DESIGN by TINA MANIS, VANCE DUGOSH, STUDIOTINAMANIS
PHOTOGRAPHY by JOHN MUGGENBORG
TEXT by DONNA ROLANDO
“Sweet 16” holds new meaning in a Woodcliff Lake home, where a family of just that census count—a couple, their grown children and their children’s children—inspired a contemporary redesign that replaced boxy with spacious and functional.
After toppling a few walls in the ’80s-built home, designer Tina Manis of the eponymous, Brooklyn-based firm can say, “The house is open enough for the whole family to gather.” The free-flowing entertainment space now fits the entire clan with bountiful seating for 16, from the kitchen’s 14-foot custom island to the dining room’s oval table and the living room’s generous sectional.
Yet when the party’s over, this empty nest doesn’t accentuate the “empty.” Instead, Manis saw to it that husband and wife “each have their own places where they can retreat,” as cozy as they are individualized. In his zone, it’s kicking back on a Cordia recliner by COR for soccer and cricket. In hers, a tea/reading niche with an enlarged window highlights koi-pond serenity. Says the wife: “It’s a favorite place for me to sit and prepare for the day.”
Previously dark with saturated colors—crimson-and-gold wallpaper, for instance—the home now aims for a sanctuary effect. Says the husband: “The decision to redesign the house came about because of changing family needs—as well as changing a dated look.”
But it wasn’t until Manis was designing for their daughter that the parents advanced their own kitchen renovation; the project grew until Manis had transformed the four-bedroom home—theirs for more than 30 years—by the spring of 2025.
The overall style is minimalist and neutral, representing a radical change from the saturated color the wife had grown tired of. “She was very specific,” Manis recalls. “She wanted really light grays and whites, very little color. And he really wanted color, but it was her turn.”
For harmony, Manis orchestrated strategic pops of intense color she calls “beacons” against a neutral backdrop of Scandinavian white oak floors and soothing walls. Contrast plays out to the desired degree in the kitchen, where turquoise, Bowee half-sphere lighting from B.lux offsets the soft-white lacquer cabinetry.
“I like unifying surfaces,” says Manis. “It’s a lot less jarring to keep it simple and clean.” She followed this inclination with the Porcelanosa quartz on the backsplash and counters for the marble look the wife wanted without the fuss.
Thanks to the demolition, the family gained their first kitchen island, with ample storage for all that holidays require. The kid-proof, woven stools from Verner Panton by Verpan are so comfy—the clients tested to make sure—they inspired the dining-room seats, and the designer owns them as well. A well-organized butler’s pantry in white oak houses handy spices and other dry larder ingredients crucial to cooking traditional Indian family recipes.
In the dining room, the wife was weary of the multi-windowed alcove’s octagon shape, so Manis strived to “mute the geometry,” with Ligne Roset’s Odessa oval table in black—another beacon. Still fighting geometry, Moooi’s Flock of Light is a swirl of LED, devoid of shape.
Projects have challenges, and for Manis a structural ceiling beam was one. But she stomped its eyesore potential by forming a pattern with new beams, thus unifying the dining and living rooms.
For its color burst, the living room boasts a blue Bollo lounge chair by Andreas Engesvik. It’s within toasty reach of a fireplace refaced with stone from the kitchen, because, Manis says, “Why waste Porcelanosa quartz?” White-on-white ceramic artworkby Olivia Barry / By Hand hangs above the mantel, and Anony’s black, powder-coated metal shade supplements recessed lighting.
One large sectional by Montauk in custom fabric, joined by custom cabinetry, welcomes the entire gang. But Manis sought to avoid a “white whale in the room” with lemon and blue pillows that create a dialogue with other elements, such as a multi-hued geometric rug and credenza that, to the husband’s delight, feature orange. Flexibility is the name of the game with Moroso’s Fjord leather ottomans that double as seating and versatile tables by &Tradition and CB2.
A beacon turned focal point is the powder room where, Manis says, “We kind of fell in love” with the blue of a Kast concrete sink. In this sea of soft neutrals, the sink alone offers color as it contrasts the vanity’s Benjamin Mooren Chantilly Lace. The team also “had some fun,” she recalls, with the pattern of dimensional wall tile.
A multigenerational experience is found in the library, a converted bedroom that now doubles as a playroom. Floor tiles by FLOR deliver a playful pattern and are easy to replace if crayon messes get out of hand. A DWR daybed in performance linen is handy for sleepovers and Vitsoe modular shelving rules over clutter. Accents from Society6 and a Schoolhouse table lamp complete the scene.
Reflecting on the home’s transformation, the husband says: “Our large family loves to gather, especially in the kitchen, and it was just too small.”
The wife, meanwhile, credits Manis with “creative solutions that really work for our family” and for taking an interest in their lifestyle.
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