A Mission Hills Colonial Embraces a Family

Top: Color and light fill the family room. The bench is upholstered in Schumacher’s Citrus Garden, which makes appearances in several of the public rooms. Floral arrangement from Botanica Flower Studio. Bottom, left: A custom fretwork stair railing frames the foyer, now opened to the second floor. Bottom, right: The designer Libby Sullivan-Gilman. All photos by Aaron Leimkuehler

In 2017, two busy medical professionals, who had lived and worked all over the country, decided to make Kansas City their home. 

“I grew up here,” says the wife, a gastroenterologist. “It’s easy to live in Kansas City and utilize all that it has to offer. It’s a perfect place to raise a family.”  Her husband is an orthopedic surgeon. They now have two children, ages 3 and 6.

They found a 1950s colonial with the “good bones” they were after in Mission Hills. “It had good molding, a third floor, and a large screened-in porch,” she says. “Although the décor wasn’t our style, we waited to change anything. We wanted to live in the house first.”

Top: In the formal living room, Schumacher’s Citrus Garden makes an appearance in the curtains. A vintage rug anchors the main seating area. Bottom: Brunschwig & Fils Les Touches fabric in a deep-blue hue was used to upholster a pair of vintage wingback chairs.

A chance meeting with interior designer Libby Sullivan-Gilman at her pop-up store led to a years-long collaboration that began with a room in the house and gradually encompassed every square inch.

“The previous owners had added a bathroom upstairs that blocked the soaring entryway,” says the homeowner. “We wanted to open the ceiling again but keep the extra bath. Libby was so good at looking at a space and figuring out a way to make it work better.”

Gilman also nudged the family away from their monochromatic style of dark blue, black, and gray. “Hilariously, I didn’t like color, but Libby persuaded me,” says the homeowner. To get her clients used to bolder color and pattern, the designer taped up a section of Schumacher’s Citrus Garden pattern, which is featured prominently in several rooms. The couple lived with it and came to love it. 

chumacher’s Citrus Garden is used to great effect in the dining room. Painted Chinese Chippendale-style chairs surround the table. Floral arrangement by Botanica Flower Design.

Now, a fresh shade of green, suggested by a mirror in the dining room, has become the “neutral” that ties the first floor together and makes the kitchen pop.

Gilman, with five children of her own, was also uniquely qualified to make the house look great but be family-friendly at the same time. Gilman deployed performance fabrics, ample storage to corral clutter, and “wainscoting to protect the walls,” she says. A self-described “pillow nutcase,” Gilman also used fabrics on pillows fabricated by Rebecca McCarthy to help transition from room to room. Every detail mattered, down to the green banding on the family room sofa and the fretwork design that echoes throughout. “Everything needs to work together,” she says.

Top: Fresh, spring-green hued kitchen cabinetry pops against white walls. Bottom, left: Built-in refrigerator and freezer flank a wine refrigerator in the kitchen. The long brass handles echo the brass details throughout the kitchen. Bottom, right: The butler’s pantry is a special niche tucked behind the kitchen. The homeowners’ lovely colletion of vintage and new china and crystal is on display,

You first step into the hallway with its custom fretwork design staircase, a colorful Eleanor Scott Davis painting, and that earlier referenced restored two-story ceiling height. 

The living room remained the homeowners’ original Indigo Batik by Sherwin Williams, but Les Touches by Brunschwig & Fils and the aforementioned Citrus Garden introduced more color in custom draperies, upholstery, and pillows. French doors lead out to the former screened-in porch, now a four-season room with a fireplace. “I love to be out there with the fire going,” the homeowner says.

The light and airy family room has a large leather ottoman that stands up to kids and dogs. Comfy sofas offer a place for the family to gather. “The CR Laine armchairs are a favorite of mine,” says Gilman. “They’re comfortable and they swivel.”

You would never know the dining room once had a fireplace. Now that wall features a large, repurposed dresser that acts as a buffet, and a pendant light grouping that Gilman found at West Elm hangs over the table. A framed painting from Gilman’s son Tate adds a personal touch. 

The kitchen and adjacent breakfast room are traditional, yet clean lined, says Gilman. Custom cabinetry sports unique brass hardware reminiscent of an English country house kitchen. A La Cornue range and an island topped with a custom waterfall of Calacatta Laurent marble bring the subdued luxury. Practical Ballard Designs bar stools are covered in fabric from Thibaut.

Top: The primary bedroom has a beachy feel, with navy-striped Roman shades, blue-and-white fabric, and a Visual Comfort beaded chandelier. Bottom: The elegant lines of the Carrara marble geometric mosaic floor tile from International Materials of Design make a major design statement in the primary bath.

Upstairs, Gilman carved out space in the guest room—the in-law suite—to keep the extra bath by creating a pair of armoires on either side of the bed that function as closets. 

The spacious primary bedroom leads onto a generous master bath with a custom tile floor, its geometric design mirrored in the custom cabinetry. 

The wife’s closet in a special shade of blue keeps everything at hand but out of sight.

Left: The guest room was carved out of a larger room and bathroom. Tidy built-in cabinets and night tables make the most of the small space. Right: Brunschwig & Fils Les Touches wallpaper makes another appearance in the powder room, this time in a fresh, green hue.

The children’s bedrooms also feature charming uses of color and fabric, as does the playroom on the third floor. 

After a Covid-prolonged two years of renovation, which included the birth of their second child, the family is thrilled with their home. “We use every space,” says the wife. “It’s so nice to come home to.” 


The It List

Contractor
KC Renovations

Countertops and Surfaces
Carthage Stoneworks

Flowers
Botanica Flower Studio

Interior Design
Libby Sullivan Interiors

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