Bringing Warmth to a Blank Slate in Newton
Among the most frequent calls I get are from harried parents with little kids who are moving from the city to the suburbs. In a hot housing market like ours in Greater Boston, full of old stock and bidding wars, clients often need help, fast. Typically, they’re surprised they won a bid and need to move in 30 days. This often means scrambling to pack; planning a renovation; needing much more, new or different furniture; or figuring out how to turn a blank slate into something far more exciting.
The latter was the case with a house on a lovely street in Newton, Massachusetts. The clients are a young family with 2 kids who moved from a condo in Boston’s South End seeking more space in a good school district. They purchased a brand new build by a local Newton Builder, who left the space move-in ready, but very plain. Or in this case, Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely color, but it covered the entire interior. Check out some of these before photos.
Original Living Room
Original Dining Room
Original Kitchen
With two working parents juggling their day jobs, and a house move, they called me looking for a way to make their space feel warm, inviting and functional. Let’s take a look at the before and after.
The kitchen had just been renovated before they bought the house and they did not want to make any substantial changes. So we simply added a pop color by painting existing chairs red to match some new lighting, pendants by Gubi, wall color Farrow and Ball’s Oval Room Blue and window treatments out of Matthew Williamson’s at Osborne and Little .
In the living room we started with the one amazing fabric by Romo Black Edition and rugs? We chose a sectional from Mitchel Gold Bob Williams to maximize the space, brought in some wood elements to warm it up along with shades in Romo fabric and the ultimate centerpiece, art by Rene Schuler.
In the dining room we started with glamorous wallpaper by Kelly Wearstler and a golden rug by Loloi. The contrast wainscotting in an elegant plum makes the room. Again, I brought in wood with a vintage burl wood table that I scored on Chairish. The curtains are made with one of my favorite textile designers Seema Krish and are hand blocked and embroidered in India.
Brought layers of blue to the bedroom with a bed from ABC Home and side tables from Anthropolgie for a serene yet colorful space. My favorite piece in the room is a recovered chaise in Timorous Beasties fabric on top of a Moroccan rug, a perfect spot to read bedtime stories.
There was a long hall out to the garage and we added a mudroom and painted it a dramatic shade of blue, Hague Blue by Farrow and Ball and brought to life with my client’s gorgeous art from Jackson, Wyoming.
In the office, the desk is midcentury, with a chair recovered in Paul Smith for Maharam velvet stripe.
And adding butterfly wallpaper by Timorous Beasties to a powder room made the space feel more whimsical than utilitarian.
While it can feel daunting to move into a space with a lot of space and little character, starting with an interior plan that takes into account lifestyle, flow, and function can be more easily achieved. Choosing color, texture, a mix of eclectic furnishings and layering accessories and vintage pieces can be transformational – part of the secret sauce that makes a house a home.
