To the left of the foyer -- in the new social heart of the house -- lie the kitchen and dining room, all floored in pale bamboo. Light pours through windows on two walls, and sliding-glass doors just beyond the kitchen island lead to a deck made of teaklike Brazilian ipe wood. This is where Cohan the Grillmaster often reigns (even in winter), though on a lazy summer Sunday, Finbar and his father happily assembled model warships on the kitchen island while Mom surfed the 'Net on a computer several feet away.
That scene was a far cry from their New Year's Eve fete, when some 25 adults and kids, most wearing tuxedos or fancy dresses, ate raw oysters and cheesecake and had their fortunes told by a hired seer. "He said he'd never been at an event with so many people whose potential will be huge and happen later in life," Higgins says, clearly pleased.
The ceiling in the living room was raised to add light and space, and the colonial fireplace was remade with a modern facade. Vivid furnishings and colors throughout add drama.
(Gross & Daley)
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Since Higgins hates curtains, Prevost affixed sliding fabric panels to metal tracks running along the top of two perpendicular walls at the far end of the kitchen/dining room. Some countertops are untreated zinc, others upscale gray Italian laminate, alternatives to far costlier cement. The kitchen island houses an oven, cooktop and more storage. Near the dining table are green couches and upholstered blue nesting tables from (surprise) Ikea. Unhappy with their original hues, Higgins dyed all the slipcovers in the washing machine.
The family so loves strong color that Finbar's bedroom floor is black-and-white, red, yellow and blue vinyl. On a recent tour of his sanctuary, he went straight for the white plastic wicker swing that hangs from the ceiling, vigorously spinning himself around while declaring it his second-favorite thing. The first? "My Lego war station."
The master bedroom is the most subdued space in the house, a pale Zen retreat whose neutrality is pleasantly violated by a crimson bedspread.
The couple concedes that sharing a double bathroom with their son, screened only by curtains because glass was too costly, might not appeal to others. "But it works for us. I grew up in a family that was not modest," Higgins says.
A two-tier ambiance is clearly at work: intimate family space above, wide-open gallery, hearth and lounge areas below, connected by a soaring stairway. Paintings by Finbar and various artist friends abound, including several large works by impressionist figural and gardenscape painter Scott Sedar. Today the couple will welcome as many as 100 guests to an exhibit of his work, and can already anticipate their reaction to the space.
"When people visit they stop, stand there and don't say anything for a while because there are so many things you don't expect . . . They see the twigs and say, 'What a great idea,' and they look up at this purple ceiling," she says. "Our house is not for everybody. A lot of people don't like modern, and I don't really care."
"We really wanted the house to reflect our taste," says Cohan, "and we think we've done it."
NOT EVERY COOKIE-CUTTER MAKEOVER REQUIRES ARCHITECTS, demolition and a six-figure budget.
For artist, do-it-yourselfer and information technology consultant Michelle Allen, 41, a great weekend often means retiling a bathroom, faux-finishing walls, remaking a couch or otherwise personalizing the three-bedroom Reston townhouse she bought for $177,250 in 1995.
She estimates spending $50,000 so far -- and perhaps that much again in sweat equity -- on "what basically is a box. It had no architectural integrity, but I loved the open layout and floor-to-ceiling windows. I could see what it could become."
She immediately began transforming the 2,000 square feet of someone else's design choices, ripping out "awful" vertical blinds and "horrible" dirty beige carpeting in the living room, "hideous" wallpaper throughout the house and "dated" white laminate cabinets and almond appliances in the kitchen.
She started on the main level, which contains a large living space with tall windows at one end and a dining area at the other, beyond which lie a generous kitchen and adjoining family room. Oak flooring quickly replaced the dingy carpeting, and Allen soon set about marrying vibrant wall color in the living room with a kitchen of pale earth tones. She mixed Afro-centric works by local artists with her own paintings and drawings. Antiques she'd found in Amsterdam during the 1990s when she worked with the European Space Agency were easily teamed with inexpensive glass accent pieces found here and abroad.
