The variety of houses found in New Jersey run the gamut, from classic Tudors and Victorians to timeless Cape Cods and cottages to today’s modern and contemporaries. With each style, of course, comes its own unique architecture and character—for better or worse.
Because not all homes are created equally, neither are walls and ceilings. Features like angled walls, dormer windows and vaulted and gable ceilings can provide visual interest, but they also can present design hurdles. But when life gives you lemons…
Below are six ways New Jersey interior designers embraced the architectural details of a home, from brightening a master bedroom to enlarging a bathroom to beautifying a living area. See which design choices you’d want to incorporate into your space.
Because of its odd angles, the primary bathroom in this renovated Montclair home was once dark and cramped. However, designers Wayne and Annie Norbeck, who are also the homeowners, expanded it into an adjoining hallway, used pale colors and added skylights, including one in the new shower, to usher in natural light.
To give the kitchen of an Allendale home a beachy feel, designer Mary Fitzpatrick Scro used white shiplap on the steep cathedral ceiling to give the space a bright, airy feel.
The primary bedroom of a Sea Girt Cape Cod-style home was dark and cluttered before designer Laurie Burke-Boice gave it a breezy, beachy vibe. She added three skylights to let in natural light and replaced a wall air conditioner with a streamlined cooling/heating wall unit and ceiling fan to improve ventilation. Built-in shelves were installed for extra storage.
Designer Judy Sturdevant gave a 1920s center hall colonial in Westfield a total makeover, but it wasn’t without challenges. Dormer windows in the primary bedroom were the first hurdle, but Sturdevant embraced the quirky architecture, “fabricating cornices and panels” and using an upholstered winged bed to soften the edges.
Hoping to create a seashore feel in their Far Hills home, the owners asked designer Pam Cooper to reimagine their open living room. Cooper reworked the architecture, turning a flat ceiling into a soaring 20-foot planked barrel design. “The plank boards gave it beautiful dimension,” she says.
When her 1990s Saddle River colonial cried out for a redo, owner/interior designer Robyn Stevens got to work. In her bedroom, she chose watery blue hues for serenity and restfulness and complemented the barrel-vaulted ceiling with a starburst chandelier in Italian Murano glass.
How do you incorporate your home’s unique architecture into the décor? Share your favorite photos with us on Instagram @njhomemag.