This Kansas City home strikes just the right balance between a gracious country house with old-world details and a relaxed family home that always welcomes.

The shingle-and-Missouri-limestone exterior includes such elegant details as a second-floor balcony, and large front door flanked by sidelights and transom.




Homeowner

Megan and Mark Sutherland's home in Overland Park, Kans., strikes just the right balance between a gracious country house with old-world details and a relaxed family home that always welcomes. Drawing on her love of the English countryside, her sense of color, and her previous business as an antiques dealer, Megan made a new house (built 13 years ago) feel convincingly like a century-old home.



Sutherland Living Room

To a backdrop of salvaged chestnut floors, Missouri limestone, and plaster walls, she applied a warm, gently faded palette of buttery yellow, turkey red, and sage green. The result? It's a place in which the couple and their three kids-Beau, Billy, and Paige-a trio of dogs, and a host of family and friends feel right at home.




Entryway

In the entry, Megan used Missouri limestone for the floor ("it stands up well to kids, dogs, and spills," she says) and sunny ochre for the walls. An antique hooked rug-"they're like art"-takes pride of place on the wall, above an old pine table.




Seating Area

Salvaged chestnut floors and beams bring warmth to this grandly proportioned living room. Windows nearly floor-to-ceiling and French doors bathe the room in light from three sides. A mix of new upholstery (in chintz, crewel, seersucker), antique furniture, and a worn Oushak rug give this room lived-in comfort.




Dining Room

Mismatched chairs help the dining room feel "less formal," says Megan. The sage-and-cream ceiling inspired by a magazine photo. "The tall, almost floor-to-ceiling windows are features I had seen in a lot of old homes," says Megan. "The windows are all true divided-light double-hung windows with screens to welcome summer breezes."




Kitchen

Cabinetry "painted the same colors for simplicity," is paired with butcher-block countertops and a marble backsplash. For the kitchen, Megan found a tall antique table, and used an old baker's rack instead of a new pot rack.




Display Cabinet

Collections dress up a kitchen cupboard.




Sutherland Family Room

Megan's approach to decorating marries stylish with practical: the coffee table/ottoman in the family room is covered in an old kililm. "I love vintage textiles. I've collected them forever, and they bring a lived-in element to every room."




Staircase

Topped with a jumble of pillows, a quilt conceals a worn sofa in this easygoing home. The artichoke painting is by Megan's friend Becky Pashia; together, this spring, they are opening an art space, "Artichokes".





photo credit: Miki Duisterhoff