The Georgian house in
Franklin Lakes, with its high
ceilings and elegant moldings,
belied its age of barely three
decades. It also seemed to belie
the age of the new owners, a
pair of young professionals
who wanted to breathe some
youth into its grand but overly
formal rooms. So they turned
to Diane Durocher, a Ramsey-
based designer, who had the
perfect prescription: an influx
of contemporary furnishings
and a pastel palette of sand
and pale blue that manages to
at once feel calming and fresh.
“You can create a warm
feeling with a cool palette,”
explains Durocher, “by inte-
grating texture and interest into
the design.” She added textural
elements such as a series of
dramatic silk draperies in the
great room, quatrefoil-pat-
terned curtains in the kitchen
and master bedroom and area
rugs throughout to complement
the original dark-wood floor-
ing. As for interest, it’s evident
in spades, from the kitchen
chandelier, with its aged iron
and seeded glass, to the painted
“wallpaper” in the master bath,
to the homeowners’ dark-wood
pieces that Durocher soft-
ened—and, at the same time,
allowed to pop—through the
use of upholstered seating in52|
NJHomeThis page: Existing elements in the
great room, including a large chandelier,
dark-wood flooring and marble fireplace
surround, blend seamlessly with recent
introductions like a pair of overstuffed
Chesterfield sofas that belonged to the
homeowners and were reupholstered in
a pale sand velvet. Opposite page: In
the less formal kitchen dining area, a
Sheridan dining set that was purchased
from the home’s previous owners sits
underneath an aged-iron Piedmont
chandelier.GAL.s19.durocher/franklinlakes.indd 52 2/28/19 10:28 AM