A Westport, Connecticut Home Filled with Vibrant Color and Pattern

When it came time to move out of their Rowayton summer home, the homeowners planned to leave their lime green couch behind, but, ultimately, they couldn’t bear the thought of it. “It was just so comfortable,” says the wife. Instead, the color became the springboard for their new primary residence in Westport.

The living room, with its Schumacher wallpaper and paintings by Hadley Rampton and Christen Yates, is the wife’s—and Gus the cockapoo’s—favorite spot in the house.

In lieu of a formal dining room, designer Whitney McNell devised cozy corner banquettes upholstered in Schumacher for more intimate mealtimes.

In the lounge, photography by Colm Henry (yes, that’s Bono) and Slim Aarons brings an edgy vibe.

McNell customized a vintage bar with bamboo trim and covered its surface with Schumacher paper topped with glass.

McNell added the tassel to the Ro Sham Beaux rattan lantern; an OKA table between a pair of Lucite chairs offers a place to drop drinks.

Long story short, it was their daughters, both college athletes, who brought one couple and their teenage son from the heat of Dallas to the sea breezes of Westport. They left behind a home swathed in quiet, neutral colors utilized to combat the region’s toasty temps for a hexagonal-shaped abode they lovingly refer to as The Honeycomb (it’s also a tribute to the family’s late cockapoo, Honey).

“What’s interesting about this house is that all the rooms are irregularly shaped,” says the homeowner, a finance-executive-turned-artist. “They each have a distinct look and yet everything flows.”

That flow comes courtesy of interior designer Whitney McNell, who the homeowner discovered on Instagram and hired to design the couple’s first northeastern foray, a summer home in Rowayton. When the family decided to make Connecticut their year-round homebase, they tasked McNell with incorporating furnishings from Rowayton, Dallas, and a vacation home in Palm Beach—not to mention a treasured art collection—all under one roof. “We set about creating a meeting of the genres they love without it being too chaotic,” says McNell.

Because they were relocating to be closer to family, a gathering theme runs throughout, especially in the living room and adjacent lounge, which the previous owner used as a formal dining room. “There’s no dining room in the house now, just a breakfast nook off the kitchen,” says McNell. “Instead, we used banquettes to create casual, family-oriented spaces to enjoy meals.”

A vintage bar trekked north from Florida and reimagined by McNell (she added the chocolate-colored lacquered bamboo trim) acts as the focal point of the lounge. The window treatments were crafted from the summer home’s drapery and zhuzhed up with raffia trim. “I’m grateful that they loved the Rowayton house so much they weren’t willing to part with some of the furnishings,” says McNell.

The little-bit-of-this, little-bit-of-that vignette-inspired design acts as a visual reminder of the family’s lifestyle. “This house has such accessibility and such a warm feeling,” says the homeowner. “It resonates with why we wanted to move to the Northeast to begin with. We wanted a place to spend time with our kids and our family—a place where everyone feels at ease.”

Project Team
Interior design: McNell Interiors

Styled by Parker Bowie Larson