DESIGN by KATE MAZZA
PHOTOGRAPHY by JACOB SNAVELY
TEXT by NAYDA RONDON
With three young children and another on the way, the owners of a newly purchased colonial in Montclair needed “a great project manager to help handle all the moving parts.”
Based on a friend’s recommendation, they contacted Kate Mazza of the Montclair-based Mazza Collective, and it was instant connection. “From the start, we moved in unison toward a timeless bucolic country look,” the wife says of the 18-month collaboration that sought to redesign the home’s foyer, stairway, formal living and dining rooms, family room and primary bedroom.
This family wasn’t seeking “do-not-touch” museum-quality perfection or the newest and latest. “I wanted a lived-in look that reflected my husband’s roots and our mutual love for things with a history,” the wife says.
“The husband is from Scotland and the wife is from Manhattan, so it was important to blend a traditional, cozy, Scottish vibe with cool New York style and create a family home for the couple and their children,” Mazza explains.
To marry the couple’s aesthetics, Mazza paired charming plaid and floral patterns with bold, unexpected choices. She blended mid-century silhouettes and modern artwork with old-style pieces such as crystal-and-aged-brass light fixtures. Knowing that life with four kids—now ages 8, 6, 3 and 11 months—could get messy and hectic, she selected family-friendly materials and features. “We used lots of custom upholstery in durable, quality fabrics for pieces like the family room sofa and primary bedroom daybed; we made everything super cozy with additions such as plush area rugs,” Mazza says.
“It was so rewarding to incorporate [the wife’s] existing pieces inherited from her father, an antiques dealer with extraordinary taste,” the designer adds. “Dove-tailing these pieces, like a vintage game table and Lucite bar cart, with new-to-us vintage pieces was both fun and challenging in the best way.”
To ensure that things weren’t ho-hum conventional, Mazza delighted in making maverick design moves. For instance, a Sally King Benedict art piece adds vibrant surprise to the family room. “I love the bold red and blue colors so much,” the wife says. “Some might consider placing the work of younger artists alongside traditional pieces a daring choice, but I love the effect.”
Mazza kept things interesting in the dining room by combining new purchases such as the Visual Comfort chandelier with treasured heirlooms like the antique mirror on the wall, and new-to-them vintage finds with a custom twist, such as 1960s Jules Heumann chairs. (The designer found the chairs on 1stDibs and had them reupholstered in Holland & Sherry plaid wool as a nod to the husband’s heritage.)
In the primary bedroom, Mazza’s flair for creative reinvention transformed an eyesore into a star attraction. The original plan called for ripping out an “ugly, oversized chimney” and replacing it with a potbelly stove. But after going back and forth with contractors over code issues, the designer found that nothing seemed to be working—until she reimagined the space as a custom daybed and bookshelf enclave.
“I think it’s the ‘crown jewel’ of the home,” Mazza says. “Mazza Collective designed the custom millwork for the daybed, seat bench and bookcase; we upholstered the daybed in green and goldenrod linen with custom pillows made to match the custom commission painting by Mary Nelson Sinclair above it.” Hand-painted linen drapes from Lake August and a custom wool area rug also complement the color story, while Farrow & Ball’s Borrowed Light on the interiors of the bookshelves and underneath the bench subtly offsets the custom millwork.
Full of charm and character, the home celebrates family, culture and the beauty of enduring continuity. “In this disposable society, living amongst vintage and antique pieces teaches our kids not to be wasteful,” the wife says. “It also instills in them the value and beauty of old things—books, furniture, William Morris prints—or new things produced in traditional ways, such as new Scottish wool made in the same method used for hundreds of years. We want them to honor things with a rich history, a reminder of what came before them and how it ties in not just with our own family’s personal history, but with a larger story that connects us to others who came before and will come after us.”