That Blue Color
A CHEERFUL HUE THAT PLAYS OFF EXISTING ELEMENTS DIFFERENTIATES THIS FAMILY ROOM FROM NEARBY SPACES.
While great rooms lack physical partitions, visual cues help define each area, making the overarching space feel organized and each component more intimate. The full-height builtins that Sara Deane designed to replace half-height ones that flanked the fireplace in this Wellesley home do just that. The swap required closing up a window on each side, which architect D. Michael Collins handled with the homeowners. “These bookcases give the family room its own identity, anchoring it within the open plan,” the principal of Sara Deane Interiors says. “The wall next to it is all windows so the room still gets lots of light.”
1 The built-ins, designed in collaboration with Kramer’s Custom Kitchens, are painted Farrow & Ball Cook’s Blue. “We picked up the medium blue tone in the homeowners’ existing shades and sectional so they pop,” the designer says.
2 Phillip Jeffries grass-cloth wallcovering in a basketweave pattern lines the bookshelf backs to create the illusion of depth and add character. “Painted backs can look stagnant,” Deane says. “This makes whatever you put in front of it sing.”
3 Deane went with neutral walls using Benjamin Moore Dove Wing so as not to detract from the built-ins and fireplace surround, or throw the space off-balance given the white kitchen behind it.
4 The Coleen and Company navy ceiling light further defines the family room from the adjacent kitchen and ties to navy accents in both this space and elsewhere in the home.
5 A fireplace revamp included a sleek black granite slab on the hearth and a simplified mantel with a slim profile that doesn’t compete with the glass tile surround. “Like the cabinetry color, the Waterworks tiles play off existing colors and keep the blue moving around the room,” Deane says.
6 Deane re-covered the existing armchairs in a stylized floral print. “Small scale patterns on large pieces of furniture read more as texture than pattern,” the designer explains. “The effect is soft and inviting.”