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Boulder-based interior designer Emily Tucker doesn’t always wait for projects to come to her. “I look at on-the-market houses all the time,” she says, and sometimes asks the listing agent to connect her with the eventual buyer. But in the case of this early 1900s farmhouse in downtown Boulder, she didn’t even have time to reach out. “I saw the for-sale sign and was like, Oh, I’d love to work with whoever purchases that house,” she says. “An hour later, I got an email from the buyer.”
Convinced it was kismet, Tucker agreed to help the couple—who were moving their family of seven from California—update the century-old house. The catch? She had only three months to execute their vision of a “cool, comfortable place where nothing was too precious,” she says. And, since it was June 2021, the pandemic had slowed the manufacturing and shipping of furniture and materials. To meet her deadline, she primarily purchased locally available and vintage furnishings, and instead of swapping out structural elements and hard finishes, she focused on paint colors, accessories, and textiles.
We asked the designer and owner of Emily Tucker Design how she employed quick fixes anyone could use as a blueprint for their next home refresh.
1. Pick your battles.
Tucker rarely signs off on an all-white kitchen, but “painting cabinetry is a nightmare,” she says. So she kept the ivory cupboards, adding texture to the stark space via deep teal cafe curtains and woven pendant lights.
In the adjoining bar, Tucker executed the only hard-finish fix of the whole renovation: She replaced a mirrored-gold-tile backsplash with earthy green ceramic subway tile to create continuity with the kitchen’s window treatments. “I usually like medium-format tile for a backsplash,” Tucker says. “Too small of a tile is hard to clean.”
2. Color outside the lines.
To celebrate the family’s love of playing instruments, Tucker transformed the formal sitting area off the entryway into a music room with a mix of new and vintage midcentury-style furnishings. “We were going for ’70s California rock ’n’ roll vibes,” she says.
But the room’s coolest feature was born from its limitations: Tucker wanted to incorporate a rich, medium-blue hue, but she didn’t want to cover the exposed brick wall. So she painted the ceiling coffers instead—a smart design move that highlights the room’s architectural details and draws the eye upward.
3. Scale up.
The compact office, which needed to provide work-from-home space for both homeowners, was the perfect opportunity for Tucker to use one of her favorite design tricks: “If you want a small room to feel bigger, it’s good to have one piece of furniture that feels oversized for the space,” she says, versus several small-scale items that will just clutter the area. Here, Tucker commissioned a peninsula-shaped ash wood desk from Denver Custom Furniture that wraps around the room.
4. Don’t overcommit.
“Accessories and art are a really good way to add color, because they’re not permanent,” Tucker says. “If you bring in a red pillow and then one day you’re not feeling it anymore, just swap it out. It doesn’t have to be precious or serious.” In the living room, Tucker topped the deep blue sectional (made to order by Denver’s Rooster Socks Furniture & Design) with throw pillows in kaleidoscopic hues and hung the walls with framed art prints. “Art brings so much personality to a space,” Tucker says. “Just make sure you get it properly framed and matted. A linen or textured mat will make inexpensive prints look so much more elevated.”
5. Sneak in surprises.
While Tucker kept the walls and ceilings white in the main living areas, she played with a spectrum of bold yet grounding paint colors in the home’s more secluded spots. In the mudroom, for example, a purple hue with brown undertones envelops the built-in cabinetry. “It adds drama, but since it isn’t a deep jewel tone, it doesn’t feel like as much of a commitment,” Tucker says.
6. Spend where it counts.
Tucker saved on small decorative items and inexpensive art prints. Her splurge-worthy goods? “I’m a big believer in investing in lighting and window treatments, because you’re probably not going to change them out as much,” she says. “Poorly sewn or sloppy window treatments really bother me.”
For this bedroom, pull-down shades and French-door curtains were custom-made in an elevated printed linen. The fabric’s small, subtle pattern complements the large-scale motifs of the rug and bedding.
7. Take cues from the exterior.
When she saw the for-sale sign go up, Tucker, who works nearby in Boulder, immediately admired the home’s Dutch colonial facade, arched windows emphasized by contrast trim, and Denver Square–style front porch from afar. “It’s very unique for this area,” she says. “It’s very grand.”
8. Leave well enough alone.
Tucker barely touched the primary bathroom, which is anchored by an undermount soaking tub. One addition: Cream-colored window treatments that diffuse light streaming in through the paned windows, adding a softness to the traditional space’s floor-to-ceiling Carrara marble.
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