A local family with a love for light and airy designs, family-friendly spaces and functionality gave the Agenda a tour of their four-bedroom home in the Historic Cherry Neighborhood.
The Owners
Who: Christina, Nick, Fulton, 4, and Lawson, 1, Langrall. Plus two dogs, Bo and Dixie, who enjoy napping all over the house.
Jobs: Both work in the financial services industry. Fulton and Lawson are both working at learning and growing, and Bo and Dixie, the aforementioned dogs, are both in charge of guarding the backyard from wildlife.
Their story: Christina and Nick both grew up in urban areas (DC and Baltimore), so when they began looking for a larger house, they knew they wanted something close to Uptown that was both infill and diverse. In 2013 they found out that Revolve Residential and Copper Builders had plans to build seven homes in Cherry — they were the first sale. Since moving in five years ago, they’ve worked with interior designer Dominique Delaney of Comfy Cozy Couture to make it their own. They love walking to the Kings Drive Farmer’s Market and playing at the neighborhood park.
“Perhaps our favorite part of living in Cherry is the ability to avoid the Metropolitan’s parking deck and easily pop into Trader Joe’s,” Christina says.
Home Breakdown
The Home: The house has four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. It was built in 2013, but the family has made updates along the way.
The house has tons of natural light so Nick and Christina opted to update the kitchen with lighter finishes, like the white Carrera marble countertops and brighten up the stone fireplace in the living room. Christina says she had a strong vision for a navy, white and brass kitchen – so that’s exactly what they went for in the re-design process. They also added storage and some reclaimed wood shelving to make the open-concept layout more cohesive.
Cozy confines: With little ones around, Christina says she knew they needed a space where the kids could play – without having a playroom that feels too much like a toy graveyard. There’s a beautiful map mural so the kids can point out where they’ve traveled and a teepee where Christina says the kids like to cozy up with their toys. Christina tries to keep it as tidy as possible – rotating toys to create a clutter-free space with lots of room for hide-and-go-seek games and imaginative play.
Food, wine and conversations: During the most recent renovation, they expanded the island and swapped their old double sink for a farmhouse-style design to make gathering more comfortable and cooking much easier. “It serves as a central command station. We eat our everyday family meals at it, and we love hosting friends for happy hours there,” she says. “It is the perfect place for good food, good wine and good conversations.”
Family and functionality: Christina says they haven’t added on to the house since it was built in 2013, but they’ve tweaked it. The playroom was once an office, and storage has been added to keep things more orderly. “We also added the built-in benches, which not only add seating but also serve as storage space,” Christina says. “The baskets are home to musical instruments, trains, balls, etc. – the boys are actually pretty good about taking things out and putting them back (thank you, Montessori school).”
Shops and Inspiration
‘Till death do us part: “The challenge for Dominique was incorporating our leather couch into the look while still keeping the room bright and cozy,” Christina says of their living room. “The couch is an extremely comfortable Restoration Hardware piece that is the perfect depth for lounging, so we were not willing to part with it.”
They added some chic navy velvet chairs from Gabby to tie the dark couch into the light and airy space and bring in some texture. The rustic reclaimed-wood coffee table, also from Gabby, and the Target woven baskets under the bench helped bring in some natural wood tones.
Joanna Gaines-esque: “When I first reached out to Dominique, I said that I like Joanna Gaines’ style (Fixer Upper/Magnolia Homes),” Christina says. “She may be a little too shiplappy (not a word) for me, but I think what I was trying to articulate is that we wanted open and airy space that was family friendly and approachable.”
Clearly chic: “I think my true favorite part of the kitchen are the counter stools,” Christina says. “When Dominique showed them to me, I had a ‘money is no object’ type reaction – although money was very seriously an object. They are not only functional/comfortable because they actually have a back on them, but because they are clear – they keep the room feeling very light.”
She also wanted a pop of color, so they sprung for a rug from RugLords in South End Exchange. “We made the extremely impractical choice to have a vintage Turkish runner,” Christina says. “I absolutely love the color it adds to the space, but we are already on our second runner thanks to various spills in the kitchen.”
All photos courtesy of Laura Sumrak.
