WHEN ANNA APPLEGATE’S CLIENTS first moved into their Chapel Hill home, they knew that at some point they would either want to renovate or move elsewhere. “We always had these ideas and dreams of eventually renovating and expanding the home,” says the homeowner. “In 2013, when we first moved in, we had a four-week-old baby, so we did what we needed to do in order to settle in quickly and comfortably. We only made a few changes to make it our own.”
But as their family grew from three to five, they quickly began to feel the restraints of a smaller home. In 2018, the couple started looking for other places with more square footage and bedrooms to accommodate their larger family. But as they continued to search for that perfect home, their heart kept bringing them back to where they had lived for the last five years. “We searched and searched, and nothing ever felt right to us,” she says. “Everything brought us back to our home.”
So the couple began researching architects, builders, and designers who could bring to fruition their dreams of a larger, more updated space that better suited their personal styles. They enlisted architect Jim Spencer and builder Alex Sayre with Argyle Building Company to renovate their family home. It wasn’t until the homeowner toured her friend’s home that she found Applegate. “Between looking at my friend’s space and browsing through Anna’s website, I could tell she really tailored her interior designs to the individual,” she says. “It wasn’t Anna’s stamp all over each project. You could see she took each homeowner’s likes and dislikes to create a personalized style.” Above all, though, the homeowners loved Applegate’s seamless coupling of vintage with more modern pieces—something they wanted in their new interiors.
Applegate worked with Spencer and Sayre from the beginning, redesigning the layout of the home, reworking spaces to modernize it, and creating gathering spaces for the family of five, while also renovating high traffic areas such as the kitchen. A primary bedroom en suite addition was introduced to the footprint, while a mudroom, bonus room, basement, and powder room were added, as well. “There really wasn’t a part of the home that went untouched,” says Applegate.
With the renovation complete, Applegate worked closely with the homeowners to install an interior design scheme that was classic, clean, and ultimately kid-friendly. “We definitely didn’t want anything to feel too stark,” says the homeowner. “We wanted everything to be livable and comfortable for our young family, and most definitely not too precious.” Applegate’s intuitive knack for creating a seamless aesthetic that marries timeless design with livability was put into high gear when she began working on the home. “The homeowner has such great, classic taste,” she says. “We always wanted to stay true to the age and type of the home, so I strived for a traditional look with a youthful twist. She was so fun to work with because she was up for some fun and color, so that’s what we went with—interjecting a lot of color and personality into the home. It’s important to me to design spaces that are not only beautiful but also functional and practical, where families can live and gather together and not worry about messing things up.”
Using color, traditional design elements, and functionality as the springboard for her design, Applegate pulled from her client’s existing pieces along with newer items to weave together just the right aesthetic. “I think it’s a fun challenge when there’s existing furniture or artwork that the client loves and wants to work into a room,” she says. “I love how it feels like a completely different space, but also brings with it personality and a history with some of these pieces.” Such was the case with the homeowner’s existing dining room table. Her clients enjoy hosting family dinners and holidays, so “we weren’t going to get rid of that,” laughs Applegate. “Adding in pieces like the dining table is part of making the house their home. It brings some soul into the home. I don’t ever want to do a project where everything is brand new.”
In the living room, she took a similar approach by incorporating two stunning traditional settees, which were the inspiration for the rest of the room’s design. Now the homeowners can entertain seamlessly outside of the family room and kitchen. New Osborne & Little draperies coupled with the Benjamin Moore Melted Ice Cream paint injected color into the once-neutral space. “Now the room feels completely different; much more colorful and bright,” Applegate says. “Between the two, the husband and wife had some really great family pieces, photos, and artwork, all a reflection of their lives, their families, and their personalities.”
For the homeowners, working with Applegate was a delightful experience, one that they feel made the entire process well worth the many months it took to complete. “We really had this great mutual respect with Anna; a give and take when it came to the design,” says the homeowner. “She would bring these great ideas to the table, and so would we. She was open to our ideas and we were open and appreciative of hers. It truly was a partnership. And you can tell because everything looks so beautiful.”