Houzz Tour: Vintage Charm in a Seattle Craftsman

Photos by Miranda Estes Photography

House at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman
Location: Seattle
Size: 1,506 square feet (140 square meters); three bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
Designer: Tammara Stroud
Contractor: Dave Headland of Headland Construction

The entry reveals a view straight back to the kitchen, to the dining room toward the back left and to the living room on the other side of the half wall seen here. The door opens to a coat closet.

“The one thing my client really wanted in here was hooks for her friends to hang their purses up,” Stroud says. This keeps them off her kitchen counters.

“The house was sinking. The foundation needed to be jacked up and the floors needed to be leveled,” Stroud says. This meant replacing all the flooring. The new hardwoods create consistency throughout the first floor, add warmth and suit the home’s age.

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Before: This photo from the existing living room looks toward the entry and offers a peek into a small powder room. A pony wall separated the entry from the living room. “This living room is small, and the bookshelf protruded into the space,” Stroud says. That made placing the sofa where the homeowner wanted it a bit awkward and made the room feel cramped.

Before: The fireplace protruded into the room quite a bit. Twenty inches to be exact. “I suspect this fireplace was not original to the house, as that’s often the case when they jut so far out into the room like this,” Stroud says.

After: The new built-in shelves offset the fireplace’s protrusion. Their placement also is in keeping with Craftsman style. The homeowner is happy to have the storage and display space she lost when the other shelves were removed. They also gave her an unobtrusive spot to place her TV. It’s now on top of the new built-ins to the right of the fireplace.

Stroud gave the fireplace a makeover, adding a neutral tile and topping it off with Calacatta marble. She purchased two slabs of this marble and used it throughout the house, including the kitchen and bathrooms.

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Before: The powder room was lackluster. However, it had a spectacular original window. Stroud suspects this room had been carved out of the original entry space during a previous renovation.

After: The designer replaced the pedestal sink with a new custom cabinet. Extending it from wall to wall gave it a substantial presence. Stroud had the stone fabricators continue the countertop up the wall and around the sides as a backsplash with a bit of flair. “I needed to protect the wallpaper from splashing on the sides, but I don’t care for the look of a squared-off backsplash that wraps a corner. I’d rather have no backsplash on the sides than do that,” she says. She created a paper template in the shape she wanted, and the fabricators used it to cut the stone to her specifications.

A beautiful William Morris botanical wallpaper celebrates the home’s Craftsman style. Other details include glass-and-brass sconces, crystal hardware and a hammered brass mirror frame. Mixing in the polished metal plumbing fixtures lends a timeless look.

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“This is not an open floor plan. However, the living room, dining room and kitchen have openings between them,” Stroud says. The front entry and living room are through the door to the left. The room seen through the pass-through is the dining room.

“All the photos my client had put in her kitchen ideabook had green cabinets, and we’d started with that,” Stroud says. “But when we spoke, she often mentioned how much she loved blue. So I told her I thought we should do blue cabinets. She was surprised at first, then thought about it and agreed.” The cabinet color is Benjamin Moore’s Brush Blue.

Before: The kitchen had some great bones and some that were not so great. The homeowner was happy to salvage as much as she could. Here, Stroud assesses the cabinets to see what could be saved.

After: While the lower cabinets needed replacing, Stroud was able to save the upper cabinets and most of the existing island. Playing off the new cabinet color, she found the perfect fabric for the cafe curtains. “This print is really sweet. It has blue radishes on it,” she says.

Stroud extended the backsplash tiles from the countertops to the ceilings. She chose a natural terra-cotta tile that was handmade in Morocco. “Each tile varies in thickness, giving it an irregular undulation,” she says. The choice is in keeping with the Craftsman movement’s ethos. Other details like the light fixtures, the wall-mounted shelf with brass rails and the cabinet hardware nod to the home’s 1904 vintage.

The Calacatta marble countertops are also fitting for the home’s age. “This is from such a pretty and unexpected batch of marble,” Stroud says. “It has veining in it that almost looks blue.”

Backsplash tile: Idris, Ann Sacks

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“Because the kitchen, dining room and living room open to each other, I carried things through,” Stroud says. The flooring, the wall paint color (Sea Salt by Benjamin Moore) and touches of blue create a cohesive feel from room to room.

Stroud also used the same window treatments in the dining and living rooms. “My client had already purchased motorized shades for privacy, so these are for ambiance,” the designer says. They are soft linen and let the light through.

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Upstairs, Stroud made her client’s cozy bedroom feel soothing and calm. Benjamin Moore’s Slate paint set a blue-gray tone. From there, Stroud designed the headboard. “Her cat had clawed her old upholstered headboard so I specified ultrasuede,” she says. “Cats get their claws stuck in ultrasuede, so the first time they try to claw it is the last time.”

The Roman shades add a pretty botanical fabric to the mix. They are top-down, bottom-up — they have a remote control that allows the homeowner to choose between covering the top or the bottom of the windows, or both. Covering the bottom portion of the windows allows for privacy from neighbors while letting natural light in through the top.