For a longtime client who’d recently moved to Sleepy Hollow, New York, Joyce Sitterly converted a characterless new-build house into an exuberant retreat.
In the primary bedroom, a pear-tree mural by Kit Kemp and a palm-frond-patterned rug found on 1stDibs establish a semitropical vibe. Spode plates atop the heirloom nightstands add a personal note.
Although the homeowner’s schnoodle, Fritz, has a pagoda-roofed dog sofa beside a George Smith armchair in a corner of the room, he often stretches out on the curvy cane bed.
“My client is somewhat larger than life, and that comes across in her spaces,” Sitterly says. “The combinations in the house are so unexpected, and there’s always something new to see.”
In the bright kitchen of a beach house in Mashpee, Massachusetts, designer Liz Caan covered the cupboards and refrigerator in a pale gray blue that mirrors the Atlantic waters beyond the windows. Brass pulls visually connect the storage to the La Cornue range and the sink fixtures.
“This kitchen was designed to support a family of five plus guests in a summer home,” Caan says. “We wanted to maximize the dedicated square footage and also the views of the ocean outside.”
At the center of the room is a substantial island fashioned from a repurposed wooden cabinet. “The island was the icing on the cake,” Caan says. “A vintage piece that gives the room patina and purpose and sparks conversation.”
A converted barn in Mastic, New York, by Carrier and Company Interiors pairs functional farmstead architecture with a muted color scheme evocative of a Cotswold cottage.
In the living room, rough boards — left raw, washed, painted and stained — line the walls, floors, ceilings and even an oversize sliding door that opens to the landscape. Understated hues define the striped sofa, reclaimed-wood coffee table, wicker armchairs and lamps made from weathered baluster.
“Our vision was a relaxed English country living room that felt sun washed and quietly romantic,” says Jesse Carrier, who runs the firm with his wife, Mara Miller. “Soft pastels create a gentle backdrop, while rustic woods, woven textures and patinated finishes keep the space grounded and prevent the palette from feeling overly sweet.”
On an estate dubbed The Strand in Dana Point, California, Ohara Davies-Gaetano merged three oceanfront structures into a single expansive residence. “Rooted in a coastal setting, this project draws its interior palette from the ever-shifting tones of sky and sea,” Davies-Gaetano says.
In the foyer, heritage objects play against sea-salt plaster walls to form depth of character. An 18th-century Gustavian bench sits beneath an antique French painting reminiscent of Monet’s hazy landscapes, while floors made from reclaimed 18th-century oak display a darker patina underfoot.
“In the early morning light, a soft lilac — infused with the palest hint of gray — emerges as a defining influence. The color evokes a quiet, mesmerizing serenity that feels as atmospheric as it is emotional,” Davies-Gaetano says. “The result is a layered, immersive mood — one that mirrors the painting’s own quiet intensity.”
To give a builder’s spec house in East Hampton, New York, a dose of character, designer Heidi Caillier transformed the primary bedroom, starting with a coat of Benjamin Moore’s soothing Quietly Violet.
She then layered the space with whimsical pieces, including a Stephen White Luminessence light sculpture and a Bradley Sabin installation of ceramic flowers. More down-to-earth are the custom live-edge headboard, BDDW nightstands and vintage Boréns Borås sconces sourced from 1stDibs.
An Ib Madsen and Acton Schubell Pragh armchair, also found on 1stDibs, holds its own near the windows. “We covered it in this pretty Pierre Frey pink,” Caillier says. “It’s the perfect piece for this bedroom and such an ideal place to read and relax.” A Josef Frank tripod floor lamp and a 19th-century English work stool fill out the reading corner.
“I never present ideas to the client that I don’t love,” Caillier says. “I will often show two options: the one I really, really want to do and the one they actually might prefer. Even if I want to push something to a certain point, I’m aware that it may be going too far for the client and am prepared to rein it in. Clients have to actually live in their houses, and they have to love them.”
Celerie Kemble hints at her Palm Beach roots in her design for this Manhattan kitchen, where pastels enliven the dining nook. A floor hand-painted in robin’s-egg blue and cream echoes the abstract canvas on the wall above Eero Saarinen’s Pedestal table and Tulip chairs, which are upholstered, like the banquette, in an unexpected lavender leatherette.
“It is in the quirks that things become distinctive, that interiors become animated by life and nourished by their inhabitants,” Kemble says.
“Every house I do is totally different,” she adds. “I want to create rooms that are comfortable and classic, but also with a sense of what feels fresh, timely and personal.”
In a young couple’s Brooklyn high-rise apartment, three arched windows in the living room provided the starting point for designer Darren Jett. Every corner of the home feels lilting and dreamy. Nowhere is this atmosphere more apparent than in the reading room, devised as a personal haven for the wife.
Jett coated the walls and ceiling in a peachy buff paint, deploying sheer curtains and Studio Variously’s Arc Coral silk pillows to match. These are offset by a bamboo-stalk daybed veiled in a diaphanous cotton canopy.
The unmistakable silhouette of bamboo also appears in the Maison Baguès floor lamp, next to an über-comfy shearling chair and ottoman. “The idea was to give it warmth,” Jett says of his vision for the project.
A well-designed room, he adds, “should transport people, which only happens if you and the client have a vision and commit to it.”
In the sunroom of a house on Lake Michigan, Chicago-based Sasha Adler assembled a mélange of antiques and bespoke furnishings in a variety of tempered jewel tones.
A custom blush sofa is flanked by a pair of 19th-century painted Swedish chests from Debenham, each topped with a different Mario Lopez Torres bird lamp. Nearby, a French three-arm floor lamp and four coral-colored ottomans from Disegno Karina Gentinetta add a contemporary moment.
Enveloping the scene is a leafy wallpaper that mimics the foliage outside the windows. “I like a home that doesn’t feel one-note,” Adler says. “I want the eye to stop and pause at various items and have it be an interesting mix.”
Pale greens bring an aura of lushness to this bedroom in a Chicago home with interiors by Alessandra Branca. The delicate shade introduces a fresh seasonality while maintaining the composure of traditionality.
“I envisioned a bedroom that felt like early spring all year round!” Branca says. “I have always felt the lighter versions of green to be more restful and calming.”
Pattern-wise, she juxtaposed a fanciful floral fabric used for the wallcovering and curtains with a plaid textile in the same hues on the headboard, bed skirt and tablecloth. The verdant color is complemented by lustrous finishes to give the room visual richness.
“Keeping the balance is what it is always about,” Branca says. “I use a soft color and then punctuate the space with something lacquered or japanned, as I feel it gives the interior more depth.”
