Architectural designer Nancy Fishelson beautifully balances old and new to reinvent a 1795 Connecticut house in perfect harmony.

Kitchen Entry

She ripped out the dropped ceilings, stripped plaster and lathe down to the posts and beams, and opened up many of the rooms with wider doorways and additional windows. Nancy enlarged the opening from the keeping room to the kitchen, adding salvage-yard antique posts where needed.



White, Airy Kitchen

The kitchen feels refreshingly open and airy, thanks to the white-and-grey palette and the absence of upper cabinets. The homeowner added a medley of distinctive pulley lights from Europe, and an antique dish rack dated 1865 that was, she says, "the perfect weathered grey."



Bedroom

Nancy took three small rooms upstairs, each of which had only one small window, and combined them to make a spacious master bedroom and bath. To fit windows above a shed roof in the back, she had to tuck them right up against the ceiling beams, "but those are the little sacrifices you make style-wise to get some light," she observes. The chair to the right of the old iron bed is called a "make do chair," which is to say, someone added an upholstered back and wings to a ladder-back chair to form an unusual yet charming hybrid.



White Linen Living Room

Then she filled the house with furnishings in her trademark white palette, enriched with soft grey's that seemed to suit the New England locale. "This house is much simpler than my previous homes," says Nancy. "As you gain experience, you realize less is really more."

In the living room, the furniture is covered in homespun linen. "It lets you easily change the look with pillows and rugs," says Nancy. She also took out the raised panelling, painted the brick fireplace white, and added an antique mantel that she found.



Dining Room

In the dining room, Nancy exposed the beams and had the old pine floors cleaned but not refinished, to keep their patina.



Keeping Room

Everyday dinners are more likely to take place at the gateleg table in the "keeping room."



Sun Porch

"I'm thinking about two things when I look at an old house," says Nancy Fishelson: "Keeping the integrity of the original architecture, and satisfying my desire to open up spaces and bring in light. You have to balance the two."
On the sun porch, an old dollhouse overlooks an antique child's bed.



Bright Kitchen

Nancy widened room openings, joined neighbouring rooms, and added windows and French doors to bring in more light. She chooses not to obscure windows with curtains or blinds, unless needed for privacy.



Sun Porch

"If I need to replace or patch old beams or flooring, I look for existing pieces to borrow from another area of the house or at architectural salvage yards."



Window Seat

"I've always tended to use white for interiors," says Nancy. "I find it creates a clean, fresh slate."



Porcelain Apron Sink

Old sinks delight Nancy, too, including this porcelain apron front sink in the bedroom...



Copper Tub

Homeowners found the gleaming copper tub in the master bath on eBay.



Strawberry Flowers

Strawberry flowers in old pharmacy bottles add colour to a monochromatic palette.