The 2018 Connecticut IDA Winners: Interior Design

When Denise Davies of D2 Interieurs first saw this home in Westport, she recognized that much of what was already there needed to be preserved. The home is an ideal exemplar of the midcentury modern aesthetic, particularly its vigorously articulated fieldstone walls, inside and out, slate floors and large expanses of windows and skylights.

Davies introduced a neutral color scheme throughout, adding elements that were true to the home’s 1950s origins while also being true to today’s needs and aesthetics. She mixed vintage artworks, furnishings and accessories with custom pieces, relying on their colors to provide the visual pops in the rooms.

A lighting fixture above the dining table, for example, is composed of lampshades in varying hues; sinuous lamp bases provide sources of form; and geometrically patterned rugs activate spaces.

What was once a dark, working barn on a farm in Washington, CT, is now a bright contemporary living and play space for an active young family. Reese Owens Architects undertook a gut renovation that involved everything from underpinning the old rubble foundation and installing new windows and doors to building a staircase and bridge to a loft space overlooking the great room, even adding a half-court basketball court and a one-story el that houses a lodge-style club room, exercise space and spa bath.

Interior designer Jenny Fischbach introduced color and comfort throughout the spaces that include stylish Gio Ponti chairs and geometric area rugs positioned in intimate seating and dining areas. Wood wallboards from Hudson Company establish a handsome contrast to the steel while referencing and honoring the barn’s vernacular past.

Everything about the Old Greenwich site on which their family’s Colonial-inspired home sat appealed to these homeowners, but they couldn’t get past the home’s traditional styling and details. They commissioned designer Calla McNamara to transform the interiors into a modern living space that could accommodate and highlight the wife’s own art (she is a painter) and an ever-growing collection of works by other artists. McNamara opened up walls, replaced moldings, changed kitchen cabinetry and removed a wall separating the kitchen from the family room. She then configured seating such that guests could sit and face the kitchen or enjoy the re-faced fireplace. A quartz island gives family and friends a centralized place to convene. The most dramatic moment of décor, however, is a removable swing that hangs from an I-beam.

Up the modern staircase, there are gallery-like white walls ideal for displaying artwork.