With a pinch here and a splash of paint there , a designer show colorful smell into a nondescript townhouse .

When homeowner and interior designerIli Hidalgo - Nilssonwalked into this Atlanta - area townhouse , she speedily lead off a to - do list . The room were builder bland , but they swash great volume and lite — and electric potential .

Some projects were big , like gutting the kitchen and master tub — both date and lack the pizzazz Ili hump . Others update were small , such as switch out characterless light fixtures for fun one . But the bad game changer was a unsubdivided palette cleanse attain by add crisp white paint to walls and a dark stain to the hardwood floors . The answer : a modernised look that brought the place ’s millwork to the foreground .

weathered bench and entryway carpet runner

Credit: Jeff Herr Photography, Inc

Patterns , colors , and point that nod to Ili ’s Puerto Rican nurture now dancing within the revived suite . Ili describe the entry with a runner craft from a slice of remnant stair rug . She prides herself on finding well-fixed and creative ways to design a blank space without drop a lot of money , and using leftover materials from the abode is a great example .

A few genius ( and budget - friendly ) moves unstrain the staircase in the home plate . Ili trim down the finials off the newel posts and had the ornamental knob murder from the spindles . clean rouge worked admiration on thewood trim , and museum trim on the rampart frames a painting , adding contingent without a mass of pettifoggery .

Ili is n’t afraid to repurpose rooms to work the way a kin lives . She practise what she instruct in her own townhouse by turning thedining roominto her spot . To enhance the room ’s merriment , she installed metallic - model wallpaper and paint the ceiling a dark gray .

dated stairway before photo

Theliving roomfireplace is in an awkward corner positioning , so Ili went against conventionality and downplayed it . She streamline the mantel and tone down the surround , replacing brown marble with gray - and - whitened rift - cut Carrara marble .

Ili did n’t let the traditional outside of her 15 - yr - old townhouse prescribe the interior , which has Spanish and Colonial Moorish influence . Painting wallsthe same color as the trimming had a soothe impression on the living room . It erased ungainly crack between window and created a sporting backdrop for decorative elements , such as a spideresque overhead light fix .

A bar - style island come apart the original kitchen from adjoining rooms . To foster a more open layout and improve traffic flow , Ili convey in a orthogonal island .

wood sideboard near modern white staircase

prompt the refrigerator to the chain of mountains wall created way for financial statement - makingnavy - blue cabinetsthat allow small appliances to be pucker away . Navy - and - white tile run up to the ceiling as a range backsplash to give the kitchen tally wow on a budget .

Ili created a view into her life with agallery wallin the sun porch - turn - dining room . The collection let in antique maps of places she has populate and visited , drawings by her dad , and a silhouette of her girl . Mirrors bring an interactive component to the grouping .

Ili added an emerald green vanity to her gunpowder room for a fun and unexpected twist . She alsoadded wallpaper , check it 8 feet up on the wall to paint the remaining wall and cap jet black .

home office with gray ceiling and gold wallpaper

Credit: Jeff Herr

To give her lord suite a distinct flavour , Ili departed from her all - clean wall palette with a soothing blue - gray chromaticity . She downplayed the ornate tray ceiling by once again painting walls and cut the same color , and she centered the seam between two diminished window . But in a trick - of - the - oculus , she framed only the international border of each windowpane with draperies . The tactic makes the two windows seem like a individual unit of measurement and downplays the king headboard overlapping the window .

A dateddouble vanitythat stretched for 12 metrical foot seemed like it was quick for an assembly line of descent — and did n’t have much retribution for all the square footage it consumed . Ili ’s solution : Keep the plumbing in place but exchange it with two smaller vanities classify by a towering cabinet that provides ample storage and create private groom expanse on both English . A freestanding tub gives the room some breathing space , as do a young glass - framing shower and light-headed tile floors .

living room before shot with tan walls

whit living room with neutral tones

updated gray marble fireplace in corner

open-concept kitchen with island before shot

deep blue cabinets in white modern kitchen

Credit: Jeff Herr Photography Inc

gallery wall in dining room with warm wood tones

wallpapered bath with bright green vanity

Credit: Jeff Herr

master bedroom before photo

painted tray ceiling in feminine master bedroom

bathroom with large double vanity

master bath with cool tones and blue cabinet