A Ranch Redesign Brought This Blended Family Together

Some matches are just meant to be — like Liz Reece and Rawley Fuller, and the house that brought them together. A few years back, Rawley, a divorced dad, was working with designer Michelle Palmer Murphy on a refresh of his 1970s ranch in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Michelle had a feeling he and her project manager, Liz, would be perfect for each other, so she sent Liz to the site on a made-up measuring errand.

It worked: The two hit it off, and a year later, they were engaged, living together and raising their blended family of six — Rawley’s kids, Izzy and Trent (now 19 and 17), and Liz’s, Van and Montgomery (now 19 and 15).

“It was a tight squeeze at first!” Liz says. They decided to expand the home and called the woman who made all of this happen: Michelle. She added a second floor with four bedrooms and helped blend Rawley’s modern coastal style with Liz’s glamorous touch. “We’re so sentimental about this house,” says Liz. “We never want to leave.”

This ranch-style home already had a unique roofline and floor-to-ceiling windows, but it lacked the space needed for a family of six. The gray-green siding disappeared into the landscape.

The family added a second floor and brightened the exterior with white stucco. Now it's modern and glamorous to reflect the style inside.

The family spends a lot of quality time in this television-free space (it’s where Rawley proposed!). They also use it for most of their entertaining. Michelle made the vaulted windows the focal point by choosing a neutral Baker sectional. “It can fit 10 people, no problem,” says Liz. The rug is from Feizy. The off-white wall and ceiling color is Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams.

Some people hide the bar away, but this one is worth showing off: It runs along one long wall of the living room. Michelle used ionic steel tile from Tile Club for the backsplash and made a border with reclaimed wood. Rawley keeps his favorite local beer on tap.

This space leads to all of the kids’ rooms, so Michelle turned it into a hangout area. The Gucci wallpaper was the first pick: “Animal print is a neutral to me,” she says. She then brought in a leather sectional from Four Hands, a woven coffee table from Palecek and a beaded chandelier from Made Goods.

Van picked out this House of Nomad wallpaper on a family trip to Charleston, South Carolina. “He has a great eye!” says Michelle. She added a pop of green with Thibaut pillows and window treatments made with Kravet fabric. The horseshoe crab sconce in the corner is by Oly. "Van loves to surf, so I wanted this to have a surfing infuence, but elevated," she says.

Liz and Rawley were going for a sanctuary vibe in their bathroom. Michelle chose Silver Storm marble for the counter and anchored it with a glossy Omega vanity. The sconces on each side of the Currey & Company mirror are from Arteriors.

Michelle wanted to design a space that could take Trent through his teens and into adulthood. “In the past, he’d had the typical blue sports-themed boy’s room,” Liz says. Michelle chose a bold Hygge & West wallpaper with a dragon motif and paired it with a Four Hands bed, a Feizy rug and an Arteriors chandelier.

Youngest daughter Montgomery sent Michelle a Pinterest board of blue and pink rooms, and Michelle helped her pick the exact shades. Blue Ground by Farrow & Ball was the perfect choice for the walls and ceiling. “I wanted this room to look like the inside of a Tiffany box,” Michelle says. The bed is from Tov, and the rug is from Surya.

Michelle painted the doorframe blue but then went neutral inside. The mirror is from Woven, and the sconces are from Currey & Company.