But Reihani craved something with more personality. Luckily, the homeowners, a couple with two teenage daughters, agreed. “I suggested that we modernize the house in a way that’s suitable for the lifestyle of today’s couples, but we keep nods to the history of the building and we restore any of the elements of the house that we could,” she says.
Reihani brought in a specialist to restore the original inlaid floors, leaned into the ceiling curves, and added decorative moldings to bring out the home’s character. Meanwhile, she brightened up the space with a fresh marshmallow shade on the walls and a slightly darker shade on the trim and doorways. “By keeping the contrast low between the finishes, you basically make the house look brighter and bigger because your eye is not interrupted between different colors,” Reihani explains.
Slight tweaks to the floor plan also helped to open the space, both visually and physically. Reihani widened the doorway between the family room and living room as much as the structure would allow and removed the doors between the kitchen and dining room, extending the space’s casual hosting footprint. Then, she layered eclectic modern furnishings to play off the family’s inherited silver.
“They didn’t want to create something that is overly classic, but at the same time, we wanted to honor all the beauties from the past, all the intricate works that have been passed through generations,” says Reihani.
The kitchen experienced a complete reno to equip it for a modern family. Though details, like brushed gold accents and distressed Moroccan-inspired floor tiles, balance light-oak and lacquered cabinets for a lived-in feel. Reihani mirrored many of these details in the basement kitchenette, swapping the wood-tone for a cheerful pistachio hue (a youthful nod to teenage daughters who share the lower floor).
Ultimately, modernization of past styles and thematic repetition give the home a sense of longevity. “If you go through renovation, you want to do it in a way that it stays relevant for at least twenty years,” says Reihani. “We try to stay away from trends. We want to stay focused on style and what is nice and beautiful.”
EVERY SQUARE FOOT
Cathedral ceilings offer a dramatic visual, but they also come with logistical challenges when dealing with limited space. In the primary suite of this featured project, designer Negar Reihani got creative in the deepest corners of the rooms.
In the bedroom, she measured the precise ceiling height the homeowners would need in order to comfortably get in and out of bed. There, she installed a wall, providing backing for the custom headboard and creating a hidden dog bedroom behind. On the other side of the room, she turned the corner pitch into a closet and added triangular cabinets for extra storage in the bathroom.
“We just turned all that into drawers, shelves, shoe cubbies—all the stuff that you don’t need as much depth for,” she says. “So we actually managed to turn the bedroom into a fully functional bedroom with a walk-in closet, which was a big plus for the owners.”
