A ‘Builder Grade’ Chantilly Home Gets Colorful

Misty Molloy’s clients lived in a small Chicago apartment before they purchased their 3,000-square-foot home in Chantilly. The two-story Craftsman was a new build that needed furniture—and refinement. “They wanted Southern charm, but to them, this felt a little too builder-grade,” Molloy says. “They mainly wanted it to feel like them.” The home already had a formal dining room, so Molloy turned the flex space off the living room into an additional area for entertaining. She furnished it with midcentury pieces and thoughtful accents to showcase the clients’ original artwork and give the space a “cleaned-up eclectic” look.

BOLD COLORS

“Knowing the homeowner has a funky flair, I wanted to wow that room,” Molloy says. “It’s in an enclosed space, so my mind automatically went to wallpaper.” She chose a multicolored Thibaut pattern with a grass cloth texture that wouldn’t compete with the tiger painting the homeowner wanted to display. “The wallpaper was the linchpin for everything else,” she says. “I knew if they signed off on that, everything else would come together.”  

ANCHOR PIECES

Molloy chose a Safavieh rug to pull in the blue tones throughout the home and ground the space. “The crisscross pattern of the rug is a subtle nod to the textured wallcovering,” she says. “I didn’t want anything super-traditional because that’s not their style.” The round pedestal dining table and plush velvet chairs came from West Elm, and the distressed gray sideboard from Ballard holds their wine collection. A fig tree in the corner adds a pop of green.

ARTFUL ACCENTS

Instead of a chandelier that would detract from the artwork, Molloy found two citron-yellow Regina Andrew lamps to place on the sideboard. She accessorized the rest of the room with pieces the homeowner had collected over the years. “She literally had a styling closet, like you’re walking into a HomeGoods, so we just figured out where to put all of her treasures,” Molloy says. “This room has a lot going on. And yet, it works. The most fun part of design is taking elements that might not seem to go together at first and figuring out how to marry them.”