Corinne Acampora isn’t interested in putting her personal stamp on clients’ homes. Rather, she prefers each home to feel like what she calls “the best version” of her clients. “It should feel authentically like them, not like me,” Acampora explains. Early discussion with the owners of this center hall Colonial in Wellesley, a couple with three children and a golden retriever, revealed that they craved the cozy comfort of a New England inn. “They had just purchased their dream home and wanted to put their own touch on it by making the rooms feel warmer and more casual,” the designer says. “It needed to be family-friendly, but still elegant.”
The game room in the basement of the Woodstock Inn & Resort in Vermont was the model for the library just off the entry. “It’s not a direct translation; we built the story around the vibe you get when you go down there,” Acampora says. They painted the room’s mahogany paneling Benjamin Moore Polaris Blue. “The home has beautiful bones, but they’re a young family and wanted to lean into color more,” Acampora says. They did, however, leave the window frames and doors the natural wood tone, a choice reinforced by the homey, wooden game table with turned legs in the front corner.
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Layering patterns was key to achieving the fresh, collected-over-time look. A stylized floral reminiscent of traditional Indian motifs was a quick favorite for the custom drapery, which Acampora mirrored with a Persian-inspired rug in the same persimmon and lapis palette. A wingback chair upholstered in a large-scale, plush velvet plaid, and a plaid bench with nailhead trim, complement the global-inspired textiles. “Plaid is the first thing you think of with the Woodstock Inn,” the designer says.
Raffia wallcovering in a shade of blue similar to the wainscoting in the library warms up the dining room, where Acampora dressed the windows with another textile inspired by India, Palampore by Anna French. A ruby Oriental-style rug from Rejuvenation almost glows underfoot, while the off-white, coffered ceiling and built-in china cabinets keep the rich colors and wood tones from overwhelming the space. Above the table, a bronze tone lantern that recalls hand-forged pieces from Vermont takes the formality down another notch.
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Landscape paintings offer moments of escape throughout the house, especially in the dining room, where pieces portray serene views from every seat. Hadley Powell, who helped the owners choose artwork that evokes New England, points to the painting with golden foliage by Steve Rogers. “You feel like you can walk right down that path surrounded by aspen trees,” she says. “This painting really brings the outside in.”
To encourage the family to use the living room any time, not just on special occasions, Acampora kept the space light and airy with pale walls and woodwork and substituted the typically stiff furnishings of such spaces with approachable ones. The drapes are done in taupe ticking and the chambray sofa, in an English silhouette, epitomizes relaxed elegance. “You don’t need to sit up super straight in this; you can sink in,” she says. A hand-blocked-style fabric shows up here too, albeit this time on seat cushions. “The spool chairs are from Ballard Designs,” Acampora says. “I think it’s important to mix high and low.”
The family room sports a huge sectional, a sturdy wood coffee table that opens up for storage, and lots of flexible seating that can be pulled out of the way for play. “This room is about immediate family,” Acampora says. As such, she’s dialed down the drama. The pared-down palette offered opportunity for Powell to place a painting by Maine-based artist Jean Jack that really spoke to the family. “Her barns, farms, land, and streams are presented in a recognizable way, but with a twist of bright, saturated color,” Powell says. “They hope to visit her studio — a barn in Freeport, Maine — at some point.”
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In the meantime, the family nestles in at home, happy to have spaces that work for them. “This house was designed for family,” Acampora says. “The rooms are pretty to look at but more importantly they really use them. We achieved our goal.”
RESOURCES
Interior designer: Acampora Interiors, acamporainteriors.com
Art consultant: Powell Fine Art Advisory, powellfineartadvisory.com
Drapery: Makkas Drapery Workroom, makkasdrapery.com
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Marni Elyse Katz is a regular contributor to the Globe Magazine. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.