Subtle Retro Details Nod to the Midcentury Roots of This Washington Home

In early 2021, a young family purchased a midcentury charmer in the popular Seattle suburb of Edmonds, Washington. Perched on a hill and surrounded by nature, the 1963 house had the potential to become their forever home—but needed some serious updates. So Amy Vroom of the Residency Bureau stepped in to strip away the dated finishes and infuse the place with color while subtly honoring its design roots.

“They appreciated [the history of] the house,” Amy shares. “So we had to add some of that character back in. I tried to do that with the tile and the counter selections that I made, and by using slatted wood for the fireplace and at the entry—things that gave a little bit of a nod to the era, but in a fresh, modern way.”

But before Amy could focus on aesthetics, she had to swap the old, multitone wood floors for new oak planks and open up the layout. She ripped out all the cabinets and eliminated the peninsula that closed off the kitchen, then pulled back a wall and overtook the former dining zone to expand it. Now, it’s nearly double the size and offers plenty of storage by way of custom cupboards in Galápagos Turquoise by Benjamin Moore.

“They were very much not interested in doing a white or gray kitchen, so that was probably why they gravitated toward hiring me,” reveals Amy, who’s known for her use of bold hues. “The darker teal color became the North Star for adding a little whimsical note to the palette.”