It's a Colorful Life
Walls painted lime-yellow in the 24-by-15-foot living room add zest to neutral-toned furnishings such as the sofa. The turquoise lamp and bamboo side table are vintage. The bold Seth Adelsberger painting, which further invigorates the space, was a final touch.
We were looking for a small contemporary home in East Hampton," says Noel Berk. "Then we visited Savannah, Georgia, and fell in love with the Colonial houses there. They had such character and warmth." On their next Long Island house-hunting trip, Berk and her partner, Liz Omedes (who's also coprincipal of their Manhattan real estate firm, Mercedes/Berk), saw a 2,800-square-foot, fivebedroom 1840 farmhouse and were smitten.
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The original mantels, moldings and windows
were preserved.Untouched since the 1930s, the home was purchased and redone in 2003 by a local contractor, who took care to preserve its original architectural details. Berk and Omedes adored the elegant period moldings, fireplace mantels, bookcases, and eight-panel doors, plus the ample space for entertaining offered by the living room and eat-in kitchen. The library could be a great satellite office for their business; the bedrooms were ideal for visits from their children, grandchildren, friends, and extended family. So the duo bought the house in 2004, but a decor update was needed. "We admired the architecture but didn't want the place to feel too traditional," says Berk. "It needed a sense of fun, and to read a little more modern."
Enter their friend Jamie Drake, a well-known New York designer "who had just completed a beautiful, large loft for us in Manhattan," says Berk. "But we were on a very tight budget for this house, we had to do it quickly, and it needed to be family-friendly." Drake injected the house with color, creating a fresh, easygoing spirit that welcomes all generations. "I wanted to honor the home's simplicity and good bones while not forgetting it's meant to be lived in today," says Drake. A vintage 1950s fabric with a bold Pucci-like print that he found in California was the starting point. From a couple of vibrant pillows he made from this material, he teased out the whole color palette: bright, limeade-hued walls and bold turquoise accents for the living room, mellowing to a more soothing robin's-egg blue in the master bedroom, with accents of safety orange in the kitchen. He ebonized the reddish fir floors for a darker, more sophisticated backdrop, which also helps blend old surfaces with the newer ones that were added in 2003.
Vintage pillow fabric.Drake proved adept at supplying high style on a shoestring, choosing many of the furnishings at retailers such as Room & Board and Pier 1 Imports. "Good aesthetics can be achieved at any price point," he says. "Mixing in mass-produced pieces with a few custom, vintage, or very individual ones makes it all work." Made-to-order items include a 10-foot-long sofa at one end of the living room that, when paired with a small Art Deco tea table, creates a spot for intimate dining, and at other times offers seating for a cocktail-party throng. "The furnishings are flexible, so the living room is just as comfortable for two as it is for 20," says Drake. "And for kids and visitors, I was challenged to choose lowmaintenance, wipeable, nonstainable surfaces—nothing precious." That includes molded plastic Eames chairs in the kitchen, a striped woven cotton stair runner, and even the cowhide rug in the living room: "It's virtually indestructible," he says.
The decor achieves a rare hybrid of brains and beauty on a budget—an affordable design with more than a touch of class.
New York designer Jamie Drake is known for his high-end elegance—for example, check out Jamie Drake's New American Glamour (Bulfinch), where you'll find pictures of the Manhattan loft he designed for Noel Berk and Liz Omedes. But he also loves a good bargain and doesn't turn up his nose at shopping at Pier One or Room & Board. Here are his tips for creating style on a shoestring:
- Choose simple, classic pieces from mass-market retailers. "It's all about having a judicious eye when selecting pieces, and then putting them together with impact," says Drake. Stick with neutral colors, natural fabrics, and clean lines. Don't overlook hand-me-downs that can be reinvented with new fabric or a coat of paint.
- Introduce some more unusual, one-of-a-kind pieces from vintage or custom sources. These don't necessarily have to be expensive. Peruse flea markets, secondhand stores, or your parents' attic for midcentury pieces, for example, to add a touch of flair. Mixing in one or two dramatic patterns, shapes, or colors will keep catalog purchases from looking too cookie-cutterish.
- Customize lighting imaginatively. Drake loves to buy vases, whether new or vintage, and have them made into interesting lamps, which is often a less expensive solution than traditional fixtures.
- Go for the cheapest makeover there is: A great new color can have huge impact, and all it costs (if you do it yourself) is the price of a gallon of paint.
- Splurge where it will do the most good. A high-quality mattress will reward you with peaceful sleep; a well-built sofa (old or new) can last for decades with occasional reupholstering.
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