When the couple walked in, the home was all white walls, none of which would remain that way. “Our approach to color is bold and lots of it,” Caravaggio says. “However, this can become overwhelming if not balanced correctly. Noz’s ability to create this balance is her genius.”
Each room has its own unique spectrum. A hidden away powder room downstairs integrates a red floral wallpaper by House of Hackney chosen to offset a stained glass window in the room, with turquoise stone and a gilded Victorian-era mirror. Around the dining room table that seats the whole family (one of the only pieces carried over from the couple’s last home), Nozawa reupholstered the seats in a hot pink, which she says is “a popular color during the Holi celebrations in India.” The fully redesigned kitchen holds a custom orange-hued Bluestar range offset by deep green cabinetry. The mudroom is painted a lovely deep purple color, Brinjal by Farrow & Ball, which translates to eggplant in Hindi. And a pièce de résistance of the Victorian, the living room, is reimagined in a bold yellow, lending light to an otherwise darker space.
The living room, which Caravaggio describes as “an Italianate parlor,” also serves to meld both of the couple’s backgrounds. The space highlights a custom fresco that Nozawa had commissioned for the ceiling by local artist Caroline Lizarraga, who completed multiple projects throughout the home. Other artwork in the space includes an image of Venice in the primary bedroom above one of the many original fireplaces, “one of Giuseppe’s pieces that he loved,” Nozawa says. Elsewhere, small paintings by the couple’s daughters are hung over mantles—“these very important, very prominent art placement opportunities,” the designer explains.
Integrating the outdoors seamlessly into the interiors was another directive from the clients—and is evident throughout the final result. “We love nature and wanted to tie our interior to the grandeur of the surrounding garden,” Caravaggio explains. There are live plants throughout the four bedrooms, as well as a hand-painted pastoral scene by Lizarraga in the primary. A custom eglomisé backsplash in a botanical print by the artist was installed in the kitchen, and the Seed Cloud light fixture by Ochre hovers above the dining room table. There is a wonderfully intense attention to detail in this natural storytelling—the cloud lamp, for instance, was integrated because it illustrates the early germination of seeds. “I wanted there to be different stages of a plant’s life represented,” says Nozawa. But ultimately, the culmination of plant life for this home is in the backyard, which was implemented by gardeners at Bramble & Vine.