Before and After: French Country Meets Folk

This project is getting a lot of love, and for good reason! It’s a testament to the power of thoughtful interior design and how decorating can completely transform a space.

While we had some light construction (added a wall and doors to close off a room in the loft, updated flooring throughout, added some built-ins and new tile), most of the transformation in this Tahoe vacation home is thanks to paint, fabric, and dynamic collections. Let’s take a look, shall we?

(And take a look at the rest of the project, here.)

Great Room

This is a classic Tahoe house, with the vaulted wood ceiling and wall of windows. A coat of white paint lets the wood shine! We also maximized the seating and sleeping throughout this home.

Dining / Kitchen

Often with a second home, clients want to furnish and move in quickly. We have had several projects where a larger renovation was a later phase, once the clients experienced the home and had a sense of how much they would truly use it. We kept the kitchen here and drew the idea elsewhere with dozens of baskets. Painting the railing to the loft Farrow and Ball’s Calke Green was one of the most transformative moves we could make.

Kitchen

Isn’t she cute? We used a ruffled valance to connect the cabinets flanking the window, and gave the pendant an upgrade. The new backsplash evokes quilts or otomi textiles, and the simple swap of hardware to include a hit of iron and porcelain truly wakes up the pine cupboards.

Living room and Loft

Another look at the living room. See how the painted railing really defines the height of this space? The client was hesitant but we all agree it was so worth it! The snowshoes on the wall came with the house, and we used them to set off this section of our basket wall, connecting this space to the adjacent kitchen.

Loft

Everyone’s favorite space! It truly feels like a treehouse, and we leaned in with the linen-covered walls. Maximizing seating was again a goal, and with the vintage Italian daybed (in the foreground), this space can also serve to sleep a guest or two. We reupholstered an existing sofa in red gingham fabric (the “house neutral!”) and layered in the cozy patterns and textures. Though there is still a lot going on in this space, coming up here it feels like the noise of the house truly recedes.

Office

Off of the loft main room, tucked into the eaves, we carved out a home office slash game room slash extra bedroom. It is a much-needed private space in a house with an open plan. We made the most of it with new built-ins, a gate-leg table that expands or tucks away, and a daybed with trundle, that acts as a sofa or sleeps 2! Those faux-bois chairs, done up in Pierre Frey, are one of my favorite things in the house.

Lower Level

This space had less character than the rest of the house, thought it does sport nice-sized windows. The clients wanted this level to serve a family, and we delivered with a pull-out couch in this room and a queen bed plus bunkbeds in the adjoining bedroom. The space is funkier than the rest of the house, taking its cues from the vintage Italian foosball table our clients picked up on Paris and the odd little rocking chairs that they found at the flea market, which we recovered in—you guess it—more red gingham!

Lower Level Bar

Rather than tear out this odd little bar, we dosed it with a ton of character. A coat of paint, vintage hardware, shelf, and light, plus a backsplash of some special tiles bring it to life.