Instilling Transitional Interior Design Throughout a New Home

When our long-time clients traded their vintage Arlington split-level for a newly constructed modern farmhouse nearby, they asked us to infuse sophisticated, transitional interior design throughout. For an interior designer, there is no greater honor than to be invited back by repeat clients! We loved helping this couple prepare for a new chapter filled with holiday celebrations, frequent dinner parties with friends, and elevated everyday living. We’ve shared various spaces in their new digs before but now we want to connect the dots and show how we wove a cohesive thread through the entire house.

The Design Brief

Our repeat clients, two attorneys with a teenager at home and grown kids not at home, had a different vision for their new home. Their tastes and needs had evolved in the 15 years since we started work on their first home. For this iteration, they wanted elevated yet comfortable spaces that were primed for frequent entertaining. While they requested that we repurpose many of the furnishings we had selected for their previous home, they sought a fresh, transitional style. Taking design inspiration from the home’s wooded setting was also part of the conversation.

The challenge: to create an inviting interior that fits the modern farmhouse architecture of the home without being too stark.

Foyer Functionality

Livable ease was a primary goal of this whole-house design. The owners wanted to maximize the spaces’ entertaining potential, starting in the foyer.

There, we repurposed the dining table from their former great room. Removing its leaves made the lovely Baker table the perfect round shape for the foyer. Day-to-day, it creates a welcoming moment and offers a practical surface for depositing mail and keys. But with its leaves back in place, the extendable table can accommodate additional guests during a large dinner or provides the perfect buffet surface adjacent to the dining room.

Living Room

The moody living room is a grown-up space for sure. During an intimate gathering, it’s a chic spot for pre-dinner drinks or after-dinner coffee.

We blended existing furniture with a few updated pieces. The four chairs and cluster of tables made the move from our clients’ former residence. Charcoal-hued walls, a vibrant waterscape painting, and a new, hand-knotted rug in complementary colors breath new life into the familiar furnishings.

Dining Room Drama

The dining room also mixes new with older pieces. The new Guy Chaddock maple table provides the necessary scale for the large space. Now our clients can seat a crowd for the holidays and dinner parties.

The sleek, new chandelier from Hubbardton Forge lends the sophistication our clients were after. But all the other furnishings, including the artwork and rug, were purchased for various spaces in the previous home.

To bring luxe texture into the space, we recovered the chairs from their former great room in two different woven selections and installed a tone-on-tone linen wallcovering. To me, this dining room beautifully illustrates how transitional interior design can straddle the traditional versus modern divide.

For a deeper dive on the living and dining room designs, check out our earlier post.

Nature-Inspired Spaces

This new home backs onto picturesque parkland – and we wanted to celebrate that natural splendor in our family room, kitchen and casual-dining area designs. Through our furniture, fabric and wallcovering selections, we brought the outdoors in. Our clients wanted low-key spaces for daily living – with enough sophistication to support their social lifestyle.

A velvet-covered sectional sofa from Hickory Chair anchors the family-room arrangement. We introduced organic interest with the live-edge console placed behind the sofa and a spalted-maple cocktail table, both from Michael James Furniture.

The family room opens to the double-island kitchen. We added a few designer touches to the hardworking space. Four hand-crafted glass pendants from Hammerton Studio crown each island. Swivel stools from Hickory Chair, dressed in a performance fabric from Cowtan & Tout, pull up to one island.

The adjoining casual-dining area certainly brings the outdoors in, thanks to the Romo wallcovering that wraps around the space. Matching window panels provide a seamless visual flow.

In the breakfast nook, we mixed two styles of chairs – each covered in a different textile – to amplify the interest.

For the full story on how these nature-inspired family room, kitchen and breakfast area designs came about, click over to our earlier post or check out our 2024 “Au Naturel” feature in Home & Design.

Powder Room Panache

A textured abaca paper lends organic interest to the main-floor powder room.

We placed a cherry-blossom print from the owners’ existing collection on one wall. It’s the perfect finishing touch!

Pampering Primary Bath

To establish spa-like luxury in the primary bathroom, we specified a richly veined porcelain slab that mimics marble.

We carried the practical-and-pretty porcelain over to the vanity area to create waterfall countertops.

Lower-Level Entertainment Space

Two special amenities this home enjoys are the lower-level bar and aquarium; A. Houck Designs collaborated with the builder on both.

We sourced a richly veined marble for the bar countertops. To highlight the built-in aquarium, we designed a custom frame to surround it and painted the wall a dark neutral tone.

Whole-House, Transitional Interior Design

We were honored to help our dear clients prepare for a new chapter by weaving sophisticated, transitional interior design throughout their new home. We’d be happy to help ready your spaces for whatever chapter lies ahead – or for whatever stage you’re currently enjoying.