A Stunning 1960s Split-Level Home Full of Vintage Treasures

Breaking down our Homeworthy debut: including the paint colors, sources, and most asked questions

In early November, Homeworthy knocked on the door and the filming of the iconic door scene kicked off the finale to an eighteen month design and renovation process with Will + Blu Interiors.

So much of the process of finding our home and working with the Will + Blu team is in the video, so I won’t be redundant. But I felt a breakdown of each room with paint colors, sources and frequently asked questions would be a nice supplement to the episode! Just before we filmed with Homeworthy we took advantage of the staging (i.e. toys put away and pristinely cleaned) and had our favorite photographer Natalie Folchi come and professionally capture the space. Every photo in this post is by Natalie.

Many people are always very curious what it’s like to work with an interior design team. There are many misconceptions. I find many people associate interior designers with increased cost but that is such an inaccurate assumption. I have now worked with W+B on two homes and countless rooms. Every single time, they save me so much money. Since they conceptualize the entire room, space, home, etc., everything is well considered and chosen thoughtfully. I’m not impulse purchasing anything for my home. Ever. I’m not buying a rug or piece of furniture that doesn’t fit in the space. I am unsubscribed from every home brand email distro and I never spend any time in the home decor sections of Target, Home Goods, T.J. Maxx etc. Do you know how much money that saves me?? A lot.

The process itself is typically very collaborative in the beginning but once the team starts designing the spaces, I’m very hands off. I trust them completely, which is why I hired them, and I enjoy stepping away from the decision fatigue that accompanies a renovation or room furnishing. I’ve become legendary with the team because I never have any edits post presentation. And my home reflects that. Letting a design team do what they do best (i.e. design) is where the magic happens. And because everyone asks…we align upfront on the budget per phase so that nothing comes as a surprise.

That said, I must caveat before sharing this info, that these rooms were conceptualized together and are the result of hours of design conversations, space planning, budget discussions, and countless inspiration images. This is the fruit of that labor and valuable intellectual property. But now that we are almost two years in to living here, I finally feel comfortable sharing.

If you’re in the middle of an interior design process yourself, I would encourage you to take the time to build a Pinterest board, see items in person, scour Facebook marketplace and set a budget. Exercise patience. Wait for the perfect piece, do not just buy something for now that you will likely grow sick of in two years. The idea of great interior design is to “curate”. Curation takes time, energy and patience. It’s not to copy and paste. And in saying that, the goal of sharing these sources is to show you the range of places you can look for your own home.

Ok let’s dive into the details by room…

The Foyer

The very first moment that greets you as you walk through the front door. The palette of the entire home is represented in the foyer and the Slim Aarons print is a nod to the home being built in 1961.

We tried probably 50 swatches of blue before we found this Dusky Blue. It’s the only room on the main floor that has color and it’s simply gorgeous in real life.

Foyer Details:

• Wall color: Benjamin Moore Dusky Blue 1640 (SW to color match)

• Ceiling color: Benjamin Moore Dusky Blue 1640 (SW to color match)

• Trim color: Benjamin Moore Dusky Blue 1640 (SW to color match)

• Burlwood Console by CB2

• Cement Dome Lamp by CB2

• Rug by Sarah Sherman Samuel for Lulu & Georgia

• Fringe stools by McGee & Co.

• Coffee table books + floral vase from Will + Blu Interiors

• Slim Aarons print found on Etsy

• Art by Katherine Corden and Jake Snowden

The Living Room

The formal living room and the showpiece of our home. This is the first room you see after you walk into our foyer and it makes a big impact.

The bureau was my grandmother’s and the marble chess set was a gift from my sister in law to my son (who loves to play).

Vintage books are everywhere in my home. As an avid reader and lover of color, they pull double duty adding coziness and warmth to the home.

Living Room Details:

• Wall color: Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45 (SW to color match)

• Ceiling color: Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45 (SW to color match)

• Trim color: Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45 (SW to color match)

• Sofa by Interior Define

• Glass coffee table by Wayfair

• Rug Jake Arnold for Lulu & Georgia

• Boucle chairs by CB2

• Lamps by Troy Lighting and Vakkerlight

• Mirror by Sarah Sherman Samuel for Lulu & Georgia

• Melted mirror ball found on Etsy

• Custom abstract painting by Jake Snowden

• Orb paintings by Laurel Dawn Corner Studio

• Vintage books by Beelow & Baird

• Mantel jugs and wooden stool by House on Horizon

The Dining Room

I wanted super moody and that’s exactly what I got!

Let this be a strong argument for the power of color drenching and wallpaper!!

Dining Room Details:

• Wall color: Sherwin Williams Van Dyke Brown SW 7041

• Ceiling color: Sherwin Williams Van Dyke Brown SW 7041

• Trim & Built Ins color: Sherwin Williams Van Dyke Brown SW 7041

• Wallpaper is Verte in Fennel by Kelly Ventura

• Light fixture by Lulu & Georgia

• Dining room table by Restoration Hardware (French Contemporary extension)

• Chairs by Amber Interiors x Four Hands

• Rug by Jake Arnold for Lulu & Georgia

The Family Room

The heart of our home and where you’ll find me most days.

I’m writing to you from this exact spot! The kids joke that “I’m in my spot” which is the corner of our sofa where those pillows are gathered!

The wet bar is the star of the show (custom by W+B) and I absolutely love using it for cocktails and drink mixing during the holidays.

Family Room Details:

• Wall color: Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45 (SW to color match)

• Ceiling color: Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45 (SW to color match)

• Trim color: Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45 (SW to color match)

• Sofa and chair by Interior Define

• Rug by Jake Arnold for Lulu & Georgia

• Coffee table by Pottery Barn

• Lamp is “Rosie” by Light and Dwell for Huey Lightship

• Wavy fire place screen

• Side table from Urban Outfitters (no longer available)

• Custom wet bar, built in shelves, and fabric curtains by Will + Blu Interiors

• Art by Katherine Corden and Kristin MacKenzie

The Hall Bath

My favorite place to film for A Day with Kate

The most perfect antique piece of art for this space.

Hall Bath Details:

• Wallpaper by McGee & Co.

• Antique art by House on Horizon

• Custom marble counter and vanity by Will + Blu Interiors

• Vintage silver vase supplied by W+B

• Silver tray by McGee & Co.

• Sconces (no longer available) and mirror by Amber Interiors

Frequently Asked Questions

“What are those little lamps in your built ins??”

Custom built ins and curtains by Will + Blu Interiors

Rather than pay more to wire electricity to our custom built ins, we use these rechargeable lamps. I love them so much. They give off the best soft light on gloomy days and cozy nights.

Why don’t you have window treatments in any room? Was that intentional?

The view from the dining room into the living room.

No, the design has always included window treatments for the entire home. In the living room the plan is ceiling to floor, cream linen drapes. The kitchen will have a cafe curtain. The back of the house windows will have simple cream linen roman shades. All our bedrooms will have roman shades, except the primary bedroom which will have floor to ceiling to floor, cream linen drapes.

Since our home was built in 1961 all our windows are unique sizes and require custom made treatments. I know I can source affordable options through Amazon and that there are a lot of viral dupes on the internet, but that’s not the goal. The goal is customize and invest. The total for all my windows was $30k. So we are tackling in waves. We just completed wave 1, which was the front bedrooms that you can see into from the street and our kitchen’s cafe curtain. Next up will be completing the balance of the bedrooms. Last will be the drapes in the living room. I’m also purposefully waiting until my youngest is older and won’t mess with/hide in/dirty up beautiful cream linen drapes.

We are using The Shade Store for all of this and they have been nothing but exceptional.

How did you find the art in your home?

One of my favorite views in the entire house. Painting by Katherine Corden. Antique bench sourced from House on Horizon.

The art in our home is mostly by our friends in Northern Michigan. A place that is very near and dear to our family is Leelanau Peninsula + Traverse City. There is an incredibly talented art community in that area (the art is worth the trip alone). Almost all the art in our home is by my lovely friend Katherine Corden. Will + Blu teases me that I’m her #1 fan, which is pretty accurate even as a joke!! We also have a few pieces by Kristin MacKenzie who is an absolute dream (and is on track to open her own brick and mortar shop in Leland this summer). The Will + Blu team turned me on to Jake Snowden and Laurel Dawn Corner Studio, both of whom I plan to continue to buy pieces from because I just love their work so much.

Why didn’t you renovate in stages?

The marble on the fireplace was a happy accident. We had to buy a full slab of marble for the wet bar but only needed half. So we got creative and used the balance of the marble in the living room to give the existing fireplace a glow up. This was one of those in the moment design decisions that ended up being a scene stealer!

Moving with small children, relocating to a different city, starting at new schools, and settling into a new community was extremely overwhelming (even with it being my husband and I’d shared hometown). I could not have managed our day to day family life with the house under stages of construction. We were lucky enough to sell our previous home in March but negotiate to stay until the end of the school year (late May). We found this home the day after going into contract on our old home (fate is funny like that). We closed on this house in April and renovations began the next day (I had lined up a general contractor in the meantime).

The house sat empty from April until August while new floors, paint crews, electricians, and our general contractor worked their magic. We opted to not renovate our kitchen or any bathrooms beyond the hall bath which helped the timeline. I project managed all the work as I didn’t want to pay an additional fee to our design team to do it for me. I was also the person there more than anyone else, balancing going back and forth from Columbus to check in on progress.

While I would not say that I necessarily enjoyed the process of managing a renovation project, I was good at it. I’m very detail oriented (you better believe there was an Excel doc for this) and have a sharp design eye, both skills I developed as a retail merchant. I was able to leverage those skills as a project manager. I was also very nice to every single person that walked in the door, which I have found greatly improves the relationship between you and the crew.

In early August our family moved in (we were vagabonds that summer, mostly living in Northern Michigan). Our main floor furnishings did not arrive until November so we made due with the minimal furniture we had brought from our old house (Our old home was a traditional Georgian so it’s style was much more contemporary and traditional. Very different from the moody and eclectic vibe this house has. We sold a lot in the move.)

The bedrooms were not a part of the design process so I had made sure to have everyone’s bed frame and mattresses ordered and delivered in time for our first night at the house. I found that having the bedrooms sorted made living with minimal main floor furnishings pretty easy.

In mid November, the Will + Blu team arrived for two days of installs. By that Christmas, the house looked the way it does in these pictures.

How to you keep your house looking like this with three boys?

An antique chest from House on Horizon that hides all our school supplies, homework, craft items, printer paper, etc.

To me this is more about the bad wrap little boys get, than about my home. My boys are well mannered, respectful and have been exposed to beautiful places and the art of design. Through our modeling they respect our home, just like my husband and I do. When messes are made we work together to fix them. If it will cost us money to fix something, then the boys have to put up a little of their own money towards fixing it. As they don’t like to part with their money, this has been hugely motivating for them.

But mostly I think people need to let go of the idea that boys are unable to appreciate and love beautiful design. My children are extremely blessed that this is their childhood home. And we talk about that a lot. They understand the sacrifices their dad and I make to have the things we do and they see us working hard every single day for what we have. To me this is a values thing, and not about keeping white furniture nice in home with kids.

Ok gang, that’s it!!! Let me know if I missed any of your burning questions and I hope you enjoy the Homeworthy Episode!

You can shop my entire home here.

Thanks for reading!

Kate