Design by Jennifer Pacca Interiors
Photography by Marco Ricca, Raquel Langworthy
Text by Donna Rolando
A Franklin Lakes Colonial’s previous redesign had grown stale over 20 years, and all agreed it was time for change. But for this couple’s feminine half it wasn’t enough to shake up their traditional world with a fresh breath of “contemporary.” In the spirit of Cyndi Lauper’s signature song, this girl wanted to have fun—a reason to smile throughout the five-bedroom colonial she shares with hubby and three children, ages 17 and up. Her direction kicked off a whole-house design, requiring a careful balancing act.
But designer Jennifer Pacca of the eponymous Wyckoffbased firm didn’t disappoint. She used cheerful colors and funky artwork—graffiti and neon, for instance—to capture the sunny side of life.
“It was time they needed a refresh and an update,” Pacca explains. “They wanted to lighten it up, but the wife likes to add some fun to the house. So she wants it timeless but with an element of surprise.”
Room by room, the artwork inspires levity, but the dining room’s collage from Leftbank Art also captures the wife’s spirit with its focus on love—a dominant word in the piece, says Pacca. The family room adds what Pacca calls “a little bit of funkiness” with its gallery wall of art, including a rock ’n’ roll album contrasting a pale gray wall unit. The primary bedroom delivers a pop of pink with its custom neon sign, and in the primary bathroom the white subway tile gets a modern uplift with graffiti art featuring Marilyn Monroe.
The biggest challenge for Pacca was balancing traditional and modern, as the clients sought to keep cherished pieces from their old design. Did she pull it off? In the family room, the new distressed wood cocktail table by Tritter Feefer and fireside bronze sculptural table by Bernhardt seem right at home with an existing console table—a lesson in harmony.
This room’s “jumping-off point” was the beautiful pattern of a handmade gray rug by Jaipur, which inspired the gray, performance-fabric sectional and modern wing chairs. Spreading the joy, this Bernhardt furniture gets a playful pop from blue, geometric pillows from Wostbrock Home.
An existing wall unit could have bogged down the design with its heavy wood, but Pacca lightened it up with a pale gray refresh. She continued the room’s new vibe with a fireplace revamp, taking it from Crema Marfil to leathered black absolute marble, which she balanced with a more traditional antique mirror by Uttermost.
It’s not only graffiti-style art that brightens the dining room, but also a burst of gold and blue. Pacca went big with Benjamin Moore’s Blue Rapids on the wainscoting, then teamed it up with floral York wallpaper for smiles galore. Here the jumping-off point was the fun zigzag of blue-and-gold draperies by Kravet and Fabricut. A happy marriage of old and new finds an existing chandelier welcoming golden sconces by Currey & Company, while a familiar burl wood table gets an update from blue custom chenille chairs. In addition, a gold-leaf-and-glass bar cart from Worlds Away coincides with a treasured buffet, but all looks purposeful and planned.
The breakfast nook needed to be “very bright and airy” as well as lowmaintenance for everyday use, the designer explains. So she topped the wood table with easy-wipe glass and the striped chairs with performance fabric, all by Bernhardt. She also skipped heavy draperies to maximize sunshine.
The Arteriors chandelier is a modern play on a lantern made of seeded glass and iron—in black reflecting the family room’s palette. Open to the family room, the nook also complements its Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist and hardwood floors.
Of the master bedroom, Pacca says the wife “definitely wanted color and to have fun with it.” Her journey of joy started with a plum, upholstered headboard by Bernhardt and marched on with the pink tones of a custom neon sign and draperies.
For warmth, she flanked the bed with wooden chests and added a pop of blue in the fireside lounge area, where swivel chairs join a cream velvet sofa and ottoman on a sheepskin rug. “This cozy area ties all the colors together,” explains Pacca. Ditto for the strié accent wall by Thibaut behind the bed, which complements Benjamin Moore’s Silver Bells in the room’s color story.
For lighting, Pacca says she went “a little funky” to reflect the owner’s personality, choosing an iron-and-glass chandelier and sconces by Hammerton. Too ornate for this makeover, the fireplace also needed Pacca’s touch: simplified molding and handmade Mexican tile from Porcelanosa. The redesign breathed new life into a once formal setting. Says Pacca of the bedroom: “It’s so comfortable now—and more usable.”
A gut-job renovation took the master bathroom from “very, very traditional” to more contemporary—and again, fun. The wife “loved the idea of subway tile,” which, pairs with Marilyn Monroe in a graffiti backdrop by Convey Art Gallery.
The custom vanity with a black-framed mirror and pendants uniquely hanging on chains is contemporary but the claw-foot tub remained as a throwback to traditional, as Pacca sought to perfect the balancing act that dominated this project. The room’s black-and-white theme is reflected in the ink-splatter carpet and the custom fabric from Zimmer & Rohde on the dressing table chair.
Does this redesign pack more fun than a barrel of monkeys? Probably not. (The old saying implies that such contained creatures are a blast and a half.) Does it tastefully answer the homeowners’ call for elements of fun and surprise throughout the whole-house redesign? Affirmative. In Pacca’s words: “They love it!” And now she’s moved on to redesigning the husband’s office.