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It was like an episode of Love It or List It, minus the camera crew and scripted host drama. Nicole Cole’s clients, a couple with two young kids, were seriously considering selling their Philadelphia home. The refrigerator was smooshed under the staircase, books were piling up next to the coat closet, and the entryway had to double as an office. They had definitely outgrown it… or so they thought.
When Cole, the founder of Vestige Home, toured their space, she quickly determined that some built-ins and a small first-floor addition could make the house work for their next stage of life. “We all look around and say, ‘Is this even the right house?’” says Cole. “But it’s a real testament to the power of good interior design. Maybe it’s actually that you don’t have the right scale of furniture or the right millwork.” Here’s how she helped this young family learn to love their space again.
Triple Your Work Surface
Working with Kindred Architecture, Cole tacked on 110 square feet to the back of the house, opening up the opportunity to add counter space, counter space, and more counter space. The new island and surrounding cabinetry are topped in honed Emperador marble, a choice Cole loved for its earthy brown undertones.
The client had told Cole she wanted a “pottery house” with organic shapes and natural materials. The designer’s interpretation: a mosaic zellige tile for the backsplash that catches the light and accentuates each piece’s imperfect edges.
Squeeze in a Bench
A banquette is a no-brainer in a narrow rowhouse, says Cole: “Your seating goes right up against the wall. It’s a very efficient use of space.” The designer clad the back of this bench in a geometric Studio Ashby pattern she’d long admired that plays nicely with the botanical-print pendant over the island.
Designate a Drop Zone
If you’re designing a home for efficiency, every entrance needs a drop zone to contain the inevitable clutter. But what happens when your entry is in the kitchen? Cole chose to install a bench, coat hooks, and cabinets adjacent to the banquette, creating a natural partition between the two areas. This way, it doesn’t feel like there’s a mudroom plopped in the middle of the space.
Make the Powder Room a Jewel Box
Cole shrunk the powder room a hair to give space back to the main living areas but supersized its personality with paint. Look closely and you’ll notice the ceiling is a dark aubergine, as is the door trim. “It was a very cost effective way to make an interesting space,” says the designer. An extra-long mirror amplifies the illusion of high ceilings.
Funk Up the Fireplace
Another awkward rowhouse staple? Corner fireplaces. Cole wanted to preserve a good chunk of the existing structure, so she kept the Wissahickon schist stone (a rock local to the area) and got playful with the mantle, cladding it in cement checkerboard tiles that tie back to a new red marble hearth.
Build an Office with a View
Having a dedicated WFH space in the living area was still a necessity, but the designer ditched the family’s bulky furniture, which was crowding the nearby staircase. Instead, she commissioned a built-in desk that sits snug up against the arched window. Rather than splurge on a radius corner cabinet to house coloring essentials and books, she disguised simple shelving with a Kelly Ventura fabric curtain.
Turn the Radiator Into a Reading Nook
Creative seating solutions were in high demand. Turns out, if you box in the radiator and top it with a cushion, you’ve got yourself a cozy bench. The ottoman in the middle of the room? It can slide anywhere they need to accommodate guests. The semi-custom sofa? A single bench cushion lets you squeeze in a fourth person, no problem.
Combo the Coat Closet and Record Collection
When Cole proposed yet another built-in next to the stairs, this one to act as both a coat closet and record storage, her clients finally felt like their living area was all grown up. “It became a place they wanted to be,” Cole says. The floor-to-ceiling millwork, painted in Raisin by Sherwin-Williams, features a shoe drawer at the base and a cabinet up top for seasonal gear. To the left is what Cole calls the family’s listening station, with shelves for vinyl and a marble surface to display their record player. Reader, they chose to love it.