Project Spotlight: St. Paul, MN

I really love beautiful old homes, and it’s such a treat every time we get to work on one. Often our task is to update them for modern life, but this is one where we are indulging in a little bit of old-fashioned decorating.

Phase 1 includes the main living spaces. On the main floor we are designing the living room, dining room, and sunroom. The house is a tudor and my inspiration has been a certain brand of English decorating that includes classic traditional shapes (think roll arm sofas and one armed chaises) in a fun mix of classic fabrics. All of our fabrics and most of our wallcoverings are from English brands (Osborne and Little, Jane Churchill, Colefax and Fowler, Cole and Son) and we have a mashup of velvet, tweed, wool plaid, and herringbone. It has also been fun to source more traditional case pieces, and we are still on the hunt for the perfect antique secretary or vitrine.

Phase 2, which is mid-stream, includes the main bedroom, a home gym and home office, plus stairwell, hall bath, and a light kitchen refresh. The clients are a couple in their 40s with no kids, and we encouraged them to really USE all the rooms in the house for their year-round needs. Thus the other bedrooms became a bath ensuite plus the gym and office spaces.

We have been trying to slow down and enjoy the process of shopping for these projects and allowing the joy of discovery and collecting over time. Just last week I found the perfect tole scalloped chandelier for the stairwell at H&B Gallery, before I had even started looking.

We will share snippets as this one develops. Wallpaper is happening in the next two weeks and there are some bold selections going in!