Inspired by their destination wedding in Key West, Florida, first-time homeowners Matt and Sara Bates brought the island’s balmy color palette back to their Pittsburgh home. Both attorneys desired their 1930s house to allude to the island’s imperial disposition and signature conch houses. “Since Pittsburgh will have long, dreary winters, drenching our house with bright colors aids make us feel warm and cheery year round,” Sara says. The outcome is a refreshing, personalized storybook escape teeming with a soothing palette of light blues and saturated pastels.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Matt and Sara Bates
Location: Regent Square, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Size: 2,100 square feet; 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms
Design challenge: Withplaster walls constructed right on solid brick, hanging draperies and artwork came with a huge learning curve.
Adrienne DeRosa
From a capiz shell chandelier to clay tile flooring in the kitchen beyond, the foyer sets the tone. “Our friends and family always comment that they immediately feel just a tiny bit brighter upon walking into our house,” Sara says.
Sara purchased the gold peacock out of a reduction house shop and spray painted it to match with the sunny message above.
Chandelier: World Market; typography artwork: “Here Comes the Sun,” Etsy
Adrienne DeRosa
A lime green doorway injects the entryway with a lively contrast to the pastel walls. This change in color can be seen everywhere in the house, in textiles and wall colors.
Adrienne DeRosa
The couple struggled with where to start decorating with such an open floor plan. “We moved into this house from a one-bedroom flat, and almost all of our furniture has been left over from school living,” Sara says. “We didn’t have furniture in our living room for approximately half a year, but learned to focus on the rooms where we spent the most time, not let another empty spaces overwhelm us”
Sara and Matt’s living area offers plenty of options for lounging, from napping in the sun-drenched sitting area to gathering about the sectional for cocktails.
Sofa, cocktail table: Arhaus
Adrienne DeRosa
Patterned cushions abound. “I’m generally drawn to bright colors and graphic patterns,” Sara says. “Moroccan motifs just slip in there and here.” Golds and greens create an original contrast with the light blue walls, drawing the eye into the built-in bookshelves.
Accent cushions: T.J.Maxx and Arhaus
Adrienne DeRosa
Delightful vignettes combined by color or circumstance are a special feature throughout the house. This peacock-adorned perfume bottle out of Sara’s mum adds personal warmth and charm for their living room bookshelf.
Glass dish: T.J.Maxx; paint: Sea Exposure, Valspar
Adrienne DeRosa
Matching chairs and overstuffed ottomans make a romantic sitting area in the living area. A side table Sara inherited from her great-grandmother and painted bright red offsets the trendy palette.
A glass console table by a local boutique helps split this area from the home living area. A bowl of seashells from the couple’s travels to Key West, Georgia and the island of St. Lucia sits at the top.
Adrienne DeRosa
Sara chosen weathered wood accents like the decorative mirror and coffee table for a rustic, beach-inspired aesthetic. She painted the backs of the built-in bookshelves in a darker colour to emphasize family keepsakes.
Sunburst mirror: Ballard Designs
Adrienne DeRosa
In the dining area Sara mixed vintage furnishings and funding finds with much more capiz shells and Moroccan prints. “A Moroccan wedding blanket is high on my wish list, and I’d really like to utilize it as a throw rug in a light-traffic area,” she says.
Sideboard: Furnish; dining chairs: Ikea; capiz chandelier, drapery: West Elm
Adrienne DeRosa
Liquor bottles mix with artwork and mementos out of Matt and Sara’s wedding to a sideboard mini bar. Although the couple is currently trying to find the perfect vintage bar cart, this area is one of Sara’s favorite spots to decorate during the holiday season.
Adrienne DeRosa
This dining area gallery wall is one of several in the house and shows the couple’s love of DIY projects. Sara painted a thrift-store canvas with chalkboard paint and set it to some gilded frame. It functioned as the menu board to get their wedding and functions as a canvas for ever-changing inspirations.
“Holla” hint: Etsy
Adrienne DeRosa
Candles flicker in votives across the dining area windows, including warmth even in daylight. “I also enjoy a little bit of glitz and glam. I like to bring sparkle into our house with mirrors, beads and gilded frames,” Sara says.
Adrienne DeRosa
The kitchen features sandy tones and a granite counter tops and stone tile counter tops. For more color, the couple spray painted the ring lamp hanging over the sink using a joyous teal, Valspar’s glossy Tropical Oasis.
Double pendant lights: Home Decorators Collection; faucet light: Home Depot
Adrienne DeRosa
Here is a closeup of the stone tile backsplash. Sara combines everyday cooking components with ornamental glass bottles found from the local thrift shop.
Adrienne DeRosa
In the master bedroom, a DIY headboard endeavor reflects Sara and Matt’s proudest homeowner moment. “We went from not having the ability to hang a picture on the good brick walls in this house to having the ability to create and hang our headboard with no trouble in any way,” Sara says. She purchased the stuff locally, and the project cost less than $100.
Lamps, drapery: Pottery Barn
Adrienne DeRosa
Matt and Sara customized their 1980s dresser by sanding it down, priming it with an oil-based primer and then giving it three coats of paint and two coats of polycrylic, proving a weekend’s worth of elbow grease is worth the attempt. With brand new drawer pulls, this dresser now perfectly matches the couple’s vivid design plot.
Dresser paint: Ocean Slumber, Valspar Paints
Adrienne DeRosa
Color is evenly dispersed throughout the guest bedroom, creating a calm energy. The green cabinet provides a break in the plot and gives the space a little dose of glitz.
Mirrored side table, rug: HomeGoods
Adrienne DeRosa
The handmade quilt is a marriage present from Sara’s childhood buddy. The greens, blues and purples are motivated by Sara’s affinity for peacocks and offer the foundation of the guest bedroom’s color palette.
Adrienne DeRosa
In the third-story den, Sara uses a picture board created from an old window frame to display wedding photos and mementos. “One of our favourite things to do when we travel would be to search for keepsakes,” she says. “In many instances we select out what we enjoy and then worry about how it will fit into our decor”
Fabric, clips, string: JoAnn Fabrics
Adrienne DeRosa
The den has a lot of comfy chairs and a big-screen TV (not pictured). When it’s game time or day to wind down with a fantastic book, this can be a destination for the couple to relax.
Lamps: Pier 1 Imports; ikat throw: Joss and Main
Adrienne DeRosa
A lime-green front doorway provides passersby a sign of the house’s sunny interior. Before purchasing the house, the couple cautioned about 50 different houses. “In the end, it was all of the beautiful windows in the primary living space that sold us,” Sara says.
Door paint color: Japanese Fern, Behr
Adrienne DeRosa
Matt and Sara in their living space, now the favourite room in the house.