DESIGN by SOUTH MAIN DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY by MEGHAN BALCOM
TEXT by NAYDA RONDON
The 1987 colonial in Bealle Mead had pleasing architecture and generous square footage. Yet after nearly a decade, its main floor still read “waiting room,” recalls Jenna Reading. When she and Amanda Downs, co-founders of Allentown-based South Main Design (SMD), arrived in early 2024 to help transform the 3,500-square-foot home, they found echoing rooms, untouched spaces and Ernie, the family’s 95-pound Italian Spinone, claiming domain over what should have been prime entertaining real estate.
“Imagine great bones, then crickets in the formal spaces,” Reading says.
Downs adds: “They’re warm, stylish, fun people, and the house didn’t reflect their lifestyle or personalities at all.”
The homeowners—busy professionals with one young daughter—had moved in in 2015 and, aside from painting and carpeting, had left the house, particularly the entry and the living and dining rooms, essentially untouched.
The home was in a great neighborhood. And with three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and an upstairs den/library, office and bonus room, it had ample space as well. So the owners opted for patience and practicality. “Even if we’d moved, we’d still want to make our home ours; it only made sense to remodel the structure we already loved,” the wife explains.
The renovation began in May 2023 with a full gut of the kitchen and laundry/mudroom. Tobias Design in Hopewell was tapped for cabinetry, flooring and countertops, and Pennington-based Masterson Construction for the build. But as selections progressed, the homeowners realized that the rest of the first floor needed to step up.
“The empty rooms were fine when our daughter was younger and could run around,” the wife says. “But it was time to finally create livable, realized spaces to be proud of and entertain in.”
The initial project evolved into a comprehensive first-floor transformation encompassing the entry and the living, dining, family and powder rooms. After finding SMD on Instagram, the homeowners reached out. “I immediately felt like they ‘got it,’” the wife says.
“Our strategy was to infuse their warmth and personality into every room while making sure nothing felt ‘just for show,’” says Downs. “There are zero ‘museum’ rooms.”
Reading agrees: “When you walk into a colonial, it shouldn’t feel stark and modern. There’s character here; you just have to bring it forward.”
Leaning into the colonial architecture, they refinished the red oak floors in a custom, medium-brown blend, grounding the home in warmth. Moldings were enhanced, panel detailing added and doorways widened into cased openings to improve flow without sacrificing the home’s traditional layout. Layered lighting—sconces and chandeliers from Hudson Valley Lighting—brightened long-neglected rooms.
Once echoing, the formal living room is now enveloping. Pictureframe molding wraps walls in Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist, creating what Downs calls “a warm hug of a room.” The brick fireplace was lime-washed and framed with custom millwork. Maiden Home’s Varick sofa in performance velvet cider proclaims that this is no off-limits parlor. A black leather accent chair—initially a placeholder for a future piano—earns its stay; Evie swivel chairs from Four Hands and a 56-inch white oak-and-marble coffee table anchor the seating area. “We knew the table’s oversized scale would be perfect for game night,” notes Reading, adding it’s already hosted several father-daughter chess showdowns. A glass-front cabinet, also from Four Hands, displays heirlooms and children’s art.
If the living room is a warm embrace, the dining room is pure personality. Nathan Turner’s Persimmon Birds wallpaper animates the upper walls. “Grass cloth is so luxurious,” Downs says. “Add a whimsical pattern in gorgeous colors, and you can’t go wrong.”
The Aldean chandelier by Troy Lighting extends the botanical mood. A Four Hands table and performance-fabric chairs sit atop a Loloi rug; trims and ceiling glow in Benjamin Moore Simply White. A curved, glass-front serving bench boosts storage while Roseanne Kenny’s Liquified Landscape VI adds movement to the once-static room.
In the kitchen, the duo layered in personality. Cabinetry in Simply White and walnut meets Cristallo quartzite; a greige floor from The Tile Shop grounds the room, while Visual Comfort’s Rigby linear chandelier in brass and oak floats above the island. Schumacher fabric window treatments, made by Denise Canney Custom Sewing for the Home, soften the architecture.
“This was one of our favorite projects ever because the homeowners were unicorn clients—kind, decisive, trusting and not scared of taking risks,” says Reading.
“The difference is dramatic, not because it’s flashy, but because it finally feels like them,” says Downs.
“Yes, it’s gorgeous,” Reading adds, “but the best part is that it’s lived in with love.”
Now the kitchen hums from morning coffee to homework hour. The dining room hosts actual dinners. The living room holds chess matches and lively gatherings. The crickets are assuredly gone.