Fit for a King

An interior design team spruces up a Bryn Mawr bachelor pad.

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When you’re an interior designer on the Main Line, most of your residential projects involve families. But every once in a while, one comes along that demands a vastly different aesthetic. Such was the case for Deb Ruben and Maria Viola-Kuttruff, who were hired to transform a bachelor’s Bryn Mawr home from stodgy and traditional to sophisticated and contemporary.

A professor in Drexel University’s Department of Architecture and Interiors, Ruben initially thought she’d only be doing a few touchups—a new chair and artwork for the office, a sofa in the family room, and accessories for the living room. But as soon as she realized the project would be more involved, she called on frequent partner Viola-Kuttruff, who has her own interior design firm.

“The homeowner kept subtly vocalizing dissatisfaction with his house,” says Viola-Kuttruff. “He kept asking our opinion about existing things.”

The previous interior was designed with an older couple in mind, especially when it came to the furnishings in the living and dining rooms. “Our client has a lot of style and great taste,” says Viola-Kuttruff. “The old design didn’t reflect that. It was in no way befitting of who he was—or his lifestyle.”

So the designers found a way to bring his personal style into the French Mediterranean home—though plans for a more sophisticated, updated interior did come with some stipulations. “He wanted there to be limited disturbance to the house and a limited span of time when the space would be unusable,” says Ruben. “This presented a challenge that made the timing and execution of the project more complex.”

To avoid any major renovations, the pair worked with existing elements. “We’re doers,” says Viola-Kuttruff. “We think there’s a solution for everything, and there truly is. The more thoughtful you are with a project, the better it turns out in the end.”

The client preferred a more minimalist, modern style, so the three began the makeover process in the design showrooms of Manhattan. “He fell in love with so many things that we had in mind for him,” says Viola-Kuttruff. “He is someone who truly appreciates quality and well-made pieces.”

They came away from their trip to New York with two distinctive side tables—one made of zebrawood; the other, snakeskin—and a pair of russet pony-hair stools with silver patina legs. The pieces helped define the look of the contemporary, chic living room. And since it’s the first thing that greets visitors when they arrive at the home, the space had to make an impact. “It has a long, narrow shape that offers limited options for furniture arrangement,” says Ruben.

So the designers changed the existing furniture setup, which had been focused on the fireplace, to a more asymmetrical layout. The move took the emphasis away from the room’s long and narrow shape. “Facing the furniture out really opened up the space and placed more emphasis on the central seating area,” says Ruben.

Along with the pony-hair stools, the living room includes an upholstered, gray flannel sofa finished with nail-head trim along the base and arms, and accented with red leather piping along the bolster pillows and back cushions. Nearby is a set of upholstered lounge chairs in a subtle geometric cream-and-gray print. Every piece adheres to the contemporary style—from the clean lines of the custom-made Christian Liaigre cocktail table topped with a gray linen, to the Italian sideboard with a dark oak base and a striking green-blue glass top.
 

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