Sometimes it pays to find something that hasn’t been touched since the 1980s: vinyl records, say. Or a mint-condition Gerard van den Berg leather lounge chair. But a whole house? Not so much. When Denver designer Jodi Cook’s clients bought their 2,300-square-foot 1936 brick Tudor in Hilltop, it was a total throwback—and not in a good way. “There were lots of choppy little rooms, a galley kitchen, a long formal living room…it needed a total reno,” Cook says. And that’s exactly what she and the couple did, renovating all the main living areas (and turning the existing dining room into one big kitchen) and piggybacking on an addition to take the space from four bedrooms, four baths to five bedrooms and five and a half baths—or, in more poetic terms, from lackluster to a latter-day dream.

Glitzy pendant lights from Arteriors cast a jewelry-like sparkle over the dining room, where Cook paired new Hickory Chair host and hostess chairs with the homeowners’ existing Precedent Furniture seats. The artwork is by Sara Pittman from Walker Fine Art, and the rug is from Shaver-Ramsey Fine & Custom Rugs. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.

The homeowner had a lot to do with that. “She had clear ideas of what she wanted from the beginning: classic and traditional bones, but freshened up and made current with modern white paint,” Cook says. The designer’s white of choice—Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace—is beloved in the industry for its clean, crisp look; Cook cozied it up further by opting for brass fixtures—drawer pulls, pendant lamps, and more—because “chrome would have felt cold.” The neutral palette provides the ultimate backdrop for bursts of pattern and texture: a rose-and-gray bedroom scheme, a bathroom wall clad with ikat-patterned tile. “We said from the beginning, ‘We need to make sure we have enough contrast so it doesn’t feel stark and institutional,’” Cook says of the design.

5280 Home February/March 2019
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“The Federal-style mirror looked tired and stuffy in the homeowner’s mother’s house, but paired here with modern furniture, it’s meant to be,” designer Jodi Cook says. A pair of chairs from Precedent Furniture flank the fireplace; graphic window treatments with fabric from S. Harris provide a boost of pattern. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.
“The husband is a very social guy, and the bar in the dining room was his idea,” Cook says. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.

By the time the remodel was finished, the couple had two young kids (and another baby on the way), so Cook put a big emphasis on hard-wearing surfaces and fabrics, including vinyl bar stools that can stand up to peanut-butter-plastered fingers, and an outdoor fabric on the TV room sectional that is, in Cook’s words, completely bulletproof. “If a friend spills wine or a kid spills a milk bottle, it’s no problem. The fabric gives [the homeowners] that freedom to enjoy their home—without having to worry that anything is too precious.” The durability factor was another reason Cook painted the walls white: “You can scrub them with a Magic Eraser and the marks come up!” she says.

Accent cabinetry painted Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray defines the butler’s pantry. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.
A Shaver-Ramsey rug provides coziness underfoot in the master bedroom, which is furnished with bone-inlay bedside chests from Bernhardt and a channel-tufted headboard by Wesley Allen. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.

An exterior face-lift gave the home’s ho-hum facade an old-Hollywood-style glamour the entire neighborhood can love. Because the now-closed-in patio’s bricks were a different hue than the original ones, Cook had it all painted Benjamin Moore’s Ballet White for a seamless look. “Always go brighter inside than you do outside,” the designer says. “It never works out well otherwise; it looks too bright, given the Colorado sunlight.” Claiming a grande dame’s place in the sun? Priceless.

Before & After

Exterior

Before the transformation. Photo courtesy of Jodi Cook.
Photography by Kimberly Gavin.

The problem: Good but dated bones, plus mismatched brick.
The Fix: Tired brick got a makeover with help from a few coats of Benjamin Moore’s Ballet White paint; paired with black accents, it’s at once classic and modern. The stone around the front door is original, but the homeowners installed new windows, a new roof, and painted the gutters and fascia to match the windows.

Kitchen

Before the transformation. Photo courtesy of Jodi Cook.
Pendant lights from Visual Comfort hang like a trio of diamonds above the kitchen island; the countertops and backsplash are Caesarstone’s marble-inspired Statuario Nuvo. Stools from Restoration Hardware are upholstered in hard-wearing crocodile vinyl from Anzea Textiles. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.

The Problem: Outdated and tired in appearance, and cut off from the rest of the house.
The Fix: “We blew out the kitchen and opened it up to the rest of the house,” Cook says. “Now it’s where the family lives.” Updated white and gray cabinets and brass fixtures hit today’s trends.

Master Bathroom

Before the transformation. Photo courtesy of Jodi Cook.
Artwork by Ana Zanic, courtesy of Walker Fine Art, adds a romantic blush of color above the master bathroom’s tub. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.

The Problem: An unused covered patio in the back of the house felt like wasted space.
The Fix: The now-framed-in patio became the dining room and bar area on the main level—and made way for a spacious new master suite on the second floor.

Design Pros:

Styling: Elaine St. Louis
Interior design: Jodi Cook, Cook Design House
Architecture: Patrick Cashen, Patrick Cashen Architect