Shawmut Ave

The lovely clients of this South End brownstone weren’t sure just what they needed to make their home more comfortable and appealing, but they knew they wanted a change.

I was taken by the spaciousness of the two-story, light-filled three bedroom, three bath unit in one of the best South End neighborhoods in Boston. On the same block and adjacent blocks are a slew of highly rated South End restaurants, unique clothing and home decor shops, and small green spaces and parks.

Upon entering the main Living/dining/kitchen area for the first time, my eye went right to the numerous HVAC vents on the side of a long soffit that extends from the front to the back of the long, angled room. I knew right away that I’d want to correct that feature.

Also, given that the room is elongated, I planned to create three distinct spaces defined by furnishings, rugs and lighting. And as always, I planned to “de-grey” the place.

Overall, I thought the place needed warming up, and there is nothing like wood paneling to provide an earthy warmth to a space.

I decided to clad the entire long wall, the soffit, the deep window sills, and open shelves in the existing built-in with plywood oak panels divided by darkened reveals. We stained the oak a few tones lighter than the wood floor, and took that paneling to the edge of the window soffits after removing the window trim, caps and aprons. The vents were moved to the bottom of the soffits.

Sculptural, neutral furnishings including a live edge walnut table made by a local craftsman, complete the room.

In the Main Bedroom, again, a de-greying and adding in texture with grasscloth walls, a fabric bed, curly maple bedside tables, and sculptural light fixtures brought the earthy calm to the space.