{"id":367967,"date":"2026-04-07T14:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/367967\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:38:15","slug":"interior-designer-revamps-her-brookline-victorian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/367967\/","title":{"rendered":"Interior designer revamps her Brookline Victorian"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI hired a designer as a consultant, [and] she opened my eyes wide open to the profession. I said, \u2018I think I really love this\u2019 \u2026 I decided to just go for it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

In 2015, she opened Casagrande Studio<\/a>, and today, the award-winning designer has been featured in publications such as Globe Magazine and House Beautiful<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, in 2025, instead of moving, she used her natural instincts and a decade\u2019s worth of hands-on experience to refresh her 1872 Victorian from its \u201cmore plain and outdated\u201d modern scheme to a European-influenced maximalist style. She didn\u2019t overhaul the house, but added touches like lighting, paint, new upholstery, and window treatments in each room.<\/p>\n

We asked Casagrande how she hit refresh on her own home \u2014 and for some tips to redoing our own on a budget. <\/p>\n

The last few years, I\u2019ve gone to Paris D\u00e9co Off …<\/a>, where all the European fabric wallpaper houses open their showrooms and present new season fabrics, wallpapers, textiles. I\u2019ve been dying over them. So I decided to pick favorites and add them where I could. I updated the window treatments with a French brand called Nobilis<\/a>. I updated all the pillows. I updated the chair with a beautiful fabric, also from Nobilis. I added Pierre Frey<\/a> where I could. <\/p>\n

\"Before:Before: The living room.Sean Litchfield\"After:After: The living room.Jared Kuzia<\/p>\n

The whole room\u2019s vibe changed with paint, new window treatments, and reupholstering the banquette and chairs. All the furniture is the same. Before, it had been very white and modern and wasn\u2019t doing the wallpaper justice. I wanted it warmer and cozier; I wanted more rich color.<\/p>\n

I painted all the trim in Brinjal<\/a> [a dark, warm, muted purple] by Farrow & Ball<\/a>. The ceiling is painted Calamine<\/a> [pink like the lotion muted by gray] by Farrow & Ball. For the window treatments, I wanted something more interesting and maximalist, and we added new pillows. <\/p>\n

\"Before:Before: The kitchen.Sean Litchfield\"After:After: The kitchen.Jared Kuzia<\/p>\n

We added a custom bed frame from O. Henry House<\/a>, new lights, new window treatments, new paint, and new ceiling wallpaper that I helped design. I worked with a wallpaper designer, Susie Paisley of Newton Paisley<\/a>, and we came up with this collaboration. It\u2019s cherry blossoms, inspired by a trip to Japan. This is nondirectional, meaning it\u2019s the same in any direction you stand, and it works on ceilings. Many wallpapers can\u2019t go on the ceiling. I got art from Brimfield Antique Flea Markets<\/a>. I also added an antique rug from Jaipur<\/a> rugs. <\/p>\n

\"Before:Before: The primary bedroom.Sean Litchfield\"After:After: The primary bedroom.Jared Kuzia<\/p>\n

I added little tweaks: a vintage rug by Jaipur. I reupholstered the sofa, adding that fringe again. I repainted with a warmer color and a light blue on the ceiling. I repainted up the stairs, and those little tweaks \u2014 lots of art \u2014 just really warmed it up.<\/p>\n

\"Before:Before: The entryway.SEAN LITCHFIELD\"After:After: The entryway.Jared Kuzia<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where we plan all our trips, so we love the inspiration of travel on the wallpaper. I found this Pierre Frey old world maps wallpaper<\/a> that I loved. That wallpaper was the inspiration to redo the room.<\/p>\n

\"Before:Before: The home office.Sean Litchfield\"After:After: The home office.Jared Kuzia<\/p>\n

What are your tips for how people can refresh their homes in a budget-friendly way?<\/p>\n

The number one easiest and most cost-effective way to change the look of a room: paint. If you\u2019re going to try wallpapering for the first time, try the ceiling \u2014 it\u2019s only one wall. Don\u2019t ever try it out on a feature wall. Reupholster good furniture, but check with your upholsterer to see if the pieces are worth reupholstering. Never reupholster fast furniture [nor do I recommend buying fast furniture].Go to estate sales or check Facebook Marketplace. If you\u2019re looking at used sofas, don\u2019t look at the condition of the sofa \u2014 look at the frame. You can always bring it to the upholsterer and have it redone. If you\u2019re going to do one thing in the kitchen, spend the money on lighting. Lighting is the jewelry of the room, and it changes everything. After that, you can put in a more interesting faucet, more interesting hardware. Add wallpaper \u2014 there\u2019s nothing wrong with kitchen wallpaper. Change the backsplash tile. Go for Roman shades; they\u2019re less expensive than curtains. If you can only do one room in your house, do the living room. It\u2019s your main room. It\u2019ll bring you joy in the evenings and weekends. Number one for me: lighting. Pull out all these recessed lights, and put in a nice hanging large pendant or chandelier \u2014 something that\u2019s more appealing to live in as a human, rather than these spotlights. Put in wall lamps, floor lamps, table lamps, sconces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI hired a designer as a consultant, [and] she opened my eyes wide open to the profession. I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-367967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}