Room of the Day: Softly Elegant Look for a Formal Parlor Room
A design duo adds modern touches that honor historic architectural details while bringing the room up to date
This historic home near Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square had served as a Civil War museum before this young family moved in. Luckily, many beautiful original details in the 1858 home, like the fireplace surround and moldings, were well-preserved. “We wanted to add some more modern touches to balance things out,” says interior designer Kiley Baun, who, along with her Shophouse partner, Betsy Helm, tackled the project. The result is a formal room where the adults can relax and gather that honors the historic architecture.
However, the designers did not want elaborate ornamentation to overwhelm the room. “We wanted to blend the traditional architecture with more modern design,” Baun says. To add texture, the designers added a flat-weave Greek key rug atop a natural fiber rug, which provides a border. “The graphic rug tones down some of the more ornamental elements,” she says. “These are the original floors with all of their distressed charm.”
Grids of framed sheet music add more clean lines on either side of the mirror. One of the homeowners “had a career in music on Broadway, and we wanted to add something that spoke to that — after looking at Degas ballerinas and that sort of thing, we came across the sheet music and knew it was just the thing,” Helm says.
Flanking the fireplace are new built-ins. The white adds a more modern touch, while the designers chose door details to match the original large doors in the house. The built-ins are topped with marble, and the hardware is brass. The cabinetry makes it easy to store bar supplies, while the marble counters make it easy to set up a bar for cocktail parties. The room was designed with the adults in mind, but games and toys for the kids have also found their way into the cabinets.
The upholstered armchairs also have more modern lines. “These are the most comfortable chairs we’ve ever spec’ed for a client in our whole lives,” Baun says. “We wish we could use them for every project!”
Greek key rug: Jaipur; framed prints: Restoration Hardware; Corby chair: Lee Jofa
Grids of framed sheet music add more clean lines on either side of the mirror. One of the homeowners “had a career in music on Broadway, and we wanted to add something that spoke to that — after looking at Degas ballerinas and that sort of thing, we came across the sheet music and knew it was just the thing,” Helm says.
Flanking the fireplace are new built-ins. The white adds a more modern touch, while the designers chose door details to match the original large doors in the house. The built-ins are topped with marble, and the hardware is brass. The cabinetry makes it easy to store bar supplies, while the marble counters make it easy to set up a bar for cocktail parties. The room was designed with the adults in mind, but games and toys for the kids have also found their way into the cabinets.
The upholstered armchairs also have more modern lines. “These are the most comfortable chairs we’ve ever spec’ed for a client in our whole lives,” Baun says. “We wish we could use them for every project!”
Greek key rug: Jaipur; framed prints: Restoration Hardware; Corby chair: Lee Jofa
The Victorian framed settee had been left behind in the house when the homeowners bought it. It was in bad shape and was even missing a leg, but the designers loved it and knew it was perfect for the house. They had it restored and reupholstered in velvet, adding a few more graphic touches via the David Hicks La Fiorentina fabric on the throw pillows.
Paint by Benjamin Moore: Revere Pewter (walls) and Mascarpone (trim); coffee table: Worlds Away; pillows: Arianna Belle with David Hicks’ La Fiorentina fabric; sofa fabric: Gastón y Daniela
Paint by Benjamin Moore: Revere Pewter (walls) and Mascarpone (trim); coffee table: Worlds Away; pillows: Arianna Belle with David Hicks’ La Fiorentina fabric; sofa fabric: Gastón y Daniela
The gorgeous Parisian-looking chandelier was also already here and set the tone for the room. Because the family enjoy the natural light during the day and wanted more ambience at night, the chandelier and recessed lights in the ceiling are the only sources of electric light they need.
The glass and brass coffee table keeps an open feeling and the view of the Greek key rug clear. Brass and gold touches — on the picture frames, tables, drapery hardware and other accessories — warm up the room.
While the design duo usually like window treatments that just graze the floor, they went for puddles in here to honor the home’s history — excess fabric was a way someone who owned a house like this would show off back in the day. “The more puddle you had, the more money you had!” — the designers say this in perfect unison, proving that as they claimed to me earlier, they are “basically the same person.”
The glass and brass coffee table keeps an open feeling and the view of the Greek key rug clear. Brass and gold touches — on the picture frames, tables, drapery hardware and other accessories — warm up the room.
While the design duo usually like window treatments that just graze the floor, they went for puddles in here to honor the home’s history — excess fabric was a way someone who owned a house like this would show off back in the day. “The more puddle you had, the more money you had!” — the designers say this in perfect unison, proving that as they claimed to me earlier, they are “basically the same person.”
A way of controlling the homeowners’ black cat, who likes to climb on every new thing they have immediately, is hidden in this beautiful spray bottle. A friendly threat of a little squirt of water from the bottle keeps the cat off the new upholstery. And the bottle fits right into the scheme.
“We love to blend traditional architecture with more modern design,” Baun says.
“And this room is so them — they are this room,” Helm adds.
Browse more Rooms of the Day
“We love to blend traditional architecture with more modern design,” Baun says.
“And this room is so them — they are this room,” Helm adds.
Browse more Rooms of the Day
Parlor Room at a Glance
What happens here: Morning coffee, soaking up great natural light, evening entertaining, drinks with friends
Location: Philadelphia
Size: About 500 square feet (46.5 square meters)
Designer: Shophouse
Dubbed “The Parlor,” this is a room geared toward the adults (there is a great room for watching TV and a playroom in the townhouse more suitable for the kids and family activities). The room is the first thing you see once you enter the home, and it feels like a Parisian apartment where a salon would be held. “And you totally take on that persona when you’re in there!” Baun says with a laugh.
The original fireplace, with its ornate wood mantel and mosaic tile surround, was an obvious focal point. The style and colors of the fireplace influenced the design team’s approach to the entire room. The pair found a beautiful brass antique mirror that plays off the style of the wood carvings and stands up to the 15-foot-high ceilings. “We really needed to fill that space with something that was the right scale, and the details on top of the mirror lead the eye up,” Helm says.