Private Residence

I thought of Albert Hadley, one of the iconic designers of our time, and how his classic design elements carry a punch of unexpected surprise. We recently met with a client who owned a charming historic home.  Between the historic references to the home's time period and the modern updates they had made, we knew this was going to be an amazing space.

Our client loves color, and is not afraid to use it. We met her with paint chip in hand of an amazing deep black for the walls. We used this as a springboard and pulled some inspiration from several amazing dark rooms. As we talked about the space she wanted to make sure that when people walked into her space, they would say "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you did that; but I love it!" After giving the walls this dramatic palette we knew the furniture would become the star of the room ; so we in turn selected pieces with great shapes and forms, but something to make the space comfortable and inviting.

We grounded the room with a dark rug, not quite as black as the walls, but something so the furniture didn't feel like it was floating away. We wanted to highlight the fireplace that was flanked by beautiful, historic stained glass windows, so we put the television on a secondary wall. We put some unexpected flair on the central ottoman, silver leaf finish on the legs and upholstering it in a great linen zebra print. It becomes the piece that everyone can kick their feet up no and read a book or watch TV. We added a splash of color to a fun pull-up chair, and mimicked those organic shapes throughout the room.

In the end, this room found itself full of quirky design surprises, with just the right amount of unexpected to become the perfect space for this family.

- Natalie