“After sadly losing her husband, the owner and her two children decided it was time for a fresh start in a new home,” Courtney Heaton and Laura Ulam of Heaton + Williams told us over email. The former tech executive knew she wanted a classic home with good bones but with a more modern feel. Though it took quite a while before finding the right place, she got to work on the remodel and brought on the design duo to help achieve her vision. 

The house, which the pair describes as “a true gem that just needed a bit of simplifying and modernizing,” is in San Mateo, CA. The scope of work included expanding the kitchen and family room by several feet, remodeling the bathrooms, garage, and kitchen, and adding new lighting and windows throughout the house. For interiors, the designers say their client had one requirement: “To keep everything clean, modern and neutral – not too much pattern or bright colors, but layering of tones and textures.”

The pair tells us more about their design decisions in the slideshow, mentioning that they thought the two-year project would originally be one. “2020 was not what we expected,” they laugh. Luckily, the end result is exactly what the client hoped for: classic and comfortable.