How a Micro-Renovation Gave This University Park Home a Bold New Personality

A newly built home can be beautiful and still not feel entirely personal.

That was the case with this 6,500-square-foot home in University Park. The architecture was complete and the finishes were polished, but the rooms needed more personality, more layers, and a much stronger reflection of the family living there.

Rather than begin again, we focused on the changes that would make the greatest impact: furnishings, wallcoverings, paint, lighting, artwork, and styling. What we call a micro-renovation.

The result proves that transforming a home does not always require tearing it apart.

Designing a Home That Felt More Personal

Our clients wanted their primary residence to feel colorful, collected, and decidedly less like a builder home. They were drawn to pattern, unexpected combinations, and rooms that felt sophisticated without becoming overly serious.

We began with the spaces they used most for entertaining: the living room, dining room, entry, breakfast room, and a multifunctional room that would become one of the most memorable spaces in the house.

Each room developed its own identity, but the home still needed to feel connected. Rich color, sculptural lighting, graphic wallcoverings, and moments of warm metal became the common thread.

A Ladies Lounge Designed for More Than One Purpose

The clients wanted a room where they could play mahjong, have cocktails, entertain friends, or simply settle in and relax. It also needed to accommodate overflow from the dining room and connect to a small home office.

Instead of treating those needs as competing functions, we designed the room around the way it would actually be lived in.

Curved forest-green velvet seating is paired with dusty plum, while a zebra rug grounds the room with a strong graphic moment. Overhead, a tiered brass-fringe chandelier plays against a gold marbled Donghia ceiling wallcovering.

The room feels glamorous, but it is not precious. Furniture can shift, conversations can move around the space, and every seat feels like a good one.

It is a room made for gathering, but also for the particular pleasure of having a space that answers to no one.

A Small Office With a Strong Point of View

Just beyond the lounge, the adjoining office takes a more graphic approach.

Sweeping black-and-white wallcovering gives the compact room immediate energy. A substantial slab desk introduces natural movement, while custom slate cabinetry keeps the functional pieces of daily life out of sight.

The office may be small, but it was never treated as an afterthought. In a home like this, even the hardworking spaces deserve a clear point of view.

Turning the Dining Room Into an Experience

Before the redesign, the dining room was polished but forgettable. We wanted it to feel less like a room reserved for special occasions and more like a reason to create one.

A dramatic Porter Teleo wallcovering now wraps the room like an original work of art. Sculptural lighting creates a jewel-like focal point, while the deep mauve ceiling brings the scale down and makes the room feel more intimate.

We retained the clients’ existing chrome-and-glass dining table, proving that a transformation does not require replacing everything. The right combination of color, light, art, and surrounding pieces can completely change how an existing furnishing feels.

Now, dinner begins before anyone sits down.

Creating Impact Without Starting Over

This is the real opportunity of a micro-renovation. It allows us to preserve what is working while identifying the changes that will completely shift the experience of the home.

For these clients, the transformation was not about following a trend or filling empty rooms. It was about creating a home with enough personality to feel unmistakably theirs.

And sometimes, that is the most powerful renovation of all.