Finding a Balance

It is not uncommon for a young married couple to begin a major renovation project when they purchase their first home, but for Dan and Michelle, they also had the urgency of a due date. Expecting their first child, the couple needed to act swiftly in order to have the improvements completed before the baby arrived.

Enlisting the help of designer Nicole Peter, the couple sought to freshen up their Mountain Lakes house while making it family-friendly. Peter, whose Nicole Peter Studio is on Main Street in Boonton, quickly built a level of trust with Dan and Michelle, but she relied on her decade and a half of interior design experience to learn to read between the lines and lead the plan.

“They came not so much knowing what they wanted but knowing what they liked,” Peter says. She also added that, with a new house, the clients didn’t really know how they wanted to use the space yet.

“That’s always something that I try to mitigate,” she shares, and after so many years in the design field, she has learned to anticipate people’s habits.

That anticipation, along with the open plan on the first floor, allowed Peter to balance colors, textures, and styles that were both functional and fresh.

The Renovation

Although it was constructed about 25 years ago, the home, a Craftsman-inspired American Foursquare, is designed to match the other Hapgoods in the area. The front door opens to a large foyer, with the dining room on the immediate left and the living room to the right. Even though the rooms are separate, the large openings between them keep them connected, which required cohesion in Peter’s design ideas.

Dan and Michelle wanted to keep their formal dining room, but it needed a complete makeover. It is a traditional room, with oak flooring that was refinished (throughout the first floor) and wainscoting that received a fresh coat of white paint. Easy linen drapes present a warm and inviting look, and a cut-pile area rug with a modernized medallion pattern is both practical for the pet cat and aesthetically helpful to make this formal room look well-used.

Since Dan is an engineer, he leaned toward industrial styles, so Peter chose a linear chandelier that he liked and a table with clean lines and a sculptural pedestal base. Peter admits that they have an industrial feel, “but it’s balanced with the chicness of the table and the cool, kind of funky pattern and coloring of the wallpaper.”

The armless leather chairs present a modern look and round out the aesthetic of the room. “This isn’t a particularly colorful room,” says Peter, “but it has a lot of color. And visual interest.”

Across the foyer is the living room, where Peter kept cohesion of color, but style and function were both unique to this space. She also needed to adhere to the clients’ philosophy, where “the children live in their house, and they don’t live in their kids’ house,” anticipating change that would come when the family grew.

The choice of coffee table was intentional in that it allows for storage underneath for kids’ toys and other items. The light blue couch was also selected with the children in mind. “The fabrics that we picked are very durable and cleanable,” Peter admitted. Next to the couch, she added a large, round mint green swivel chair that fits several people for snuggling, reading, or just cozy family time.

“It’s really nice,” Peter says, “but it still has the feeling and function of a formal living room.”

Like the dining room, this space also has a cut pile area rug with a similar pattern and linen drapes to enhance the welcoming, cozy look. However, next to the couch is a black end table, which, as Peter notes, adds to the balance of tones and values. “It’s a very neutral feeling space, but it is visually balanced,” she says. “The black end table and blue couch add a different level of color value and depth.”

“Sometimes people are afraid of having dark colors, but you can’t be, because I think that’s what makes a room visually appealing and colorful.”

Through the large wall opening is the family room, which is the main room for the family to spend time together as well as to entertain guests. Like the other rooms, this space balances color with value and functionality.

The family can all fit on the chenille-weave sectional couch that also includes soft throw pillows and a chaise for lounging, which is perfect for watching TV or enjoying the fireplace, both of which are on the opposite wall. The chair leans more modern and industrial with its lightly distressed leather.

Keeping the kids in mind, Peter chose a coffee table that lacks hard edges and allows for storage underneath. She also went with a more pronounced pattern in the area rug to add to the texture and appeal of the room.

Right next door is the kitchen, and because it is open to the family room, it is more than just an area for eating. “This is where they do most of their daily living,” says Peter, so sturdy, durable pieces were paramount.

The couple liked the French bistro table with the heavy soapstone top and industrial feeling of the base. The chairs include metal spindles that match the dark graphite color of the table, but they balance with the light color of the wood of the chairs and floor.

Lighting was important to Dan, who had a hand in selecting all the fixtures, so the kitchen pendant light also has a modern, industrial look. This balances well with the simple design of the existing shaker-style cabinets and dark countertops.

The home is fun and casual, but for Dan and Michelle, it is also functional for their growing family. “This is a home that is uniquely theirs,” Peter says.

She enjoyed this project and is proud of the outcome, sharing that “It feels very real to me but still feels professionally done.” Peter sees it as elegant, like a showroom, but warm and inviting and practical for the family.

“It feels like a home that people live in.”

Rich Luttenberger is a lifelong Morris County resident and a recently retired teacher from Morris Knolls High School. He is also a writer and occasional podcast host for the “Sons of Saturday,” a multimedia platform focused on Virginia Tech sports.