Pink in Jenkins’ hands is the button-down shirt beneath an Armani suit: part of the look, not the complete ensemble. For easy traffic flow in the entryway, Jenkins chose a Century credenza rather than a hall table and snugged furniture along walls. Contemporary color and pattern put a certified-fresh seal on Jenkins’ work. That’s evident from the entry of this home, where he introduces his design with wallpaper. Inspired by an antique Chinese silk panel, the motif is traditional. But its blush hue is completely current—this is Millennial Pink’s moment, after all. Judiciously applied to only two of the foyer’s walls, grounded with a run of paneled and painted wainscoting and lit by floating lanterns, the wallcovering, with its birds-and-blossoms pattern, evokes the feeling of walking through a garden. That resonates with Michelle, a confirmed foodie, gardener, and home chef who only recently fell under the spell of wallcoverings. “Before, when I heard ‘wallpaper,’ I pictured my great-aunt’s house in Akron, Ohio,” Michelle says. “I never realized it could be so chic.” Velvet fabric with a tape trim freshens circa-1900 Belgian chairs. To sneak in extra seating, designer Corey Damen Jenkins flanked the fireplace with conversation nooks, their green velvet panels set in harlequin style and “tufted” with a single button. Along with the chandeliers and ceiling trusses, Jenkins’ color and pattern choices provide continuity through the large, open living space, delineated with areas for gathering, dining, and cooking. “Entering the great room, the first thing you see is a tufted sofa upholstered in pink. It’s the lightning rod of the palette,” Jenkins says. “But I tempered it with judicious use of green (emerald, olive, and sage) plus masculine chocolate-espresso hues.” Dark linen along the bottom of draperies, strategically placed at sofa height, floats the soft pink on a tantalizing sea of chocolate. Rich, dramatic wood floors, along with liberal swaths of greens and creams, layer in sophistication, complexity. What you see, how you interpret this room, might depend on who you are. “A lot of what we do as designers is Jedi mind tricks—the power of suggestion,” Jenkins says. “Here, it’s pink, but it’s also these other things.” To mesh with the family’s lifestyle, Jenkins opted to forgo a formal dining room in favor of this casual eating spot that links the living area, kitchen, and patio. Repeated design elements unify the spaces. Form meets function in the kitchen, which caters to Michelle’s culinary bent. “She’s an amazing cook,” Jenkins says. “You wouldn’t believe her lemon meringue ice cream pie.” Ann Sacks tile on the range backsplash informs much of the home’s palette. “Any time I did pink, I did a burst of chocolate,” says Jenkins, who coated the parlor’s paneled walls with a luscious counterpoint to the entry’s soft blush and cream. The menswear patterns and rich colors form a fitting backdrop for Jeff’s sports collectibles, including his prized Babe Ruth sculpture. “A lot of pattern isn’t for everyone,” Jenkins says. “But it keeps a room from feeling too trendy. Pattern has always played a role in traditional design. I’m inspired by how classic designers used patterns and by the new patterns available today.” “Zoe loves it in there, but she also is drawn to the daybed in the living room, or you’ll find her toting our new puppy, Goose, all over the house in her American Girl dog carrier,” Michelle says. Oil paintings ground Zoe’s girly getaway in tradition. Jeff and Michelle Solomon relax with daughter Zoe and puppy Goose.
