Kim Macumber’s clients, a young couple with two little boys, wanted a dining room with drama. Not the easiest feat for a nondescript suburban home in Southborough. “We used wallpaper throughout the house to create personality where there wasn’t any,” the designer says. “It cocoons the dining room beautifully and adds a lot of color, which they love.” The lively wallpaper also addressed another tough request: that she incorporate a mid-century modern hutch that the wife had inherited from her grandfather. “The wallpaper provides balance so the hutch doesn’t burden the space,” Macumber says.
1 Cane-back chairs aren’t fancy but look beautiful around the couple’s table. “The caning adds a natural element that knocks all that brass and gloss back down,” Macumber says.
2 The embroidered vine of the Robert Allen drapery mimics the flow of the wallpaper, albeit in a much simpler pattern and palette. Samuel & Sons grosgrain ribbon adds definition to each edge. “The drapes are so light and airy that they needed some visual weight,” Macumber says.
3 Macumber chose the Currey & Company chandelier for its mix of black and gold. “I love the way the arms extend widely, keeping it very open, but then end with chunks of brass.”
4 The couple’s textural brass mirror reinforces the wallpaper’s scenic stylized landscape and echoes the chandelier without being a perfect match. “A large mirror would have reflected the storage piece across the room,” Macumber says. “This just offers a little snapshot of it.”
5 The brass Caracole console with antique glass top offers surface space and bounces light around the room. “It works well with the high-gloss finish of the storage piece opposite it,” Macumber says.
6 The deep teal wainscoting, which had been painted dark red, ties to the teal chairs at the nearby kitchen table. The wallpaper is Thibaut Daintree.
Marni Elyse Katz is a regular contributor to the Globe Magazine. Send comments to [email protected].
