Home Tour - Evanston House

Home Tour - Evanston House

INTRODUCTION

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to be writing this blog post. It has been THREE MONTHS since our last home tour because, thank you so much Coronavirus, we haven’t been able to photograph any projects since March!

This project was incredibly special to us. The clients were some of the sweetest people we’ve met, and they moved here from Boston, just like Mike and I. The home they bought was recently renovated and had absolutely gorgeous bones, but also had some quirks, like green paint everywhere, and a living room with an incredibly tricky layout. We were thrilled to get to work with them to modernize things and make the beautiful, unique space truly functional and customized to them.

THE DESIGN PROCESS

The biggest challenge on this project was making some unique existing components blend into the couple’s modern aesthetic. Upon moving in, the paint throughout the first floor was a sage green with taupe trim. Despite the modern kitchen, it made the home feel dated and dark. In an effort to mitigate the cost of repainting everything, we chose wall colors that tied in with the existing trim, but still made the house feel bright and fresh.

Dining Room Before

In the living room, we had an incredibly challenging layout to work with. The open concept floor plan meant that one entire side of the room was open to the kitchen. A second wall was made up entirely of sliding doors to the deck, and the third wall housed a fireplace and a door leading to the screened-in porch. This left us with ONE WALL and some major circulation space to cut into in order to setup a proper seating area for the couple to relax in.

Living Room Before

Lastly we wanted to be sure to highlight the unique architectural details of the house, especially in the master bedroom. Pitched ceilings and incredible skylights gave the room so much potential, and we wanted to be sure to celebrate them.

Master Bedroom Before

Last but not least, the clients have an adorable cat, Gustav, that they wanted to be sure to consider in the design. Not only did we need to choose cat-safe furnishings, but we also wanted to incorporate a cat wall so they could have a space for Gustav to relax in without filling the house with cat-trees and other typical cat accessories.

The moodboard for this project captured the modern, fresh and inviting palette we carried throughout. Clean lines and soft textures add a modern touch, while the color palette introduces mostly neutral tones with warm woods and leathers contrasted by cool grays and blues.

THE REVEAL

The entry to the home needs to make a welcoming first impression, but also needs to be practical for daily life. This one did not have a ton of space for furniture, so we chose a shallow smoke glass console table with a large mirror and shelf above it to give a little drop-down space for keys and mail. A hand-painted vase and dried eucalyptus add a touch of texture and and life to the space.

In the dining room, we incorporated the clients existing table and head chairs, but wanted to introduce some bold contrast to modernize the space and add a little edge to it. A charcoal accent wall along the back provides a dramatic backdrop to white lacquer bar cabinets and their piano. A graphic area rug adds lightness and interest to the room. To cap things off, black mohair sculptural chairs add drama on the side, while a strong linear chandelier catches the eye and mimics the angular head chairs.

Custom sheer drapes and romans made with the same fabric throughout the first floor create a cohesive effect tying the space together visually.

In the living room, we carried in the same charcoal accent paint to tie back to the dining room and highlight the fireplace along the back of the room. In an effort to frame out the room and allow us to fit in a large sectional, we built out a custom cabinet extending into the space and dividing the living room and kitchen while still keeping them open and visually connected. We kept it low, so that the cat can hop on top, and reach the cat wall that we built out along the side of the room.

The custom built in leads behind the large, oversize sectional, to the corner of the room where floating shelves march up the wall, providing a private escape for the cat. While the sectional anchors the room, an accent chair in front of the fireplace rounds out the seating and provides a cozy spot for coffee, while also being cat-safe with it’s wooden exterior. A round wooden coffee table ties the space together and picks up the wood tones from the floor.

A wall-mounted sconce above the sectional provides additional lighting, and black metal C-tables provide flexibility as needed.

Sculptural furnishings and accessories add interest to the space and modernize some otherwise traditional architectural details.

Along the side of the house, a long hallway was begging for something to bring it to life. An oversize curated gallery wall adds a personal touch to the space while still maintaining a modern feel.

No DGI home is complete without a wallpapered powder room. To keep things modern yet elegant, we pulled in a textural “lizard-skin” (faux) wallpaper with a hint of blue to offset the warmth of the wood vanity. A new mirror and wall-sconce help elevate the space and make it feel cohesive with the rest of the home.

Last but not least, the master bedroom got a major update with navy accent walls to highlight the unique architectural details. A dead space beside the fireplace was brought to life with a built-in cabinet and open shelving. Above the fireplace, custom maps highlighting three important cities from the couples’ past were hung adding texture and a personal touch to the space.

To really highlight the ceiling details here, a 48” round mirror fills the extra-high space above a textural wood dresser and floating shelf. Unique, sculptural pieces ares styled atop the dresser to add some character to the space.

This corner was begging for a cozy reading chair. Again, for safety from the cat, we chose a chair with a wooden shell that ties in with the rich wood tones of the dresser and bed. A striped accent pillow mimics the linear nature of the dresser and bead-board ceiling. To complete the corner, a pet-safe money tree adds a pop of green to liven the space up.

To complete the bedroom, nightstands flank either side of the couple’s existing bed, marrying the wood tone in the bed with the dresser and other pieces in the room. Light, casual linen bedding adds a relaxed vibe to the room and a long, indigo lumbar pillow speaks to the soothing piece of art above the bed. Mid-century modern light fixtures tie in throughout the room above the nightstands as well as on the ceiling and dresser.

I hope you enjoyed this home tour half as much as we enjoyed creating this space! Something about this house really reminded me of Cambridge, MA and made this entire project feel very nostalgic and special. I love that we were able to capture the unique and beautiful character of this home.

It felt so good to take you guys through a project again, and we are excited to have many more to share with you in the coming weeks and months! Stay well!

-dgw

Design Team: Devon Wegman

Photography: Dustin Halleck