A Staid Jamestown Home Enters its Vibrant Era
Between its dated rooms, aging appliances and blah color palette, the gambrel-style home was more than ready for a refresh.
A burnished antique mantle and columns add architectural interest to a revamped living room, along with drapes and Roman shades fashioned from Stroheim fabric. Photography by Meghan Sepe
It was a striking rug, shot through with swaths of crimson and indigo, that kick-started the renovation process.
The Jamestown gambrel-style home, with its dated bathrooms, aging kitchen appliances and gray-and-beige palette, was ready for a refresh. And that stunner of a floor treatment, plucked like a rare gem from Rustigian Rugs in Providence by designer Pernilla Bergquist, allowed the homeowner to embrace her love of bright hues.
Quartz countertops and a custom tile backsplash from Lilywork Artisan Tile in Connecticut complement the kitchen’s warm wooden tones. Photography by Meghan Sepe
custom pendant lighting by Pawtucket glass artist Tracy Glover. Photography by Meghan Sepe
“Red is my favorite color,” says the homeowner. “So once Pernilla showed me that rug I was sold. And then that took off to the rest of the living room.”
They added texture all around: Furnishings from Cabot House Furniture in West Warwick were upholstered in cobalt blue and geometric carmine fabric from Stroheim, along with a playful custom lampshade, drapes and Roman shades. Bergquist, of Pernilla Interiors, installed Lucite curtain rods to complement the homeowners’ wood-and-Lucite table, and crowned the room with a custom lighting fixture by Pawtucket glass artist Tracy Glover. (The couple strived to use local artisans and craftspeople during the project, with Wakefield-based DeMetrick Housewrights serving as general contractor.)
It all draws the eye toward the room’s focal point, the antique mantle the homeowners purchased from a Newport store in 1999, when the home was built. Hand-glazed cerulean tile from Lilywork Artisan Tile in Connecticut surrounds it, with natural-toned wallpaper providing texture.
Fresh white accent pieces, grass cloth wall coverings and Cabot House chairs clad in Schumacher’s Estrella Embroidery fabric in indigo spice provide an elevated setting for a refinished heirloom table. Photography by Meghan Sepe
The teal-hued office features bold colors, luxe fabrics and Roman shades done in Chimney Swallows by John Derian for Designers Guild. Photography by Meghan Sepe
In the kitchen, Bergquist set her seasoned eye on a neglected kitchen nook, which served as a holding receptacle for the day’s mail, backpacks and other detritus. She added two rattan chairs, a side table and an ottoman to create a sunny oasis where the homeowners love to gather beside the spacious bay window.
“That area now we use so much,” the wife says. “It’s just a very happy, sunny location. For the past twenty-two years, we really had just used it as a parking spot for stuff.”
Bergquist worked with Heritage Kitchen Design Center in North Kingstown on the warm wooden cabinets and quartz countertops and turned to Glover once again to expand upon a small chandelier the owners had purchased earlier. Glover added more glass orbs in shades of amber and blue, creating a celestial confection that brings light and depth to the area.
But it was perhaps the office — a bastion of beige walls — where the greatest transformation occurred.
The room was bland but cozy, with built-in bookcases and a sweet little bay window. Bergquist added a coat of high-gloss teal paint to the bookcase to make it pop and sheathed one wall in a matching grass cloth wallpaper. The other wall is done in a fun geometric design. A custom chili-red side table by Hwang Bishop, a ceramicist design studio in Warren, and custom pillows and shades complete the hygge vibe.
The second-floor laundry room features a whimsical wallpaper design and star-sprinkled flooring by Hill & Harbor Tile in East Greenwich. Photography by Meghan Sepe
Along with the kitchen’s new mini-sunroom, it’s the space the wife enjoys the most.
“I love my office,” she says.
Bergquist wholeheartedly agrees.
“It was dull and messy and dated and now it’s a jewel box,” she says.
