Cozy Elegance – A 1790 Farmhouse Master Bedroom Before and After

Traditional Cozy Elegance

This master bedroom project is in a 1790 historic farmhouse in MetroWest Boston. The home is sited beautifully on a property with abundant plantings, a pond, and two barns, one of which houses a gourmet chocolate factory.

In my travels I have toured many historic homes, and most of them have low ceilings. However this master bedroom is a newer addition to the house, and it has nine-foot ceilings as well as a fireplace with beautiful architectural moldings. The clients, busy entrepreneurs with two young children, wanted a restful, traditional bedroom with a colonial feeling and filled with antiques, vintage finds and colorful accents. Before we started the project they had painted the bedroom’s architectural moldings in Soft Fern by Benjamin Moore and had installed beautiful brass sconces purchased at Patti Brothers. Since they loved the trim color and sconces, we used that as a starting point. Here are a few “before” pictures.

We decided to place this wood and cane love seat in a nook in the client’s next project – the great room. It will have a new cushion and beautiful pillows when the time comes. The moldings were installed when the room was added to the house. They are curvaceous and ample!

All of us felt that the room would come alive with wallpaper and a color palette of green, burgundy and gold. We chose a whimsical floral Sanderson wallpaper in soft green and cream tones that blended beautifully with the existing moldings and architectural style of the room. Here’s a close up of the wallpaper with a lovely antique barometer from Autrefois Antiques.

The clients also knew they wanted the furnishings to go with the style of the home – a 1790 farmhouse. The California king size bed was too long for the room, so we changed it to a regular size King which is six inches shorter. They were very specific in the style of bed they wanted as well – a four poster tiger maple bed in an 18th century style. The place to go is Leonard’s Antiques in Seekonk where they restore antique beds and make beautiful 18th century reproductions. Leonard’s also customized the night stands in tiger maple to go with the bed. We updated the client’s own vintage brass lamps with new shades. The 19th French mirror and 19th C. English campaign chest are from David Neligan Antiques at the Boston Design Center Market Stalls. The beautiful Mamluk rug in shades of green, gold and cream is from Landry and Arcari in Framingham. The clients wanted touches of black in the room, so we added the vintage chandelier and black lampshade from Appleton Antiques on the campaign chest, and a black paper mache tray table in front of the love seat. The bedding is by Sferra and Ralph Lauren. The beautiful textured alpaca throw is from Mackimmie Co in Lenox, MA.

There was room for seating on both sides of the fireplace, so we customized a cozy love seat on one side and reupholstered a channel back chair that belonged to the clients on the other side. The love seat, covered in a Kravet velvet, was inspired by one made by a British company that the wife saw online. She loved the extra cushioning on the arms, so we worked with Design Upholstery in Framingham, MA to design the love seat to fit the space!

Here’s a close up of the wife’s sitting area. We added pillows in a GP&J Baker fabric found at the Kravet showroom at the Boston Design Center, and a burgundy mohair throw. A world traveler, the wife loved the pillow fabric because it has a hint of global influence with the suzani motif she loves.

Here are before and after pics of the channel back chair on the other side of the fireplace. You can see how the new Pindler fabric, more padding, and cleaning the wood of an old piece can revitalize something old and worn to something quite elegant and cozy!

Here’s the chair styled with a vintage ottoman, a beautiful pillow in a Stroheim fabric and a vintage side table and planter. The draperies in a Pindler fabric with a Samuel and Sons border trim frame both sitting areas beautifully! They were fabricated by Makkas Drapery in Framingham.

We chose two beautiful 19th century paintings for the mantel and over the bed. Both are from Linda Rosen Antiques in Sheffield, MA. The painting over the mantel is a haying scene attributed to Jasper Cropsey, a well known 19th Hudson River Valley painter. The painting over the bed is signed by Ten Eyck, another 19thC Hudson River Valley painter. It was chosen because the scene closely resembles a view of the clients’ property. We placed it over the bed – more for the charm factor than proportion.

LW Interiors would be happy to help you create a space to love in your home. Please contact us for a consultation.

Photography by Jared Kuzia