After ten years in a cramped Lincoln Park dwelling with no yard to speak of, a young couple with three children began to contemplate the once unimaginable – suburban life. Enchanted by its charming downtown, lakefront location and top-notch schools, they quickly zeroed in on Winnetka, ultimately purchasing a brand-new abode on a lush lot with ample space for a trampoline the children love. While they appreciated its timeless exterior and traditional layout, the interior finishes lacked a certain oomph that interior designer Hayley Kauffmann had imbued in their former home. After a decade working with her on various projects, they were confident the designer could handle the tight six-week timeline until the lease expired on their nearby rental. “Hayley has an easygoing disposition and knows our aesthetic,” the wife says. “She’s become an extension of our family.”
Although she felt it was important to honor the home’s traditional architectural style, Kauffmann took the house in a modern direction that better suited the couple’s personality, stripping away some architectural details, enlivening others and introducing furniture and lighting that hold their own against their eclectic art collection. “They wanted to bring more personality to the space, more of that city energy,” Kauffmann says.
Neither party had the inclination to tear out a brand-new kitchen, but Kauffmann was able to modernize it by adding a subway tile backsplash and simplifying the ornate island legs and range hood. Black hardware and a pair of contemporary pendant lights complete the transformation.
An antiqued mirror backsplash with a beveled edge similarly enhances the butler’s pantry, where Kauffmann painted the walls, ceiling, moldings, and cabinetry in a Periwinkle blue, replacing the wooden shelves with glass. “It makes the room feel like it’s entirely built-in and creates a moment of compression as you’re moving through,” she says.
Reimagining the built-in shelving surrounding the family room fireplace in a deep purple hue likewise fosters a modern milieu — a striking backdrop for the couple’s growing collection of colorful Bearbrick and Flyboy pieces by Hebru Brantley. Adding to the sense of whimsy, Kauffmann paired it with a soft pink sofa and a pair of curvaceous blue slipper chairs atop a vintage rug with a rust background. “None of it makes sense, but it all makes sense,” the wife jokes. That sense of joie de vivre also informs the wife’s office, where Kauffmann accented the wood paneled walls with a vibrant butterfly-patterned wallpaper the wife loved from the get-go. Equally exuberant, a printed rug with a flora, fauna, and gemstone motif anchors a custom acrylic desk with a purple laminate top that balances the rich paneling. “The rug has a kaleidoscope effect,” Kauffmann says. “You might see something new every time you look at it.”
The room’s honeycomb-shaped steel ceiling fixture, which she compares to jewelry, is one of many sculptural pieces woven throughout. A large white metal mesh chandelier casts dazzling light patterns in the family room, for example, and a pair of wood and iron chandeliers “bring a living quality to the room,” Kauffmann says, pointing to its imperfectly shaped dowels. That also applies to the room’s navy wallcovering, which features a painterly windowpane pattern, its slightly wavy lines playing off the room’s linear dimensions and coffered ceiling.
Thrilled with the result of the speedy renovation, the couple has already engaged Kauffmann to rethink the primary suite and don’t see an end to their collaborations. “People have a wow reaction when they see her design,” the wife says. “She helped us to push the envelope.”
Photography by Ryan McDonald.
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