DESIGN by RISHA WALDEN
PHOTOGRAPHY by VIC WAHBY
TEXT by RICHARD LALIBERTE
The house had a natural charm. It’s a traditional Dutch colonial nestled in a leafy Maple wood neighborhood, a home where a couple and their three adolescent children had lived for less than a year. The mandate, explains designer Risha Walden of Walden Interiors in Millburn, was that the clients “loved mid-century modern design, and they wanted that influence in this home.”
For the design renovation she finished in spring 2025, Walden didn’t see “traditional vs. modern” aesthetic differences as a clash of styles but as a creative opportunity. “European design often puts ultramodern elements in homes that are 300 or 400 years old,” she explains. “It’s all about how you do it.”
Another creative challenge: The family had a collection of modern furnishings and artwork that they wanted to incorporate as much as possible, so Walden didn’t have carte blanche discretion over every element. “I went in and was like, ‘OK, let’s make the design and see what pieces can fit in,’” she says.
She approached the project as she does most others: “I design for the best layout possible based on the client’s lifestyle and needs and what they use each room for,” she says. “Once the layout is decided, I start looking at existing furniture to see what will work to create that layout.”
Function trumps attachment to any particular item. For example, a beloved sofa may be too small. “If you always have people over and want comfortable seating for 10, why make the room comfortable only for six?” Walden says. Becoming too attached to an item you insist on including can dilute the value of investing in a designer’s work, she says. For clients with an open mind, she says, “there’s an opportunity to grow into something they didn’t know was even possible.”
Such an opportunity came with arches that dominate a sizable foyer leading to a living room and family room. Walden conceived something the client hadn’t considered: removing bookcases that had been built roughly waist-high into the arches. This significantly opened the space and provided a cleaner look.
The arches then shaped visual conversations with the adjoining living and family rooms. “Mid-century modern tends to be linear, with low, horizontal lines,” she says. With the arches “it became necessary to add curvature, which makes the rooms more welcoming and just sexier.”
Curves in the living room can be found in an eye-catching, lemon colored chaise longue from Zanotta and two cream-colored chairs from Thayer Coggin. The family room features curved private-label sofas upholstered with Thibaut fabric and an existing ottoman reupholstered with Daybreak fabric from Concertex, all providing crisp lines and rich colors. Existing furniture was often reupholstered or refinished, and Walden introduced many new elements.
She redid a fireplace in the living room using custom-designed solid stone from Artistic Tile, installed by Marvic Corp. in Union, framed with taut, modern lines and topped with custom-designed walnut paneling implemented by Creative Cabinet Designs in Boonton. The reimagined fireplace matches renovated, cozy bench seating under windows on either side. Carpet with an organic pattern “makes the room feel large and grand,” Walden explains.
Carpet in the family room was the client’s but was moved from a different room to complement the retro colors of the space, including a painted ceiling and textured wallpaper from Mitchell Black. Simple Roman shades custom designed with fabric from Kasmir and implemented by CMI Window Fashions and Lighting Control, in Spring field, help control light for reading or viewing a dropdown projection screen. Both the client and Walden were thrilled with the project’s results. “I was able to impart the feeling they wanted in the space they had,” Walden says. “I love it when clients sign on to a design vision and trust that the outcome will align with their own vision.”