New Century Modern

The entryway vignette is built around a Noir console topped off with a Kelly Wearstler lamp and a Casamidy mirror. The chair is Jason Koharik, and the twin ottomans are from Lawson-Fenning.

Written by Rachel Gallaher

Photographed by Haris Kenjar

“When you know, you know.” That sentiment’s usually applied to meeting the love of your life, but for one Washington native, the quip succinctly sums up the feeling she experienced when stepping into her new house for the first time. It was April 2015, and the young woman, who was moving back to the Pacific Northwest from San Francisco, where she’d worked as a tech recruiter for five years, had been searching for houses in the lakeside town of Yarrow Point in an unconventional way. “My parents and sister were going to open houses and scouting out places for me,” she recalls. “There was even a time when they FaceTimed me in on a tour.”

Her perfect match turned out to be an off-market property, and she jumped on a plane to view it in person. When she walked into the 1965 gem, complete with a sunken living room, “there was a really positive sense of energy,” she says. “I immediately knew it was the one.” Aside from the good vibes, the client was drawn to the vaulted ceilings that had been whitewashed in the ’70s and the large, west-facing windows that would help combat winter’s early darkness. “I knew that with heavy cosmetic work and the right furniture, the house could be totally transformed while still honoring the fact that it was built in the ’60s.”

At a friend’s suggestion, the homeowner enlisted designer Brian Paquette, founder of Brian Paquette Interiors, to lead the renovation charge. “The house was beautifully designed but had gone through some light remodeling about 20 years ago,” Paquette says, noting that his team didn’t have to tear down any walls. “It just needed some of the ’90s taken off.” The kitchen had updated appliances and cabinetry, so it stayed relatively untouched, but Paquette did remove the wall-to-wall carpet in most of the other rooms to reveal original hardwood floors. He refinished and stained them espresso brown, and the walls throughout the house received a coat of Farrow & Ball’s warm white Pointing to create a fresh, uplifting backdrop.

Interior designer Brian Paquette whitewashed the brick fireplace surround in the dining room of this 1965-era Yarrow Point, Washington, home to harmonize it with the gray-toned ceiling. Lawson-Fenning side chairs flank the RH dining table, paired with armchairs from Hollywood at Home at the head and foot. The rug is vintage, and the chandelier is an Apparatus Cloud.

The centerpiece of the sunken living room is a 14-foot-long custom sofa designed by Paquette and upholstered in Pindler fabric. The homeowner loved the original ceilings, washed in a gray tone back in the ’70s, so the décor plays a tonal riff on the overhead boards. The coffee table is Lawson-Fenning, and the ottomans are from Bunny Williams Home. The black side table is a piece by Grain.

The kitchen had been remodeled 10 years ago, and the homeowner decided to keep the cabinetry and paint it white. The appliances were fairly new, so they stayed put, too, but Paquette cut down the island by a foot and replaced nondescript lighting with pendants from Visual Comfort. New counters are Calacatta marble from Meta Marble & Granite. Existing fixtures were replaced by hardware from Anthropologie, and the trio of Lawson- Fenning Elysian barstools upholstered in Moore & Giles leather provides casual seating.

A sitting room off the kitchen holds the Lawson-Fenning sofa, upholstered in green Pindler fabric, that served as an aesthetic launchpad for the whole renovation. The rug is vintage; the ottoman is Lawson-Fenning, and the rush chair is from Hollywood at Home. Pillows from ZAK + FOX add subtle pattern to the seating.

With the anchor palette in place, Paquette started to populate the rooms with neutral-toned furniture. “The palette she wanted was very 1990s Banana Republic catalogue: khakis, dusty greens, tan. She’s spent quite a bit of time in South Africa, so some of those colors are inspired by natural, earthy tones.”

In the living room, a major hangout spot for the homeowner’s friends and family, the client needed a couch that would accommodate them all. In response, Paquette custom-designed a low-slung 14-foot sectional. A large vintage rug provides a cozy place for floor seating, and a work by ceramicist Jolinda Linden adds texture to one wall.

Shades of blue appear in the Romo-upholstered Lawson- Fenning dining room chairs and a leather ottoman in the sitting room. A sofa in the sitting room is covered in green Pindler fabric that proved to be an aesthetic driver for the entire project. “In one of our first meetings, we were standing over a table of fabric swatches,” Paquette remembers. “She pretty quickly picked that fabric, and off we went from there.”

Other decisions weren’t as easy. The client initially contested Paquette’s choice of a Cloud chandelier from Apparatus to hang over the dining table. “When I first saw it, I said, ‘Absolutely not! That looks like Bubbles the Clown.’ But once it was up, I saw how much softness it brought to the room. Brian was right,” she admits.

This trusting rapport between client and designer was the backbone of a project that both taps into a Northwest neutral palette and puts a slightly global twist on modern sensibilities. “She knew what she wanted,” Paquette says, “but I helped stretch her aesthetics and shepherd things along.”