DESIGN by JODI BERGER, JLA DESIGNS
PHOTOGRAPHY by KIRSTEN FRANCIS
TEXT by DONNA ROLANDO
The designer’s success with serenity in the master bedroom—from the upholstered bed to the Maya Romanoff ceiling wallpaper—makes it the homeowner’s favorite room to kick back in. The burl wood vanity with tufted ottoman is a visual treasure.
As New Yorkers with a wee one prepared to leap to a new life in suburbia, a couple knew just the right designer to contemporize a dark, dated Livingston colonial. They didn’t have to Google-search or agonize over candidates. Confident they’d be in good hands, homeowner Tara Cohen simply reached out to her best friend from college: Jodi Berger, owner of JLA Designs in Potomac, Maryland.
Not only did the 2020 project give Tara and husband Chad a seven-bedroom home that fits their lifestyle—now with two young children—but the design hit the mark as classic and timeless.
Working on such a project with a best friend—even a designer who works up and down the East Coast like Berger—can strain a relationship, but Tara says it was fun instead. And as trends evolve, this active mom is happy that her almost 20-year-old home—previously “lackluster”—can stand time’s test.
Like many designers, Berger faced COVID challenges, which required constantly checking stock as “furniture trickled in.” Delays could have toppled the “fast time frame” dictated by the move from NYC, but Berger did it all in four months.
Keeping it classic meant embracing neutral shades such as taupe and ivory, which Berger warmed up with metallics and brass, as evidenced in the dining room. There, the walls come alive with Phillip Jeffries’s Rivets pearlized-ink grass cloth—a contrast for White Dove wainscoting. Not to be overlooked is the rustic oak table by RH with a column base, which Berger paired with velvet-and-brass chairs.
Brass also finds its way to the shagreen console where pony-hair lamps create Berger’s “unexpected element.” On the wall above, a Robert Sukrachand abstract mirror is “basically a piece of art,” she says.
The kitchen’s transformation elevated the cabinets from cherry to light taupe, and countertops from dark granite to white quartz. A white-marble subway backsplash gets a twist, Berger says, from brass trim, while a Wolf stove accent wows with diamonds of Thassos and Calacatta Gold marble from New Ravenna. From the island sink to a glass pendant trio, brass extends its touch here too, but in a deviation from the dining room, a large-format porcelain endows the floor with easy maintenance.
The octagon breakfast nook called for contemporary so, as Berger explains, “We ended up taking the mullions off the windows and painting the inside black to give a nice contrast.”
But Tara’s “happy space’’—where she goes to unwind—is the master bedroom, which she describes as “light, comfortable and homey.” Contributing to this sanctuary, the Stanton carpet swings contemporary with a tie-dyed, abstract essence, Berger says. Drawing attention to the angled ceiling is the Maya Romanoff wallpaper with watercolor effect.
Right off the couple’s wish list, there’s a tall headboard in the completely upholstered bed, which Berger sourced in an ivory velvet featuring nail heads and acrylic legs. For maximum effect, she matched the height of the windows decked in color-block custom draperies. Not only does the bed feature acrylic and brass, but the grass cloth nightstands with marble lamps follow its lead, while the tufted ottoman plays off the upholstery. Curvy like the nightstands is a brown velvet love seat, a darker contrasting element. Another highlight is the burl wood vanity by Worlds Away with acrylic hardware and tufted ottoman. Tara knew she could count on her friend to design her family’s first suburban home, and she was not disappointed. “It was a fun project,” she says, applauding an aesthetic she’s not likely to tire of any time soon.