A Colorful Storybook Cottage

The suburban home has storybook appeal with a steep roof and arched doorway with a fanciful eyebrow overhang, which builder Kells Construction fabricated on-site.

A new archway leads to the home office, which occupies a former drafty sunroom. The barrel chair is a family heirloom. A lantern-style light fixture from Coleen & Company adds color and plays to the indoor/outdoor vibe.

There is a symbiosis between the traditional millwork and the bespoke color scheme that gives the living room a fresh flair while also paying homage to the house’s 1920s style. Interior painting is by Bruno’s Painting & Restoration. The original casement windows were replaced with new versions that maintain the storybook sensibilities of the house’s architecture.

An archway connects the front entry to the living room where a photograph on acrylic by Laura Zachry introduces a modern element.

Lantern-style pendants from Coleen & Company and floral fabrics from Betsy Textiles on the seating and window treatments in the renovated kitchen set a cheerful tone.

Adjacent to the kitchen is the dining area; the table by Dunes and Duchess expands to seat ten.

“I didn’t want there to be an ounce of wasted space,” says designer Rhonda Everts, who tucked a powder room off the first-floor front hall.

The colorful theme extends to the patio, a private oasis thanks to the plantings of Ferre Landscape & Management. The orange tables are from oomph, and the seating is by Celerie Kemble for Lane Venture.

The owner’s love of color and floral prints is carried into the guest bedroom with wallpaper by Morris & Co.

The fabric on the upholstered headboard and the wallpaper in the primary bedroom are both from Schumacher.

The floral motif in the bedroom “reminds me of my grandmother, but it is not at all dated,” says the homeowner.

A scallop edge adds a flourish to the custom vanity in the primary bathroom.

Bold Versailles Wallcovering from Dana Gibson makes an energetic backdrop in the guest bath.

Its steep roof reminiscent of a whimsical gothic cottage, the house could have been imagined by Hans Christian Andersen.

Although it needed a lot of work, Rhonda Everts of R. Everts Interiors knew this storybook cottage was perfect for her house-hunting client, a single woman with an appreciation for historic architecture, who wanted something light, bright, and cozy. “It was the home for her because of all the charm it exuded,” says Everts. “This house is a hug.”

“I love that the first floor is just three rooms,” says the homeowner, referencing her living room, renovated kitchen with dining area, and office situated in a now weatherized sunroom. Architect Chris Russ worked with her and Everts to bring the circa-1928 house in suburban Boston into a light-filled, colorful new phase.

They began with the kitchen, which, typical of its era, was small, dark, and cut off from the rest of the house. By removing a wall, they combined it with the adjacent dining room, where new French doors to the patio and garden and a pair of large casement windows allow the now open space to flood with natural light. While the dominant color in cabinetry and marble countertops is white, it is the deep sky blue of the painted pedestal dining table and the lantern-style pendant lights above the island that demands attention. “Rhonda shares my love of color,” says the homeowner. “There is never enough.”

That shared viewpoint plays out in the living room where the main attraction is a wall of bookcases and a window seat custom built by Walter Lane Cabinetmaker and painted a buoyant high-lacquer pistachio green. The bespoke color, also applied to the room’s millwork and fireplace surround, is complemented with blues, oranges, and pinks in floral prints used for window treatments and upholstered furnishings.

The former sunroom picks up on the cottage charm with a new vaulted tongue-in-groove ceiling painted white to reflect the natural light pouring through the weather-tight multipaned windows. Here, too, a judicious pop of color from a lantern-style chandelier in rich royal blue steals the show.

The fairytale metamorphosis continues in the primary suite, a cozy, cohesive, and decidedly feminine retreat. “I wanted it to be a little bit girly,” says Everts, who selected Schumacher’s blithesome Maryam Vine wallpaper to set the tone. “The paper makes the room sing,” says the homeowner.

In the bathroom, the vanity, another custom piece by Walter Lane, is finished with a scalloped detail and painted cornflower blue. Above it, hung against a trellis-pattern wallpaper, is a mirror, its delightfully curvaceous frame painted the same cheerful hue.

Robert Ferre of Ferre Landscape & Management captured the happy essence of the cottage in all the outdoor spaces. The patio and pergola off the dining area were part of the initial architectural design, says Russ, “But then Robert took over,” much to the delight of all involved. Surrounded by lush and colorful plantings, the terrace feels like an outdoor cocoon. “It is really like a little getaway,” says the homeowner. Shangri-la in her own backyard.

Project Team
Architecture: Christopher Russ Architects
Interior design: R. Everts Interiors
Builder: Kells Construction
Landscape design: Ferre Landscape & Management