GOODBYE, TRADITIONAL!
The empty-nesters’ new contemporary home in Monroe wasn’t what they were used to. Happily, a designer’s savvy touches calmed their jitters. TEXT by DONNA ROLANDO
DESIGN by SHEILA RICH
PHOTOGRAPHY by LAUREN HAGERSTROM
A change. They had traded their Staten Island home of more than 30 years for active-adult living in Monroe. Now, COUPLE OF EMPTY-NESTERS STOOD READY TO EMBRACE
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instead of a Tudor-style home with traditional décor and a Tuscany palette, they had a contemporary open floor plan and the desire to venture out into a new look. “I wanted to change my style,” says the homeowner. But she confides she found the open space a “bit intimidating” until designer Sheila Rich of the eponymous Monmouth Beach firm came on board. “She’s a lifesaver,” she says. Rich knew how to overcome the challenge of an open floor plan with a unified approach. She coordinated colors (predominantly pale gray walls with semi-gloss white trim) and used common elements such as the wide-plank wood floors. To define each space, she introduced area rugs— with individual personalities. Although the homeowners welcomed the metamorphosis in design, Rich knew they would need guidance to “bridge the gap” beyond strictly traditional. The answer was a transitional design in which classic elements like millwork and wainscoting warm up modern features such as high ceilings. “I like to
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With 20-foot ceilings, the great room in this Monroe home needed more warmth than the marble fireplace alone. So designer Sheila Rich created a cozy cluster of seating, letting the gray-on-gray rug have a grounding effect.
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