Three Living Rooms Designed for Gathering

In an unexpected twist, black wallpaper helps lighten up this dark, shadowy living room. The sofa was reupholstered by Partners in Design in a Rose Tarlow Melrose House fabric.

Clean-lined A. Rudin occasional chairs flank the intricately detailed fireplace.

Relocated from another room in the house, the piano helps define the long space, which is just shy of twenty-eight feet.

Back to Black

The living room in this stately 1869 Newton, Massachusetts, home was rich with period details: quartersawn-oak woodwork, leaded glass, and coffered ceilings. But mostly, says interior designer Sarah Cole, it was dark. “The client wanted to update and brighten a very grand space,” she says, “and I knew it would take more than a refresh. Painting the woodwork was out of the question.” Instead, the Newton designer leaned into the room’s drama, embraced its history, and lobbied for a surprising inspiration piece: black Lewis & Wood wallpaper with a botanical vibe. “I persuaded the client that dark paper would soften the contrast of the wood and allow the furnishings to stand out,” Cole says. She gave new life to some older pieces by changing out fabrics and worked with Julie Mussafer of Jules Place to select new art. Table lamps with petal-like bases tie everything together, says Cole. “We picked up the branches and wood tones of the wallpaper throughout the design and introduced a bit of a garden theme.”

Project Team
Interior design: Sarah Cole Interiors
Photography: Sean Litchfield
Styling: Sean William Donovan

A sentimental etching by Pauline Curtiss of the client’s home in Italy rests on a cast-stone fireplace mantel. Contemporary touches include a Stark rug and custom glass coffee table from Old Biscayne Designs.

A modern wing chair and ottoman from Lee Industries are upholstered in Brentano velvet.

The room was designed with optimal seating in mind. The sofas are Thom Filicia for Kravet, and the swivel chairs are covered in a Romo pumpkin linen.

Old World Inspiration

A nod to the past and love for the client’s ancestral home inspired this gracious living and entertaining space in Osterville, Massachusetts. “The family has roots in the Abruzzo region of Italy, so we wanted to honor that, even as we did a down-to-the-studs renovation,” says interior designer Jill Najnigier of JN Interior Spaces in Boston. Najnigier used a large, moody painting from the client’s collection as the starting point, “which instantly gave the room a sense of place.” She commissioned artist Pauline Curtiss to make an etching of the client’s childhood home; it now occupies a place of honor above the mantel. Clay roof tiles from their current home in Italy morphed into sconces that hang near the entry to the room. Najnigier found the Stark wool-and-silk rug early in the design process, and it inspired the custom glass-and-brass-finish coffee table. The room’s ample seating includes Thom Filicia for Kravet sofas and a pair of swivel chairs that allow for both conversation and a glimpse at the water outside the windows.

Project Team
Interior design: JN Interior Spaces
Photography: Greg Premru
Styling: Sean William Donovan

More is more in this living room, furnished with a mix of hardworking prints, stripes, and solids. The skirted sofas are Brunschwig & Fils, the upholstered ottoman is from Sibyl Colefax, and the rug is Elizabeth Eakins.

Global notes abound: the block-printed sofa pillows are from a small village near Jaipur.

Traditional notes include armchairs that are covered in a stylized Kerman print from Lee Jofa. The woven end tables are antiques, and the much-loved mirror behind the sofa (from the client’s childhood bedroom) was purchased at an antiques store in the 1990s.

Prints Charming

Old met new in this renovation of a historic family home in Providence—and they hit it off famously. “I love seeing young families interested in more traditional furnishings,” says Rhode Island-based interior designer Alison Hammatt. “This living room has a very classic look and feel, but we chose furnishings, especially fabrics, that are kid friendly. We wanted a mix of very playful prints. I always say that pattern is your friend. It’s really forgiving, and I believe we’re meant to use our living rooms.” Hammatt deftly combined existing pieces and new ones; drapery fabric that had been in the house for thirty years was reworked into modern-day window coverings. “We were looking around and agreed the drapes were awful, but the fabric was lovely, so we had our workroom update the style.” The clients had been collecting art for a while, but the designer proposed that they install it in different ways. Says Hammatt: “This is very much in line with the work I do. From the lampshades down to the rugs, my heart was singing throughout this project.”

Project Team
Interior Design: Alison Hammat Home
Photography: Jane Beiles
Styling: Kerryn Connoly