Tour a Sophisticated Yet Whimsical Home That's Fit for a Family

Rachel Andres knew firsthand that this 5,000-square-foot home in Janesville, Wisconsin, was the perfect place to raise a big family. It was her mom’s cousin’s house, and it’s where she spent holidays as a kid. The problem: It wasn’t for sale. Undeterred, Rachel’s mom stepped in. “She actually called her cousin and asked him to sell to me!” Rachel was shocked by the bold move, but the cousin agreed, and now the almost 100-year-old house is hers to share with daughters Juliette, 9; Elsa, 8; Annabelle, 6; and Stella, 5. (Rachel’s partner, Trevor Burns, just moved in.)

She tapped designer Emily Winters Posselt to incorporate whimsical wallpaper, lively fabrics and brightly painted walls and ceilings. “We kept saying, ‘We love color, but it can’t feel like a circus,’” says Emily. The mantra worked. Read on to take the tour.

Everything was “very white” when they bought the house, Rachel says, so she set out to introduce lots of fun and color — especially in the family room. “I wanted a happy place where my kids and their friends want to hang out.”

A sky blue ceiling (Vast Sky by Sherwin-Williams) and shades made with dragon-print Schumacher fabric set the mood in the TV room. While the girls hang out here on the Lee Industries sofa, Rachel, an executive at a plastic manufacturing company, can sit at the adjacent console table to get some work done. The rug belonged to Rachel’s grandmother.

The existing built-in window seat got a makeover with floor-to-ceiling ikat drapes and a cushion in a tight geometric pattern, all in Schumacher fabric. To highlight the architectural details in the windows, Emily had the mullions painted black. The bay window is original to the 1931 house.

As a mom of four, Rachel cooks a lot, so she enlarged the kitchen and then chose a palette she knew the whole family would love, starting with the light blue island (Bluebird Feather by Sherwin-Williams). "I’m drawn to blues and greens, but my kids say my favorite color is rainbow," Rachel says. Emily added subtle pops of color with the pale green pendants from Visual Comfort & Co. and tropical-leaf Roman shades from Schumacher. The counter stools are from Williams Sonoma.

The family eats most meals around this Sarreid table, on teak and rattan chairs from Made Goods. “They are indoor/outdoor grade, so they’re easy to wipe clean,” says Emily. The floor-to-ceiling leafy drapes over the patio doors create a wall of pattern when they’re closed.

Rachel and Emily carried the blue from the kitchen into this nearby bathroom. “Spaces shouldn’t necessarily match, but they should naturally flow,” says Emily. “Rachel gravitates toward blue so much that it became our through line.” The wallpaper is from Schumacher, and the porcelain floor tiles are from Bella Tile. The bold blue vanity is painted Bosporus by Sherwin-Williams.

“I really wanted to make a statement here,” Rachel says. After considering many wallpaper designs, she and Emily landed on this exuberant mural from Schumacher. They painted the niche fuchsia to pick up on the pink in the paper (Dragon Fruit by Sherwin-Williams). The runner is from Patterson Flynn.

Each of the girls’ rooms has its own palette, but the same multicolored carpet from Stark ties them all together. The trundle bed originally belonged to Rachel’s parents; she painted it bright coral (Quite Coral by Sherwin-Williams). The batik-inspired wallpaper is from China Seas and the shades are from Designers Guild.

The sisters share two full bathrooms upstairs, and Emily wanted this one to be fun and chic: She imagines them getting ready here with music playing one day. She picked long sconces from Visual Comfort & Co. and combined two of the family’s favorite colors: blue and pink. The double vanity is painted Jargon Jade by Sherwin-Williams.