Happy May—and Happy Opening Day of Homearama! Our showhouse opens to the public today, joining six other homes on the tour. After sharing the office, butler’s pantry, and main bedroom (and the en-suite bathroom and closet), and then pausing for a baby, we’re back with a look at the main living spaces: the living room and kitchen. As the floor plan shows, these are major zones on the first floor.
We painted the walls in both the living room and kitchen Benjamin Moore Simply White and layered color through paint, textiles, art, and accessories: a navy fireplace column, a matching kitchen island, a bright breakfast nook, bold artwork, and colorful rugs and pillows to bring warmth and character.
We wanted the fireplace to anchor the living room, so we used Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore on that wall. Lesli Devito painted a large, playful portrait of Burger to add a cheeky focal point. The TV will likely hang there when a buyer moves in, but the painting made for a fun display during the show.
The coffee table and the 9 x 12 rug are from West Elm, and the colorful basket was a HomeGoods find. The gray sofa, chair, and ottoman came from Green Front Furniture—this model in the “smoke” color provides a comfortable, neutral base for the brighter accents.
We selected a white wood mantle with a marble surround and hearth through a local company. The gas fireplace’s convenient side switch was a delightful surprise—small conveniences like that make a big difference and have bumped updating our own fireplace up the priority list.
From the French doors leading to the back porch, you can see the overall living room layout. In hindsight we wish the glass pendant’s electrical box had been centered over the coffee table; we placed outlets months before the furniture arrived, so the pendant sits slightly closer to the fireplace than intended. These moments are part of the learning curve—so many small decisions add up to a finished home.
In the corner, a console and matching lamps from HomeGoods anchor the space, with Target baskets below. The large artwork on loan from Lindsay Cowles ties the palette together, and a bench from Green Front offers extra seating. We photographed the rooms before the custom white shutters were installed; those shutters really complete each space.
A last-minute side table from World Market and a gold-based lamp (a DIY from our book) finished this corner. The red planter for the fiddle-leaf fig came from Lowe’s.
The living room chandelier was one of the final pieces chosen. We needed something that wouldn’t compete with the gold accordion pendants in the kitchen. After seeing the Clear Glass Chandelier in the nearby bathroom, we worked with the Decorating Outlet to modify a similar fixture with gold hardware so it coordinated with the kitchen pendants.
Moving into the kitchen: cabinets are from a local shop called Affinity. Most are a stock gray (similar to Benjamin Moore’s Gray Timber Wolf), while the island is painted Hale Navy to mirror the living room’s fireplace column. The island stretches over 11 feet long—plenty of room for seating, prep, and yes, the occasional nap.
Two common questions about the kitchen: first, why is the quarter round around the island wood-toned instead of painted? That’s a builder standard with oak floors because it hides dust and scuffs better. Second, why don’t the cabinets go to the ceiling? With 10′ ceilings, full-height cabinets are less common and more costly; the builder can add taller cabinetry as an upgrade if a buyer prefers it.
The stools are from West Elm; the gold accordion lights are from Shades of Light; Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances were supplied locally; and the cabinet pulls are from Liberty Hardware. Counters are White Moura marble with a leathered finish from Eternal Stoneworks, and to keep the glass-front cabinets calm, we filled them with white dishware sourced from Target and HomeGoods.
Affinity helped design the cabinet layout with practical features in mind: deep drawer bases for easy access, a roll-out spice rack, a vertical cookie-sheet organizer, and generous 30″ x 18″ cabinets at each end of the island for hidden storage. The island also houses a dishwasher, a roll-out double trash-can cabinet, and plenty of other useful storage.
We chose a deep single sink and a classic polished chrome faucet for clean, functional styling. The sink is 30″ wide and 10″ deep—practical for large pots and heavy-duty kitchen tasks.
The backsplash is a white blend waterfall glass tile from Mosaic, adding subtle shine and texture. Small accents—an aqua pan from World Market and accessories from HomeGoods—bring personality to the counters.
To the left of the kitchen is the breakfast nook, built as a cozy banquette with floor-to-ceiling bookcases on either side. Frosted double doors conceal the walk-in pantry. We designed the shelves so items are easy to reach from the banquette, avoiding the need for ladders like you’d sometimes see with ceiling-height cabinets.
The bookshelf backs are painted Timber Wolf Gray to tie into the nearby cabinets. We filled the shelves with cookbooks and everyday dishware to create a relaxed display—less fussy than a china cabinet, more functional for daily use. Cushions in deep gray were added later to match the island stools.
The Large Simple Dome fixture in the nook references stainless and silver finishes around the kitchen, balancing the gold accents elsewhere. Our guiding principle for mixing metals: repeat each finish several times so the look feels intentional and layered rather than accidental.
The custom table in the nook was built to fit—5′ deep by 6′ wide—stained to match the Jacobean-toned hardwood floors and finished with a glossy bar coat. It fills the space perfectly and offers plenty of room for family meals.
The pantry features thoughtfully planned shelving built by the carpentry team. Short double frosted doors were chosen to avoid blocking hallway flow while keeping storage accessible. The same glass prism flushmount light is used in the hallway and mudroom for consistent lighting.
Because scale can be hard to gauge in photos, we added a reference shot to show how generous the pantry is. We intentionally left it unstyled and invited visitors to use it as a collection point for canned goods benefiting FeedMore, our region’s hunger-relief charity. If you visit Homearama, bring a canned item or drop donations at the show’s ticket counter.
We’ll keep updates to about once a week while balancing other home and family life, and we toured the other six showhouses yesterday—expect a House Crashing post soon with highlights from those homes. For now, enjoy the peek inside this showhouse and we’ll share more in the coming weeks.
P.S. For the complete showhouse gallery, including final room photos, the floor plan, budget details, a video walkthrough, and a shoppable list of furniture and accessories, see Our Full Showhouse Tour.