, collected feel.

The living room opens towards the garden, the kitchen brings in sunshine yellow, and the primary bedroom takes a more enveloping turn with layered wallpaper, deep aubergine tones and warm brass accents. It feels polished, but never precious – an important distinction in a home designed for three young children. 'Then we brought in fabrics tough enough for three kids, so none of it feels too precious to actually live in.'

Upstairs, the mood shifts, but the same sense of ease remains. The attic was still the biggest puzzle: awkwardly shaped, sloped, and previously able to accommodate just one bed, it now needed to work for three children. The team explored every possibility before landing on an idea that changed the way they saw the space altogether. 'We considered every possible floor plan, every possible sleeping arrangement, before landing on the idea that ended up driving the whole room: a treehouse,' she explains. 'It's up its own little staircase, its own world within the house – and once that idea clicked, it felt like the only right answer. It made sense architecturally, and it felt genuinely magical, which for young kids is just as important.'

The attic's awkward angles and sloping ceilings could easily have been an impossible challenge, but instead they became the starting point for the room's design. Working with carpenter Brian Coyle, the team created a bespoke white-oak structure that fits three full-size beds into the compact space, giving each child their own alcove, light, and curtain. A central ladder leads to a shared reading nook, while a concealed door behind the bottom bunk opens into a tiny secret room.

'Once we landed on the treehouse idea, the attic's angles and cutouts stopped being a problem and became an asset,' says Alex. House of Hackney's Plantasia wraps across the walls and sloping ceiling, turning the awkward roofline into a leafy, cocooning landscape. Built-in dressers, a small desk and a window seat tucked beneath the eaves make the most of every available inch. 'None of it was an afterthought; it got the same attention as anything downstairs. The kids don't wait to be asked before bringing people up to see it,' she adds.

The kitchen brings a little more joy into the cottage, with cabinetry in Farrow & Ball’s Sudbury Yellow set against Taj Mahal stone countertops and warm brass hardware. Alex describes the downstairs palette as 'understated but thoughtful – brown, cream, blue, yellow,' with the yellow carrying through here as a cheerful foil to the softer tones elsewhere. The team also reopened a skylight that had been partially closed off, bringing more natural light into the compact space and making the kitchen feel brighter and more connected to the California setting.

The living room keeps things soft and relaxed, with vintage pieces, warm upholstery and French doors that draw the garden in. Tucked beneath the staircase is one of the cottage’s smartest interventions: a custom bar in warm wood, complete with brass hardware and a stone countertop. One cabinet pulls out on locking casters to become the family’s dining table – a small but significant solution in a home without space for a conventional dining area.

The primary bedroom is perhaps the most cocooning space downstairs, with soft blue Schumacher wallpaper, deep aubergine and chocolate tones, and warm brass creating a rich, restful retreat. The palette feels deliberately more enveloping than the living spaces, while still picking up the warmth and pattern used throughout the cottage. 'The primary bedroom is a real retreat – layered wallpaper, deep aubergine, warm brass – the kind of room where you'd want to sit and read with the door open to the back patio on a sunny day,' says Alex.

The bathroom continues the bedroom’s richer palette, with the vanity painted a deep aubergine that echoes the adjoining bedroom. A floral shower curtain, vintage trinkets, and warm lighting keep it feeling layered and characterful, while the existing sink fixtures were retained. Alex describes the bathroom simply as being 'drenched in Roman clay,' a treatment that gives the compact space a softly textured, almost cocooning quality.

Back upstairs, the kids’ bathroom continues the cottage’s playful spirit, but with a slightly more grown-up palette of soft green, 'punchy purple' and soft yellow. Vertical striped wallpaper covers the walls and ceiling, while a pastel vanity and charming hardware keep the scheme feeling fresh rather than overly sweet. The hexagonal floor tiles add another layer of pattern underfoot, with a scalloped yellow bath mat bringing in a hit of sunshine.

Outside, the cottage opens onto a backyard that feels made for sunlit California evenings. A brick-paved patio creates an intimate dining area, with a custom banquette, woven wicker tub chairs, a patterned tablecloth and strings of festoon lights. The landscape layout was created by Kate Anne Design, while Alex focused on the layers that made it feel connected to the house. 'Our part was layering it in: family-friendly outdoor fabrics that could actually hold up, and furniture that worked for entertaining and the kids playing,' she explains. 'We wanted it to feel like an extension of the inside, greens and patterns carrying straight through.'

Beside the fire pit, just beyond view, sits a stone elephant – the only object that the family was able to salvage from the Palisades home they lost in the fires. 'Elephants are often associated with new beginnings, and this one made the journey with them,' Alex notes.

'Because of the fire, getting to know this family happened quickly, and it became one of our favorite parts of the whole process – hearing about their last home, what they missed about it, what they wanted this one to feel like,' Alex continues. With just two months to transform the cottage, the designers had to trust their instincts, responding to both the family and the character of the house as they went. 'We really put ourselves in their shoes, felt out the environment of the house itself, paid attention to what they were drawn to, and let our intuition take it from there.'

The result is a home that doesn't try to replicate what was lost, but gives the family something new to cherish. It is practical without feeling overly curated, playful without becoming childish, and layered with details that make a small house feel lived in. Most of all, it captures the spirit Alex had in mind from the beginning: 'We wanted everything about it to feel like that weekend cottage you never want to leave.'

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There are plenty of ways to restore a Victorian home. You can carefully return it to its original glory, lean into its period details, and create a home that feels as though it has barely moved on from the day it was built. But that was never the intention here. When House of Honey was brought in to reimagine this Pasadena home, the brief was less about perfection and more about personality.

'Our client wasn't interested in perfection... she wanted personality,' designer Tamara Honey explains. She loved the history of the house but wasn't precious about it, instead wanting a home that felt 'layered, lived in, and deeply personal' – a place that reflected her curiosity rather than conforming to a particular design style.

The result is a Victorian home with an unusually modern point of view. Original architectural details remain intact, but they sit alongside sculptural contemporary furniture, rich botanical fabrics, dark painted woodwork and flashes of unexpected color. A stained-glass oak tree takes pride of place at the front door; dragonflies appear where you least expect them; and in the kitchen, a patterned ceiling encourages everyone to look up.

Originally built in 1903, the house already had character, craftsmanship and a strong sense of its own identity. Rather than dramatically altering the footprint, the team worked largely within the existing plan, allowing the architecture to lead the way. 'The house had already figured out a lot of things about itself,' says Tamara. 'Older homes have a confidence about them... we wanted to honor that spirit without turning the house into a museum.' For Tamara, preserving the past was never about recreating it. 'We're not particularly interested in historical reenactments – we love preserving what gives a home its soul: the craftsmanship, the proportions, the architectural quirks – but then allowing it to keep evolving,' she adds.

These days, rich pattern and decorative details sit comfortably alongside contemporary furniture and lighting, while original architectural features provide a sense of continuity from room to room. 'Victorian architecture is wonderfully expressive, and instead of dialing that back, we leaned into it,' Tamara continues. 'Rich pattern and decorative moments felt at home here, balanced with contemporary pieces that keep the interiors feeling fresh rather than nostalgic.' The result is a house that feels rooted in its history without being defined by it. 'People assume the biggest transformations come from knocking down walls – but we'd rather spend our energy making rooms feel extraordinary than simply making them bigger,' she adds.

The home's sense of place is almost as important as its history. Pasadena has a strong identity, but it is also a city where old and new sit comfortably alongside one another – a tension that House of Honey wanted to capture without resorting to obvious California clichés.

'Pasadena has this incredible duality – it's deeply rooted in architectural history, yet it never feels stuck in the past,' Tamara explains. 'Whether we're designing in Pasadena or working on projects abroad in London, our approach is always rooted in context,' she explains. 'We draw inspiration from the local architecture, landscape, and culture,' she adds. Here, that meant looking to the oak trees, gardens, and natural beauty beyond the windows, then finding subtle ways to bring those references inside.

'The California references became a wonderful way to introduce moments of whimsy throughout the house,' she continues. 'Rather than treating nature as a decorative motif, we tucked it into unexpected places, allowing those details to emerge almost as discoveries. They give the home a playful spirit without feeling overly themed,' she adds.

At the front door, a custom stained-glass panel pays homage to Pasadena's oak trees. Elsewhere, the references become more subtle, appearing like clues scattered throughout: Timorous Beasties moths on window treatments, insect-inspired artwork on the walls, and vintage brass dragonflies guide the entry into the kitchen. 'We're always looking for opportunities to surprise people,' says Tamara.

If three words capture the spirit of the finished home, Tamara has them: 'Collected. Romantic. Curious.' It is decorative and richly layered, certainly, but never so coordinated that the rooms feel as though they have been assembled from the same moodboard. Instead, each has been given space to develop its own identity, with shifts in color, pattern, art and furniture creating a different mood as you move through the house. 'We never want a home to feel like it's repeating itself from room to room,' says Tamara. 'Every space should have its own point of view – its own mood, its own rhythm, its own surprise.'

'A room becomes much more compelling when refinement flirts with eccentricity, when antique pieces live comfortably beside contemporary ones, or when a beautifully tailored room suddenly surprises you with something delightfully unexpected,' she continues. 'That's where personality begins.' Yet for all their individuality, the rooms are absolutely part of the same story. 'Throughout the home, you'll find recurring threads: handcrafted details, botanical references, rich natural materials, and moments of whimsy that quietly reappear,' Tamara explains. 'Like a good story, every chapter is different, but they all belong in the same book.'

The kitchen offers something of a 'visual exhale'. The palette is quieter, with traditional cabinetry, warm timber, and natural stone creating a calm, hardworking backdrop, while the generous island becomes the social center of the room. Look up, though, and there is another surprise: Sanderson wallpaper covers the ceiling, introducing pattern in an unexpected yet pared-back way. As Tamara explains, 'It’s quieter, though not plain... details like the wallpapered ceiling reward anyone willing to look up.'

'When you arrive in the dining room, the house decides to have a little fun,' Tamara continues. 'It's unapologetically joyful, wrapped in pattern and personality without ever tipping into excess.' Moody floral pattern covers the walls and curtains, while mossy green upholstered chairs surround a warm timber table, creating a room that feels intimate without becoming overly formal. 'I'd have to say the dining room,’ says Tamara, when asked which space best captures the spirit of the project. 'It embodies everything we love about this project – it's expressive, layered, and a little unexpected.'

The deep green tone continues into the family room, where the scheme began with atmosphere, rather than one set hue. 'The palette grew out of natural materials, old wood, gardens, moss, stone, and light filtering through trees,' Tamara explains. 'Rich colors appear throughout the home, but they're grounded by texture and craftsmanship rather than used for shock value.' A golden ochre sofa and patterned armchair lift the green, while the handcrafted tiles and brass dragonflies introduce a layer of whimsy.

The warm, earthy palette carries through to the home office and powder room, but each space interprets it differently. In the office, soft taupe walls, blush curtains, and warm timber create a calm, light-filled workspace framed by the home's original window detailing; while behind a deep green door, the powder room takes on a more playful personality with bird-and-botanical wallpaper and a pleated vanity skirt. 'A room can wear quite a lot of pattern if everything knows exactly why it's there,' she adds.

Upstairs, the primary bedroom feels decidely calmer, 'but it still carries the same confidence that runs throughout the house,' says Tamara. Warm walls and generous original windows fill the room with sunlight, while a patterned upholstered bed brings the same appetite for pattern seen elsewhere in the house. A deep red rug and rust-colored bolster add touches of unexpected red, balanced by natural timber, woven textures and a quiet reading corner by the window.

Heading into the primary bathroom, you'll find many of the home's signature elements in a quieter setting: green wainscoting, warm marble, aged brass, and original Victorian detailing. A generous double vanity runs along one side of the room, while a freestanding tub sits beneath the windows, softened by patterned cafe curtains and natural light. Despite the rich materials, the room feels calm rather than overly polished – 'every room changes its tone without changing the conversation.'

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Perhaps the most successful thing about this house is that its character reveals itself gradually, with the stained glass, dragonflies, wallpaper, handcrafted tiles and unexpected pieces each offering something new to discover. 'We love the idea that someone could visit the house for years and still notice something new,' says Tamara. 'To us, that's what gives a home longevity.'

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There are small lots, and then there are small lots with big ambitions. This family had spent two decades in their much-loved neighborhood, but their original 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom home was no longer quite up to the job. With grown children and grandchildren to accommodate, they had considered moving, only to discover that nothing quite matched what they already had. So instead of leaving, they decided to rebuild on the same 5,500-square-foot lot and find room for a whole new chapter.

That was the challenge for designer Ricki Stevens: not simply to make the house bigger, but to accommodate an ambitious wish list – from generous gathering spaces and seemingly endless storage to a pool, ADU and even a gym tucked into the attic.

'We truly ended up using every square inch of their lot,' says Ricki. Yet that is perhaps the cleverest thing about the finished home: you would never know it. Layers of vintage pieces, warm woods, natural textures and traditional details give the house the relaxed, lived-in character of somewhere that has evolved over decades – rather than somewhere designed to squeeze every last inch out of its footprint.

The wish list was, to put it mildly, a tall order. The new 3,670-square-foot home needed to accommodate the everyday lives of a large family, with the first floor given over to communal spaces and the bedrooms tucked upstairs. There was also a pool to fit in, an ADU for guests, outdoor entertaining space and, somehow, a gym, full bathroom, and extra storage squeezed into the attic.

The trick was to think vertically, laterally and, occasionally, a little creatively. 'On the top of the list was storage,' Ricki explains. 'The main floor needed to have a formal foyer, dining room, private office, large kitchen with all modern amenities, walk-in pantry, family room to accommodate their large family, bathroom, and laundry/mudroom,' she says of the full brief.

The solution was to make storage a part of the architecture rather than something added as an afterthought. Custom built-ins appear throughout the house, with the area beneath the stairs transformed into overflow pantry space and the kitchen fitted with an appliance garage, built-in coffee maker, water filtration system, and ice machine. Even the mudroom is working overtime, with a custom dog-washing station, built-in feeding bowls and pull-out drying racks.

None of it feels particularly utilitarian, though, and that is the magic trick. The practical elements have been absorbed into the design so seamlessly that what you notice first is the character of the rooms, not the sheer amount they have been asked to do. It is a house with plenty of moving parts, but remarkably little noise.

For all the careful planning behind the scenes, the house was never intended to feel like an exercise in maximizing space. The starting point was the character of what had been there before. 'We wanted to honor the original home that we took down, and we wanted it to feel like it has been here for decades,' says Ricki. That meant resisting anything too shiny or overly new in favor of the details that give a house a sense of having always belonged.

Vintage furniture and artwork sit alongside custom cabinetry; salvaged doors lead into the pantry and primary closet; floral wallpaper, wood beams and marble fireplaces bring an old-world charm to otherwise brand-new spaces. Ricki describes the finished look as 'a relaxed, effortless, lived-in aesthetic,' adding, 'We wanted the home to have all the character and charm of the original, while including the conveniences of modern living.'

'The constant throughout the house was layers,' she continues. 'We layered new and vintage items throughout the home.' Textiles, wallpaper, vintage pieces, and custom details build up a sense of whimsy without tipping into fussiness, while the repeated use of tactile materials gives the rooms continuity. 'Layers always bring a space to life. Each layer was thoughtfully selected and curated for this home,' she adds. It is this collected quality that makes the biggest difference.

For a family whose needs had changed so dramatically over 20 years, the new house needed to do more than simply provide extra rooms. It needed to make gathering easy, while giving everyone enough space to retreat when they wanted to. The ground floor is absolutely the social heart of the home, while upstairs, the mood becomes quieter, with bedrooms and bathrooms arranged for privacy, and the attic and ADU provide two more layers of flexibility for family and guests.

That sense of connection is perhaps most apparent in the family room, a light and airy space where large accordion glass doors can be opened to bring the house and backyard together. Outside, the compact lot has been carefully arranged for alfresco dining, lounging and swimming, creating an extension of the spaces inside rather than a separate garden scheme. The ADU takes the same approach on a smaller scale, with its own kitchenette and lounging area opening directly onto the outdoors. It means the house can expand and contract around the people using it, whether that means a full family gathering or a quieter day at home.

The kitchen itself keeps things soft and timeless, with creamy cabinetry, Calacatta Cremo marble and a generous island at its center. 'There is a lot of storage space in the kitchen,' Ricki says of the functionality, while a pass-through window at the sink connects the space to an additional countertop and stools outside. Beyond, a pair of vintage doors leads into the pantry, where new glass has been added to the original doors and Tabarka tile adds a little charm underfoot. It may be tucked away, but this is no less enchanting: 'This pantry is hard-working and functional,' Ricki says, with dedicated space for everything from food storage and vegetable drawers to an additional dishwasher and under-counter refrigerator.

The dining room brings a little more pattern and formality to the airy main floor, with Morris & Co wallpaper wrapping the ceiling and one wall and a custom 10-foot-long cabinet lining the back wall. Behind its glass doors sits the family’s collection of vintage dishes, ready for the table rather than simply there for show. 'The dining table can seat twelve,' Ricki says. Warm woods, mismatched chairs, and the view of an ancient olive tree outside give the room an established, collected feel.

Just off the entry, the home office makes a virtue of being tucked away, with custom iron doors in reeded glass, charcoal-gray built-ins and floral wallpaper. 'This space has a dark and moody feel,' says Ricki. A wood-paneled ceiling with beams and a custom marble fireplace surround add to its sense of grandeur, while a private patio gives the room its own little escape. Upstairs, what was once attic space has been squeezed into a gym and full bathroom, with textured Phillip Jeffries wallpaper, a mirrored wall and custom built-in bookcases making the most of every available inch.

The primary suite turns the layered decorating approach into something softer and more cocooning. 'We used a lot of textures and layers in here, from the wood herringbone ceiling, warm floral wallpaper behind the bed, boucle sofa, custom limestone fireplace surround, and a mix of textures and soft patterns on bedding and window treatments,' Rick notes of the bedroom.

The bathroom shifts into a quieter, more textured palette with limestone, marble and zellige tile, woven Phillip Jeffries wallpaper and sheer Rose Tarlow drapery adding warmth. Wood beams and a vintage stool give the room depth, while a custom brass-framed shower enclosure and contemporary tub give the room a little polish.

The smaller spaces have no less personality. In the powder room, a vintage-inspired marble basin sits on a beautifully weathered wood vanity, while a collection of framed botanical prints and a chunky, dark wood mirror bring the room a collected, almost European feel. 'One of our favorite features is the custom-built infrared sauna we created in the powder bath on the first floor,' Ricki adds. In the ADU, that same sense of character takes a lighter note, with delicate floral wallpaper framing a fluted marble vanity and warm wood details.

Speaking of the ADU, it may be an independent space, but it feels anything but secondary. Downstairs, a relaxed lounge and kitchenette are designed for guests or family to settle in. 'This room also has an accordion door, and when open, it seamlessly flows with the outside area,' Ricki explains. 'Another standout favorite element is the custom built-in spiral staircase we designed,' she adds. 'We did not have enough space for a traditional staircase. The spiral wood staircase is stunning.'

A gallery wall of vintage artwork follows the spiral staircase upstairs, where the vintage-style bedroom and bath continue the home's layered approach with textured floral wallpaper and plenty of comfortable, collected details. 'We used textured wallpaper with small florals for added interest in this space,' says Ricki. 'All the layers and comfort for guests.'

The backyard has been designed as a series of spaces for gathering, from the dining area beneath the pergola to the lounge, small pool, and hot tub, with a water-feature wall adding another layer of movement and texture. Limestone runs throughout the decking, giving the different zones a sense of cohesion, while a gas fireplace and lounge chairs create a quieter spot beside the ADU. And this is where the house's indoor-outdoor connection really earns its keep. The large accordion doors can be opened to let the family room flow directly into the backyard, making the relatively compact footprint feel much more generous when the house is in full gathering mode.

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'From the moment you walk in the door, this home feels like it has been here forever,' Ricki says of the home. 'We incorporated new and vintage pieces in every space, making every space feel personal,' she adds.

The house might have grown considerably from the family's original three-bedroom home, but it has not lost the sense of warmth and character that made them want to stay in the first place. Ricki's clever interventions may mostly be hidden behind great design, but the feeling is unmistakable: this is a family home that looks as though it has always belonged.

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Located in a delightful little town outside Chicago sits a sprawling six-bedroom 1920s Tudor Revival house. It’s a trove of patterned wallpapers, layered fabrics, and details upon details upon details. 'The owner wanted nooks,' says Monica Stewart, founder of design studio The Misfit House, who added in all this character. And nooks are what the owner got.

Each room has its own theme, its eye-catching moments where prints sing out, its corners to nestle into and take in the surrounding wonders. 'She wanted it to feel really cozy, for it to have places to hide, for there to be spaces to hang out in when friends come over,' Monica says. 'My job was to make sure the design wasn’t all shouty moments – the owner would have had a lot more if I’d let her.'

In fact, nothing about the decor in this home shouts, primarily because Monica understands the nuance of balance. 'In any space, you have to have layers to your decor,' she says. 'Some things – like the floral wallpaper that goes up and over the ceiling – might shout, so they need to be next to pieces that talk, like some moderately understated lamps, perhaps, and those that whisper, such as the neutral colors in between that hold everything together. In this way, no one space ever feels overwhelming, and everything works in harmony.'

Even though each room is distinct, from a dining room with a moody-blue ceiling to a sunroom bathed in white, harmonious is the word to describe Monica’s scheme. 'One of my main goals was to consider the Tudor Revival nature of the home and call back to its distinct type of architecture whenever possible,' she says.

'In the States, we don’t have a lot of this style everywhere and so it was something that needed to be celebrated. By adding custom wainscoting back into rooms, choosing appropriate light sources to bathe each space with a soft glow and installing wood paneling where it had been removed, you get the sense that everything just works together.'

Going big on floral wallpaper though – up and over in many of the rooms and splashed across the walls in the entryway – was more than just a style choice. 'We knew we wanted prints and I knew we had to cover the ceiling in them, too,' Monica says. 'So much of this house is built into rooflines, making for some very oddly shaped spaces. Nothing stands out more than a randomly painted wall against the edge of a wallpapered section – and it’s cozier to paper the whole space when you don’t have straight lines. In no room will you find that the walls are one shade and the ceiling is another, everything got enveloped totally.'

As for the prints themselves, Monica made sure not to pick anything too heavy and traditional; instead, she went with modern, light and airy florals from brands such as Schumacher. 'They just feel so much more relaxed than a preppy chintz,' she says. 'More like you can kick your shoes off and sink into the space than have to be on your best behavior.'

That friendly, welcoming ambience emanates from the design. The family live here full-time, with four grown-up children and two dogs. 'That was another reason florals just worked for this home,' Monica says. 'They’re so much more forgiving for marks than plains could ever be.'

Yet for all its decorative richness, this is not a house that feels precious. 'We’re always considering comfort and durability,' Monica says. 'Natural fibers such as cotton and linen immediately feel more relaxed.' Throughout the house, layers of texture soften the formality often associated with this type of architecture, creating rooms that invite people to put their feet up rather than admire them from afar. 'I can’t do formal without cozy,' Monica says. 'For me, a home should feel like a warm hug. That’s always the goal.'

Taking three-and-a half years to complete the renovation, Monica says she constantly considered what the house might once have been. Replacing unsympathetic windows, preserving the original floor plan and choosing limewash finishes where wallpaper wasn’t needed helped restore a sense of age and authenticity. 'We wanted to keep the originality intact and carry it into its next phase,' she says. The result is a home that feels as though it has always existed this way: layered, welcoming and full of character, with a story waiting around every corner.

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'Every room has lots of surprises that draw you in, and it’s a journey throughout,' explains Pandora Taylor of the enchanting Victorian villa in an Irish coastal town that she has thoughtfully reimagined.

Pandora had previously collaborated with the LA-based client on her London property and, when the client decided to relocate from London to Ireland, Pandora was enlisted to transform the elegant villa into a home from home, where she could unwind and relax.

The house was reconfigured and tailored to the client’s lifestyle. Two bedrooms on the third floor were knocked through to create a generous main bedroom (complete with a four-poster) that exudes decorative confidence – 'we wondered how to make the space cozy, so we brought in the four-poster and leaned into the Victorian aspect,' says Pandora.

A bedroom next door, meanwhile, was transformed into an opulent bathroom with a voluptuous tub set on Arabescato marble. Another bedroom was then converted into an atmospheric dressing room. 'The whole top floor is now a sanctuary,' says Pandora. Downstairs, a wall was knocked through to create an additional bathroom, as well as a practical laundry room, while an opening was created between the living/dining space and the kitchen, resulting in a space that flows beautifully.

The client craved an English country house aesthetic that referenced florals and maximalism, and Pandora has achieved this with a myriad of deft flourishes. 'Everywhere you look, there are floral patterns - as well as a tapestry mural – inspired by country houses,' explains Pandora.

The house was also to be something of a retreat. 'The client wanted their home to be like a cocoon, so she could forget about the outside world, and she also wanted it to be super cozy,' notes Pandora. 'It’s a holiday home, but she was imagining making vacations really special here, having family over for Christmas and creating this amazing atmosphere for everyone who’s staying.'

The seductive entrance hall sets the scene for the drama to come in the rest of the house. 'It’s quite dark and Victorian,' says Pandora. 'The client wanted to repeat some things from her London home, but in a different way. She had fallen in love with the wallpaper – it creates an enveloping space that is like entering a different world where everything’s warm and embracing. Then we made the rest of the levels lighter and more open.'

In contrast to the cocooning hallway, the first-floor living room is light and bright, and exudes a sense of grandeur. 'The room gets the most incredible light throughout the day, as well as having beautiful views of the sea,' says Pandora, 'so we wanted to emphasize the light and create this really joyful space.' The design narrative was led by the exquisite floral wallpaper. 'I fell in love with the tones of it – it sat really nicely.'

Injecting authenticity into the house is a collection of antiques sourced in the UK and Ireland. 'The client loves finding antiques and interesting pieces, and that really taps into something I’m passionate about,' says Pandora. The reupholstered antique Chesterfield sofa, for instance, injects a jewel-hued punch, while two fringed slipper chairs came from one of Pandora’s favorite antiques dealers and are upholstered in their original fabric.

The open-plan space also incorporates a dining area furnished with a mid-century oval table and chairs for a modern twist. 'There are a lot of traditional and antique pieces in this space, so we wanted something that was a bit slicker to balance it all out.' The opening that Pandora created leads to the modern country-style kitchen.

Here, pared-back timber cabinetry is teamed with dramatic granite surfaces. 'The lines are much cleaner and simpler and a foil to the other aspects,' says Pandora. Appliances are hidden in freestanding purple-black cabinetry that grounds the space, while a striking Japanese-inspired artwork by Irish artist Cliona Doyle teases through the colors in the room. Pandora’s carefully considered schemes are a visual feast that fulfill the client’s desire for a home that pushes the boundaries. 'The house definitely touches on my sense of playfulness with color and pattern.'

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The concept of open-plan living has been a constant debate in the interior design world. Recent trends have suggested it's losing its appeal, with many homeowners looking to close off rooms rather than open them up. However, having separate rooms for every occasion relies on the luxury of space, something that designer Amy Peltier, founder of Peltier Interiors, didn't have tons of when working on this project.

The brief was to maximize every inch of the space, which was to be a second home to a big family that wanted plenty of communal spaces to host and relax together. When Amy came to the house, it was a bit of a blank slate, with the architect having created this huge, open room. Technically, it could have been divided, but then the rooms would have felt small and boxy, so instead, Amy chose to work with the space, zoning it into the main rooms of the home.

'The home is located on a beautiful rural property in Thompson's Station, just outside Franklin, Tennessee,' Amy explains. 'The setting absolutely shaped the design. The sweeping views became part of the home's design language, with oversized windows framing the landscape almost like works of art. Creating a seamless connection between the indoors and outdoors became a guiding principle throughout the project.'

'The original brief was to maximize every square foot the family was allowed to build,' she continues. 'The architect established an incredible foundation with an open floor plan and soaring vaulted ceilings that immediately made the home feel larger than its footprint. We embraced that vision rather than trying to divide the spaces.'

But what do you do with a home whose entire ground floor is essentially one room? 'At first, designing one expansive main living area felt like a challenge, but it ultimately became one of the home's greatest strengths, allowing us to create distinct yet connected spaces that feel both generous and intimate.'

You walk straight into this space, too; there's no separate entryway, so to speak. And yet, the simple addition of extending the wooden cladding just slightly into the room creates a space to pause before entering. It also naturally creates a divide between the living areas and the kitchen and dining space.

A big part of the open/closed-plan debate is centered around the dining room, with some designers saying a separate dining room is making a comeback. But closing off this room will always give it a sense of formality and occasion, rather than creating a space to be enjoyed every day. Amy and her clients wanted this home to feel loved and lived in, with nothing saved for special occasions. So the dining space naturally went front and center.

'The moment you walk through the front door, you're greeted by the dining room, which acts as the heart of the home rather than a room tucked away for special occasions,' says Amy. 'We intentionally treated the dining table almost like a grand center table in an entry hall, anchoring the entire open floor plan. Shallow wing walls wrapped in wood paneling subtly define the space without interrupting the flow, while a dramatic chandelier draws your eye upward to the 18-foot vaulted ceilings.'

'The entry and dining room required the most problem-solving. Without careful planning, you would have walked straight into the kitchen and living room, which didn't feel welcoming. We wanted guests to have a true sense of arrival, so creating subtle architectural definition without closing off the space became one of the project's biggest design challenges, and one of its biggest successes. By introducing the four wing walls that connect into the ceiling beams, we created architectural separation without sacrificing the openness of the floor plan.'

'To the left is the living room, centered around a fireplace and framed by soaring floor-to-ceiling windows that capture the surrounding landscape. The furnishings feel warm, inviting, and relaxed while remaining refined,' explains Amy.

'I'd describe it as clean and simple, yet classic and timeless, with a quiet country romance. We wanted the home to feel authentic to its Tennessee setting, where donkeys roam just beyond the windows and nature is part of everyday life. Nothing feels overly modern or overly traditional. Instead, every space is approachable, comfortable, and livable while still feeling elevated and thoughtfully designed.'

This was a big part of Amy's brief, too. The home might be new, but it needed to have a sense of age and warmth, despite the large open space. 'We focused on all the little details,' she notes. 'Mixing warm wood tones, natural stone, textured fabrics, aged brass, and carefully collected accessories gave the home a sense of history from day one. Every finish and furnishing was selected to add warmth, character, and depth, making the house feel as though it had evolved over time rather than being newly constructed. We even elevated everyday selections like baseboards and doors and selected a warm-stained wood finish to take it from basic to unique.'

While the living room and dining space are filled with layers of cool neutrals, the kitchen is somewhat of an unexpected surprise, with a gray-toned blue that feels perfectly balanced on the right side of cool thanks to the ashy wood accents. The whole space has this same sense of balance. It's a fresh color scheme, with blues, crisp whites, and hints of gray, while warmer woods and touches of tan keep it feeling cozy.

'To the right of the main space is the kitchen, where the palette shifts just enough to create its own identity. Rich smoky blue cabinetry and darker countertops define the perimeter, while the island and range wall are wrapped in warm wood and topped with a beautiful natural quartzite with subtle movement. Although each area has its own personality, they all flow together seamlessly as one cohesive living space.'

The color scheme is a restrained one, but it allows all the natural textures to do the talking. The space is bright and light, but there's depth and interest here, too. 'That was exactly our goal,' says Amy, 'creating interest without relying on obvious color. We never wanted the interiors competing with the incredible views outside. The richness comes from the layered materials selected, rather than bold color creating contrast. Natural stone, layered wood tones, subtle brass accents, soft bronzes, textured fabrics, and carefully selected finishes all work together to create depth and warmth without overwhelming the space.'

'It was all the small details like the softly arched openings and repeating the smoky blue cabinetry throughout the home, from the kitchen to the living room and even glimpses inside the butler's pantry, that help create a sense of continuity that makes the entire home feel intentional and cohesive.'

Upstairs, the rooms still have that soaring, arched ceiling, which gives such a sense of space, despite the individual rooms not being huge. The cladding in the main bedroom mirrors the wood used in the living space, and that same cool-toned palette continues here, too. There are lots of details in this space chosen to draw the eye upward, highlighting the huge amount of space above rather than the square footage. The drapes hang inches above the windows themselves and cascade elegantly all the way to the floor. The four-poster bed adds height to the focal point of the room, while even the bedside lamps stand taller than you would usually find.

In the guest bedroom, furniture is kept to a minimum, but the layers make it a welcoming space. Florals mix with stripes, checks, and cowhides, but that thread of blue remains.

The bunk room was a must-have to accommodate the large family. Four full beds are squeezed into this space, but each has its own nook, which makes it feel more like a mini room – perfect for growing with the children and allowing them to personalize their own space.

The powder room was Amy's favorite to design, and the subtly Western theme that can be felt in some way in all of the rooms (look out for fringing, cowboy prints, and 'Howdy' artwork) is the most overt here, with the horseshoe wallpaper from Chasing Paper.

'I think the powder room captures the personality of the entire home,' says Amy. 'It brings together so much of the feeling we wanted to create throughout the home. A nod to Tennessee horse country with the horseshoe wallpaper, warm natural wood, a concrete sink, and elegant brass accents. It's playful, refined, and completely unexpected.'

This home feels easy. There's an effortless flow through the rooms, the calming color scheme doesn't waver, and there's no sense of visual disruption. And in a second home designed for relaxing and resting, that's exactly what you want.

It's a project that's proof that open plan very much still has a place. When family is at the center of the design, it only makes sense to keep the most-used rooms connected – cooking in the kitchen while others relax on the sofa, or enjoying informal dinners that can begin while dinner is still being prepared. Open plan is alive and well in homes designed around connection, family life, and easy living.

Styling: Colson Horton Studio

Photography: NativeHouse Photography

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When Liz Gardner first walked into the building that would become Maison Bodega, she wasn't looking at a blank canvas. Years of commercial use had left the 1920s Minneapolis residence buried beneath layers of carpet and linoleum, obscuring the original floors, windows, and proportions. When Liz's mother first toured the building, she looked around and said, ‘It's like a lady who hasn't been listened to.’ For Liz, Mom hit the nail on the head.

So listening became the starting point. Rather than asking what she could impose on the building, Liz, who runs creative studio Bodega Ltd. and is as multi-hyphenated as the building itself, began by uncovering what was already there, creating a home and creative studio where the architecture could work alongside the demands of modern life. Today, Maison Bodega combines everyday living, creative work and entertaining, with spaces that can shift from family life to dinners, exhibitions and photoshoots. The result is a house that feels more rediscovered than renovated – layered, lived-in and still evolving.

'Listening', in practice, meant resisting the urge to start over. Maison Bodega was designed in 1920 by architect Ernest Kennedy, and thankfully, much of its original character still remained beneath the layers. Under commercial carpet and drop ceilings, they found original floors, moldings, windows, barrel ceilings, and stone stairs, along with the proportions and light that had made the house special in the first place.

'What immediately drew me to the house wasn't simply its age, but how much of its original character had survived,' says Liz. 'Even the imprint of a fireplace that once stood in the ballroom, or a window that had later been cut into a doorway, to which we eventually added a Juliet balcony, felt like evidence of a life already lived rather than flaws to erase.'

As layers were removed, traces of the building's different lives began to emerge and were allowed to remain. 'Buildings accumulate lives, and I think those layers are part of what gives them character,' says Liz. Inspired by museums in Milan, she wanted Maison Bodega to feel like a house that could continue accumulating history, rather than one frozen in an imagined version of 1920.

'Where we did intervene, we tried to be equally honest about the present,' she explains. 'The unlacquered brass kitchen, terrazzo mixed specifically for the house, and contemporary lighting that aren't pretending to be original. For me, preservation and contemporary design aren't opposites; the house can hold both,' Liz continues. 'The goal was never for the new to disappear into the old, but for each layer to make the others more visible.'

If the history of the space provided the framework, the interiors were allowed to evolve much more instinctively. Liz doesn't describe the house as having a particular style; instead, she follows whatever catches her curiosity. 'That curiosity can become a fascination with an artist, a material, a period of decorative arts, something discovered while traveling, or a strange object whose story I can’t stop thinking about. Eventually those interests find their way into the house,' she explains. Her aim isn't for everything to match, but for the individual pieces to have a conversation with one another. 'I’m drawn to objects with presence and provenance, but also to a certain tension between things,' she continues.

Color, too, was discovered within the bones of the building. During the process of stripping back the house and 'listening', Liz found a rosy pink in the plaster of the lower-level bathroom, seafoam milk paint beneath the drop ceilings, celery yellow around the concrete stair hanger, and tawny brown in the ballroom. Rather than removing those traces of the past, she used them to inform the colors and textiles introduced later. 'Any additional paint colors were sourced to match what already existed, so the architecture and its materials could remain the constant rather than becoming a backdrop for an entirely new palette,' she notes.

Leading up the stone staircase from the street-level bar, the house becomes more private, opening up to Liz's apartment. The reconfigured living area (the space used to be two bedrooms and a bathroom) is framed by built-in bookshelves and pale pink French doors.

'I eventually found an antique Juliet balcony that happened to be the perfect dimensions for the opening,' Liz recalls. 'It has become one of my favorite places to experience the seasons and look over the garden – and, perhaps more importantly, a perch where our dogs can spend hours basking in the sun.' In fact, Liz's dog, a Siberian husky named Agnes, was so inspirational to the Maison that they painted the exterior moldings a soft blush pink matched to the color of Agnes's tongue.

The kitchen sits directly alongside the ballroom, with the two spaces deliberately treated almost as one. Liz worked with Fisher & Paykel on the appliances, embracing their idea of a 'social kitchen' as a place where cooking, gathering and entertaining happen together. 'There is little desire in contemporary life to hide the kitchen, and because we entertain so often, I wanted ours to function almost like a restaurant line while still feeling domestic,' she explains.

The island is sized for a chef to plate dinner for 30, while refrigeration drawers and integrated dishwashers allow food to be prepared and served without disrupting the room. Visually, the space is a beautiful meeting of contemporary intervention and the house's original character. Unlacquered brass cabinetry is paired with Calacatta marble veined in pink and bronze, while vintage shell-back stools and vintage pendants add a romantic note.

Through an arched doorway off the kitchen, the larder is a quieter, more functional space, but it has one wonderfully oversized focal point: a 1920s Italian stone sink, for which Liz designed a brass base. 'The sink is so substantial that the walls were essentially built around it,' she recalls. Here, the open timber shelving, ceramics, baskets and linens are all set against the house's weathered plaster and the custom terrazzo floors. It feels less like a pristine pantry and more like a working room that has accumulated its contents over time – which feels exactly right for a house that is 'perfectly humming'.

One of the two bedrooms in Liz's private apartment remains almost entirely original, with its plaster walls and refinished yellow-maple floors preserving the character of the space. Here, twin beds are dressed with custom striped bedding and framed by floral canopies, bringing a more decorative, playful note to the otherwise restrained scheme. The original window remains the room's focal point, drawing in dappled light and views of the surrounding trees.

The guest bedroom takes a quieter approach to pattern, with a low-key palette of faded blush, cream and soft green layered across the bed and an antique floral screen. The room's original plaster has been left beautifully imperfect, with marks left by the people who built the house more than a century ago preserved. 'They’re quiet and incredibly easy to walk past, but I love knowing they’re there,' says Liz.

The bathroom is one of the clearest examples of how lightly Liz intervened upstairs. 'The original bathroom contains one of my favorite surviving details in the house: a wet-set tile shower enclosure and tiled walls,' she notes. While they were able to preserve the original wall tiles, Liz introduced hand-clipped honed tiles to the floor and sourced period sinks, toilets, and faucets in the hope that 'everything would feel as though it had always been there.'

The collected objects throughout Maison Bodega aren't there simply to fill shelves or complete a decorating scheme. Liz approaches the house 'as a collector before I approach it as a decorator,' buying pieces because she is curious about their maker, material or provenance, rather than because she has a particular space to fill. That gives the interiors a sense of discovery and also means the house is never quite finished.

Objects circulate between rooms, photographs and creative projects, while new combinations emerge as her work evolves. 'That circulation keeps the house alive,' she says. And perhaps the best rule for knowing what belongs is a wonderfully instinctive one: 'Does it make your heart go pitter patter? Then it should probably live with you.'

For all the emphasis on uncovering what was already there, there was a substantial amount of intervention: new archways were built to match the originals, plaster was repaired and extended, moldings and trims recreated, windows restored and reglazed, and new terrazzo, kitchen, and larder spaces introduced.

'We borrowed from the house’s existing material and architectural vocabulary so that, wherever possible, you aren’t immediately aware of where the original ends and our work begins. Editing became as important as adding, but what we added was intended to feel as though it could have always belonged here,' Liz notes. 'The additions we made were largely about the rituals of daily life: a place for morning coffee in the brass-clad kitchen; a balcony where our Siberian huskies can look out over the garden; a stone sink from Italy that functions as a kitchen counter in daily life, but is shallow enough to fill with ice for oysters and bottles of wine when the house is full of people. The same spaces simply shift in purpose as the day does,' she adds.

'I want the rooms to feel accumulated through experience rather than composed all at once,' she continues. That sense of gradual collecting is everywhere: in the sympathetic decoration, the traces left by previous occupants, and the rustic surfaces that have been deliberately allowed to remain. 'I like that you can read some of that history rather than having every surface perfected.'

But perhaps its transformation was made most tangible on the night of its first dinner, when the kitchen was unfinished, the stove had only just been installed, and an oval table stood in for the island. Liz recalls how she slipped away to the larder to call her parents – 'I think this is what the house sounds like when it’s happy.' After everything the house had been through, perhaps that was the clearest answer to all the listening.

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It’s a rare phenomenon to find an attractive house that’s also a fixer-upper in certain neighborhoods of London these days, when the vast majority of houses come with kitchens already extended and lofts converted. So it was quite a discovery for Laura Stephens’ clients to find a distinguished Victorian villa in this state, and to have the freedom to transform it into a dream house.

Overlooking one of south-west London’s leafy commons, the three-storey house had potential by the bucketload, but none of it had been fulfilled by the previous owners. ‘It was very faded,’ recalls Laura. ‘There were lots of lovely original features there, but it was entirely unloved. The kitchen was tiny, there were no en suite bathrooms, and the garden was massively overgrown. There wasn’t even any central heating, so our site meetings were so, so freezing.’

Even so, it wasn’t hard to see why the owners – a Scottish couple with two children – fell in love with it. The house directly overlooks the vast green space of the common, and itself isn’t overlooked by any other house (another rarity in London), and there is a grandeur to the main rooms, thanks to their soaring proportions. ‘They were very keen to keep the integrity of the house,’ emphasizes Laura. ‘Every door we had to replace was recreated with the original beading detail. They were really passionate about preserving what was already here.’

Although the entire house was redecorated and partially reconfigured, structural alterations were deliberately kept to a minimum. 'The clients wanted to keep the layout as true to the original house as possible,' Laura explains. The main exception was the kitchen, where the tiny original room was replaced with a generous extension. ‘That was the most challenging part of the project,’ says Laura, ‘trying to create a space that felt authentic to the house without feeling like a pastiche.’

Getting the proportions right started with the architecture itself. The extension was designed by Quartet Architecture to the same grand proportions as the rest of the ground floor, and the moldings were key in creating a sense of continuity. ‘The cornicing was important,’ says Laura, ‘so we made sure the profile and size matched what was there in the rest of the house.’ Paneling was introduced to match the details of the living room, and the flooring also unifies the spaces, with an aged oak floor running through into the living spaces.

For the kitchen itself, Laura wanted it ‘to feel a bit like a scullery, the kind of original kitchen you'd find in a grand house.’ With this in mind, she made the bold move of taking the tiles all the way up to the ceiling to give it a more utilitarian feel. ‘The clients were really nervous about it,’ she recalls, ‘but I just think it works so well.’ Adding to the scullery feel are two bespoke pantry cupboards flanking the space, designed especially to reach all the way to the tall ceilings. These do several jobs, offering storage and an opportunity to display ceramics, as well as discreetly hiding the air conditioning units behind their doors.

While the main cabinetry of the kitchen was built-in, Laura was determined to avoid an overly fitted feel. ‘I didn't want a big, blocky, chunky island,’ she notes. ‘I wanted something elevated on its feet, so it looked like it could have been bought as a separate piece of furniture.’ With its natural wood finish, it offers a welcome sense of contrast with the main run of joinery, while a banquette sofa also helps to soften the space.

A good understanding of scale was crucial for Laura’s work on the other main rooms on this floor – a formal living room at the front of the house, the ‘middle room’, which became an elegant library, and a snug or family room. The kitchen, library and drawing room create a sequence of rooms that runs from front to back, with broad openings in between, so that the light flows through from front to back.

In the library, which opens directly off the kitchen through a set of glazed doors, the splendor of the space is emphasized by a large-scale toile wallpaper that feels just right for the space, as well as by tall bookcases that reach all the way to the ceiling. ‘They draw your eye upwards and add to that sense of grandeur,’ she says, ‘plus I don't like bringing joinery down because you create a dust trap at the top.’

The room could, like many middle rooms, have ended up as a corridor, but its squashy pink sofa, original gothic-style fireplace, and enveloping wallpaper make it an inviting place to pause with a book. It’s also a helpfully generous room – when the family host parties, they can run tables all the way through into the kitchen, making one vast space where guests can circulate.

The library runs straight into the drawing room, where pale brown walls and blue sofas create a restful scheme, anchored by the gravitas of the Jamb chimneypiece. Laura had to commission bespoke sofas and find oversized lamps for this room, simply because standard pieces looked surprisingly diminutive once installed.

'It was amazing,' she laughs. 'You'd bring these enormous lamps in, thinking they were far too huge, and then suddenly they looked completely normal.' As a traditional, formal entertaining space, it has its foil in the cheerful green snug off the kitchen, a smaller and cozier space with a bar built in at the back. ‘That’s where the family spends a lot of their time,’ Laura notes.

Like the ground floor rooms, the bedrooms above alternate between abundant color and pattern and gentler, calmer schemes. The main bedroom does a bit of both, with Lewis & Wood’s sprawling ‘Adam’s Eden’ pattern on the walls in a calming blue colorway. ‘It’s such a big space,’ says Laura. ‘It needed a pattern on that scale to balance it.’

For the headboard, she designed a ‘rather avant-garde’ shape in order to offset the prettiness of the wallpaper. The bedroom leads through to a fabric-lined dressing room, and from there into one of Laura’s favorite spaces, the main bathroom. Working closely with Quartet Architecture, she developed the room through several iterations into its present design as a luxurious, marble-lined sanctuary. A light-filled, airy room, it has a pretty, feminine scheme in pink and green, and overlooks the common through French doors.

Bolder in character is the guest bedroom, where another large-scale wallpaper, this time an orange and blue Warner House design, is something of a showstopper. It did take some persuading from Laura, however. ‘They couldn’t imagine it,’ she remembers. ‘It's a massive print, and they thought it would look really 70s.’ That is decidedly not the case, and the bedroom is a joyful space, where the vibrant pattern on the walls and curtains is balanced by stripes and simple, pared-back furniture. ‘It's always the things they're most nervous about that end up being the most successful,’ says Laura, ‘because they're the things they wouldn't have chosen themselves.’

In many cases, the things the clients chose themselves were also a resounding success. Laura took trips to antiques fairs with them, and they sourced a number of the antiques in the house themselves, including a dresser in the kitchen, a gilt mirror and a chest of drawers in the main bedroom, and the desk in the study on this floor. ‘They got really into auction houses and were always sending me links. It's so nice when clients get involved like that. It brings a totally different dimension to the project, and it feels like a real team effort.’

At the top of the house, the children’s bedrooms sit beneath more forgiving, ordinary-height ceilings, something Laura found almost a relief after the scale below. ‘Those loft rooms give you parameters, because they have limited space, whereas with huge rooms like the ones downstairs, you're always wondering where to start.’ The daughter's suite is deep pink with its own en suite bathroom, while her brother's room, tucked into the eaves nearby, had a very simple brief – ‘he just wanted room for gaming.’

For all the work that went into the house, the finished interiors have a pleasing sense of having arrived there gradually. As in all the best projects, the secret is in the blend. The clients’ choice of characterful antiques sit alongside bespoke pieces designed especially for the space; striking wallpapers and bold colors sit alongside calm, restful spaces, and traditional features are balanced by fresh, youthful schemes. Elegant but deeply comfortable, it respects the past while remaining eminently suited to modern family life.

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It takes a surprisingly long time to work out that this Ontario home isn't nearly as old as it looks. Built in 2015, the house was designed to sit comfortably among its historic surroundings, but over time its interiors had lost some of their spark. The family wanted a fresh start, but not a complete overhaul – and crucially, they didn't want to lose the feeling that made the house theirs.

Enter designer Kate Crespi, who transformed the house through decoration rather than home renovation. Her approach brought together 18 warm colors, layers of checks, stripes and florals, and a clever rethink of almost 90% of the family's existing furniture. 'Going into this project, we wanted the home to have an overall sense of longevity rather than feel stuck in time or trendy,' she explains. 'We wanted the home to present aspects of all the wonderful details that English design has to offer, but at the same time, it needed to be unfussy and to have the ability to grow with this family of 5.'

The transformation started with a surprisingly unique idea: keep the furniture. The client wanted the home to feel renewed, but she also wanted to avoid it looking completely brand new. So Kate recovered sofas and armchairs in new stripes, plaids, and florals; wicker chairs were sprayed a deep green-blue; and existing headboards were given entirely new personalities in linen and rich truffle-brown velvet. It helped that Kate was willing to hunt for the pieces that could give the rooms a sense of history.

For this, the designer's first solo project, she spent plenty of time thrifting, scouring auctions and visiting her favorite outdoor antique market in Aberfoyle, Ontario. All of the artwork and decorative pieces (minus the pillows) were antique or sourced from local markets. 'There is something special that old treasures bring to a project that new decor simply cannot compete with,' she says.

The result is a home that feels collected without looking overly styled. A vintage rug sits beneath a contemporary coffee table; antique botanical prints hang above a reworked sofa; a traditional wooden hutch finds its place alongside custom pieces. Nothing is trying too hard to look old. Instead, the mix gives the interiors the comfortable feel of a home that has been assembled gradually, rather than built from the ground up.

If the furniture and the family gave the house its history, color is what gives it its personality. Kate used a total of 18 colors throughout the home, from golden yellow and dusty pink to deep red, leafy green, and brown-greens, and while it may sound like a lot, the scheme never tips into chaos. The secret is surprisingly simple. 'Everything about this home is warm; there are no cool colors used in any of the fabrics, paint or wallpaper,' says Crespi. 'The color palette used throughout was guided by traditional English influence, using many colors paired with classic patterns such as plaid, checks, stripes, velvets and florals,' she adds.

Rather than choosing one hero shade and dutifully carrying it from room to room, Kate gave each space its own personality while keeping that warm undertone consistent. The living room glows in yellow, the den goes dark and moody, the mudroom makes a case for deep red, while the powder room embraces leafy green. Upstairs, buttercream, blue, pink, and soft neutrals take over. 'I remember my client saying that it was important to her that her children fondly look back on their childhood home and how much comfort it brought them.

For my client, growing up, she remembers having rooms in specific colors, which she has lovely memories of,' Kate explains. 'The home is the backdrop to real life, and we wanted this to be a foundation for all of life’s moments. It’s filled to the brim with pattern and unexpected color while also simultaneously bringing ease, comfort, and familiarity.' So while an eighteen-shade color scheme for the home might sound like maximalism, here, it very much feels like home.

The English influence here is unmistakable, but it isn't about recreating a cliched country house halfway across the Atlantic. For Kate, it was more about finding the right foil to the traditional architecture already in place. The narrow-plank hardwood floors, wainscoting, and substantial millwork gave the home a strong foundation, while the English style brought in the softness, pattern, and lived-in character to make those details sing. 'I took a trip to England for the first time back in 2023, and I believe it has completely influenced the way that I look at interiors,' Kate explains. 'All of these existing elements needed their counterpart, and that’s when all the inspiration drawn from English design became a match made in heaven for this project,' she continues.

That meant florals alongside stripes, checks alongside plaids, ruffled upholstery alongside wicker, and antiques alongside custom pieces. The ingredients are traditional, but the mix keeps them from feeling too precious. Kate describes the overall aesthetic simply as 'relaxed English,' with the emphasis firmly on relaxed: this is a family home, after all.

The details are allowed to be playful, too, from the botanical prints and brass accents to the custom lampshades that appear throughout the house. 'I cannot begin to tell you how many custom lampshades we did in this home; in every room, we added a patterned, pleated, or colored lampshade. Decorative lighting always comes with a simple white shade (which in certain rooms can be a nice visual break), but this gives such a good opportunity to add a little unexpected pop of pattern or color,' she advises.

The kitchen was less about changing what was already there and more about adding the details that made it feel connected to the rest of the home. 'In the kitchen, we added elements that tied it together just as it was meant to be,' she says. The existing counter stools were reupholstered in a wide stripe, while a relaxed Roman shade was added to frame the large window, and wicker pendant lights bring texture above the island. 'I envisioned this island styled as what a Saturday morning in this home could look like, and it is really just the cherry on top in this space,' she adds.

Just off the kitchen, the eat-in kitchen area (or 'dinette') is the family's workhorse, designed for everything from homework to post-sports-practice dinners. 'This space is where the family gathers on their day-to-day,' says Kate. She brought in a custom pine extending table from local artisan The Emporium, then gave the clients' existing wicker chairs a new lease on life by spraying them 'in this incredible deep jewel-toned green-blue by Farrow & Ball.' A new checked cushion transforms the window seat, while the painted built-ins showcase the family's cookbook collection and porcelain.

Stepping into the living room, this is where Kate really lets the home's English-inspired character shine. 'The formal living room is like a snug off the foyer when you immediately enter the home,' she explains. 'This room just fills my cup every time I look at it.' The yellow color drench, which runs from the wainscoting all the way to the ceiling, sets the warm tone, while the ruffle-skirted sofa and existing armchairs – reupholstered in wool plaid and ticking stripe – make the room feel inviting rather than overly formal. 'The ruffle-skirted sofa (probably the best piece I’ve laid my eyes on) and the two armchairs flanking the fireplace are inviting and playful, yet sophisticated. This room is timeless through and through.'

The primary bedroom is the room she says 'best captures the spirit of the project'. The scheme began with a little indecision: the designer and her client had initially planned to use seamless grasscloth, but when Kate presented the GP&J Baker floral wallpaper, the client immediately went for it. 'It’s unassuming from a distance, but the pop of red just catapulted this room to the next level'.

From there, the palette came together around the wallpaper's soft red tones, with butter-yellow trim, a light blue upholstered bed, patterned drapery, and brass sconces. The client's existing green velvet chair adds an unexpected hit of color. 'It’s balanced in femininity, sophistication, and playfulness,' she says. 'All the layers feel harmonious and unforced.'

In the kids' bedrooms, the decorating becomes a little more playful, but Kate was careful to design both spaces with longevity in mind. In the son's bedroom, buttery walls, checkered indigo drapery, and a large comfy chair create a room that feels youthful without tipping into childlike. In the daughter's room, the approach is more colorful and feminine, with the walls drenched in Dead Salmon, an existing armchair recovered in blue-and-pink paisley, and a headboard re-covered in deep truffle-brown velvet. 'We wanted this space to feel mature for the stage of life that she was in, being 13,' Kate says. 'I just know that this room will be a space for her to transition through her young adulthood.'

Even the bathrooms get the full decorative treatment. The powder room adjacent to the kitchen is the bolder of the two, with leafy green wallpaper, matching painted trim, and antique bird prints sourced from a local market. 'I love the mix of the punchy green wallpaper against the dusty floral blue lampshades,' says Kate. In the client's son's bathroom, the approach is quieter but no less considered, with blue-painted trim and layered window treatments adding softness, personality, and 'a layered moment,' she adds.

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The cleverest thing about this project may be that, for all its color, pattern and detail, it never feels like a home that has been styled all at once. By reworking what they already owned, adding pieces with history, and allowing each room to have its own personality, Kate has created something that feels collected rather than constructed. 'The goal was to create a home that feels lived in, layered, and timeless,' she says – and that is exactly what this family home now feels like.

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The phrase 'country cottage' trips lightly off the tongue, but interior designer Gemma Tucker of Balance Interior Design thoroughly explored the meaning of both words as she created this charming rural bolthole for a couple and their three teenage children – an antidote to their hectic city lives.

Having grown up in the area, the owner had always loved this centuries-old cottage, originally built as three dwellings, nestled in the rolling Dorset countryside. She brought Gemma on board to create a calm and comfortable retreat that’s sympathetic to both the stunning location and the cottage itself.

Gemma’s design enhances the humble, rustic nature of this house, with its exposed beams and thick walls, while the decor complements, rather than competes with, the green landscape beyond. 'We wanted to create a peaceful space that feels both timeless and deeply connected to its setting. The layout already worked well, and the rooms were a good size for a cottage, so this was more of a decorative revamp, creating a home that’s in keeping with the feel of the historic building, swapping porcelain tiles and laminate finishes for honest, natural materials that feel more authentic to this rustic setting,' explains Gemma.

To showcase the verdant views, Gemma opted for a pared-back color scheme of warm off-whites and earthy neutrals, layered with terracotta and burgundy, deep olive and bronze-green. 'I wanted it to be very calm but with a warmth and richness that glows when you’re hunkered down here in winter,' says Gemma.

Likewise, the tactile material palette taps into the rural vernacular style, with dark oak and flagstone floors, tongue-and-groove paneling, beautifully imperfect tiles, slubby linen and textural jute. 'We focused on timeless, natural materials with an emphasis on the handmade,' says Gemma.

She took this idea further with a series of specially commissioned bespoke elements, from the large still-life painting that defines the dining room to the pair of wall-hung reliefs in the couple’s bedroom depicting their favorite plants from the garden.

'The surrounding landscape is subtly echoed in a collection of art commissions across textiles, paper, canvas, ceramics and stone, bringing a sense of nature indoors,' says Gemma. The couple’s woven-rush headboard is another key piece, made to order by a craftsperson who harvests her own rushes from her paddleboard on the River Ouse.

Gemma has taken a light-touch approach to pattern in the cottage, applying it in careful doses to bring visual interest. 'I wanted to use pattern in measure, in a subtle and quiet way.' In the pantry and boot room there are charming gingham cafe curtains in place of some cabinet doors, while timeless stripes bring subtle character to window dressings. All the curtains are on wide poles so that they don’t obscure the views during the day, but can envelop the house in coziness after dark, particularly in the hall-study where the room takes on a new character when the world is shut outside.

The sense of timelessness is picked up in the careful balance of fresh, contemporary elements alongside vintage and antique pieces, chosen to bring depth. 'Things that already look lived-in naturally connect with the character of the house. I was drawn to rustic and Danish pieces for this cottage, and it was lovely to have the owners’ trust to snap them up. I enjoyed the wonderful alignment that I had with this client.'

Vintage pieces are great for sustainability too, which was a factor on this renovation, with Gemma looking for ways to reduce waste, such as creating custom-made doors for the existing carcasses in the kitchen, pantry and boot room, finished in rich and immersive shades of dark green and burgundy-brown.

'With this project, we wanted to draw out and celebrate the cottage’s inherent character and the beauty of the country setting while introducing a sense of quiet refinement and comfort suited to modern living. It’s a place to retreat from the worlds of work and study, for convivial moments around the table, playing games in the snug, the simple joys of connecting with nature or sitting together around the fire.'

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