Tour This Stunning Hawaiian Home Blending Boho and Midcentury Style

When a Colorado couple set out for a quieter life in Kauai, Hawaii, they settled on a charming midcentury home that felt like a breath of fresh air. A month after moving in, they collaborated with designer Shaolin Low at Studio Shaolin in Honolulu, who helped them refresh the home, bridging boho and midcentury design in a clean, open-concept space.

Surrounded by native foliage visible from the three lanai spaces, the home couldn't feel any more perfect for the Aloha state. Unlike a traditional porch or patio, the Hawaiian word "lanai" describes an outdoor space that is an extension of the home, often covered under the home's roof and included in the home's floor plan.

Because the couple was expecting their first child, the project had a tight deadline. In just four months, Shaolin overhauled the four-bedroom, three-bath house. "Since we are on Oahu (neighboring island), it was a lot of coordinating to get it all done," she remarks.

One major bullet point on the agenda was refinishing the concrete floors. While the results look effortlessly beautiful, getting there wasn't so easy. "This was such a thing. We had to do it in phases since the owners were living there," notes Shaolin. "Some of the house had carpet, so there are these little tack marks in the concrete that we ended up using rugs to cover up. We also were on a budget, so we had to save all the trim pieces for the doors and baseboards."

To cozy up the refinished concrete floors, Shaolin employed plenty of rugs and light-colored upholstery. "The concrete really pulls a gray tone so making that feel warm and cozy needed a lighter furniture variation and a paint color on the walls that was more of an off-white with no gray in it," she explains.

The enviable wood-paneled ceiling needed nothing more than a little paint to reach its statement-making status. "We just repainted the beams. We all loved the exposed wood," notes Shaolin. "There are even footprints on parts of the ceiling where the installers from the '50s walked on the wood — it’s such a fun detail."

The living room is furnished with a large white sectional that contrasts nicely with two side-by-side leather chairs. That combination ties into the contrast of the light walls with the warm wood ceiling. The warmth continues down the wall to the right via a custom-built midcentury-inspired shelving unit. "This was a work of love. The client found a retired woodworker on Craigslist, and he just totally built the entire piece from scratch. We gave him some ideas on the design, but then he just took it and ran with it," explains Shaolin. "We both were biting our nails until it arrived, not 100% sure it was going to be what we wanted. But when he installed it, we were thrilled."

Once the mahogany shelves were installed, it took an entire day for Shaolin to arrange the clients' many books. "They both had an insane collection when they met so, combined, it just grew," she shares. "We pulled out every single book they owned, took covers off (if they were damaged or ugly) and color-coded all of them. Then we started from the ends and worked our way to the middle." When arranging books, she recommends using color, size and texture as a guide, then working in objects for balance.

The white-meets-wood aesthetic extends to the adjacent dining room, where plush white dining chairs surround a dark wooden table with an elegant curved top.

A matching bench mirrors the unique oval shape of the table on one side, which saves space in the walkway between the two living spaces. Diners can simply slide onto the bench rather than move a bulky chair back and forth. Once the meal ends, it can be tucked beneath the table.

In a home with such a wide-open interior, showcasing so many visible wood surfaces can be quite the balancing act. While too much variety can make the space feel incohesive, making each wood element match leaves little room for visual interest. Finding coordinating tones is the best way to bridge adjacent spaces.

An eat-in countertop divides the spaces, distinguishing the kitchen from the remainder of the main living area. The countertop's waterfall edge plays into the home's modern touches, while the caned-back velvet stools offer a '70s spin.

Beneath the countertop, Shaolin chose to line the back of the cabinets with a geometric patterned vinyl, washable wallpaper. In a spot that is known to take some abuse, choosing the right material was imperative. "I wanted to use that since it’s more of a performance grade and could handle wipe-downs if someone kicked or got it dirty," she explains.

Rather than rip out the existing kitchen cabinets, Shaolin and her clients chose to refinish them. "Budget was a huge deciding factor but we also didn’t totally mind the cabinets," she explains. "They had this vintage, beveled-edge feel to them, and we knew with the right stain they could work well with the overall design."

The home is split into two sections — the main house and a guest living area. The two-bedroom guest portion features a designated kitchen area that feels like a scaled-down version of the main kitchen. To make the two kitchen spaces cohesive, Shaolin carefully matched the stains when refinishing the cabinets.

With a baby on the way, completing the nursery was a crucial step in the home's renovation. Luckily, Shaolin's inspiration came to her effortlessly. "I knew immediately I wanted to do a dusty gray-blue since she was having a boy but wanted the furniture to still feel modern and cozy," she explains. "We kept the midcentury modern look with the crib, rocking chair and changing table."

"I’m also a huge fan of Montessori and so was the client, so putting the mirror in the room is great for tummy time and eventually a pull-up bar," says Shaolin.

Dark blue wainscoting was added to make the nursery bathroom walls a bit more durable. Fun towel hooks at child height combine with a vibrant, coordinating wallpaper to make the bathroom kid-approved.

The two remaining bathrooms embody the home's retro spirit. With warm wood tones, flashes of gold and vintage-inspired wallpaper, the main bathroom feels like a step back in time.

The guest bathroom continues the retro feel with warm wood and gold details, but forgoes the wallpaper and opts instead for Benjamin Moore's Muskoka Dusk.

The bathrooms were total gut jobs, which made it easy for Shaolin to transform them into something more in line with the clients' vintage vision. "When I was designing and selecting everything, I really just went with choices that felt old but new," explains Shaolin. "I remember when I presented the bathroom designs, I said, 'If you were a bathroom, this would be you.' and she totally agreed."