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A Storied Montclair House Is Brought Back to Life With Playful Panache
In 2022, designer Beth Diana Smith met with a couple who had recently purchased a 100-year-old home in Montclair, New Jersey. They hit it off, and what had started out as a conversation about a kitchen renovation ended up as talks to design the entire house, a two-story, two-bedroom home with an enclosed porch.Smith, who will be honored with the Rising Star award from the New York School of Interior Design next spring, set out with the client to keep some of the old while adding some needed new. In the living room, that meant keeping the original brick fireplace and adding a marble mantel and cubed tile surround to give it a fresh modern edge. The room was then drenched in a moody, walnut brown paint by Benjamin Moore that contrasts against the bright light and softer colors from the neighboring dining room and kitchen. But the rooms true statement moment is a navy wallcovering from Divine Savages that features a playful print of red and gold roses. Kelly MarshallA floral wallcovering by Divine Savages blankets the original brick fireplace. I do not like floral, mainly because my mother traumatized me as a kid with this big brown floral sofa that she had when I was growing up, Smith says with a laugh. The addition, per her clients request, really went beautifully with the house to blanket that fireplace, she says.In the adjacent dining room, Smith removed an existing window and added double doors, with the intent to build an outside deck off of it in the future. A chandelier by Currey & Co. hangs above a wood dining table surrounded by the clients wood dining chairs. The light fixture adds a playful modern edge to the room, with its undulant circular shape that mimics the movement in the pattern of the ceiling wallpaper. "The living room ceiling reminds me of weeping willow trees," Smith says. Kelly MarshallThe kitchen cabinets are painted in Dockside Blue by Sherwin Williams and the kitchen island is painted in Labradorite by Sherwin Williams. Of course, that kitchen renovation was a key part of the project, which entailed removing the wall between the dining room and kitchen to create a line of sight from the front door. What was previously an empty wall with a refrigerator was transformed into a more functional space with shaker-style cabinets painted in Sherwood Williamss Dockside Blue, and a dark-blue butcher-block island. Smith added a window with roman shades in a Stroheim floral print fabric, and covered the floors in a black and white patterned tile from The Tile Shop. In the primary bedroom, the client picked out a mineral green bed that was the anchor in the room. Smith sourced nightstands from West Elm and lamps from Circa Lighting for the bedside. The curtain fabric by Stroheim and a gold wallcovering behind the bed were paired to go with the bed. The goal was to see something bold and beautiful, she says.In the upstairs library, Smith helped the clients plan for the future. The couple, now expecting a child early next year, wanted to make sure the room could eventually function as a nursery. Smith covered the walls in a grasscloth and a playful animal print was selected for the window fabric.Take A Look Inside This New Jersey HomeAs for Smiths favorite piece in the house? A mask that she sourced on a trip to Rome. Smith saved sharing it with her client until the end of the project because she had a hunch it would be perfect there. And sure enough, she was right.When she saw it, she was just like, Oh, my God, can I touch it? It's just so beautiful, Smith says. When I think about this house and project, I think about that moment, and it's always those finishing touches that have a sentimental value.
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