“Our house is what I love to call ‘ironic traditional’ — meaning it is an older house which isn’t formal or stuffy and definitely has a sense of humor,” says interior designer Katie Rosenfeld. The house, constructed in 1901, is a part of the older guard and authentic to New England Cape style, on a block dotted with new builds.
Rosenfeld, who moved to Boston from Los Angeles, didn’t want to put her family through a different renovation. “We spent the greater part of this year in temporary housing while we remodeled our older midcentury home in Los Angeles, only to be moved eight weeks after moving to your house. I simply couldn’t ask my family to live through another protracted remodel, so that I challenged a builder to help me do things on time — he did,” says Rosenfeld.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Katie Rosenfeld, her husband and their two teen daughters
Location: Weston, Massachusetts
Size: 3,900 square feet; 4 bedrooms, 4 baths
Style challenge: To buy, redecorate and move into the house in 60 days
Michael J. Lee Photography
The designer chosen and ordered all materials and fabrics within an home-remodel flash — a bit over two weeks. “I did about six months worth of work in 60 days. The entire process was a bit like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but it was my home and my design options,” says Rosenfeld.
Splashy Jonathan Adler throw pillows and a green apple martini side table from West Elm happily coexist with vintage chairs clad in vintage Clarence House cloth. Animal prints, traditional fabrics, natural materials and splashy colors at the home office are mixed and layered without a pattern or colour note in discord.
Animal print sisal carpet: Stark Carpet
Michael J. Lee Photography
Before Rosenfeld’s older daughter became a teenager, this preppy pink and green bedroom was her domain name. The seats, beds and background are all vintage, a “throwback, midcentury Sister Parish design,” says Rosenfeld. After Rosenfeld’s older daughter moved into a room that reflected her teen status, the younger daughter transferred in from her “teeny bedroom” to this one.
A few pieces like the beds and wallpaper endured the change of hands, but not everything in the area remained the same. Rosenfeld, along with her younger daughter, made a few adjustments to reveal and reflect the new inhabitant’s character.
Background, bedskirt and headboards: Burma Green, Sister Parish Design; wool carpet: Wilton Weave, Stark Carpet; double beds and benches: vintage; desk: West Elm; yells: Lands Down Under; pair of table lamps: habit, vintage Chinese porcelain vases
Michael J. Lee Photography
The designer removed the majority of the pink punches and also added a color that she felt best represented her spirited daughter — crimson, and a lot of it — using “dabs of magenta” and an animal print carpet on the ground that tickles the eyes and feet with its zany design.
Michael J. Lee Photography
The pair of sunburst mirrors and black lampshade give a glam feel to the room; they will probably survive another cosmetic makeover when Rosenfeld’s younger daughter leaves a long time and dives into adolescent life — the ideal time for her to find her mom’s penchant forHollywood Regency style and “traditional with a twist.”
Michael J. Lee Photography
The older daughter’s brand new bedroom packs a pink punch with all the headboard and fabric options. The nail-trim headboard and sophisticated boutique hotel feel of this room are mark of more refined, grown-up tastes.
Headboard: habit, Lee Jofa Baker Lifestyle; carpeting: zebra axminster, Stark Carpet
Michael J. Lee Photography
Rosenfeld, a fan of green, chose Farrow & Ball’s Card Room Green for her living room walls. The designer loves sudden colour pairings; here brings together greens and purple tones with abundant draperythat lavishly pools around the ground.
Michael J. Lee Photography
This corner in the living area adds the highest note to the space, with its gilded mirror and also blend of black and metallic against teal. Fanciful details like a gold-dipped elephant lamp, a gilded ornate mirror, a yellow ceramic cat and a bronze neoclassical end table give the corner flair.
Michael J. Lee Photography
Natural materials like the sisal carpeting, bamboo and branches shades warm up a luxuriously draped and styled dining area.
Michael J. Lee Photography
In precisely the same manner, the grass cloth wallpaper and neutral tones here add a sense of ease for this family room’s sitting room and provide a backdrop for its layering of patterns and colours in the decor.
Michael J. Lee Photography
Rosenfeld’s home office is a study in teal. The colour, when paired with the neutral tones of the walls, ceilings and floor, feels refreshing and doesn’t take away from your room’s bright and airy attributes.
Drapes: Nirvana Shadow, Lee Jofa; velvet sofa: habit, Kravet; bench cloth: Peacock, Zenyatya Mondatta, Schumacher; golden seat: vintage; art: private selection; walls: Matchstick, Farrow & Ball; ceiling: Pale Powder, Farrow & Ball
Michael J. Lee Photography
Although the designer overlooks her Los Angeles home’s open floor plan, “cool factor” and twisting driveway, Rosenfeld has come to appreciate her light-filled, shingled New England home — “low dormers, creaky floors” and all.
More:
Browse traditional homes
Become a Pattern Mix Master