When interior designer Maura Rossi accepted a commission for a home in Valencia Reserve in Boynton Beach, the clients told her they wanted something completely different than their other homes in Boston and Martha's Vineyard. The retired couple bought a place in South Florida to be closer to a son attending school in Miami. They desired a calming, sophisticated neutral palette that would also provide a clean backdrop to showcase pieces from their art collection.
The one-story, 2,700-square-foot, zero-lot-line home with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths was new construction, and the owners had chosen beige marble flooring with black accents offered by the developer.
For the rest of the home, Rossi used a color palette of tans, ivories and taupe, with silver and gold accents to add sparkle. She also custom framed new artwork and reframed existing pieces to be displayed so they complement the new décor, and she incorporated graceful oval shapes in fabrics and furnishings throughout the home.
Serendipitously, Maura's twin sister, landscape architect Maureen Smith, designed the yard.
“The owners wanted a design that reminded them they were in sunny Florida, and not in Boston,” Smith says.
She used multi-trunked palms, hibiscus and other winter-blooming plants to create a lush, layered landscape that provides privacy but doesn't block the view of a lake.
The Foyer
Rossi began her design by replacing the plain double front doors with a custom pair featuring etched leaded glass inserts.
“The doors are pretty much a piece of art themselves,” Rossi says.
To set off the decorative doors, she applied dark stain to the surrounding millwork. To create further visual interest in the small foyer, she installed a large, vertical mirror, painting its wood frame in a mix of gold, silver and bronze.
Under the mirror is an eye-catching credenza covered in pillowed silver leaf, crowned by a crystal lamp with a rain motif and a creamy silk shade with silver banding. On the other side of the space is an original Picasso painting. A stunning, globe-shaped amber crystal light fixture hangs from the ceiling.
The Living Room
The foyer opens to the living room, where Rossi installed ceiling coffers, framed in light and dark molding and finished inside with pearlized opalescent flecks paper. The elegant chandelier with gracefully curved arms is made from handblown amber Venetian glass. Adding texture and softness to the floor is a wool-and-silk rug with a level-loop pile in gold and a cut-pile pattern in off white. Floor-to-ceiling draperies are a soft gold woven fabric embroidered with gleaming gold thread. Sheers between them soften light coming in from outside, and a dark wood rod pocket conceals the hardware.
A wall unit with a walnut finish houses a large TV screen hidden by a painting that rolls up. Flanking the screen are glass-fronted shelves with oval overlays, ideal for displaying the owner's collection of blown glass; underneath are storage cabinets. Wall sconces with twisted, horn-shaped black enamel bases and rectangular silk shades cast an ambient glow and accent chairs on either side have oval-shaped frames and upholstery with large-scale flower patterns in taupe, gold and cream. Dark wood drink tables beside them feature oval-shaped bases and antique mirrored tops, one round and one square.
“I didn't want them to be matchy-matchy,” Rossi says.
In the main seating group, twin sofas upholstered in a nubby, cream-colored fabric have slender sloped arms and a walnut band at the bottom. A damask pattern on a taupe background with raised silver embroidery lends style to the accent pillows, while high-gloss end tables have gracefully curved bases and tops with Macassar ebony inserts.
Behind one of the sofas is a table with a walnut finish top supported by several narrow, curved taupe legs that conjure an image of tree trunks. Two taupe club chairs covered in mohair and cotton velvet are accented with ribbed gold and taupe pillows edged in beaded trim, and an oval bench is upholstered in gold chenille with raised gold threads.
In the center of the seating group is a large, rectangular glass-topped coffee table with antiqued gold legs and frame.
The Kitchen
A dark wood peninsula with a granite top separates the living room from the kitchen. Stools beside it have dark wood legs and curved arms that complement the slope of the nearby sofa arms. Seats and backs are upholstered in gold, taupe and cream damask-patterned fabric. Suspended from the ceiling are handblown, cylinder-shaped amber Venetian glass pendants with whimsically spiky surfaces.
In the kitchen itself, draperies have a creamy background with an amber box chain pattern, while amber wave tiles create a dramatic backsplash. The casual eating area features a round, glass-topped table with an art deco-inspired wood base; silk cushions on the four woven chairs are embellished with a subtle zebra-striped pattern.
A custom-made center island, lower than the counters and meant as a serving space for entertaining rather than a work area, features enameled taupe legs, an amber Cambria stone top and high-gloss Macassar ebony storage drawers.
The Dining Room
A partial screen with a dark wood frame and open circular metal insets defines the formal dining room, which has softly gleaming damask-patterned taupe wallcoverings. Silver threads bring a subtle shine to the draperies, while dark wood frames the mirrored, flecked paper interiors of ceiling coffers. A delicate Venetian glass chandelier with gracefully curved arms hangs from the center coffer.
The mahogany table has a square, fluted pedestal base and a round, high-gloss top with a starburst pattern veneer radiating from the center. Wood chairs have oval backs with a center X pattern, and curved legs and arms. Both chair backs and cushions are upholstered in woven fabric that sparkles with silver threads.
Silver accents and a stainless rail on top add interest to the walnut buffet flanked by a pair of wingback chairs upholstered in Champagne-colored silk. A sunburst mirror finished in silver and handblown Venetian glass sconces are displayed above.
The Den
On one side of the dining room is the den, where walls are clad in tan linen with washed silver highlights, and handmade silver foil with a raked plaster overlay covers the ceiling. Draperies are double layers of blue-gray cotton and a brown, open-weave fabric. A rug with a level-loop tan background and cut-pile pattern in blue, white and gray adds more texture to the space, and on the ceiling is a drum-shaped light fixture with a silk shade enclosed in an iron frame painted silver.
The blue-gray leather sofa offers comfortable seating, and end tables hold lamps with a silver-painted finish that mimics chrome. A long, rectangular ottoman covered in woven fabric accented with brushed chrome nail heads can be used as a table or a footstool. A high-gloss zebra wood wall unit with polished chrome hardware houses a TV screen, floating shelves and twin built-in desks. Desk chairs upholstered in linen accented by a pattern in raised cotton velvet have dark wood frames. Polished chrome sconces hang above.
Powder Room
Black opalescent mosaic tiles clad two walls in the powder room, and a stunning, floor-to-ceiling floral mosaic in off-white, gold and tan lends drama to the other two. Silver leaf covers the ceiling and crown molding. The legs of a black enamel vanity are painted silver, while an elegant blue, glass vessel sink with bubble detailing crowns the Cambria stone top. Matching the sink are blue disks on a crystal chandelier.
The Master Suite
Elegant mother-of-pearl wallcovering gleams behind the dark scalloped headboard of the four-poster in the master bedroom, while the other walls are covered in tan folded paper with painted silver accents. A bowl-shaped, Venetian beaded-glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling, and a rug with a blue level-pile background and a raised lotus vine pattern in tan silk adds texture and softness to the floor. Glass lamps with ivory drum shades top dark wood nightstands, and white swirl textured draperies with a blue-gray accent fabric on the bottom provide a backdrop for two off-white club chairs near the windows.
At the foot of the bed, which is dressed in an ivory and tan covering and coordinating shams, is a dark wood bench with graceful arms, a curved back and a cushion covered in swirled cotton velvet.
On the wall across from the bed is a dark wood chest with a TV screen above. A slender, rectangular desk has a custom-made chair beside it, while above it hangs a whimsical white wall sculpture depicting the relaxed figure of a woman. Two large white pots holding spherical boxwood plants are eye-catching accessories.
In the master bath, a taupe and ivory stone mosaic on the front of the tub creates a focal point. The taupe and ivory wallcovering has a damask pattern, while a wide fabric valence above a glass block wall over the tub is made of taupe fabric shot through with silver threads. The box-shaped crystal chandelier complements similarly shaped fixtures over the medium-toned wood vanities. A makeup chair has an oval back and woven leather seat with a taupe opalescent finish, and a shiny, beaded vinyl cushion tops a center bench with curved taupe legs.
Guest Room
In one of the guest rooms is a platform bed with brushed nickel nail heads and a tufted headboard. On the floor is a nylon shag rug with a tight-cut pile tan background and a loose-pile flower pattern in a light rust tone. A painted ivory bench with chrome feet is upholstered in floral-patterned chenille.
A Design for South Florida
Rossi created a design that is elegant and sophisticated, yet ideal for a casual South Florida lifestyle. Surrounding the owners with neutral colors, soft textures, comfortable furnishings and graceful shapes, the stylish interior is sure to help the owners forget cold northern winters.
Forgetting cold weather through stylish interiors
