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On an autumn day in 2022, I drove with Laura Stanley, my design partner in Story Street Studio in New York City, to see a potential project in New Jersey. We drove over the Hudson River and through the woods of Somerset County, eventually arriving in the bucolic hamlet of Bernardsville. The clients’ clapboard house reminded me of Katharine Hepburn’s country retreat in Bringing Up Baby, rambling and low-slung with a wide front porch and a breezeway connecting to a barn-like garage. A small flock of sheep, straight out of Country Life, grazed in a field across the street, completing the pastoral idyll.
In the stair hall, decorative painter Deirdre Newman breathed new life into a formerly forgotten pass-through, stenciling the floor with a geometric pattern. Wallpaper, Waterhouse Wallhangings; ceiling light, Visual Comfort.
Annie Schlechter
Taking cues from the bucolic setting, the family room is awash in verdant hues, with a custom sofa dressed in a small-scale Zak + Fox print, a Swedish flatweave rug from Rug & Kilim, and trim painted in Benjamin Moore Great Barrington Green.
Annie SchlechterWe were immediately enchanted with the place—built as a carriage house in the 1950s—and the bubbly, stylish couple who had just purchased it, a pair of Manhattanites expecting their first child. For now, they were planning to spend weekends there, but would eventually decamp from the city and make it their permanent home. Inside, good bones and well-proportioned rooms had suffered a brazen attack in the 1990s, with unfortunate millwork, incongruous moldings, and can lights that obscured much of the original charm. Walking through the house, the owners told us they wanted it to feel young and vibrant, with high doses of exuberant colors and patterns. They were eager to strip away the frumpy details that made it feel crowded, dark, and dated. Music to our ears!
The bar’s bookish feel, courtesy of marbleized paper by Madeaux, contrasts with the glamour of a Donghia gold-leaf papered ceiling capped with a chic 1960s Murano and brass light fixture from 1stDibs. Cabinets and trim in Farrow & Ball's Inchyra Blue.
Annie SchlechterOver the next year we did just that, but, as we soon learned, peeling away certain elements was like pulling a loose yarn on a sweater: Before you know it, the whole thing starts unraveling. Eliminating an awkward jog in a stairwell—a “simple” little drywall project—led to removing the flimsily applied beadboard, which led to tearing out a clunky half-wall that served as a railing, which led to new banisters, and so on. Thankfully, the clients’ unflappable contractor, Pat Riley of Finishing Touch, helped maneuver seamless fixes at every turn, including fully renovating the bar and two bathrooms, and incorporating an unused landing into the adjacent bedroom to create a more gracious guest suite. The results aren’t glaringly noticeable, which is by design: The house looks like it was always just so.
In the living room, a custom wall-to-wall banquette in a Schuyler Samperton print maximizes seating. Vintage Michel Taylor spoon-back chairs add polish. Rug, Beauvais Carpets; walls, Farrow & Ball's Citron; wall lamp, Pooky.
Annie Schlechter
In this jewel-box powder room, a mirror painted to look like blue malachite by British artist Malcolm Scoular pops against an exuberant gold-flecked Pierre Frey wallpaper. Vintage Italian sconces, Chairish.
Annie SchlechterSelecting the furnishings and materials was a breeze by comparison. A few early decisions confirmed that our clients, true to their word, really were adventurous. They quickly landed on high-wattage citron walls for the living room, fanciful Schiaparelli pink wallpaper in a powder room, and boldly geometric Swedish flatweave rugs for their family room.
The wife even pushed us out of our comfort zone, specifically when she requested a red den. While Laura and I consider ourselves equal-opportunity, full-spectrum color-lovers, red isn’t one we often use in large amounts. But after our client supplied stacks of persuasive inspiration images to make her case, we came up with a space wrapped in crimson grasscloth, the doubled down on the saturation (the room gets very little natural light) with deep aubergine trim and a massive olive-green sofa. The resulting room is now one of our all-time favorites. Even in a house with multiple spots to lounge, the den is so seductive that when you glimpse it through the enfilade of adjacent rooms, it beckons you to come in.
The rich, saturated palette in the den started with the client’s request for a red room. Schumacher’s Osan Sisal wallcovering is complemented by trim in Brinjal by Farrow & Ball. Roman shade fabric, Susan Deliss; custom sectional upholstered in a George Spencer Designs woven; oil on panel painting, John Funt; jute rug, Fibreworks.
Annie SchlechterAnother request we happily obliged was a painted floor, though the clients didn’t dictate where. The front stair hall seemed the perfect place: It sits between the living and dining rooms, prominently seen from both spaces, and needed to hold its own but not compete with the strong neighboring schemes. We enlisted decorative painter Deirdre Newman to collaborate on a geometric design in translucent washes of color, defining and enlivening what had been a listless, static pass-through. A tonal, foliate wallpaper caps it off, bringing height to the low-ceilinged space as it climbs up to the second story.
Directly off the dark, clubby den, this sunroom is a literal bright spot. Bailey and Stanley played up that contrast and kept the focus on the gardens by using crisp white for the walls and much of the furniture, with accents of green and pops of persimmon. Bistro chairs, Glac Seat; sofa and chair, Frontgate; Mainly Baskets ottomans customized with Sister Parish performance cushions.
Annie SchlechterIn order to make the home feel vibrant and fresh but timeless and accumulated at the same time, we blended antique and vintage accents with new custom furniture and contemporary art. Since the couple were staying in their primary residence in Manhattan, we had to source everything from scratch, without the benefit—or challenge—of building on an existing inventory (though we were lucky with a few key pieces inherited from both clients’ families, including the antique Regency-style dining table). So while the construction schedule, which seemed to stretch out every time we tugged another loose thread somewhere in the house, may have caused headaches for our clients, it gave us precious time to shop far and wide, gathering special finds on buying trips to England, Italy, and India.
An Oly four-poster bed creates a cozy space within the airy, vaulted primary bedroom. It’s hung with custom bed hangings in a Lewis & Wood linen (also seen on the roman shade), reversing to a Fermoie print. Quilt, Nickey Kehoe.
Annie SchlechterThe rest was all about layering textiles and finishes in a way that connected the rooms while giving each individual space a clear identity. We had fun coming up with furniture plans to give the clients maximum entertaining space for lively gatherings they host with their large extended families and friends, as well as intimate areas within larger rooms that feel cozy for two or three.
Now, when you walk inside, the interiors might still be bit of a surprise—at least based on what you’d expect from the quaint farmhouse facade and the neighboring sheep—but it’s a very different surprise than we found on our first visit: cheerful, a little whimsical, with unexpected riots of color and nary a ’90s molding in sight.
A Pierre Frey fabric with sweet floral vines climbs the walls in a baby girl’s nursery. Custom daybed in Pindler fabric with John Robshaw bedding. Roman shade fabric, Cloth & Clover.
Annie Schlechter