Color, Heirlooms and Artwork Refresh a Kansas City Home
See how this 1922 Colonial Revival house got a bright update
Rachel Sexton and Brian King lived in a house in Kansas City that they gradually outgrew as their family expanded. “We added on and added on. Every time I got pregnant, we made it work. Then it was not working,” Sexton says. They found a Colonial Revival home built in 1922 that was larger and on a street that they loved. The home was in disrepair, but they bought it and moved in, knowing the problems were mostly cosmetic. “Our entire family stayed in the living room of this house for about a month, sleeping on air mattresses. We were grateful to be here, but it was a long month for sure,” she says.
The chief operating officer of a company that specializes in health care marketing, Sexton says decorating the family’s home is her creative outlet and something she can share with her husband, Brian, who works in medical sales. “The house has been a way to scratch the creative itch. We’re unanimous on house-related things like our decorating aesthetic. It’s fun to shop and make a day of it together,” she says.
The couple has used Houzz for ideas and inspiration over the years, most recently for researching an outdoor living space that might include a fireplace. “Our oldest son is 14, and we want to see how to make it more enticing for a teenager,” Sexton says.
How to Create and Use Ideabooks
The couple has used Houzz for ideas and inspiration over the years, most recently for researching an outdoor living space that might include a fireplace. “Our oldest son is 14, and we want to see how to make it more enticing for a teenager,” Sexton says.
How to Create and Use Ideabooks
The living room’s design is elegant and understated, with the walls painted a gentle gray. “It’s nice to have the eyes not so distracted, so we used more neutrals,” Sexton says. “I like to have something common throughout a room but [that’s] not too distracting.”
White ceramics and egg sculptures are favorite collectibles. “This is another area where I had to edit myself,” she says. “It’s hard for me not to add more, and for some reason I’m drawn to eggs. They’re throughout the house, and it’s not intentional.”
The artworks on the left side in the photo here are four prints of Asian vests from Webster House, a restaurant, event space and shop inside a renovated 19th-century school where Sexton and King were married. They bought two prints the day of their wedding and the other two after they returned from their honeymoon.
Wall paint: Cornforth White, Farrow & Ball
White ceramics and egg sculptures are favorite collectibles. “This is another area where I had to edit myself,” she says. “It’s hard for me not to add more, and for some reason I’m drawn to eggs. They’re throughout the house, and it’s not intentional.”
The artworks on the left side in the photo here are four prints of Asian vests from Webster House, a restaurant, event space and shop inside a renovated 19th-century school where Sexton and King were married. They bought two prints the day of their wedding and the other two after they returned from their honeymoon.
Wall paint: Cornforth White, Farrow & Ball
In the family room, the homeowners replaced the old carpeting with hardwood floors. The television over the fireplace is from Frame My TV, a company that makes televisions look like framed mirrors or pieces of art. The installation is so well-camouflaged that painters didn’t realize it was a TV and accidentally dismantled it when they took it down, thinking it was a mirror.
The space is very family-friendly, with plenty of storage for toys. “This had been an addition from previous owners, and I love that there are so many cabinets in there. We hate clutter and love decorating. We really do put everything away; at the end of the day, everything goes back into cabinets,” Sexton says.
Wall paint: Skimming Stone, Farrow & Ball
The space is very family-friendly, with plenty of storage for toys. “This had been an addition from previous owners, and I love that there are so many cabinets in there. We hate clutter and love decorating. We really do put everything away; at the end of the day, everything goes back into cabinets,” Sexton says.
Wall paint: Skimming Stone, Farrow & Ball
Here’s the view from the family room into the living room through the French doors. The well-used family room is a high-traffic zone, so the monochrome geometric indoor-outdoor rug is a perfect fit, Sexton says. The tufted leather midcentury-style sofa holds accent pillows from Furbish Studio.
This corner of the family room is anchored by a blue leather armchair from the owners’ previous home, softened with textured pillows and a special blanket. “The Hermès blanket was a splurge. It’s always been a favorite of mine. I loved images online of blankets spread out on couches, but I realized with five kids that wouldn’t work,” Sexton says.
The expertly curated shelves are the handiwork of her sister, who Sexton says loves antiquing and thrift store shopping. “My sister jokes she’s the ‘shelf whisperer.’ She could probably have a business doing nothing but shelves,” Sexton says. “She has a great eye. I couldn’t figure out how to make all the shelves work. Then we went shopping, and five minutes later she waved her wand and did it.”
The expertly curated shelves are the handiwork of her sister, who Sexton says loves antiquing and thrift store shopping. “My sister jokes she’s the ‘shelf whisperer.’ She could probably have a business doing nothing but shelves,” Sexton says. “She has a great eye. I couldn’t figure out how to make all the shelves work. Then we went shopping, and five minutes later she waved her wand and did it.”
The window treatments in the family room originally had scalloped borders, which Sexton felt didn’t mesh with the couples’ more streamlined style, so she had the bottoms redone. The shades’ stripes were the inspiration for the ribbon striping on the ceiling, which is higher than those in the rest of the house. Working at home one day, Sexton realized something was lacking in the space and came up with a plan for the double stripes. Despite a curve to the upper ceiling, painters were able to keep the stripes straight.
On the wall above the black console is a signed Salvador Dalí lithograph entitled Kabuki Dancer, which originally hung in the basement of Sexton’s childhood home and used to terrify her. The table holds two lamps from local artist Barbara Cosgrove, whose taste Sexton loves.
On the wall above the black console is a signed Salvador Dalí lithograph entitled Kabuki Dancer, which originally hung in the basement of Sexton’s childhood home and used to terrify her. The table holds two lamps from local artist Barbara Cosgrove, whose taste Sexton loves.
This sumptuous room is the home office, where Sexton says some “happy accidents” occurred during the home’s redesign. In a huge stroke of luck, she paid a bargain price at local resale store Do Good for two chairs upholstered in Schumacher’s chinoiserie Chiang Mai Dragon pattern to match two of the pillows on the ticking stripe sofa. The other two pillows are covered in Betwixt fabric from Schumacher.
The Louis Vuitton trunks in the corner were given to Sexton by her father when she was in college, repurposed now as a table. There’s a desk against the wall across from the sofa.
The Louis Vuitton trunks in the corner were given to Sexton by her father when she was in college, repurposed now as a table. There’s a desk against the wall across from the sofa.
This is the breakfast room, where Sexton says the family typically eats most meals. A gold leaf chandelier from Barbara Cosgrove hangs above an antique dining table from the 1800s that the couple had refinished. The seating is a mix of cane-back and upholstered chairs. “We didn’t want it all matching. Everything is indoor-outdoor or velour that’s easily cleaned, since five kids are eating there every day,” Sexton says.
The dining room was one of Sexton’s favorite projects. The luxe design was partially inspired by designer Tory Burch’s Manhattan living room, which Sexton saw online. “I loved how she mixed icy blue with green, along with antique touches. I think she also had something burl wood. I loved how those colors came together,” she says. Sexton wanted to do something similar with the walls while adding modern elements to the decor. The lacquer walls required a special airbrush painting technique that challenged the painters, who got a tutorial from Fine Paints of Europe.
The couple wanted a big 1970s-era dining table, and designer Michelle Henderson tracked one down on the East Coast. The owner needed some coaxing and eventually agreed to part with the burled wood table, which is now used for holiday meals and special occasions. A multitiered capiz shell chandelier adds a striking modern touch.
Wall paint: Hollandlac Brilliant in custom color, Fine Paints of Europe
The couple wanted a big 1970s-era dining table, and designer Michelle Henderson tracked one down on the East Coast. The owner needed some coaxing and eventually agreed to part with the burled wood table, which is now used for holiday meals and special occasions. A multitiered capiz shell chandelier adds a striking modern touch.
Wall paint: Hollandlac Brilliant in custom color, Fine Paints of Europe
Here’s a view through an arched opening from the dining room to the stairway to the second floor, with a glimpse of the living room beyond.
This little gem of a space is the home’s original telephone closet, built before people started carrying phones in their pockets. The homeowners left the wallpaper that was there and added touches that reflect the home’s vintage era.
Son Grayson, 12, inherited both twin beds from the bedroom he used to share with his older brother Will in the old house. Sexton designed the room with a mix of patterns and a bold navy-and-orange palette, adding glossy foo dog lamps from Barbara Cosgrove. “I just really loved those colors, the navy and orange, without making it a nautical look,” she says.
The couple’s 14-year-old son Will has a custom-made tepee bed, an antler chandelier, faux-suede walls and other rustic and whimsical touches in his bedroom. Sexton enlisted a woodworker and a woman she found on Craigslist to construct the canopy for the daybed. “It’s one of those projects where we spent a long time finding vintage pillows to complete the look,” she says.
Sexton continued the theme in Will’s bedroom with art, bright fabrics and an antelope-pattern rug that she had a rug store resize to fit the space.
Daughters Kitty and Bianca call this charming bedroom their own. Adorned with Schumacher’s Birds Butterflies wallpaper, along with antiques, black paint accents and humorous touches, this is Sexton’s favorite room in the house. “I love how it’s light and airy but has unusual touches. One of the paintings in there is of a girl who looks innocent but is holding a bat, so it’s not that precious when you start to look up close,” she says.
A wooden wardrobe holds the girls’ dresses. Sexton found it at an antique store and had it restored. She sewed Asian frog closures on the bedskirts to match those on the custom-made curtains.
Sexton’s father gave her the antique settee seen here when she was in college, and it has followed her through every move. At one point it was in the master bedroom, and then painted white for the couple’s first daughter’s nursery, when the room’s color palette was pink and green. Sexton’s sister stripped all the white paint and stained it the original dark wood color. The room’s new design is based on the settee’s multicolored vintage kilim pillow.
The color inspiration for the kids’ bathroom was the yellow-and-white striped shower curtain, seen in the mirror. The homeowners had the walls above the existing tile painted a medium gray. The four framed art pieces are old New Yorker covers that Sexton spent countless hours searching for online. “I was on a mission, staying up late looking at thousands of covers. I found these from a seller. I would get mildewed packages of magazines and have the covers framed,” she says.
Sexton wanted dark blue walls in the master bedroom but was gun-shy after a paint mishap in her old house, in which a dark blue ended up looking purple. Benjamin Moore’s Deep Royal hit the mark this time around. She based the color scheme on a scarf her father gave her that was framed at the old house. He started giving her Hermès scarves as gifts in college, and over the years she has acquired several more, including five that are framed in the master bedroom. The fabrics used for the lampshades, bench and red pillow on the bed are from Schumacher.
Sexton used Houzz to look at nightstands and lamps. She loved the look of an all-white chandelier, but the 8-foot ceiling is too low for a full-size one, so she bought one designed for kids.
Sexton used Houzz to look at nightstands and lamps. She loved the look of an all-white chandelier, but the 8-foot ceiling is too low for a full-size one, so she bought one designed for kids.
Another of the framed Hermès scarves hangs above an elegant white tufted settee in the master bedroom.
Sexton says the previous homeowners took good care of the home’s landscaping and the exterior needed just a paint refresh, which was done in 2018. The home office is located to the left of the main part of the house, and an enclosed porch is on the right side.
This is the enclosed porch, which the family uses during nice weather. The curtains and furniture that were there when they moved in had faded and taken a beating, so the couple replaced the curtains with sun-resistant fabric and had the antique couch and rocking chair recaned and reupholstered in weather-resistant fabric.
The blue-and-white pottery from local home decor store Nell Hill’s ties in with the pots in the dining room. A Christmas tree goes in one of the big pots during the holidays. Sexton says she was drawn to the house even before the couple was looking to purchase it, thanks to those red curtains. “I had driven by our house for years before we purchased, it and the red drapes always caught my eye.”
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See more of this home
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More on Houzz
See other home tours
Find an interior designer
Shop for home products
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Rachel Sexton, Brian King and their five children: Will, Grayson, Kitty, Bianca and Shepard
Location: Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri
Size: 2,814 square feet (261 square meters); four bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
The homeowners enlisted Wentworth Contracting for painting, designer Michelle Henderson to help source new furnishings, and Houzz for ideas. “I used Houzz a lot. The variety has helped me find my taste,” she says. The result is a sophisticated home with new and refinished decor.
Sexton commissioned an artist she found online to create a colorful piece for over the living room fireplace, seen here. “I am thrilled with the result, which I had framed in a gold floating frame,” she says.
“A great lesson I learned along the way is, anything can be repainted or reupholstered. If you know what kind of bones you want, you have to be willing to look past the color or fabric of the piece,” she adds. The living room sofas from Ballard Designs have been refreshed with custom fabric.
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