When Rachna and Charik Sethi and their two girls moved from a 1,800-square-foot Edison townhouse to a 7,500-square-foot new-construction home in Holmdel and looked at the vast space, it’s not surprising they felt as much trepidation as exhilaration at the prospect of decorating it all.
At first, Rachna was game to give it a try. “We tried to envision ourselves in these new surroundings, and how we wanted the place to look and how we wanted to live in it,” she says. “We bought some pieces for the upstairs, but we quickly realized we were in over our heads and couldn’t tackle such a huge undertaking.”
Clearly needing help, Rachna and Charik sent out an S.O.S. to Yelena Gerts of House of Style Interiors. Gerts, also based in Holmdel, had done design work for the homeowners’ neighbors. “We were blown away by what Yelena had done for them,” says Rachna. “It was exactly what we were envisioning for ourselves, and they couldn’t have been more pleased with her work.”
The couple wasted no time in contacting Gerts. “We had her over and she gave us her ideas and we just knew,” says Rachna. “With her we found that all the pieces of the puzzle came together and we were all set to seal the deal. We met on a Wednesday. By Friday, I called her to say, ‘Let’s get started.’”
Says Gerts: “When I met my clients, they had already been living in their home. It was empty and pretty challenging to design—especially the 13-foot fireplace wall in the family room—and definitely needed a design expert.” Since Toll Brothers builders had already taken care of all the construction and interior elements such as hardwood floors, and cabinetry and fixtures for the kitchen and bathrooms, Gerts and her design team focused on the decorative design aspects of the entire first floor—the family room, kitchen and breakfast nook, living room, dining room and foyer area.
“We consider ourselves first-time home buyers since this is our first single-family home,” Rachna says. “It’s also going to be our final home, so we wanted to take time to make it perfectly fit our vision of something that is functional and beautiful. We wanted a space that was glamorous, with lots of shimmer, cool grays and earth tones.”
Gerts obliged, going big and bold by creating an “elegant, contemporary yet classic, sophisticated and luxurious” design. She brought in the glam with gold, silver and shimmery wallpaper and custom furniture pieces. Considering the open space layout, Gerts used similar shapes and forms throughout the first floor to make everything look and feel as cohesive as possible. Also serving to unify the space, the area rugs are all custom-made in complementary shades of silk and wool blends, while Sherwin-Williams paint in shades of gray and white also helps to tie things together.
The kitchen and powder room required only minor tweaks, but other spaces needed more extensive treatment. Gerts tackled the most challenging aspects—the 13-foot fireplace wall in the family room and the asymmetrical proportions of the dining room—with elegant aplomb. Adopting a “divide and conquer” strategy, she sectioned the “really tall and super wide” wall into different zones—a TV area delineated by using custom glass-beaded textured wallpaper and wood cabinets made of the same material as the wall beams; a fireplace sitting zone anchored by black granite; and the rest of the living/lounging space wrapped in tall slabs of porcelain shipped straight from Italy. To break up and impart warmth to all the stone components, Gerts added exotic wood beams as an interesting design element.
For the family room, says the designer, “we wanted to create a wow factor; something original, unique and super custom to fit the room’s vibe. Our client requested a super luxury hotel-like feel that would be comfortable and cozy at the same time, and that’s exactly what we did.” She adds that all furniture and accessories were curated to accommodating the room’s scale and mood. For instance, the white upholstered sofa was custom-sized to hold its own within the room’s spacious dimensions, while the fine detailing of the lavish fabric exudes opulence.
“We had to change the dining room completely,” explains Gerts. “We removed the outdated-looking chair rails and added beautiful and contemporary molding boxes throughout most of the first floor. Inside those boxes we installed absolutely gorgeous silvery silk wallpaper to give the dining room a dressy and elegant feel. Our goal was to mix metal colors in the most sophisticated and elegant way. ”
Everything in the dining room shimmers with sumptuousness—silk on the walls, pearls on the trim, brilliant crystals on the chandeliers and the finest material on the dining chairs. The silvery silk area rug serves as a neutral foundation for the entire room, which is echoed by the mixed metals of the window treatment hardware, minutely detailed right down to the glistening knobs on the rods.
“Since diamonds and pearls are a girl’s best friends,” Gerts explains, “we used this concept for luxury and elegance by bringing pearls as trim on the window treatments, crystal candlesticks on the table and diamonds on the chandeliers.”
Positioned across from the dining area, the formal living room was designed as a congregating space where guests could take in the surrounding splendor in plush comfort. “I talked to my clients and we decided to make it a lounge area where friends would gather for a cocktail before dinner,” says the designer.
“It really took time—and I don’t blame anyone but the process for this—but it was so worthwhile,” Rachna says of the project, which was begun in September 2019 and completed in the summer 2021.
“There were delays, but now that I look back, I’m glad it went slowly because we took our time, did things right and relied on Yelena to guide our decisions. I’m so glad we listened to her. She would veto some of my choices, saying ‘No, I promise you, you will love this’—and she was right every single time.”
PHOTOGRAPHY by MARCO RICCA
TEXT by NAYDA RONDON