Step Inside Emily Johnson’s Colorful Renovation

Emily and Will Johnson know how to make a house into a home. Emily is a real estate agent with Rhoads Real Estate and she and Will own home staging and renovation business Hilton Hadley Home. So, when the pair walked into the south Springfield colonial-style home previously owned by the Nakato family, Emily immediately saw beyond the blank 1960s interiors to visualize the home’s potential. 

After closing on the four-bedroom three-bathroom home in August 2018, the Johnsons got to work with Will as the contractor. The family had previously renovated and lived in a modern open-concept space, so they wanted to stay true to this home’s original floorplan and maintain a few divided spaces. Emily says the biggest challenge was reworking the budget for big-ticket transformations. “We envisioned this floating staircase the very first time we previewed the home,” Emily says. “The estimate was a bit shocking when it was initially presented, but after witnessing the craftsmanship that Legacy Stairs provided, it was worth every penny.”

The Johnsons also widened doorways and walkways and built out pantries and bathrooms, which brightened the home and opened up the layout without wiping out the original floor plan entirely. 

The biggest change comes in the color palette. Typical of a home redecorated in the ’80s, the rooms had dated appliances and floor coverings and beige-y peach painted walls and trim. Having come from a home that was predominately monochromatic, Emily says she wanted something energizing. “I wanted each room to have vibrant colors and lots of energy—each room should have a surprise to catch your interest,” she says. 

To pull this off, Emily, a former art director, gave each room an eye-catching element, whether it was a piece of furniture, like the leather sofa in the den and the coordinating painting above it or accessories, like the geometric-printed curtains and patterned plates in the dining room. In other spaces, color was built in, like in the kitchen. “Although we wanted to maintain the integrity of a colonial-style home, we also wanted the kitchen to be fun, fresh, modern and different from the popular white or black kitchen designs,” Emily says. Working with Cabinet Concepts by Design, she chose green cabinetry, which carries into the laundry room–turned-pantry where she had a coffee and wine bar installed. “Green cabinets are not for everyone, so it is always interesting to see people’s reactions,” she says. “They either love it or hate it.”

The Johnsons still have a few other changes they’d like to tackle in the coming years, including a flagpole—their signature addition to each renovation. Guest bathrooms and an apartment above the 800-square-foot guest house–garage are slated for phase 2, and phase 3 includes a pool. But for now, Emily, Will, their two children and their new puppy, Abe, are looking forward to filling the space with happy memories—and maybe a few puddles and pool floats once phase 3 is complete!