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Modern Meets French Country Flare

Jun 20, 2016

A few weeks ago I shared a beautiful transitional home that had been featured in Luxe. Well, this week, I wanted to share another Luxe-featured home that I was so thrilled to work on! I can’t wait to show you,

But First… The Winner of Our Skinny Noodle Challenge!!!

Segreto Secrets - Miracle and Skinny Noodle Challenge

About a month ago, I declared my obsession with Skinny and Miracle Noodles and challenged you, my blog friends, to come up with a creative recipe using the no-cal shirataki noodles. Thank you so much for all the great recipes we received!! After much deliberation (and delicious skinny noodle dinners), we’re thrilled to announce our winner!

And the winner is…..

Segreto Secrets - Winner of the Skinny Noodle Challenge - Shrimp Scampi

Congratulations, Janet!!! You’ll be receiving a free copy of Segreto Style! Your “skinny” take on shrimp scampi is absolutely divine. So delish, my whole family loved it!!!

And now back to the house tour!! This home is a wonderful mix of modern design, French country flare, and traditional flourishes. I love the final look so much I included a few rooms in Segreto Vignettes!!! Here are a few excerpts from the Luxe article along with some additional commentary from me!!

Segreto Secrets - Modern Meets French Country - Plastered Entry Hall
Source. Photography by Tria Giovan. Plaster by Segreto.

It was so much fun collaborating with this dream team – architect Ken Newberry, Sims Luxury Builder and designer Katie Scott!! As you enter the home, you’re completely enveloped in the fresh aesthetic, giving you an idea of what’s to come. We applied a neutral plaster throughout the main living spaces to provide a dynamic backdrop for Katie’s blend of antique pieces, contemporary art, and modern furnishings.

Segreto Secrets - Modern Meets French Country - White Banquette
Source. Plaster by Segreto.

I always love working with architect Ken Newberry, who I turned to when redoing my own home (see the results here)! Ken is such a sweetheart and has a special talent for translating a client’s needs, wants and vision into livable, sophisticated architecture. These clients wanted a modern, light-filled home that could be both kid-friendly and elegant enough for entertaining. And Ken delivered with what he calls “a blend of French country and American estate-style architecture.”

A myriad of wide windows, vaulted ceilings in the breakfast room and master bedroom, and faintly arched doorways and family room niches or “eyebrow arches,” as the architect refers to them, “soften the hard lines of the modern design of the home and bring in more traditional shapes.” The floor plan encourages circulation, and each room serves a purpose or what Newberry describes as a magnet that pulls people into the spaces.

Segreto Secrets - Modern Meets French Country - Living Room with Yellow Accents
Source. Plaster by Segreto.

For the color scheme, [homeowner] Ally envisioned copious amounts of blues and grays throughout. Scott fulfilled this requirement yet catered it to the family’s more energetic disposition. “I envisioned something that better matched their personality: vibrant and spirited yet with a contrast of more sophisticated tones,” says the designer. The outcome is a palette dominated by varying blues, grays and neutrals with bold shots of color, which not only add a youthful jolt, but, when used on upholstery, also help modernize the more traditional pieces.

Segreto Secrets - Modern Meets French Country - Black Settee with Antique Gold Mirror
Source. Plaster by Segreto.

I love this advice from Katie – so true!!!

Scott says that when starting a room, she begins with a piece “that presses on my heart. If that’s an antique, I need to look at things that are more modern to help balance it out.”

This black velvet daybed is one of those special pieces!

Segreto Secrets - Modern Meets French Country - Sitting Area with Blue Couch
Source. Plaster by Segreto.

The walls and ceilings are clad in subtly pigmented plaster – blue-gray here and in the dining room; soft white for the family room and throughout the first floor. “I love when a client requests plaster,” says Scott. “It makes everything else so beautiful.”

I absolutely adore the beautiful blue cashmere Katie chose for the French canapé!!! It’s such a fun, eclectic touch that pops brilliantly against the plastered walls!

Segreto Secrets - Modern Meets French Country - Gray Dining Room with Square Table and Banquette
Source

The breakfast room sticks to a lovely, subdued gray and white palette that feels both casual and refined. The square table with Lucite legs is to die for!!!

Segreto Secrets - Modern Meets French Country - Marble Kitchen with Metal Range Hood
Source

Notice the fun touches of yellow that inject some spunk into this elegant marble kitchen! The homeowner says her three kids love hanging out at the kitchen counter!

Segreto Secrets - Modern Meets French Country - Dining Room with Animal Print Skirted Table
Source

This dining room, with its Murano glass chandelier, Art Deco chairs, and animal print tablecloth, keeps things interesting! Katie is so gifted at melding classic pieces and antiques with unexpected fabrics and current trends. I loved revisiting this home once all the furniture was in place and seeing the unique combinations Katie came up with!!

Hope you enjoyed this house tour! To read the full Luxe article and get the sources for furnishings in each picture, click here.

Have a great week!! Till next week!

xo, Leslie


12 Comments
  • Gayle Ahrens
    Posted at 07:00h, 20 June Reply

    Leslie

    I am always inspired by your work .. I have been from the very start …. Always fabulous

    • Leslie Sinclair
      Posted at 18:30h, 21 June Reply

      You have always inspired me by you nice comments!! Those really do keep one going!! xo Leslie

  • Taste of France
    Posted at 08:06h, 20 June Reply

    I like how each room has its own personality and accent pieces and colors but there’s a unified vision for the whole. It keeps it from being boring–too much the same–and also from being too chaotic. Instead, there’s variety balanced by continuity.

  • Lexi
    Posted at 08:43h, 20 June Reply

    Beautiful, Leslie!!

  • cindy hattersley
    Posted at 10:16h, 20 June Reply

    Love the mix of modern and French. That banquette is to die for! I am going to have to try those noodles!

  • katie scott
    Posted at 17:35h, 20 June Reply

    Leslie,

    Thank you so much for the fun post, love i! I hope to meet you in the near future!

    xo

    Katie

    • Leslie Sinclair
      Posted at 18:29h, 21 June Reply

      I’m glad you liked it and would love to see you soon!!! xo Leslie

  • katie scott
    Posted at 17:37h, 20 June Reply

    Meant to say hope to see you in the near future, not meet you!!!! 🙂

  • Suzanne D. Grable
    Posted at 22:10h, 20 June Reply

    Leslie,
    I sent a question and not sure if it was an email or some other way, but I tried to get a couple of book stores in Lexington and Louisville, Ky. to purchase your books. My interest in you is because I have studied under a faux painter and I am also an interior designer. I had told you once when I contact you either by email or phone that I had painted a concrete floor to look like tile and I was supposed to sent a picture to you and I am not sure if I did or not. I am purchasing an old house and want to paint the kitchen floor black. Most of the time I use Ben Moore to paint but would like some advice from you as to how I would do this since this is an area that I have never traveled. If you do not feel free to answer this I will understand. I am concerned because this house was built in the late 1800’s and not sure if there is a health risk or not with the finish that is on the floor and I am sure I need to sand the floor and do you recommend getting the experts on this?
    Thank you,

    Suzanne D. Grable
    Suzanne Designs,
    Lexington, Ky.
    859-621-1216

    • Leslie Sinclair
      Posted at 18:29h, 21 June Reply

      Hi Suzanne!!! You are soooooooooooo nice to help with the book!! I didn’t see your pics! Please send! Leslie@segretofinishes.com
      Ben more and Sherwin Williams both make a good porch and floor paint which is acrylic based. You don’t have to sand but for an older home I would. Not to the raw wood but to make sure you create a bond. Its up to you on how much a doing yourselfer you are!! You could always wear a mask, but you may want someone to do all the prep and painting for you and for you just do the artistic part. Again I would love to see your transformation!!! I did a blog on painted floors which may give you some tips. Just search painted floors!! Let me know what you decide to do! I’m sure it will be wonderful!!!

  • michele@hellolovely
    Posted at 15:48h, 21 June Reply

    ahhhhhh. i’m floating on air. as a writer, i spend too much time in hell so it’s extra special to visit here for the glimpses from heaven. peace. xox

    • Leslie Sinclair
      Posted at 18:24h, 21 June Reply

      That is a pretty one!! You do so many things well! Is writing what you consider your true passion?

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