DESIGN by JENNIFER PACCA, ANDREA ACKERMANN, JENNIFER PACCA INTERIORS
PHOTOGRAPHY by MARCO RICCA
TEXT by DONNA ROLANDO
A big decision hung over an Upper Saddle River couple like a cartoon anvil. Their children were grown and their “nest” of more than two decades stood empty, potentially freeing the homeowners to downsize. But should they give up the multigenerational magnetism of home turf?
When the couple eliminated all their furniture (except the piano) to usher in a redesign, the decision was clear. “It’s still home base here,” declares the wife. “We decided to stay.” The clincher? An in-ground pool, a giant swing set and plenteous space had made this the go-to house for four adult children, two spouses and two grandkids.
Yet the couple was ready for change. That’s why they embarked on the first-floor redesign completed in 2024 by Jennifer Pacca and Andrea Ackermann of Jennifer Pacca Interiors in Wyckoff. As the wife explains, their four-bedroom brick colonial “really hadn’t been updated since we moved in” back in 2002. Since then, she says, her “tastes had evolved.”
Clearing out their traditional and “antiquey” furniture was the first step toward a new hybrid vision, where sophistication and drama coexist happily with warmth and coziness. “It went much more transitional, leaning toward contemporary, and a much fresher color scheme,” Pacca says. “We did blue, cream, shades of pink and golds”—with an emphasis on the wife’s beloved blue.
The family focus is especially strong in the great room. (“We practically live in that room,” the homeowner confesses.) Yet infusing warmth with a tall ceiling and no window treatments—at the family’s request—challenged the team to cleverly maneuver size and scale.
First up, the fireplace, sans the intricate molding and cut down to a more pleasing size, sparked drama with a blue, dimensional faux finish by Laura Debona. Balance came from a custom wall-TV media cabinet by All Wood designed to match the fireplace in height and color. More than eye candy, a sizable chandelier not only helped to “fill up some of that open space,” Pacca says, but also contributed the warmth of gold.
For the room’s color story, an abstract area rug by Palace Oriental served as “the jumping-off point,” she adds, opening the door to abstracts by Wendover Art and Zoe Bios Creative. Shifting to neutral and tonal fabrics, the designers had family in mind with an oversized—yet cozy —Vanguard sectional paired with a contemporary cocktail table by Ambella.
Also maximizing seating, the dining room features durable, faux-leather chairs and a Vanguard, wood-and-Lucite table that expands to fit current and future family. This holiday haven shed its dark, Chippendale-style furniture, burgundy walls and chair rail on a mission to lighten up. It then embraced a client-sourced, abstract-shaped mirror from John-Richard for “an element of surprise,” along with a Hammerton chandelier that stands out for handblown glass shades, Pacca says. Her design hack? Large stripes on the Stanton area rug seem to widen the space.
Though it’s a tribute to blue and cream, the dining room also boasts a Leftbank Art abstract over the refurbished marble-hearth fireplace with colors that tie in the great room’s pink and gold. Both rooms also share modern, dark hardwood floors.
What really touched the wife’s heart in the dining room is how Pacca was able to salvage and showcase her grandmother’s floral needlepoint seat cushions. “That was really special to me,” says the homeowner, who also showcased heirlooms in the room’s twin gold-and-glass étagères.
The Pacca team set the tone in the entry foyer with the polished look of multi-hued, onyx tile. “Our goal was to lighten it up and create a space that introduced what would be happening in the rest of the rooms,” Pacca explains. A chenille bench makes an “interesting moment under the stairs,” while previewing the home’s color palette, she says. In addition, white walls and a neutral runner rewrite a busy and dark scene that included damask wallpaper.
“I thought they nailed exactly what I was looking for,” says the homeowner. “We wanted the kids to feel comfortable to plop down on the couch. We didn’t want it to be like a museum.”