Home Tour: Traditional With a Fresh Modern Twist
JULIA MILLAY WALSH / JUNE 11, 2014
DOSSIER: NAME: Dan Mazzarini of BHDM TRADE: Interior designer. VIBE: Clean and traditional, with a twist. ABODE: A client's suburban Colonial house in Manhasset, NY.
When interior designer Dan Mazzarini of BHDM was hired to decorate his client's 1930s Colonial home in Manhasset, NY, he already had a great sense of her style. The pair had met 10 years prior as former colleagues at Michael Kors. "Together we traveled all over Asia, opening stores and became friends in the process," he says. Moving from New York City with her husband and two children to Manhasset was "a true upgrade and an introduction to the 'burbs," for Mazzarini's client, he says, and almost everything house had to be purchased new.
Naturally, filling an unfurnished home can quickly become expensive. "Our biggest goal was to furnish the entire home on a budget," Mazzarini says. "Etsy and eBay became our best friends, for sure." One of his luckiest eBay finds was the antique dining room table and chairs: "The whole set was only $800, and when it showed up it was even better than the pictures." The designer scored the mudroom's stylish blue-green four-drawer dresser on Etsy, as well items for the childrens' rooms at Target and IKEA. "We also tackled quite a few DIY projects in the home," he says, "and my client's reaction and thankfulness made all the effort worthwhile."
While Mazzarini was as resourceful as can be, he was also mindful of spending where it counts. "We drooled over the Brunschwig & Fils wallpaper for the dining room from the very beginning," he says. "It's a little ethnic and a little traditional -- definitely a high/low mix." Above the dining room table, he hung a luxurious linear glass chandelier by Arteriors Home, a true show-stopper. In the living room, he customized retail stools from Ballard Designs with a high-end tie-dye print Schumacher fabric.
"Much of the house was reused, and creatively renovated," Mazzarini says. The kitchen cabinets were re-painted in two tones, with new hardware applied. "Previously they were those dark, off-the-shelf cabinets. Now they feel refreshed and interesting, and it's something we haven't done before." New millwork was also added to the mudroom; with coat hooks and a built-in bench, it's a welcoming place to sit down and take off your shoes.
As for the color scheme, in blues and whites with pops of color, it has a "clean and fairly traditional palette -- with a twist," the designer says. "My client brought us initial inspiration that we pulled from. Melon and grapefruit were said a lot during this project." In cheerful hues, custom throw pillows in Manuel Canovas's Frida print and Schumacher's grapefruit silk made the living room more special. For a finishing touch, Mazzarini hung personal photographs from the couple's honeymoon safari with "an Instagram filter," and framed vintage indigos that they'd received as a gift.
Home to only three previous owners, the house "has a great soul and history," the designer says. We suspect his clients will want to stay awhile.
