You won’t find seashells and nautical knickknacks in this modern marvel on Washington state’s Puget Sound.
You won’t find seashells and nautical knickknacks in this modern marvel on Washington state’s Puget Sound.
By Marybeth Bizjak
Photography by Nicole Dianne
Design: Leyla Jaworski, Design Shop Interiors
Wood flooring: DuChateau
Kitchen tile: Pental Surfaces
Cement tile: Cement Tile Shop
WHEN A FORMER CLIENT asked Folsom interior designer Leyla Jaworski to help him renovate a midcentury-modern house on Washington’s Camano Island, she said to him: “You do know there are designers in Seattle, right?”
Yes, he did. But Jeff Elliott, who’d lived in Woodland before moving to the Pacific Northwest, had worked with Jaworski before and had a level of comfort with her. For her part, Jaworski was thrilled to take on the job. “Midcentury modern is my jam,” she says.
The house, perched on a cliff at the end of a one-lane road, overlooks the ocean and sits next to a forest. Dark and dated, it needed a heavy dose of lightening up. And a poor layout required reworking to take maximum advantage of the home’s stunning views.
The house did, however, have one stellar feature: a walk-in entry that opens up onto a great room with a wall of windows and glass doors. To give the house a relaxed, beachy feel, Jaworski whitewashed the wood-planked ceiling, beams and rock fireplace and chose washed-out hardwood for the floors.
Architecture Obscura: An Evening of Architectural Photography at JAYJAY
She then had the idea to install raw wood paneling on the walls in the entry. But when the cost proved prohibitive, Elliott volunteered to do it himself, using old siding and fencing from the house. “I gave him pictures and he executed it,” says Jaworski. “It’s nice to have a handy client.”
Reconfiguring the layout, Jaworski flip-flopped the kitchen and dining room, so that someone standing at the sink could look out onto the sea. The kitchen doubled in size, while the formal dining room was downscaled to a nook with a banquette. (Who needs a formal dining room at the beach?) Jazzy geometric tile for the backsplash served as kitchen inspo. Jaworski loved the tile so much, she ran it all the way up to the ceiling.
'The owner wanted a fun, lighthearted weekend home.' -Leyla Jaworski
Because she’s not a fan of upper cabinets, Jaworski wanted to do open shelving to the left and right of the windows flanking the range. But at the last minute, she decided to run one long shelf across each window. “Everyone thought I was crazy,” she says. “But it ended up being the best thing in the kitchen.” For practicality, she made the laundry room the main point of entry from the beach. There’s cement tile on the floor and a foot shower for rinsing off sand. (It doubles as a pet-bathing station.)
Throughout the house, Jaworski kept things simple: white walls, black metal-clad windows for contrast, minimal window coverings. (Because the house is so isolated, privacy is not a concern.) And absolutely no beach design clichés: No whales or anchors. Nothing blue. No signs reading “This way to the beach.”
Elliott originally purchased the house with the intention of flipping it. But once it was complete, he sold his other house and moved right in. “Jeff just fell in love with it,” says Jaworski. “It’s light and bright and fun.”
The entry opens up to the great room.
In the great room, the designer whitewashed the rock fireplace to lighten and brighten things up.
In the laundry room, a foot shower for rinsing off sand doubles as a doggy bath.
Facebook Comments