Tour a 1915 Philadelphia Row House Drenched in Color

Shortly after Kelly Renn and Evan Sanchez closed on this 1915 Philadelphia row house, they received life-altering news: Their four-year-old daughter, Nuala, had leukemia. She needed to start chemotherapy right away, so the couple decided to delay their move and stay in New Jersey.

“We figured the Philly house would be an opportunity for a fresh start once Nuala was finished with treatment,” says Kelly, a birth educator and activist. She and Evan, an entrepreneur and investor, rented the house to friends for a year, then hired designer Naomi Stein to rethink the space. “I showed her my Pinterest board, which was filled with bold colors, textures and wallpapers, and she took over from there,” says Kelly.

By the time the family moved in — with a healthy Nuala, now 8, and her sister Fiadh, 4 — the 2,033-square-foot house was packed with funky patterns and cheerful pops of color. “As soon as we walked in, we thought: This is where our new life begins.”

Kelly and Evan wanted this room to feel elegant but not stuffy — “a place where you want to use the right type of glassware but can still kick back,” says Evan. Naomi chose Refuge by Sherwin-Williams for the bookshelves and fireplace, and Moody Blue by Sherwin-Williams for the backs of the shelves and the ceiling. “The two tones create depth,” she says. The saxophone belonged to Kelly’s father, a jazz musician. The dog portrait is a TV!

At first Kelly and Evan weren’t sure they could pull off orange cabinets, but they have no regrets. “We’re not serious chefs, so our kitchen could be a bit playful,” says Evan. To help the color (Emotional by Sherwin-Williams) pop, Naomi chose soapstone countertops and a white subway tile backsplash. The farmhouse sink is from Kohler.

Kelly and Evan got engaged in Paris, and these Frontgate bistro chairs and basketweave mosaic floor tiles remind them of the city. Naomi developed the color scheme around the floral bench fabric from Mind the Gap. “When I saw it, I thought, ‘Oh, this is so Kelly,’ ” she says. The wallpaper is from Cole & Son and the maple table is from Saloom.

This is where the family tucks in for movie nights, art projects and playtime. “We wanted to choose other patterns with different scales,” says Naomi, like a larger print wallpaper from Thibaut and a finer print on the CR Laine sofa.

Naomi worked with the exposed brick, thinking of it as a pattern. The shades and Couristan rug mimic the natural feel of the brick.

This room doubles as Kelly’s home office. “I call it my ‘Golden Girls’ room,” she says. “It has a very ’80s Miami vibe, with the wicker furniture and geometric patterns.” The rattan headboard is from Zola and the lumbar pillow is from St. Frank. A faux olive tree brightens up the corner.

The goal for the girls’ room was to be whimsical but not too precious. “It has an old-school fairy-tale aesthetic,” says Evan. The matching beds are from Woodbridge Furniture. “They’re usually covered in a million stuffies!” says Kelly.