Merging design styles is no easy feat, but interior designer Lisa Staton of Lisa Staton Interior Design is always up for a challenge. When the designer was tasked with giving a classic, 1930s-era Victorian home a modern, Scandinavian-inspired update, she was more than up to the task. Located in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, the home had great bones but was begging for modern architectural details.
"The original style of the house is traditional and has a reference to American Palladian architecture, but we wanted to infuse modern into it," the interior designer tells MyDomaine. "The old-school bones influenced us in terms of maintaining a certain symmetry and scale." Drawing inspiration from the Nordic palette and the unique way Italian and French villas mix modern and classic design, Staton set out to bring the 1930s-era Victorian home into the 21st century, with all its original charm intact.
Scroll on to step inside the thoughtfully renovated home and see the stunning result.
"We started with the architectural changes, including a full gut renovation of the kitchen," remembers Staton. To keep the space open and airy, the designer forwent upper cabinets and opted instead for simple, handleless, European-style lower cabinets. "Two under-counter fridge drawers and a big pantry helped make this possible," she recalls.
"While the cabinets are modern and streamlined, the French blue Lacanche range and generous marble counters and backsplash nod to the traditional architecture of the original house," she says. The original hardwood floors were sanded and stained in a blonde finish, sans the shiny coat of polyurethane. "It's a very European approach," she notes.
To bathe the space in natural light, Staton installed a large picture window above the sink. "We decided, after it was installed, not to paint it and to leave the blonde oak wood frame," recalls the designer.
Throughout the home, Staton made renovation choices that favored an open footprint. "Our goal was to allow the rooms to simply and harmoniously flow into each other and create a clean crisp backdrop for the art," she says. The homeowners boast an amazing art collection, complete with works by David Hockney and Sean Scully, divulged the designer.
To further open up the floor plan, Staton removed a section of the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen, creating an architectural opening between the two spaces. The designer then painted the dining room walls in Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl to serve as a subtle, elegant backdrop for the selected artwork on display.
For the furnishings, Staton anchored the space with a vintage Turkish wool flat weave rug sourced from Hedgerow. From there, she paired a solid blonde wood dining room table and complementary chairs from Poliform with a modern, ethereal light fixture from Design Within Reach to keep things open and airy.
In the living room, "modern furniture was carefully curated with antiques and sculptural items," explains the designer. "We chose to layer textures of simple textiles—wool and linen in grays, creams, and whites—for the foundation pieces," she notes.
The space also received a notable architectural update. "We pared down and stripped the fireplace to a simple drywall painted modern form," says Staton of the living room's standout architectural detail. "Marble remains on the hearth for a touch of warmth."
"A striped felted wool rug grounds the modern sofa and mismatched midcentury modern chairs," notes Staton. For inquiring minds, the designer sourced the vibrant rug from Paulig through Driscoll Robbins in a custom stripe pattern.
"We found inspiration in the Nordic palette and the way Italian and French villas merge modern with classic design for this home," says Staton. In this vignette, a midcentury modern credenza is contrasted with a sculptural light fixture and a large-scale contemporary painting in bright, Scandi-inspired hues.
In addition to masterfully combining modern and classic elements of design, Staton also juxtaposed various textures and materials to achieve an artfully curated aesthetic. "In the primary bedroom, a plush sheepskin rug and soft gray textiles on the bed are contrasted by the vintage marble side table," she points out.
Primary Bedroom
The term “Primary Bedroom” is now widely used to describe the largest bedroom in the home, as it better reflects the space’s purpose. Many realtors, architects, interior designers, and the Real Estate Standards Association have recognized the potentially discriminatory connotations in the term “Master.” Read more about our Diversity and Inclusion Pledge.
Another space that received a full-gut renovation: the primary bathroom. "White oak cabinets add warmth against the long and generous custom marble backsplash," notes Staton. The materials also strike the perfect balance between European elegance and Scandinavian minimalism, a recurring design theme throughout the home.
Primary Bathroom
The term “Primary Bathroom” is now widely used to describe the largest bathroom in the home, as it better reflects the space’s purpose. Many realtors, architects, interior designers, and the Real Estate Standards Association have recognized the potentially discriminatory connotations in the term “Master.” Read more about our Diversity and Inclusion Pledge.
The pièce de résistance is the freestanding tub, which Staton selected to add sculpture and contrast to the space. Sourced from Agape, the Ottocento tub—complete with angled legs—is a strikingly modern take on a clawfoot tub. It's no wonder Staton called it out as one of her greatest finds.