An Interior Designer Turns a Historic Tudor Into a Bright, Kid-Friendly Space

Designer Courtney Sempliner spent seven years in London — where she earned a master’s degree from the Chelsea College of Art & Design and tackled high-profile commercial and residential interior design projects around the world — before she and her husband, William, decided to move back home to the States. A 1920s Tudor on the north shore of Long Island offered them the best of both worlds: proximity to loved ones and New York City and the English-cottage charm they had enjoyed on weekends in the Cotswolds.

It also offered less-desirable features like ill-advised renovations and outdated features, so Courtney threw herself into making her new home a perfect fit for her growing family (she and William have sons Augie and George, now six and four, as well as Cockapoo Blueberry [left] and Irish doodle Rory [right]). She preserved its Old World romance by streamlining rather than gutting it — and the bright, cozy result is just right. Come on in for a closer look.

“This family room is really the heart of our home and where we spend the most of our time as a family, so we wanted it to be cozy and inviting for all ages, but without sacrificing style,” Courtney says. The sectional sofa is from Interior Define — it was very important to me that the sofa had a fitted back and seat, which meant it would always look relatively tidy since the kids couldn’t throw the cushions everywhere. The ottoman is one of my favorite pieces ever.”

“The vintage US school map was a find from a garage sale in Brooklyn from twenty years ago, now reframed in a large acrylic box. This piece definitely helped to inspire the color palette of the space,” Courtney says. As for another significant subject of this shot — her 13-year-old Cockapoo, Blueberry — what would Courtney say to someone who doesn’t let their dog sit on their furniture? “You only live once! Enjoy the cozy snuggles and furniture can be cleaned!”

Styling shelves to be easy on the eyes, personal and practical is no mean feat — nor is it a decorating move that should feel set in stone. Courtney isn’t shy about rearranging her displays (those clever linen-bound versions of Scrabble and Clue disguised as books, for example, move all over the place). “This space rotates constantly, as I’m always coming across new pieces that I love and want to incorporate,” she says. “It’s definitely a challenge to strike a balance between the shelves, and mix personal items such as family photos with decor and accessories. I love books in general and love the layers they add to shelving, and these books were selected for both color and size.”

Thanks to paneling and bright white paint (Benjamin Moore Super White) that complements the built-ins and entertainment wall, the closets on either side of Courtney’s family room feel like an intentional storage solution rather than a design concession. “Originally, the hidden closets were meant to be smaller, but there was an issue with a structural column that we needed to conceal. Because of this, the closets became a more prominent feature,” she says. “Previously, these were large walk-in closets that just felt like a waste of space and odd in a family room.”

The stucco treatment on this fireplace covered walls and ceilings throughout the cottage. “While I love texture, it was a bit aggressive for my taste,” Courtney says. “We had the whole house skim coated prior to moving in. It’s a messy, labor intensive process, but I believe it was worth it.”

One spot where the stucco earned the right to stay? “As this seating area has some special furniture pieces and artwork, and also a lower ceiling height, we kept the fireplace simple,” Courtney explains. “We’ve toyed with the idea of tiling it from floor to ceiling, but we’ve liked the stucco element as it ties the home to its original Tudor style design.”

Cozying up to a fire at Courtney’s place can feel quite different from season to season. “I dress my mantel up all the time! I’m constantly acquiring new pieces and rotating old favorites into the mix,” she says. “In terms of favorites, I would say I have a lot of artwork and prints that I love, as well as trinkets collected from my travels, such as my red and pink ottoman.”

A pale area rug like this one might seem like a brave (or foolhardy) choice for a home with two young boys, but Courtney feels otherwise. “My thinking is that just because you have kids, it doesn’t mean you can’t have nice things; you just need to be clever about them! This space tends to be more for adults, whereas the family room is more for the kids. Both spaces have light rugs that have had their share of spills and accidents! But that’s life, a series of happy accidents. I think if you stick with natural fibers for rugs, such as wool, they tend to be easier to get stains out of, and therefore more family friendly, no matter the color.”

Might the dresser that's lived in your bedroom for years serve you better in your entryway? Delegating new tasks to older pieces is an easy (and, of course, inexpensive) way to shake things up. “This cabinet was one of my vintage, midcentury finds from London that we brought back to the States when we moved,” Courtney says. “Originally in our small London flat, I sourced this vintage piece with the intention of painting it black and putting our television above it. Now it serves as a liquor cabinet in our living room with several decorative items on top.”

When it comes to accent pieces, “I can never pick my favorites, so I tend to go maximalist with the decor! Luckily I like the layered look,” Courtney says. “I always love to incorporate house plants as well. In this room we have the pilea peperomioides and a philodendron.” She put her own spin on the recent pile-on-the-greenery trend: “I didn’t necessarily acquire any new ones, but I definitely multiplied my existing plants by learning how to propagate them. I always enjoy adding greenery to interiors and bringing the outside in.”

The eclectic gallery wall in Courtney’s living room features everything from family photos and kids’ art to portraits of a polar bear cub and Abraham Lincoln — and it’s gloriously one-of-a-kind. Achieving a similar effect is simple: “Put up what you love! Every time I see my gallery wall, it makes me happy,” Courtney says.

Courtney could have easily hung a single London street scene in this cozy corner of her living room. Instead, she chose to double down on its effect by pairing two street sketches behind her armchair and ottoman — and the resulting arrangement is greater than the sum of its parts.

Though Courtney’s kitchen has yet to assume its final form, she hasn’t been shy about tailoring it to her taste with small but effective tweaks. “We just did a few things to make it our own, such as adding the subway tile backsplash and changing out the hardware,” she explains. “Eventually we want to gut the kitchen and open the entire space into to the family room, but we haven’t been ready to bite the bullet on that project just yet.”

“I love the contrast of black hardware on the white cabinetry in our kitchen, which is repeated in the charcoal grout of the subway tiles and the dark stone countertops,” Courtney says. “I’m all about mixing metals and trying not to be too matchy-matchy. The artwork is by an artist named Kristi Kohut for Hapi Art. I’m a huge fan of her work and I love the colors it brings into this monochromatic room.”

“This bathroom wasn’t original to the house and had been added on at some point by a previous owner, so there wasn’t much to salvage in terms of charming details,” Courtney explains. “I added the glass doorknobs [and replaced interior doors] throughout the house as they had been replaced in the '80s with something far less than charming. The wallpaper is a vinyl shibori from Phillip Jeffies; vinyl wallpaper is a great option for a bathroom in terms of adding color and texture as it’s far more resistant to the moisture.” With the paper in place and a coat of gray paint on the vanity to add cool contrast, the room was nearly finished. “The photograph we hung is of a beach in Positano, which holds fond memories for us from a trip we took pre-kids.”

“I love nothing more than sleep (except my kids!) and our bedroom is a reflection of that,” Courtney says. “We painted the walls and ceilings a very light, serene aqua color [Benjamin Moore Gray Lake] that kind of envelops you. Our lacquered linen nightstands tonally match the walls and contrast with our ivory upholstered headboard. The gold bamboo frames above our bed rotate artwork often, as with the rest of our house, but currently [they feature] one of my favorite wallpapers ever, Citrus Garden by Josef Frank."

Courtney knew she wanted these colorful leaves in her son George’s bedroom — and she knew she wanted to tone them down just a bit. “I fell in love with the wallpaper and everything else in this room fell into place from there,” she recalls. “I felt the wallpaper would be too busy on the full walls, so I installed a chair rail and painted below that [with Benjamin Moore Steep Cliff Gray]. I decided to install the wallpaper across the full ceiling to accentuate the unique curves of the space. The vintage midcentury modern dresser was another find from London, which was originally purchased for my son’s nursery there.”

George’s mini-library is one of the sweetest, simplest and most functional installations in his bedroom. “The bookshelves were built by my father for the boys; they love reading and I love how this piece displays the books for them,” Courtney says. “They’re very much into atlases these days!”

Augie’s well-coordinated bedroom came together quite organically: “This room is just a culmination of everything blue, which happens to be both of our favorite color,” Courtney says. “I have a habit of collecting blue pillows, which keep ending up on his bed!” He inherited his sweet, whimsical artwork, in turn, from his big brother; Courtney found the trio of illustrations in London and first hung them in George’s nursery there.