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

ACOUPLE OF EMPTY-NESTERS STOOD READY TO EMBRACE

change. They had traded their Staten Island home of more than 30 years for active-adult living in Monroe. Now, 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

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.

This page: Immediately upon entering, guests get a taste of the home’s sophisticated design, as reflected in the hallway’s standout rug. Opposite page: The dining room is a treat for the eye, from its grass-cloth wall covering to the navy chairs popping against the honeycomb rug.

think of this as timeless,” Rich says.

Floating the furniture away from the walls was another technique Rich used to take the chill out of contemporary. This proved instrumental in the great room, where she nested the Vanguard sectional, the geometric chenille club chair and the ottoman near the marble fireplace over a gray-ongray Masland rug. “Everything is quiet and soft, and there are some punches of navy to add some contrast,” Rich explains.

Key to the design are custom draperies descending 20 feet with a jabot at the top to “effectively fill the volume and eliminate a cavernous effect of the two-story room,” Rich says. (Throughout the house, window shades are motorized, and custom drapes in the same toneon-tone fabric are teamed up with brushed-nickel rods and crystal finials for consistency.)

With a tray ceiling and art that reminds the homeowner of her granddaughter (one of nine grandkids), the dining room clusters Old Biscayne furniture over a honeycomb pattern wool rug for intimacy, a subtle backdrop for navy chairs. The grass-cloth wall covering adds texture and warmth above the chair rail with wainscoting. A linen-shade chandelier is a traditional touch.

For homeowners who like to entertain in their new place, the kitchen is a crowd pleaser, with comfy chevron-pattern seating at both the quartzite-topped island and the table in a lightgray stain. Like eye candy, Asian pottery peeks through glass doors in the upper cabinetry— white in contrast to the gray cabinet base—and honeycomb marble stretches across the backsplash. Off the kitchen, the homeowner dared to be more contemporary with a bell-shaped pendant in the sunroom, the “perfect place to relax and read,” Rich says.

When the day is done, the master bedroom evokes elegance with a glass candelabra in the middle of the tray ceiling over the kingsized bed with a tufted headboard—a nod to traditional style. Nailheads add a novel touch to the bed and the tilt-back chairs in the sitting room.

“This is a huge bedroom, so we warmed up the bed area with a custom area rug,” Rich explains. Completing the look, the pale

This page: Batik artwork in blue tones and a double-tiered candelabra give this staircase a double wow. Opposite page: Abounding in chevron-pattern seating, the kitchen is just right for get-togethers.

blue colors get a “little punch,” she says, from the semi-gloss white trim.

In the powder room, Rich found a way to make the walls three-dimensional with a textured floral design, which she teamed up with a vintage mirror and pedestal sink.

The staircase dazzles with a group of batik patterns in shades of blue and a custom chandelier by American Brass & Crystal. The entrance foyer is a microcosm of what’s to come, from the millwork and crown molding for classic charm to wow features such as a custom rug of off-white and charcoal with pops of navy. (The rug, says Rich, is how “you get introduced to the sophistication of the house.”) Contemporary triptych artwork uses crystals for three-dimensional texture, further setting the tone for a home that mixes styles in a timeless manner.

Says the designer: “Even in a time of COVID and supply-chain problems, this was always a joy.”

This page: The powder room boasts a textured floral design by Momentum. Opposite: Traditional elements find their way into the pale blue master bedroom, where the tufted bed is flanked by tied-back draperies.