By Vanessa Brunner, Houzz
A soothing neutral color palette, plush upholstered furniture, and eclectic art and accessories define the style of Sue De Chiara’s home. This stunning house is located in Westchester County, New York — a suburb of New York City — where De Chiara lives with her husband and three children.
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De Chiara, a design blogger and owner of Zhush, hired designer Lauren Muse of Muse Interiors to redecorate her living room. De Chiara loved the room so much she hired Muse to help with the pool house, offices, mudroom and master bath. “I always say that you can’t design a great space without a great client, and Sue was fantastic,” Muse says. “She pushed my creativity, and inspired me to greater heights.”
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Remodeling the living room involved tripling the size in addition to redecorating the space. The L-shaped room and its abundance of space was pretty overwhelming, so De Chiara reached out to Muse for help. “She wanted the new layout to work for large groups when entertaining,” Muse says. “But she also wanted it to be intimate enough for everyday use.”
Drapery Fabric: Farm Fresh, Robert Allen
Large Pair of Sofas (Fabric): Skye Linen, Osborne & Little
Large Sofa Pillows: Mirella, Echo by Kravet
Painting above Mantel: Amanda Talley
“I think the living room has the perfect balance of sophistication and approachability,” says Muse. The color palette was based off a paint color De Chiara had already picked out for the walls. This neutral backdrop inspired all of the textile and accent choices.
Muse started with these great cut-velvet pillows in dusty gray-blue and taupe, and worked on the color scheme from there. “For me, fabrics are usually the springboards to my designs,” she says.
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The mudroom off the main entrance hall was carefully crafted to organize the odds and ends the family accumulates each day.
Many of the rooms in De Chiara’s home were inspired by the shelter magazines she reads voraciously, as well as ideas from friends’ homes and hotel rooms she loves.
Basket Liner Fabric: Continuum, Kravet
Lantern: Sorenson 18 Lantern, Remains
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Clear plastic and chrome stools dress up the more traditional poolhouse bar. De Chiara and Muse accented the space with a simple white framed mirror and George Nelson Ball Pendant. “The internet is always my first step when searching for home decor projects,” says De Chiara. “I’m a Google fanatic.”
Related: Browse Bar Tables on Houzz
Barstools: Vapor Stool, CB2
Mirror: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
Roman Shade Fabric: Groundworks by Lee Jofa
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Muse and De Chiara worked closely together to create the ideal home for De Chiara and her family. “The colors, the art, and the accessories all convey a very lighthearted approach to decor and style in general,” De Chiara says. “I don’t take myself too seriously, and I don’t want my house to either.”
The master bathroom is a soothing and elegant space. Muse added a little bit of drama by covering the walls with a contemporary wallpaper in a neutral colorway. Isn’t the bathtub almost begging to be filled with a bubble bath? It’s the perfect place to unwind after a rough week.
Wallpaper: Mimosa, Cole & Son
Garden Stool: Lillian August
Embroidered Towels: Leontine Linens
Cabinet: Cartwright Cabinet, Restoration Hardware
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De Chiara’s home office is her favorite room in the house. “It’s small, it’s cozy, and it’s the only room that’s really all mine,” she says. Muse made this room more feminine than the rest of the house and played with soft purples and greens to give it a special touch.
Rug: Diamond Sprout, Dash and Albert
Roman Shade Fabric: Ming, Manuel Canovas
Chair Fabric: Petite Zig Zag,China Seas
Side Table: West Elm Faceted Mirror Side Table
One of the things that De Chiara loves most about her home is the flow of the house as you walk from room to room. Before renovating, she and her husband considered moving, but no other house had the same open flow as this one.
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This vintage-styled bench sits in the back hallway outside of the kitchen. The artwork on the far right is by De Chiara’s 11-year-old daughter, and the rest was done by her grandmother years ago.
Stylist: Karin Lidbeck Brent
Photography: John Bessler and Sue De Chiara
