DESIGN by SAMANTHA SPURR
PHOTOGRAPHY by FRONT DOOR PHOTOGRAPHY
TEXT by RICHARD LALIBERTE
Starting fresh was more than an aesthetic goal, when Urvi Desai renovated her Flanders home. “In 2023, my husband passed away suddenly,” she says. “He fell on a walk and had a brain trauma that he never recovered from.”
Their 21-year-old twin son and daughter grew up in the four-bedroom house, purchased new in 1996, and both still live there at least part of the year while attending college. “They wanted to keep the home—but make it new and different, not the same place where Dad had been,” Desai says.
The project likewise helped launch a new life for Samantha (Sami) Spurr, owner and principal designer of SNS Interiors, based in Whitehouse Station. She’d started her firm in March 2023 at age 24. Through her father and brother, who owned a residential electrical company, “I was exposed to renovations and new builds at a young age,” Spurr says. She’d received an interior-design education from High Point University in North Carolina, but took on part-time gigs like dog walking and food delivery to make ends meet.
Desai and Spurr met through mutual acquaintances. “We just hit it off,” Spurr says. Desai had previously hired Spurr to do a design refresh of a property Desai needed to sell quickly. “I knew I wanted to work with her again,” this owner says.
The renovation, completed in November 2024 with contractor Hernz Home Improvements in Flanders, encompassed two floors and included structural changes. “We touched every part of the house—we had all-new furniture, design and decorations,” Desai says. “Most resources and attention went into the kitchen and living room, where the family congregates and has the best times together.”
Desai and Spurr decided to raise the living room’s original sunken floor and remove a counter-high half wall between the living room and the kitchen. These structural changes created a more open floor plan and expanded the kitchen, which features new Fabuwood cabinetry from Art of Kitchen Tile and Bath in Ridgefield. They also added a bathroom to the son’s room and moved the laundry from the first floor to the second.
Spurr aimed to bring a modern sensibility to the design, but also to understand Desai’s taste. “I wanted neutral earth tones and calm colors, along with elements of my Indian heritage,” Desai says. “I didn’t want in-your-face culture, just subtle tones of it in the design.” Photos Desai found online spurred Spurr to make suggestions. “She picked up on styles I liked,” Desai says. “It was not even an issue.”
“Before the renovation, the space was yellow, brown and dark,” the designer recalls. “It didn’t feel bright and airy.” Warm beige tones now brighten walls and floors, and whites on doors and trim offer contrast and clean lines. In areas like the living room and kitchen, blue elements such as a sofa from Crate & Barrel provide complementary balance.
Consistent use of brass in hardware such as Kohler plumbing fixtures and selective pops of deep jewel tones in items such as an aubergine vanity in the master bathroom were key references to traditional Indian style. Spurr also adorned walls with photographs of Indian architecture.
“I love the results,” Desai says. “Everything is just perfect.”
The reno led to Spurr’s being named to the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s 30 Under 30 list. “The impact of this project was dramatic,” says Spurr, whose design work has snowballed. “It completely changed my career.”
“I trusted Sami, and she never let me down,” Desai says. “I’m so blessed to be living in this beautiful house, which I hope the kids will enjoy someday with their own families.”