“Since I am close friends with the client, we’d joke,” Claire Staszak tells us with a big grin. “She’d say, ‘Just make my house cool!’”

Claire first met her clients in Chicago. Both are working professionals: He’s a music aficionado and works for an investment banking firm; she’s launching her own skincare company. Together with their two young children, the family was relocating from Illinois to Raleigh, North Carolina. Luckily, in addition to being close friends, they were also past clients—and Claire knew their design preferences well.

“Her style is not traditionally southern,” Claire says. “They wanted something that felt more edgy and funky. They spend a lot of time in Santa Fe and craved that earthiness and wood tones—and they weren’t afraid of color or pattern.”

In their new locale, the family fell in love with a place that offered room to stretch out inside and out—in a 7,000-square-foot home with five bedrooms situated on a one-acre yard with a creek. “It was built in the 1980s to feel European, with a sort of Belgian or Colonial-style combination, and had been newly remodeled in 2008,” Claire explains.

Since their previous home in Chicago had been urban modern, the goal was to help them feel more at home by decorating in a more transitional style, with a little bohemian flair in the mix. “This house had some lovely architectural details, especially in the entry,” the designer recalls, noting it was the perfect space to make a big statement.  “I took a lot of inspiration from Kelly Wearstler as a vibe for the entry, because it was bold even for me, but I love how it turned out. On the floor, we created a three-stone custom pattern with Artistic Tile.”

The center entrance set a nice flow for the entire first level. To the right of it is a living room-turned-music room and to the left, the dining room, which has direct access to the kitchen. The kitchen and breakfast room connect to a large family room, the outside entertaining areas, and ultimately circle back to the music room. “There’s great circulation,” Claire admits. 

It was a perfect canvas to bring that “cool factor” the Claire’s design firm, Centered by Design, is known for. “In our work we always strive to highlight natural light and beautiful architectural elements…for example the staircase, windows, or built-in millwork,” she explains. “For instance, using a moody blue color in the family room still feels lovely and light, not too depressing or overwhelming, because the natural light is so good!”

Along with the cool, Claire is comfortable with timeless elements as well. “I think our firm can really flex well between something more transitional,” she says, “but not fully traditional, and still incorporate layers of colors and patterns that bring warmth and an old-world feeling. We use a lot of vintage pieces and antiques to help balance the modern and new elements, like the tile, lighting, and fireplace. This client was pretty fearless and not afraid to be bold with her wallpaper choices.”

Wallpaper makes a statement in the primary bedroom, powder room, and the music room. “Getting the right mix of wallpapers was a challenge, but she loves Klimt’s artwork,” Claire says, referencing the Austrian Symbolist artist. “And I think the House of Hackney paper feels like stepping into a Klimt painting. Those were the biggest jumping off points for the color story throughout.”

Since the husband is a hobbyist musician, the family piano—an heirloom—was a special part of the story for them, so the music room gets a lot of use. “They all play the piano,” Claire says. “During install we even had a jam session!”

The kitchen gets a lot of use as well, and as a result they opted for a light “facelift” versus a major renovation. “The kitchen was designed but not executed at this time, which was disappointing but it’s a big undertaking that they will likely take on later,” she says. “They wanted to feel settled in the house with such a big out of state move before taking on major construction.” In the meantime, they opted to replace the backsplash, lighting, and furniture, and add a few quirky arched cabinets for some personalization.

The house was considered complete (for now) after about a year; the plan achieved with only two in-person visits and a lot of long Zoom chats. “I think the clients absolutely love what we created together,” Claire says. “We made their house cool.”