Transforming a San Carlos Home: A Designer's Family Haven

A San Carlos home transforms into a spacious, family-friendly haven for a Bay Area designer.

Designer Ashley Macuga brings peace and serenity into each space of her redesigned San Carlos home.

THE PROJECT

Interior designers commit to clients’ worldviews—their tastes, travels and lifestyle. But what if you’re the client? Interior designer Ashley Macuga, founder and principal at San Carlos-based Collected Interiors (thecollectedinteriors.com), found herself in this position after realizing her home was too small for a growing family. “We did a remodel in 2015 before the birth of our third child. We added 500 square feet and an extra bedroom to accommodate our growing family,” she says. “The plan was for that to be the end of any renovations. That was until we got the surprise of a lifetime with our fourth child, Beaux.”

Initially, the home was a 1,600-square-foot 1950s bungalow; it transformed into a 3,300-square-foot beauty with a 250-square-foot backyard in-law unit Macuga currently uses at the Collected Interiors headquarters and the perfect setting for dinner parties.

Macuga ensures that every space serves a beautiful and functional purpose.

THE TEAM

Macuga says Collected Interiors honors the homes and families in them. “Our rooms are designed for real life. They’re warm and inviting, layered and sophisticated, and artful and collected,” she says. “We use time-honored, traditional techniques, but our spaces are always unexpectedly modern.”

Besides more functional and artful rooms, Macuga says the goals for the project included “bringing home to home—I’m originally from New Orleans, so I wanted to create a mood-boosting space for my family to find peace and serenity.”

An 8-foot window above the kitchen sink ushers in natural light to a space that includes a warm color palette and Maguire counter stools via Baker Furniture covered in Perennials fabric.

LIVING ROOM

The design team had a simple vision for this critical area: create a communal space that encourages lingering for adults—preferably with a glass of wine and good friends, says Macuga, who notes the room also needed to transition to a “hang space” for toddlers and teens. “We needed to find the right balance of materials that exude sophistication but are also easy to live in daily.”

Macuga lined the room with a Loloi (loloirugs.com) rug and selected a chandelier from Visual Comfort (visualcomfort.com). Custom marble surrounds the fireplace. “I love the shape and color of the velvet sofa from CB2 (cb2.com). Plus, it’s super cozy and has become my father-in-law’s favorite place to sit while watching sports.” Other standout pieces include accent chairs from Palecek (palacek.com) with Susan Connor (susanconnorny.com) treated for stain resistance and a gray sofa and bench from Clad Home (cladhome.com).

The primary suite’s spacious shower

DINING ROOM

“Centered in the heart of the home, the design for this space needed to be able to withstand heavy traffic as the family moved through the room to get from the front of the home to the kitchen—sticky hands, cleats and all,” says Macuga, who loves the ceiling and door casements crafted from pecky cypress harvested in Louisiana. She also loves the curved armchairs from Clad Home covered in Brook Perdigon (brookperdigontextiles.com). “Their geometric pattern complements the sharp edges of the side chairs from Noir (noirfurniturela.com).”

Macuga selected drapery from Zak + Fox (zakandfox.com), an Ethnicraft (ethnicraft.com) table and a chandelier and sconces from Visual Comfort.

KITCHEN

The kitchen is the epicenter of activity and memories for this family of six. Everything happens here. Macuga says her goals for the space included smart storage that optimized workflow, a warm color palette (bleached woods, soft whites), leveraging timeless material and embracing natural light via an 8-foot window above the kitchen sink.

Macuga’s favorite element is the coffee bar. “Because I have four kids, caffeine is critical to my life,” she laughs. “The little drawer underneath is perfectly organized with filters, grounds and tea bags. The ice maker was a request made by the kiddos, and I can honestly say it might be the best thing in our kitchen.”

The primary suite showcases soothing earth tones, a bed from Community Manufacturing, nightstands from Made Goods and a rug from Loloi.

The design team also placed the freezer in the pantry. “I realized when planning the cabinetry that the kitchen didn’t have the space for all the refrigeration we wanted. So, we decided to relocate the freezer to the pantry because most of our freezer food is for after-school snacks. As we’ve lived in the space, the placement has felt so natural—like that’s where it should have always been.”

Standout elements also include a Thermador (thermador.com) range and Maguire counter stools via Baker Furniture (bakerfurniture.com) with cushions covered in Perennials (perennialsfabrics.com) fabric.

PRIMARY SUITE

Macuga used a blend of soft neutrals and calming pastels and pulled together plush, inviting furnishings to create a restful sanctuary. Her team added a bed from Community Manufacturing (communitymfg.com), a bench from Clad Home, nightstands from Made Goods (madegoods.com), table lamps and a chandelier from Visual Comfort designed by Julie Neil Designs (julieneill.com). A rug from Loloi anchors the room beautifully.

HOW THE HOME IS LIVING

“Coming home and living here has completely transformed our family,” says Macuga. “There’s a feeling of stability and safety being home together. One year later, are there a few smudges on the walls and a few dents on the floor? Did my son take one too many dunks on the basketball hoop in his room with the drywall as collateral damage? Absolutely. But its a sign of this precious life that we are privileged to live.”