When a couple bought this Long Island home back in the mid-1960s, they wanted to give it a whole new look without spending a lot of money on a full remodel.
With the help of a daring, creative design team — and using nothing but fabric, paint, wallpaper, and pizazz — they transformed a dull old house into a bright new home.
As part of the makeover, the old oak furniture, glorified with white lacquer and op art upholstery, was surrounded by a wallpaper jungle — bizarre, beautiful, and wonderfully apt with the lion-finialed chairs.
Every inch of the old-fashioned oak woodwork — doors, trim and ceilings — was also painted bright white. Floors in this comfy & colorful dining room were stained a wet-seal black-brown.
These basics established, the room was then saturated with color and pattern in great breathtaking swaths as backgrounds for comfortably squooshy chairs and sofas, and a fantastic arrangement of erstwhile golden oak furniture purchased with the house and glorified with white paint.
Special details in the dining area shown include the bow-tied polka-dot sleeve below the canopy of the old stained glass lampshade, and the basket-nested centerpiece — a nice “uncitified” touch used for flower arrangements throughout the house.
