fb-pixelMaking grandma’s house your own - The Boston Globe Skip to main content
Style Watch

Making grandma’s house your own

A Dorchester triple-decker gets a fresh redo for a third-generation family member.

Jessica Delaney
Jessica Delaney

Looking for a familiar place to call home after long days at the office, interior designer Elizabeth Miller’s client purchased a Dorchester triple-decker that had been in her family for decades. Her Irish-immigrant grandparents, who had moved in as renters in 1941, had bought the house in 1957. “Her father grew up in the house with his parents, six siblings, and at times various cousins, aunts, and uncles, so she has a strong connection to every part of it,” says Milton-based Miller. Her job was to transform the living room to fit a modern woman’s lifestyle, with places to both relax and entertain while also reflecting the owner’s heritage. Designing custom built-ins that included a bar and media unit as well as a window seat, she eked maximum function from the relatively tight space. When it came to furnishings, Miller favored classic pieces that would work with any accents the owner wanted to add over time. She applied the same thinking to the color scheme. “We used a very tight palette,” Miller says. “The same color variations bounce around the room.”

Advertisement



1. The Axis floor lamp by Robert Abbey is adjustable, so it can also be used for reading.

2. The Charlotte sofa by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams is cushy but not too large, allowing access on either side. Velvet upholstery is a nod to the sofa that the homeowner’s grandmother once had.

3. Floral pillows have “a modern twist that counterbalances the room’s architectural elements,” Miller says.

4. Cristina Reverdy of Studio Brush in Sandwich created a rural landscape painting that depicts a view from the homeowner’s grandmother’s house in Ireland.

5. Miller, who has a background in historic preservation, suggested the homeowner search the City of Boston Archives for an old map of the neighborhood, which they ordered and framed.

Advertisement



6. Vintage chairs were treated to glossy white paint and new upholstery — an abstract zebra print on the inside and a woven solid for the back.

7. The glass top of the coffee table from Ballard Designs keeps the room feeling open while the antique brass finish of the frame adds shine.

8. A jute rug can withstand heavy traffic from the living room to the deck. “If it gets stained, she can flip it to the other side,” Miller says.

9. Miller had shadow boxes made at Framers’ Workshop in Brookline for shells the homeowner’s cousin brought back from a beach near her family’s hometown in Ireland.

10. Miller pulled colors for these pillows — an indigo velvet pattern by Tilton Fenwick and a woven teal by Kelly Wearstler — from the floral print pillow across the room.

11. Shaun Ritter of Needham Woodworking built the window seat, which has a top that lifts to provide extra storage.