COOKIE-CUTTER HOMES THAT MARCH DOWN MANICURED STREETS OF SAMENESS—AH, THE SUBURBS.

The owners of this Westchester, New York home loved the area but wanted to avoid suburban monotony when it came to style. They found a home they liked and gutted it, but the 7,000-square-foot shell was too blank of a slate to manage on their own. Kendra Dufton, owner of Color Theory Boston along with her husband and partner Brad, had worked with this family on their previous Boston town house. Moving from Boston to Westchester, an urban setting with cramped quarters to a suburban one with space to spare, was a big change for the family. So they sought help from the Duftons to make the new home reflect their dynamic personalities and well-traveled way of life.

The couple and their two middle-school-aged children travel internationally multiple times per year and own a vacation home in Costa Rica. This family wanted their main home to feel vibrant, be inviting to guests, and reflect their worldly perspective. “Every family has different priorities, so defining what makes a living space livable changes from one person to another. It varies for each individual, but I think the commonality is that people want their main living spaces to fit and function within their lives,” says Dufton.

For Dufton, empathy provides the starting point for the design process. “We put ourselves in our clients’ shoes. If we lived in this home and this was our lifestyle, what would we do? What would we choose?” she asks. Those questions guide the design team as they source items for a home. Their experience with color pairings also directs the design. The Duftons began Color Theory Boston as a business to provide interior paint color and wallpaper consultations when they realized many people are confounded by color. “Unless you have a trained eye, it’s hard to know which colors complement each other, how they are affected by natural and artificial light, [and] how to find accent colors that harmonize with a home’s architectural details,” explains Dufton. Their color confidence convinced the firm’s clients to ask for even more help, turning the color consultation business into a full-service design company.

The design scheme Dufton presented to the family was a riff on Paris flea markets. A place where you might find art deco style next to a midcentury-modern silhouette and have both look equally at home. The goal was for each room to feel curated and collected, while showcasing the family’s individuality. “What stands out most about this project is that every room has a unique feel. Nothing appears redundant, yet it’s all still related,” says Dufton. Each room embraces a distinctive style and refuses to be pinned down to a single design era.

Every space began with a different design inspiration. Wallpaper provided the jumping-off point for the kids’ rooms. The daughter’s love of nature inspired Dufton to use a wallpaper with birds and clouds on every wall in her room. Spearmint-green textiles give the room a refreshing feel. The son’s mathematical, analytical mind drew Dufton to use geometric patterns in his room on an accent wall, in the floor tiles, and in a nook accessed through a swinging bookcase that acts as a secret door. His athleticism inspired the forgiving cork-tiled wall. A sitting room was inspired by a set of existing Roche Bobois tufted cushions;