A home is never really done. At least that’s designer Anna Applegate’s motto. “I’m always changing little things here and there, just because of the nature of my job,” she says. “I feel like the house is constantly evolving in little ways.”
Applegate and her husband, Ryan, purchased their home in 2012, when they had an eighteen-month-old son and another baby on the way. Initially, it wasn’t much to look at. The house hadn’t been updated since the 1970s; it still had the original blue shag carpets, popcorn ceilings, and built-in wall intercoms. But when the couple saw that it was located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, they knew it would be the perfect home to raise a family. “I was able to see past the seventies vibe and knew I’d be able to make it functional for our family,” she says.
The renovation commenced immediately. First on the docket was ripping out the shag carpets, which were replaced with oak floors. The couple also widened the kitchen by removing the wall that separated it from the family room, and added a screened porch to the back of the home, complete with a wood-burning fireplace.
Once the major construction work was finished, Applegate began creating a layered, collected look in each of the rooms, taking inspiration from vintage artwork and furniture that she sourced from antique stores, both local and global. A floral Schumacher-print armchair formed the inspiration for the sitting room, and in the dining room, a pair of dark floral curtains—which Applegate found at an antique store in Paris, Virginia, while on an anniversary trip—served as the jumping-off point.
“One of my favorite parts of the job is going out and exploring antique stores,” she says. “I’m always out there looking for items for my clients, and sometimes I’ll buy something with a client in mind but end up keeping it because I love it too much.”
To Applegate, function is just as important as form. The formal dining room not only hosts holiday dinner parties, but also doubles as an office and homework area for her and her three sons. “We use it every day when one of us works from home or the boys are doing their homework,” she says. She also turned the downstairs bedroom into a game room for her three sons—which was the only time she had to negotiate with her family on design matters. “They wanted leather reclining chairs with cup holders, but we settled on a sectional,” she laughs.
Creative differences aside, the designer’s family is featured prominently throughout the home. Seashells, which remind Applegate of the many family vacations that are spent at the beach, are featured in nearly every room of the home, along with oil portraits of her sons by local artists. One particularly special painting features Applegate’s three sons jumping off the dock at her parents’ home near the shore. “It’s a personal piece that reminded us of our boys at this age, and being at the beach,” she says. “It’s probably my favorite piece in the house.”
For Applegate, though, the work will never be complete—and that’s part of the appeal. “I don’t think a house is ever really finished, because as you travel and go different places, you collect things that remind you of a place or a season of life,” she says. “And letting your house evolve keeps it interesting.”
It helps, too, that everything in Applegate’s home evokes a happy memory or positive emotion. “I start with things I love and build from there.”
