Houzz Tour: Collectibles and Color in a 1930s Cottage
An Arkansas couple downsize and work with a designer to create eclectic style using beloved antiques and heirlooms
Kathleen McCleary
18 April 2019
Houzz Contributor. I'm a journalist, author, editor, and teacher who loves houses so much that I wrote my first novel about a woman's obsession with her house. In addition to my three novels, my work has appeared in Parade, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. I wrote a biweekly column about interior design for HGTV.com for several years; one of those columns (about my 1950's chartreuse-tiled bathroom) inspired the series "Bad, bad baths." I live in northern Virginia with my husband and try to entice my college-age daughters home as often as possible.
Houzz Contributor. I'm a journalist, author, editor, and teacher who loves houses... More
For years Randy and Cindi Maddox filled their more than 5,000-square-foot home with antiques and other collectibles. But after raising three kids and downsizing to a cozy Arkansas cottage half the size of their previous home, the couple needed help figuring out what to bring with them and what to let go — and how to transform a house with tight rooms into a cohesive yet eclectic design that still has lots of color and a collected-over-time style. They found that help in interior designer Kathryn J. LeMaster.
LeMaster guided the Maddoxes through the design process, helping them sort through heirlooms and antiques and taking cues from Cindi’s pieces to pull in turquoise, coral and pops of lime green that light up one cheery room after the next. “We wanted to make the house honor who they were going to be going forward — that empty-nest season of their lives,” LeMaster says.
LeMaster guided the Maddoxes through the design process, helping them sort through heirlooms and antiques and taking cues from Cindi’s pieces to pull in turquoise, coral and pops of lime green that light up one cheery room after the next. “We wanted to make the house honor who they were going to be going forward — that empty-nest season of their lives,” LeMaster says.
Photos by Rett Peek
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Cindi and Randy Maddox; she’s an educator, he’s a doctor.
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
Size: 2,580 square feet (240 square meters); 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Designer: Kathryn J. LeMaster Art & Design
Before: The cottage kitchen had been updated in the past, but it lacked the personal touches and newer finishes the homeowners wanted. The square-tile countertops, for example, had to go.
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Cindi and Randy Maddox; she’s an educator, he’s a doctor.
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
Size: 2,580 square feet (240 square meters); 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Designer: Kathryn J. LeMaster Art & Design
Before: The cottage kitchen had been updated in the past, but it lacked the personal touches and newer finishes the homeowners wanted. The square-tile countertops, for example, had to go.
After: LeMaster added a new island and a peninsula with a sink that overlooks a breakfast room and wall of windows. A built-in hidden range hood features a shelf to display art that Cindi painted, and a new shelf near the ceiling above the sink was an idea LeMaster had to display a colorful collection of vintage trays.
The countertops are quartz that look like marble.
Paint: Rainwashed, Sherwin-Williams (island); Alabaster, Sherwin-Williams (cabinets and trim).
Find a local designer to brighten your kitchen
The countertops are quartz that look like marble.
Paint: Rainwashed, Sherwin-Williams (island); Alabaster, Sherwin-Williams (cabinets and trim).
Find a local designer to brighten your kitchen
The small sitting room off the kitchen was originally the home’s breakfast nook, but now “everyone loves the room so much that that’s where everyone congregates on a nightly basis,” LeMaster says.
A local upholsterer re-covered the two vintage chairs. A custom-made ottoman offers a place for feet or a tray for snacks and drinks.
Wall paint: Window Pane, Sherwin-Williams
Shop for casual upholstered armchairs
A local upholsterer re-covered the two vintage chairs. A custom-made ottoman offers a place for feet or a tray for snacks and drinks.
Wall paint: Window Pane, Sherwin-Williams
Shop for casual upholstered armchairs
At the opposite end of the kitchen, LeMaster designed a built-in cushioned nook around a marble-top table of Cindi’s. Custom Roman shades pick up the turquoise, coral and aqua colors that run throughout the house.
Before: The Maddoxes loved the corner of built-in kitchen cabinets but wanted to update the countertops and add a backsplash.
After: Quartz countertops that look like marble and a beveled white subway tile backsplash update the corner, while minty green serving and other colorful collected dishes add cheerful personality.
The couple’s many collections dictated a design that maximizes storage space. These corner drawers with small compartments show how every square inch is optimized.
Other thoughtful, space-saving ideas include built-in pet bowls at one end of the island.
Before: The home has wonderful windows and good natural light, including in this living room, “but the layout was very tunnel-like,” LeMaster says. “You have to walk through each room to get to the next room.”
After: To create cohesiveness, LeMaster used paint to connect rooms and spread out collectibles to give each space personality.
Cindi had already decided on the cheery yellow (Humble Gold by Sherwin-Williams) for the living room, “but she needed me to help paint the rest of the picture,” LeMaster says.
LeMaster took detailed floor measurements and created a floor plan, outlining the sizes of furniture pieces that would pair best with the room’s layout and use. She pulled in the same aqua and coral found in the kitchen accents, making sure they’d work with the existing green fireplace tile. A local wood salvage shop made the custom coffee table. The artwork and fireplace screen are carryovers from the owners’ former home.
Cindi had already decided on the cheery yellow (Humble Gold by Sherwin-Williams) for the living room, “but she needed me to help paint the rest of the picture,” LeMaster says.
LeMaster took detailed floor measurements and created a floor plan, outlining the sizes of furniture pieces that would pair best with the room’s layout and use. She pulled in the same aqua and coral found in the kitchen accents, making sure they’d work with the existing green fireplace tile. A local wood salvage shop made the custom coffee table. The artwork and fireplace screen are carryovers from the owners’ former home.
In one corner, LeMaster created a gallery wall using guitars that Randy has collected over the years. He built the bookcase behind the sofa that stores the couple’s cookbook collection.
Before: Though fans of color, the Maddoxes felt the salmon walls and large chandelier overwhelmed the dining room.
After: The dining room “bridges the gap between the living room and kitchen,” LeMaster says, so she pulled together the color palette from both rooms for cohesiveness.
The chairs are antiques the Maddoxes found and painted coral to pull in colors from the fabrics in the living room and kitchen. The sideboard and mirror came from their previous house. The table is a family heirloom from Randy’s side. “We were able to honor the things they really wanted to incorporate and let them guide and inform our decisions about the space,” LeMaster says.
The chairs are antiques the Maddoxes found and painted coral to pull in colors from the fabrics in the living room and kitchen. The sideboard and mirror came from their previous house. The table is a family heirloom from Randy’s side. “We were able to honor the things they really wanted to incorporate and let them guide and inform our decisions about the space,” LeMaster says.
Cindi was a former reading specialist in Little Rock schools, and the family’s shared love of reading inspired this painted staircase. Each family member chose favorite titles for the risers.
Before: A landing with a large window at the top of the stairs seemed like wasted space to LeMaster, especially in a house where every inch of space and storage mattered to the homeowners.
After: LeMaster designed this daybed nook to be a happy destination at the top of the stairs.
Nook paint: Tansy Green, Sherwin-Williams
Nook paint: Tansy Green, Sherwin-Williams
Shelves inside the daybed nook are filled with childhood books and treasures that once belonged to the couple’s three now-adult children. Sometimes, one of the Maddox kids sleeps here during holiday visits, and it will likely be a favorite spot of any future grandkids.
The master bedroom features a custom headboard that came from the homeowners’ previous house, as did the rug. “She wanted to keep what she had from a practicality standpoint,” LeMaster says. Vintage milk glass lamps found at a local shop fit perfectly on the bedside tables, and LeMaster finished the space with a bench and other accessories.
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This is the home in which I should have grown up. Those book spine stairs leading to a cozy reading nook - my dream. Any child raised in that home would develop a love of reading by osmosis alone.
Great to see some color! I am a fan of yellows and the Humble Gold looks sunny and welcoming. Not sure why lovers of color chose to "white out" the kitchen entirely though. It looks like a surgical theater. Walls could use some of that mellow yellow.
I am not a fan of color - I prefer neutrals, but this is the happiest house I have ever seen and I could move right in. Love the way the colors flow from one room to the next. Truly exceptional!