Design Matters

Paradise, glowing with light

by Val Nehez
Posted 4/27/23

While midway through the planning of our clients’ Elkins Park home, they got an offer to sell that they could not refuse. This left them searching for a new home.

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Design Matters

Paradise, glowing with light

Posted

While midway through the planning of our clients’ Elkins Park home, they got an offer to sell that they could not refuse. This left them searching for a new home.

They found a listing for a house on a lot with a pond, surrounded by old-growth trees at the end of a dead-end road. The neighborhood was safe and quiet. It was the perfect place to raise two young boys. 

Inside, the house glowed with sunlight. Every window looked out over the view of water and greenery. Really perfect. Only one problem – the house itself. From the outside, all the stucco made it feel a bit like a medical practice. Inside, it was very dated, even if it did have beautifully constructed handmade cabinets. 

All this happened during the time when houses were selling the day they went on the market, and they had to make a decision fast. So they called us for an emergency consultation, We knew our client’s taste from designing the house they had just agreed to sell. They loved the location and the light that came with this listing but could not see anything desirable about the house itself. “Can you make us love this house?” they asked. Our immediate answer was a “yes.” They put in an offer within the hour.

It was deeply moving to be trusted to that degree. Now all we had to do was make it happen. 

Our first decision was to keep the existing cabinets and the terracotta tile floor. Despite tremendous pushback, I felt we could transform them by removing the crown molding and a few of the details, like the built-in wine rack. Now the pressure was ON.

I defended keeping the tile floor by promising a Topanga Canyon vibe. The later addition of a leather couch from Sundays Company helped solidify this direction. 

Paint, wallpaper and furnishings completed the rest of the transformation.

Val Nehez is the owner and principal designer at Studio IQL in East Falls, which you can find at StudioIQL.com and on Instagram at studio_iql or for smaller projects quickandlovely_design.