This 1926 Georgian Colonial is located in Highland Park, a northern suburb of Chicago. “It’s a beautiful old home with incredible character and the kind of architectural details that immediately give you something to work with as a designer,” says designer Elizabeth Mollen. “I also live in Highland Park, so I have a real appreciation for the mix of architecture here. I love seeing these older homes evolve with the families who live in them—keeping what makes them special while bringing in a completely fresh point of view.”

For Elizabeth and her eponymous firm, the historic home offered the perfect backdrop for taking a few design risks and creating spaces that feel colorful, layered, and deeply personal. Four years earlier, Chicago designer Caroline Turner had updated much of the first floor; when the family was ready to turn their attention upstairs, they brought in Elizabeth Mollen Design for the home’s next chapter. (Editors’ Note: We featured that initial renovation here!)

“The clients, Sam and Jason Berngard, were so much fun to work with,” Elizabeth shares. “Not only are they creative and open to all of the wildest ideas, but they are also dear friends, and our kids go to school together. Sam is head of brand at children’s company Monica and Andy, and Jason spearheads fashion and travel for financial tech company Affirm. They both travel all of the time for work and have stayed in all of the best hotels around the world.”

The upstairs, however, presented a less-than-luxurious starting point. The primary suite included two separate bathrooms—one for him and one for her—connected by a closet with an awkward, confusing layout. “Not to mention the crumbling walls in the bathroom and primary bedroom,” the designer laughs. “They held off on doing the upstairs until they could visualize exactly what their needs were by living in it for a few years.”

When the time came to tackle the upstairs, they wanted it to feel connected to the vintage aesthetic established on the first floor, “with a ‘bed and breakfast’ inspired twist,” Elizabeth says. “They wanted the bedrooms and bathrooms to feel colorful, layered, and full of personality while still respecting the architecture of the home.”

From there, restraint wasn’t exactly the goal. Patterned wallpaper, unexpected color combinations, and distinctive tile were all must-haves. “The clients and I both share a passion for beautiful hotels, so instead of actual adjectives to describe what we created, we basically accomplished our goal of recreating elements of our favorite hotels to create a colorful, extremely eclectic, layered and unexpected primary suite,” Elizabeth recalls.

That sense of discovery extended to the furnishings. The couple shares Elizabeth’s love of vintage and was incredibly hands-on throughout the process. “Sam and I had the best time scouring all of the vintage shops while working on this project together,” the designer notes. “Many of the vintage furnishings, accessories, and decorative objects throughout the home were sourced through The Vault Creative, our Highland Park design shop and gallery. We love mixing vintage with new pieces to create rooms that feel collected and personal rather than overly designed, and this home was the perfect place to embrace that philosophy.”

The result is an upstairs that feels collected rather than coordinated. Each room takes on a personality of its own while still belonging to the same storied house. “The clients were obsessed with the transformation,” Elizabeth shares. “That’s always the best reaction you can ask for. They especially loved the primary suite and said it felt like they were living in a hotel. We loved hearing that because we wanted the suite to feel transportive and special, while still being completely comfortable and livable for everyday life.”

After living in the house for three years before renovating the upstairs, Sam and Jason say the bedroom finally feels entirely their own—and, in a fitting reversal for two avid travelers, their favorite hotel suite might just be the one at home.