The Insider: New Decor Refreshes Parlor Floor for Heights Empty Nesters

A new interior design scheme was in order for a couple who renovated their Greek Revival townhouse two decades ago, but never seriously furnished while their kids were young. As empty nesters, they were ready to enjoy their home anew and do some grownup entertaining. They called on interior designer Emma Montgomery to upgrade the living and dining room decor in keeping with the building’s understated elegance.

Montgomery came up with a new paint, lighting, and furnishings program to brighten and warm the two parlor floor spaces, provide enough seating for large gatherings, and serve as a backdrop for her clients’ art collection. “It was a perfect time to invest in things like a silver rug and white lounge chairs,” said Montgomery, who established Brooklyn-based Emma Montgomery Design in 2021. “They had done major work restoring original details in the 2000s, and the architecture was gorgeously preserved, but the furnishings were a little outdated and not cohesive. We dressed up the space significantly, with a quiet palette that lets the interior architecture shine.”

Step one was a carefully considered paint job. Montgomery chose Strong White by Farrow & Ball for the front parlor and used Alabaster by Benjamin Moore, which has the merest hint of pink, to emphasize the moldings. “In a Greek Revival townhouse, the quality of the trim is stunning, and the height of the space substantial,” she said. “You want to show off the trim in a space like this.”

Most of the furniture is new, with upholstered pieces done up in sumptuous custom fabrics, and “a dash or two of more opulent finishes,” like the gilded mirror above the mantel. New lighting and hardware complete the picture.

“The streaks of color in the fireplace were a starting point,” Montgomery said of the golden veins in the Nero Portoro marble. “That led to the rust velvet for the daybed and the use of complementary brass tones.”

The Mitchell Gold sofa belonged to the homeowners and was re-upholstered in a soft gray mohair from Maharam. Two contemporary Danish lounge chairs hark back to 1950s design. A custom rug developed with Canadian maker Creative Matters mimics the Greek key border on the original parquet floors, adding “a little pattern and dimension to the room,” Montgomery said. Rugs in both rooms are precisely sized and placed to reveal the floor detail.

The Myriad chandelier from Gabriel Scott (top photo) “was a bit of a monstrosity to install,” Montgomery recalled. “It required a lighting installer with a tremendous amount of patience” to attach wires so as to have minimal interaction with the original plaster ceiling medallion.

A corner vignette is built around a Mr. Olsen lounge chair from Danish vendor Warm Nordic, framed indigenous art from the Pacific Northwest, and a brass standing lamp and side table.

A narrow wood console of Montgomery’s own design, with a bronze mirrored top, is high enough to clear the radiator and to accommodate two small stools for extra seating. Hanging dramatically above are two charcoal and graphite drawings from Robert Longo’s 1980 Men in the Cities series.

Metallic marble wall covering from Brooklyn-based Calico Wallpaper was already in place along the staircase. “We made sure everything else felt cohesive with it,” the designer said.

The homeowners wanted to “create more ambience” in the dining room, Montgomery said. “The question was, ‘How do you make a windowless space cozy and beautiful?'”

The space was already anchored by built-ins from the homeowner’s original renovation, a statement chandelier, and a dining table and chairs in a Scandinavian modern vein. Montgomery needed only to select a new wall color (“a slightly moodier” Pavilion Gray from Farrow & Ball), add a handcrafted Full Circle mirror from Bower Studios and a custom rug from Jebara & Co., and reposition the art in order to pull it all together.

[Photos by Zack DeZon]

Got a project to propose for The Insider? Contact Cara at caramia447 [at] gmail [dot] com

The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.

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