AFTER A LONG and tiresome renovation of their 1930s Colonial in Connecticut, the homeowners were exhausted. So when they got news that a job would take them to Charlotte, the couple knew they did not want to tackle another makeover project. “We literally had PTSD from the renovation and knew we wanted something that was turnkey,” says the homeowner.
A search commenced with two major criteria: no renovating and no new construction. It was a cell phone video from the wife’s mother of a stunning 1960s Georgian in Eastover that sealed the deal for the couple. “We love the character and architectural details of an older home, and could see that even from the grainy video my mom sent us,” laughs the homeowner. “It had been renovated a few times prior, so there wasn’t anything we needed to do structurally.”
Cosmetically, though, the home needed the couple’s stamp. Just six months after moving in, the homeowners met with designer Traci Zeller and knew she was the one. “Traci’s style felt very family friendly but also functional,” says the homeowner. “Her work was so beautiful with a touch of tradition to it, which I love. All of her projects felt like a family could really live in every single room,” which was of utmost importance to the family of four with a set of young twins.
To attract buyers, the home had been stripped of the former owners’ bold, graphic wallcoverings and paint selections, and “grayed over” per the Realtor’s request. Despite the neutral downgrade, Zeller was able to glimpse the previous designer’s aesthetic. “The home was a blank slate, but then you’d see some of these elements that remained untouched, like this beautiful grasscloth on the vaulted ceiling in family room,” says Zeller. “There were all of these tiny flashes of brilliance throughout the home.”
Zeller has an innate ability to read her clients, and, as such, was able to discern immediately that the homeowners loved an updated traditional aesthetic. “She’s traditional in all the best ways,” says the designer of her client. “She loves a layered, traditional look that’s not kitschy or over-the-top.
Who doesn’t love a good toile?” With that, Zeller and her team set the design in motion, pulling floral and bird motif wallcoverings to pair with plaid fabrics and gingham prints to layer with those “flashes of brilliance” left behind. The mudroom features a modern blue lacquer on the walls and millwork from the previous owner. To update it, Zeller added an elegant but traditional gingham-print wallpaper by Scot Meacham Wood Home.
“It instantly freshened up the space,” says the designer. In the library, existing paneling and architectural details were highlighted with the addition of a windowpane plaid wallpaper by Phillip Jeffries on the ceiling and vinyl grasscloth by Thibault on the back of the bookshelves “to give them more dimension.” Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the onetime black island was painted Wedgewood Gray by Benjamin Moore for a traditional look and feel, and complemented by counter stools by Vanguard. “These glimpses of genius that were left behind were great complements to what we added in the interior design,” says Zeller.
While the interior installation did not happen overnight, it was a painless process for the couple. “Traci was exactly what we needed coming off that last renovation,” says the homeowner. “She knew exactly what we wanted and what our family needed after the reno, our move to Charlotte, and just having two small kids. We get compliments on our home all the time. Ten out of ten. I wouldn’t change a thing if I were to do it again.”