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Houzz Tour: Playful Yet Sophisticated Design for a Young Family
A designer layers her clients’ personalities onto the blank white slate of new construction in Atlanta
“This home was beautifully designed new construction, but it didn’t have any of the personality my clients were looking for,” interior designer Elle Cantrell says. “We wanted to respect the bones of the house while adding color, texture and fun to make it feel like them.” The designer knew one of the homeowners from their book club, so she had a good sense of her client’s personality. And the couple’s vibrant art collection gave her insight into their style. On top of that, she kept things comfortably family-friendly, as the couple have three young daughters.
The black cabinet was the first piece the homeowners purchased together as a couple. Although this home was a new build, the architecture’s extensive millwork and windows nod to the neighborhood, which is full of 1920s and ’30s Arts and Crafts bungalows. Cantrell layered the room with pieces from different eras to give it a collected-over-time look. This meant the Eames chair and ottoman the wife had given to her husband as a special gift fit right in with the design. And its comfort is much appreciated.
The splatter paint pattern on the Roman shades adds a dash of fun. “It’s playful yet sophisticated,” Cantrell says. Elements like these shades and the brightly colored pillows keep the formal living room from feeling stuffy.
The splatter paint pattern on the Roman shades adds a dash of fun. “It’s playful yet sophisticated,” Cantrell says. Elements like these shades and the brightly colored pillows keep the formal living room from feeling stuffy.
The kitchen’s finishes were already beautiful, so Cantrell didn’t do much in the working portion of the space. She did help the homeowners with accessorizing and choosing the counter stools. And the large window in the breakfast area was an opportunity to add yards of the same splatter paint fabric used in the living room.
Browse counter stools in the Houzz Shop
Browse counter stools in the Houzz Shop
In the breakfast room, Cantrell knew some pieces from the couple’s art collection could add a big splash of color. “Every year their children’s school auctions off paintings as a fundraiser,” she says. “The paintings are reinterpretations of famous paintings, by the children. These are from the year when they reinterpreted Van Gogh’s Starry Night.” Cantrell knew they’d be just right for bringing color and movement to the space.
The designer also helped them find the right furniture for the breakfast area. “The table and chairs are very wipeable,” she says. She also commissioned the light fixture, another playful yet sophisticated piece.
The designer also helped them find the right furniture for the breakfast area. “The table and chairs are very wipeable,” she says. She also commissioned the light fixture, another playful yet sophisticated piece.
The mudroom entry had great bones and functioned well for the family. Existing elements include the durable slate floor and the cubbies and benches. Cantrell infused the space with personality, bringing in a painted cabinet her clients already had, hanging art, adding sky blue to the ceiling and painting the door yellow. “This door is like a little ray of sunshine,” she says.
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Hire a cabinet pro
“My client just knew she had to use Hague Blue by Farrow & Ball in the dining room,” Cantrell says. The homeowner had also found the midcentury dining table and chairs. Working with the color scheme, the designer had her shop reupholster the chairs in a flame-stitch textile. She also had the shop make the drapes, which include 6 inches of a swirling embroidered fabric trim.
The light fixture is antiqued glass with a funky contemporary silhouette. It’s a piece that blends styles and eras in the same way Cantrell blended them throughout the house.
Chandelier: Currey & Co.; drapery fabric: Pindler; drapery trim fabric: Schumacher
The light fixture is antiqued glass with a funky contemporary silhouette. It’s a piece that blends styles and eras in the same way Cantrell blended them throughout the house.
Chandelier: Currey & Co.; drapery fabric: Pindler; drapery trim fabric: Schumacher
A large abstract piece of art from the couple’s collection fits in beautifully with the color scheme. In the adjacent butler’s pantry on the right, you can catch a glimpse of an iconic wallpaper by Scalamandré. (You may recognize it from the film The Royal Tenenbaums.) The zebras in the print leap across the pantry walls.
This special space was intended to be a first-floor bedroom, but the family didn’t need it to serve as one. Instead, Cantrell transformed it into a work-from-home office for the parents and a homework and arts and crafts space for the kids.
“This table and these chairs are totally wipeable so that the kids can paint here, but it also works well as a desk for the adults when they need it,” the designer says. A vine-patterned wallpaper adds a playful surprise on the ceiling.
“This table and these chairs are totally wipeable so that the kids can paint here, but it also works well as a desk for the adults when they need it,” the designer says. A vine-patterned wallpaper adds a playful surprise on the ceiling.
Cantrell custom-designed these built-ins to hold books, games and art and office supplies. She added corkboard and a picture rail to display the girls’ art. “This was so much fun to feature as a focal point and is such a good reflection of the people who live here,” she says.
This full bathroom is located off the office-craft room and serves as a powder room for the first floor. Cantrell added personality to the space with a woodsy wallcovering, a jewel-tone shower curtain and other accessories.
Browse shower curtains in the Houzz Shop
Browse shower curtains in the Houzz Shop
The homeowners’ bedroom design started with the bed. “My client told me she wanted something really interesting that she’d never seen before,” Cantrell says. She found a bed that breaks from tradition with its dramatically carved posts. It checked off all her client’s must-have characteristics and then some. The curvy nightstands play off the shapes in the bed posts. Futuristic swing-arm sconces layer in a more contemporary look. Ikat and a painterly abstract print add pattern to the bed.
Ferret bed: Noir
Ferret bed: Noir
The strong presence of the posts as well as their height stand up to the room’s high ceiling. So do the drapes, which emphasize verticality. “We chose an embroidered fabric to add texture and interest,” Cantrell says.
The color palette is soft and soothing. “We started with the rug and plucked colors from it. It was a nice balance of light and dark and so is the room,” Cantrell says. The walls are painted Plummett by Farrow & Ball.
Cantrell sourced three antique French hand-beaded glass funerary flowers from the Victorian era. She had them framed and hung above the dresser.
The color palette is soft and soothing. “We started with the rug and plucked colors from it. It was a nice balance of light and dark and so is the room,” Cantrell says. The walls are painted Plummett by Farrow & Ball.
Cantrell sourced three antique French hand-beaded glass funerary flowers from the Victorian era. She had them framed and hung above the dresser.
The designer also worked some of the homeowners’ existing pieces into the space, including a pair of dressers.
The artwork over the dresser was a new addition and part of Cantrell’s design. It’s by painter Michelle Armas.
The artwork over the dresser was a new addition and part of Cantrell’s design. It’s by painter Michelle Armas.
The homeowners had reupholstered this antique chair right before hiring Cantrell and she knew it would work well in here. “When I saw the ombré pillow, I bought it on the spot without even asking my client. I knew it had to live in this house,” she says.
Like the rest of the house, the bathroom had great bones but was a blank slate. “It was all white and was very, very cold. We had to warm it up,” Cantrell says. She hung one of her clients’ existing paintings over the tub, and it provided color inspiration. Then she brought in color and texture by covering the walls in a blue vinyl grasscloth wallpaper, adding a window seat cushion, installing new sconces, hanging wood mirrors and laying a runner with a well-worn look on the floor.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their three daughters
Location: Virginia-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta
Size: 5,000 square feet (465 square meters); six bedrooms, five bathrooms
Designer: Elle Cantrell of Elle Du Monde
“My clients’ art collection drove a lot of the design and gave me a good idea of their style,” Cantrell says. After she and the homeowners admired work by Salt Lake City artist Holly Addi at a local gallery, the designer helped them commission the piece over the fireplace. It served as the jumping-off point for their living room. Cantrell worked with her book club friend during the design process. “The husband was pretty laid-back and hands-off, but she had a good idea of what she wanted,” Cantrell says.
The only TV in the house is in the finished basement. “They did not want a TV in the living room,” Cantrell says. “They love to read, wanted to relax and hang out as a family in here in the evenings, as well as entertain in here.” She chose fabrics that would work well for a household with young children. The sofa has a removable linen slipcover and the pillows are a cotton velvet performance fabric.
Cantrell worked with their existing pieces, such as the standing piano (all three girls take lessons), provided lots of comfortable seating and tied in colors from the painting. The new light fixture is LED. “It provides a really nice glow at night,” the designer says.
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