It’s rare her clients ask for all white walls, but when the owners of an open-concept new build in Mamaroneck, NY, called on Yena Jung, principal designer at By Yena Designs in Armonk, NY, they specifically requested all-white walls. They were open to a colorful interior and specifically loved green. Their home was already framed with rough electrical work and their busy careers prevented them from spending too much time on the details. While they were short on time, they also gave Jung nearly carte blanche to use her abundant creativity. “I thought, OK, there is room to play here,” says Jung. The result is a vibrant and personal interior that pushes the envelope of color while leaving flexibility to make changes down the road.
Jung started in the kitchen, where the couple had shown her lots of inspirational images. Their requested green was the perfect home for the range hood. They wanted modern, flat-panel cabinetry, so to warm up the all-white home, she chose a warm white oak. On the island, a viola marble has flecks of purple gold and green. Pendants echo the deep, teal green in the range hood to give the eye somewhere else to land. The challenge of open-concept homes is that they lack definition and have a propensity to look cluttered, so Jung went to work defining zones that gave each space purpose and reduced the likelihood any nook would become a clutter magnet. A breakfast bar with stools for casual dining is painted in blue to offset the white oak cabinetry. “The built-in bench for the breakfast nook is actually a different color and that was sort of purposeful so that we didn't just keep repeating the same white oak color,” says Jung. Now, each area feels defined.
The living room is framed by the couple’s own twin blue sofas, which pop against the white walls and complement their baby grand piano. “I really wanted the living room to have color and warmth because that space is so big,” says Jung. On either side of the TV, built-in bookshelves are defined with a metal frame—a practical and pretty solution. “It will never chip or fade over time,” she notes. Some modern art over the fireplace, a colorblocked rug, and touches of green and yellow layer texture and color.
The couple had already chosen a botanical wallpaper and a green subway tile but left it up to Jung where she used them. The powder room seemed the ideal place. Here, the wallpaper’s circular motif is echoed by the gold-rimmed mirror and an intricately detailed light fixture of ribbed disks. Jung juxtaposed the green subway tiles and an emerald sink to add some shimmer in the jewel-box bathroom.
To define the entry, a console is married with a vignette of the couple’s own framed art mixed with a few hand drawings from the children. “I’m not a designer that likes to throw everything away,” says Jung. “I always like to start by asking, ‘What are we keeping?’ because some things have history.” Overhead, an asymmetric teal ceiling light is contemporary with a touch of whimsy that plays off the children’s art.
Playfulness and movement echo throughout the project. In the laundry room, Jung chose a birds-and-botanicals wallcovering from an Etsy vendor. “I wanted them to have some fun in the laundry room,” says Jung. “There is something about birds in a print that brings the pattern to life.” The simple blue and green palette also lets the geometric floor tiles take center stage.
Color can bring happiness and peace into a space, notes Jung. In the TV room, a built-in bookshelf frames the TV and gives a home to the family’s extensive selection of treasured books, which she color-coded. The color-coding technique “gives your brain a sense of calm,” says Jung. She said color coding the books is also a great way to help your brain remember where things are. “There’s real science with color theory and how your brain and your eyes relax when things are organized by color.”
In the end, organizing space and color in a home where all the rooms are very much connected allowed Jung to create calm and order for a family with young children and very little time. “Every moment has a purpose,” says Jung. This home is evidence of that.
Photo Credit: Kirsten Frances
By Kristan Zimmer