Houseplants bring the outdoors in. Preserving wood floors is important for a timeless approach. Scalloped details, such as this lampshade, bring a needed dose of whimsy. An outdoor living room can be as welcoming as an indoor one with carefully curated accessories. Spindle leg details, such as on this table, can supply a historic sensibility.
When you buy a house “off market,” it may come with some quirks. For the clients of Casey Keasler, founder of interior design studio Casework, quirks of their newly purchased four-bedroom home—a Dutch Colonial that was originally built in 1915—were only the beginning. “It hadn’t seen renovations maybe since . . . some wallpaper in the eighties or nineties, but the kitchen was from the fifties and it needed a lot of work overall,” says Keasler. “We ended up taking it down to the studs everywhere.”
But the fresh start worked in this family’s favor, as Casework adorned the interiors in woodwork that suited the era the home was originally born in—but still felt of this moment, such as the cerused oak cabinetry in the cookspace. “Some of the windows remained, but otherwise everything was pretty much literally down to the studs, so everything had to be redone and built and replaced,” says Keasler. The result balances heritage with contemporary clarity and ease.
Textural additions brought a lot of coziness and depth, including stone, woods, draperies, and wallcoverings. “In the living room, we have some rattan or wicker side table lamps, a velvet sofa, a bouclé lounge chair . . . a velvet throw pillow . . . a canvas throw pillow . . . a linen drapery with a floral print on it; and that’s just one little vignette.” The layering was designed for moments for tactility that invite lingering and a sense of lived-in comfort.
The eclectic color palette is also warm—much needed in a location that gets a lot of gray days. “I always say there’s a muddiness to some of the colors that we use in certain homes that soften it and make it this color that’s like ‘ish,’ ” says Keasler. “So it’s like green-ish or blue-ish or yellow-ish, and you can’t really identify what the color is because it could be a couple of different colors depending on the light.” These hues have tones within them that may shape-shift as the weather and seasons change, or throughout the day. “And there is a warmth to them, even the cool colors,” says Keasler. “The greens even have some yellows in them to warm up.” Now, the new interiors feel like they have been here for generations. “We did source a number of vintage pieces in the house to create that sort of personality and balance,” says Keasler. In the end, Casework didn’t just revive this 1915 Dutch Colonial—they restored its heartbeat, one warm, wonderfully “-ish” hue at a time.
Stand-up Selections
In this home, “A lot of the materials that we selected and a lot of the things that we selected were intended for a family, and a family with pets,” says designer Casey Keasler. Here, some sturdy advice for homes with kids and pets.
Use performance fabrics with depth. Take wipeable, washable fabrics a step further by choosing options with “multiple color threads in it,” says Keasler. “Unless it’s a velvet, if we have an upholstery, it’s not just a flat solid color because you see stains pretty readily in that way.”
Pick rugs with intricate patterns. Many of the rugs Casework selected for this home are Persian style, “with smaller print that helps with dog hair and little stains as well.”
Turn to natural stone. Materials like marble can stain, but that can be part of their beauty long-term, much like a leather saddle. “The countertops, they’re all a natural stone,” says Keasler. “They’re just meant to wear.”
Mixing various textures and items with patina is essential for a storied effect, such as the stone, metallics, wood, leather, and ceramics shown here. Layering throw pillows in a solid, plaid, and botanic pattern can give a sofa more depth. Wood pieces with the aura of decades gone by can bestow old soul on a newly reborn house.
