Step Inside a Breezy Coastal Home Full of Special Details

Watch and read how a designer enhanced a white palette with stylish elements to create a bright and inviting family home

Mitchell Parker September 30, 2021

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More

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After spending most of the pandemic in an apartment with two young kids, this couple were ready to upgrade to a more spacious and family-friendly lifestyle. They bought a home in Coral Gables, Florida, and asked their longtime designer, Ann Ueno, to help update the interiors to create a bright, inviting home that blended the wife’s love of neutrals with the husband’s desire for some color. The result is a fresh, stylish home with a crisp white backdrop warmed by brass accents and energized by minimal yet meaningful pops of color.

Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

The house had good bones worth keeping, but despite being about 8 years old, most of the finishes in the home showed a lot of wear and tear. Ueno kept the gray tile flooring and the layout in place but updated most of the furnishings, finishes and lighting.

To satisfy the couple’s competing requests for a neutral space and color, Ueno stuck to crisp white walls and ceiling and introduced subtle pops of color through artwork, accessories and furniture. In the light and airy living room, a royal blue sofa makes a splash. Brass details complement the blue and bring in points of warmth.

Ueno brought the open living area down in scale by layering shapes and textures. Circular tables mix with angular side chairs. And a faux hide rug spreads over a knitted area rug. “Even though it’s neutral it feels so inviting,” Ueno says. “It’s a blank canvas but layered with texture, material, artwork — you notice the details more.”

A TV room sits behind the blue sofa.

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Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

For the TV room, the couple wanted a refined and sophisticated space that felt appropriate for both kids and adults. The sectional sofa features a light beige performance fabric that fits the breezy neutral palette without causing the homeowners too much worry about stains. A wood storage drawer hides remotes. A low-slung Carrara marble coffee table, which weighs about 350 pounds, Ueno says, sits firmly on a playful geometric-pattern rug. “We wanted to make sure it felt warm, inviting, comfortable and family-friendly,” she says.

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Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

Like the rest of the home, the kitchen layout worked for the couple but the fixtures and finishes were outdated. Ueno removed all the cabinets and had them refinished and repainted. The white cabinets and white countertops bounce the Florida sunshine around.

Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

Ueno also added new brass hardware to the cabinets and a new Carrara marble subway tile backsplash with a thin gold band running through each tile. The gold detail coordinates with other brass details and accessories used throughout the home to warm the otherwise cool palette. “The details matter,” Ueno says. “When you have a neutral space with a white kitchen and you put a backsplash like that in, it’s really going to stand out.”

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Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

The neutral palette helps emphasize the choices for artwork, furnishings and light fixtures throughout the home. “You walk in here and you notice the light fixture probably more than you would had we had a different color on the wall or wallpaper on the wall,” Ueno says. “So all those elements really take shape and stand out.”

In the dining area, a circular table sits on a faux hide rug. Curved chairs with brass frames coordinate with island stools in the same style. Brass also shows up in the light fixtures and frames surrounding two large abstract paintings. “Art was one of the heroes of the home,” Ueno says.

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Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

In a bedroom for the couple’s young sons, Ueno created a playful dinosaur theme and weaved in elements of green.

Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

She carried the green into the kids’ bathroom with penny tile flooring in the shower. “We really tried to make sure throughout all the spaces that there was cohesion,” Ueno says.

Zellige-style wall tile with variations in tone adds texture and interest to the shower stall.

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Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

In the couple’s bathroom, grasscloth wallpaper creates a soothing vibe. “That color brings peace into any space, so it sets the tone right when you walk in,” Ueno says.

Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

Ueno kept the footprint of the backyard the same but painted the home’s exterior and created a lounge area near the pool.

Studio 790 Interior Design by Ann Lopez

She also added an outdoor kitchen beneath a restored and repaired pergola next to an artificial turf lawn. Plexiglass panels over the pergola shield the kitchen from rain, and Italian string lights give it character at night. “Now there’s a whole moment,” Ueno says.

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