On the Bright Side

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Vibrant finishes and furnishings go a long way in softening a modern setting

Farrow & Ball’s Stiffkey Blue serves as a backdrop for several S. Harris fabrics: Foreign Affair, a solid velvet, and Tinga Tinga Royale, a striped motif, on the dining chairs; and an abstract pattern, Godwin Earthwind, for the drapes. Photos by Thomas Kuoh.

Since launching Joy Street Design in 2011, Kelly Finley has developed a reputation for projects with rich palettes. In 2023, thanks in part to rooms featuring an ombré wallpaper and a prismatic mosaic backsplash, she was the HGTV editors’ pick for Color + Pattern Designer of the Year. On Instagram, Finley has been known to employ the hashtag #NoWhiteKitchens. “We actually have a rule that we don’t do white cabinets in our firm,” she says with a laugh.

Arteriors’ Gasper stools in antique brass and indigo leather, tucked into a side of the island painted in Benjamin Moore’s Seedling, enliven the white kitchen, which also benefited from a new backsplash (the Matrix trapezoid-shaped tile from TileBar) and lighting (Arteriors’ Harrison chandelier). Photos by Thomas Kuoh.

But rules are indeed sometimes meant to be broken. When clients in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood requested that she design around their white kitchen—the cabinets and countertops were staying put—she met the challenge with aplomb. Along with installing a backsplash of trapezoid-shaped marble-and-brass tiles, she painted a side of the island green.

Joy Street Design updated the powder room with Aurora Lampworks’ mouth-blown glass Pillow Tassel pendant and Savannah Hayes’ Caracas wallpaper; the latter echoes the shades of blue in the nearby living and dining rooms. Photos by Thomas Kuoh.

Elsewhere in the home, the Oakland-based interior designer’s hallmark reliance on color is more prominent, contributing to the overarching goal of softening the decidedly modern interiors. Although the 6,200-square-foot residence dates to 1906, various remodels had nullified original architectural elements. By the time her clients—a couple with three young children—bought it, glass, metal and stone permeated its four stories. “The outside didn’t match the inside,” Finley says. “It was sleek, and a lot of the rooms didn’t feel very homey.”

A patio adjacent to the kitchen is outfitted with dining tables and chairs by Four Hands, along with a sofa and lounge seating from Eichholtz. The coffee and side tables are by Made Goods. Photos by Thomas Kuoh.

To remedy this in the dining room, she chose Farrow & Ball’s Stiffkey Blue to harmonize with an existing wall of wood that conceals a bar. “We had never used that color before, but it was on our wish list to use,” says Finley, who further punched up the space with S. Harris textiles. The clients’ own chairs were reupholstered in a solid blue and a striped blue, while the window treatments are an abstract pattern.

A similar color scheme carries over into the living room, where a pair of navy shagreen side tables with gold banding flank a sumptuous nine-foot-wide sofa. Large-scale ink splashes appear on the drapes and the wallpaper on the ceiling has painterly plum-hued lines. A diptych by local abstract artist Jaime Lovejoy relates to the other colors in the space while imparting a sense of movement.

In the kids’ playroom, Rebel Walls’ Elevation mural lines the ceiling, while the custom millwork is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Waterloo. A pair of Groovy swivel chairs from Pottery Barn Teen top Flor’s Heavy Metal carpet tiles. Photos by Thomas Kuoh.

To create an accent wall behind the headboard in the primary bedroom, Finley chose a hand-painted and embroidered Fromental motif with flowers in shades of blue and yellow. “We wanted it to be the star of the show,” she explains. “The clients wanted something that was really special but didn’t want to go overboard with more color than necessary.”

The kids’ playroom on the top floor, however, epitomizes exuberance. The custom millwork—which includes a wall of shelving as well as a desk beneath each of the three windows—is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Waterloo. “It’s a bright blue, so it feels youthful and energetic,” Finley says, noting that it complements the multicolored wallpaper selected for the ceiling.

Fromental’s hand-painted and-embroidered Prunus wallcovering is the star of the primary bedroom, which also includes Interlude Home’s Ornette bed, Modern History’s Mod chest, Visual Comfort’s Tableau pendant and Surya’s Biscayne rug. Photos by Thomas Kuoh.

Reflecting on the project, she emphasizes that “this is a good example of a minimal amount of construction where the soft goods have a big impact.” Fabrics, wallpapers and rugs do heavy lifting. “It’s a really fun house now, in a way that it wasn’t when everything was white and sterile,” Finley continues. “It was pretty, but just not a family home. I think people underestimate how much you can change the look and feel of a space without renovating.”