Empty Nest, Full Style

Author:

Designer Joe Lucas reimagines and elevates a beloved family home in New Jersey for his clients’ next chapter

CW Stockwell’s Ocelot fabric gives a pair of antique chairs sourced from Lucas’s Harbinger showroom a fresh zhuzh. The flouncy profile rattan coffee table is from Sharland’s Adeline collection. Zak + Fox textile curtains complement Hartmann & Forbes Roman shades.
Photos by Karyn Millet.

Many parents whose child-rearing days are in the rearview mirror wrestle with next steps. Downsizing may appeal to some, while others are excited to strike a balance between the familiar and the new as they face the next chapter. The latter scenario describes a couple in New Jersey who turned to interior designer Joe Lucas when it came time to transform their beloved empty nest into a proper adult house. Thankfully for the West Hollywood-based Harbinger showroom founder and principal of Lucas Studio, the husband and wife were repeat clients whose summer vacation home on the Jersey Shore he infused with his signature whimsy and grace. Lucas’s take on a beach house was a welcome break from blue-and-white everything and nautical motifs, instead landing on a style he describes as “mature coastal.” In other words, they knew what they were signing up for.

Following his “no white kitchens” rule, Lucas punched up the already renovated space by adding beadboard surfaces, installing Ann-Morris pendant lights and repainting the cabinetry in Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke. Photos by Karyn Millet.
An Urban Electric Co. pendant outfitted with a Claremont pleated fabric shade, Four Hands chairs mixed with a Lulu and Georgia table and a settee from Harbinger make for a welcoming and functional breakfast room.
Photos by Karyn Millet.

The pair fully entrusted Lucas to give the home, which for decades had been the foundational site of everything from small daily rituals to major milestones, a cohesive major glow-up. “Our tagline is ‘East Coast traditional meets West Coast cool,’ and this house really embodies that,” Lucas says. Given that the “architecturally perfect” Colonial Revival structure had been well-maintained and updated in certain areas, “there was pretty much no construction,” Lucas explains.

In the dining room, a layered look comes in the form of Kelly Ventura wallpaper, Urban Electric Co.’s Vienna collection rose gold chandelier, Four Hands dining chairs upholstered in a Zak + Fox fabric, an RH dining table and a rug sourced from Marc Phillips. Photos by Karyn Millet.

He and his team set their sights on curating new and antique furniture, lighting and finishes. “We refinished the floors and painted every inch,” he adds. Although the couple’s three children are now adults and live elsewhere in the New York City region, they still visit often. So the goal was to keep the original layout but swap sports trophies and other sentimental objects for a coordinated refresh.

Bon Fire, a reproduction of a historical French pattern from circa 1800 made by Adelphi Paper Hangings, together with Urban Electric Co. sconces, an Urban Archaeology vanity and Waterworks fixtures, enliven the powder room. Photos by Karyn Millet.

Lucas identified a “pinky- peachy” color as a through line in the home, where Zak + Fox wallpaper in the entry vestibule sets the tone. This chromatic motif is incorporated throughout the interiors, including in the immersive wallpaper mural from Gracie that swaths the living room. This “long and narrow” area, which functions as a connecting passage-way to other rooms, posed a few challenges. “The ceilings are low, so to get the scale right in there was important,” Lucas says. To crack the code of the living room’s unnecessary formality, he reimagined seating configurations to feel more intimate and painted the trim in Farrow & Ball’s contrasting Entrance Hall Pink. The clients were thrilled when they saw all the components assembled as a whole. These interventions “make it so much more inviting. They want to use that room even if it’s just the two of them,” he elaborates.

Lacquer surfaces in Farrow & Ball Pitch Blue create an impactful and intimate environment in the family room, where Lucas upholstered a roomy Harbinger by Hand sofa in Sien + Co. fabric. The coffee and side tables from Lawson-Fenning and Nickey Kehoe, respectively, stand on an Armadillo rug. Roman shade fabric is Jasper. Photos by Karyn Millet.
A sofa, armchair and coffee table from Harbinger by Hand intermingle with wallpaper from Jasper, a Stark Carpet floor covering and Hector Finch lamps in the study. Photos by Karyn Millet.
Robert Kime upholstery on a CB2 bench creates a high/low moment in the entrance hall. The stair runner by Missoni from Stark Carpet mixes blue tones with the project’s signature “pinky-peachy” color. Lucas sourced art from Harbinger and Peter Dunham Home & Garden at the New York Design Center. Photos by Karyn Millet.

Every space provided an opportunity for a mix of textiles, colors and other materials that surprise and delight. The family room, for instance, is like a cocoon of Farrow & Ball’s Cook’s Blue lacquer. “Punching it up to that bit of a kookier blue was really fun and stands out, but it’s still very much the house and the vibe of the area,” Lucas says. The dining room features Urban Electric Co.’s Vienna collection chandelier in a rose gold mirrored finish, another subtle nod to the color theme. “We were dying to use that light and did not have the right client—and finally we did,” he enthuses. A pre-existing kitchen remodel by designer Heidi Piron provided a high-quality canvas for Lucas to apply his “no white kitchens” rule. A beadboard ceiling treatment adds depth, while Ann-Morris pendants, repainted cabinetry and hardware introduce “a little more oomph.”

In the primary bedroom, a canopy bed by William Yeoward stands opposite a Lemieux et Cie dresser. Helene Blanche wallpaper juxtaposes with Kerry Joyce fabric curtains. Art is the clients’ own. Photos by Karyn Millet.
An Italian modernism—inspired armchair from Incollect at the New York Design Center at 200 Lex quietly activates a corner of the primary bedroom. Photos by Karyn Millet.
Lucas refreshed the primary bathroom using Dead Salmon by Farrow & Ball. Photos by Karyn Millet.

Following the aforementioned maxim, furniture and decor elements come from both coasts, including L.A. sources and colleagues such as Peter Dunham/Hollywood at Home, Nickey Kehoe, Martin & Brockett and Lawson-Fenning. Goods by Harbinger-represented brands CW Stockwell and Kelly Ventura make appearances, as well as items customized from Lucas’s own Harbinger by Hand collection. The designer also balanced the homeowners’ attachment to this property with potential future flex- ibility. “If and when they do decide to finally leave this house, they want these pieces to be able to move with them,” he explains. “Most of them can travel and still work together.”

An edited, cohesive reimagining of the family’s now-adult children’s former bedrooms was a key part of transitioning the home for its next chapter. The bed frame in a guest room is Crate & Barrel, the desk is Four Hands, art is sourced from Nickey Kehoe and Roman shades are Kettlewell Collection fabric. Photos by Karyn Millet.

The outcome feels authentic to both the designer’s ethos and the clients’ needs and lifestyle. “This layered, collected look does not feel precious, and makes it feel lived in,” Lucas shares. “The house has so many good memories that they really wanted to give it new life while they were still there.”