This Small Business Owner's Dream Home Makeover Sparked a Career in Design

When Jill Arden Lukeman, the founder of beloved local cafe Arden’s, walked into this 1920s home, she knew it had more stories left to tell. She decided this house in Westport, Connecticut, would be the perfect place for her young family; a home with history but ready for new life. With no formal design training and a limited budget, she made over the whole house in her own imaginative style — filling every room with secondhand finds and nostalgic treasures.

As her dream home project wound down, Jill realized she had an instinct for design — and a passion for telling personal stories through interiors. She's since launched a design business and vintage homewares shop, The Mariner and the Muse, where she consults on design for other historic homes. Read on to take the tour and see all the inspiring details.

Determined to preserve as much of the home's original character as possible, Jill made minimal changes to the exterior. She removed a privacy fence in favor of a white picket, restored the original Dutch door, added window boxes and painted the facade and shutters white and coastal blue. Leaning into an English cottage aesthetic, she kept the mature hydrangeas and layered in seasonal wildflowers.

“I intentionally gave each room its own narrative. That framework guided nearly every design decision,” says Jill. For the entry, she went all in on a maritime aesthetic. She hung mermaid and sardine art above an antique bench. A custom blue scalloped table, reminiscent of ocean waves, hides the radiator. She was gifted the hand-painted sign featuring her son's nickname for the home, "The Best House in the World."

Deeply passionate about antiques and historic pieces, Jill sourced many for her home. This cozy corner alone showcases a varied assortment of treasures, including balloon heart molds from an old fairground, secondhand nautical artwork and a French rattan lamp discovered at a flea market. “I’ve never been drawn to a singular aesthetic,” she says. “I’m more interested in a dialogue between eras than an allegiance to one.”

Jill curated a layered art display in the living room. Above the original mantel hangs a whimsical Jack Penny painting, its asymmetrical placement entirely intentional. “I found asymmetry keeps things feeling dynamic,” she says. To the right, Jill arranged framed playing cards.

For the tile surround, her sons, Cash and Levi, got to try their hands at design. “We chose each one together, selecting motifs that reflect little pieces of our life," Jill says. There’s a penguin, (Cash’s favorite animal and the family cat’s name), shells for the seashore and a pie as a nod to Jill's cafe. The custom green bookshelf, painted Calke Green by Farrow & Ball, brings a modern counterpoint.

"The goal was to improve function without losing soul,” says Jill of the kitchen renovation. One of the biggest transformations came after demolishing the dropped ceiling, which revealed a welcome surprise: attractive exposed joists that dramatically increased the room’s height. Original cabinetry was preserved where possible, with new pieces designed to match. Though she initially searched for vintage French cafe stools for the custom island, she ultimately chose new Anthropologie counter stools — a practical decision when it comes to everyday spills.

Jill saved on backsplash tile by repurposing remnants from her cafe renovation. She splurged on an antique brass bridge faucet. “I believe the things you touch every day are worth investing in,” she says. A sunny spot above the sink houses a cactus, snake plant, lime tree and monstera.

The kitchen shelves afforded Jill an opportunity to style vintage finds while incorporating her love of primary colors. Several pieces were sourced on travels, including a wishbone sculpture from Marfa, Texas, and whimsical vegetable artwork discovered in the Catskills.

During the renovation Jill knocked down one wall only, combining the original kitchen and dining room. Now the breakfast table, the home's only dining space, is a true workhorse. It’s where the family eats most meals, crafts, answers work emails and occasionally hosts dance parties.

Here, like the rest of the home, Jill mixed high and low and old and new. Vintage ice cream parlor chairs surround an antique table, and a statement pendant from British lighting designer Beauvamp adds a refined touch overhead. Jill had long wanted to incorporate circus stripes into her home and sourced this fabric from Alice Palmer, which keeps the room from feeling too serious, she says.

Combining the former kitchen and dining room provided extra space to carve out a bar area, where “mornings begin with coffee and evenings wind down with cocktails,” says Jill. Subtle nods to an old tiki boat, including a vintage “Martini Spoken Here” sign sourced from a boat in Maine and playful parrot accents, add personality. A record from Jill’s great-grandfather, composer Victor Arden, adds a note of family history.

In the sunroom, the family slows down to read and play games. 1960s Danish modular leather sofas establish a retro vibe, while animal motifs and bamboo shades lean into the room’s “zoo” theme. A $20 thrifted wicker coffee table reinforces the collected feel, and a sculptural lamp — sourced at an antique fair in West Palm Beach, Florida — delivers an unexpected pop of red to the space.

The green-and-white checkerboard floor, inspired by Jill’s grandparents’ Florida kitchen, helps set the playful tone in the sunroom. Cchairs upholstered in equally quirky fabric by Beata Heuman (featuring constellations and fantastical creatures) create a cheery spot for board games.

“As the only woman in an otherwise all-male household, I thought I deserved one unapologetically feminine moment,” says Jill. The powder room's design evolved around a hand-painted toilet sourced in Mexico. (It's Jill's favorite item in the entire house.) With walls painted a bubblegum pink Jill compares to Pepto-Bismol (Nancy's Blushes by Farrow & Ball), the space features portraits of Jill's favorite female muses. A vintage disco ball finishes the look.

One of the biggest design lessons Jill learned while working on her first home? “Go a little bolder than you think you should,” she says — especially when it comes to paint. "It’s one of the most budget-friendly ways to dramatically shift the mood of a space.”

The stairway, painted Hay by Farrow & Ball, demonstrates that philosophy. The monochromatic scheme includes a custom built-in that functions as a makeshift mudroom. On the landing, a thrifted table, also painted to match, feels custom.

In contrast to the rest of the house, the primary bedroom leans restrained. Limewashed walls and a linen headboard create a soft, tonal envelope. Jill painted the antique nightstands a shade of purple, a color she once avoided but now finds surprisingly soothing. Handmade shell sconces, originally purchased for her cafe, found a perfect home here.

The walk-in closet feels feminine and fun — thanks to contemporary chintz wallpaper by Ottoline de Vries — and provides plenty of space for shoes, handbags and clothes. Woven wood shades maintain the laidback, coastal vibes.

This sweet bedroom welcomes guests with quaint cottage style. Peach-toned floral wallpaper by Tess Newall casts the room in a rosy glow. A red gingham shade kicks up the character.

Jill leaned into primary colors again when designing Cash and Levi's room. She layered in everything from custom monogrammed pillows to handmade kantha quilts. The sconces, repurposed from vintage moth traps, and the Babar aviation prints were sourced at a local antiques mall. “Kids’ rooms don’t need to be overly designed,” Jill says. “They just need to feel loved.”

Turquoise tiles, reminiscent of sea glass, pair with the soft, sandy-pink vanity to fill this small bathroom with coastal-inspired colors.

This small nook was transformed into a cozy bench seat with plenty of space for storage. For the cabinets, Jill selected a sophisticated shade of beige, made warmer by brass hardware.

On the front patio, sculptural face chairs from a flea market were painted in four different shades of paint — all left over from the interior of the house.

Also on the front patio, vintage Russell Woodard chaises — scored on Facebook Marketplace — provide a perch for Fiona, the family’s rescue pup. The orange cushions were nearly pristine, so Jill left them as-is — a happy coincidence, since orange happens to be her favorite color.