When interior designer Chloe Warner of Redmond Aldrich Design started this Hillsborough, California project, she knew she was going to have to come up with a hyper-specific objective to tackle the scale. With a whopping 8,500-square-feet and six bedrooms, seven and a half bathrooms, a pool house, and tennis courts surrounded by majestic and massive leafy trees, there was a lot of ground to cover—to put it mildly. In fact, Warner describes the 1900s-era Victorian and surrounding grounds as resort-like. “It has a charming rambling vibe, lots of formal rooms but because they are all so large it doesn’t feel warrened or closed off,” she tells us.
Laura Resen
So, she decided to break things down by taking on one room at a time, with pattern being the driving force for each space. Once choosing patterns, she worked in complementary colors to develop a color story, and, finally, introduced some texture. “This client and I have a mind meld on fabrics and wallpaper. Anything that feels colonial or bohemian, we love,” says Warner, so the emphasis on patterns speaks for itself.
Laura Resen
Warner also notes that “when pattern and color are your drivers, there is a danger of visual chaos but also an opportunity for incredible depth.” So how do you strike the balance? “For us, it’s about creating an atmosphere of ordered abundance. We layer patterns and color and texture in a way that excites our clients and makes them happy but also makes them calm,” she explains.
Laura Resen
In this case, that meant choosing soothing colors and bold, eclectic prints, which speaks to her client’s hybridity. She’s “a California Yankee who loves chintz and linen equally, and is fearless when it comes to mixing. She is so inspiring to me because of this, and she intuitively gets the idea of visual abundance being satisfying.” Warner tells us that there’s more to it than just picking one favorite pattern and using it consistently throughout the home. Rather, she really approached it from a more micro-level, making sure every last detail was covered in color, pattern, or at least featured an architectural quirk, like molding, but within that same pastel palette for a sense of consistency and flow. “Our joke with this project was ‘no surface left behind,” she says.
Laura Resen
Considering how youthful and upbeat the home is, it’d no surprise a family lives there. “There is always music playing, something cooking, kids of all sizes roaming around, new art going up… It is a house that is so alive,” Warner tells us.Aside from the fun personality the colors and prints communicate, they also serve a functional purpose. “Everything is also practical for a family with four kids—nothing wears worse than white Sheetrock, and you just won’t find an inch of that here,” she says.z
Take a virtual tour below and take note of Warner’s design tricks in each room.
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Design Editor Hadley Mendelsohn is House Beautiful’s design editor, and when she’s not busy obsessing over all things decor-related, you can find her scouring vintage stores, reading, or stumbling about because she probably lost her glasses again.
