Demosthenes Komis wanted his home to be cozy and tranquil. But to get there, he and his wife, Kate, (his high school sweetheart) and their three children would need to move out of his Arlington childhood home to have it rebuilt and make it their own.
“It was a scary process of tearing down your home, especially one that had been in your family for 30 years, because you have a hard time envisioning what the new house will look like. It’s not there yet, right? You think to yourself, ‘Oh, my God, I just tore down a perfectly suitable house that’s been in my family so many years,’” he says. “It was not an easy decision.”
They would hire two Arlington businesses, Moser Architects and Jefferson Street Designs, and move into Kate’s parents’ home during the remodel. The project included a new kitchen, living room, primary suite, dining room, mudroom, powder room, and bedrooms for the children, who are 12, 10, and 8 years old.
The rebuild would revamp the 2,000-square-foot 1964 split-level into a 3,800-square-foot four-level home with a design style that Jefferson Street Designs owner and founder Cindy Eyl describes as “Southern traditional with a twist.”
A Charleston trip inspired the interior design. Eyl incorporated Kate’s desire for a light, bright space with vibrant bursts of color. “She wanted to keep it nice and neutral, but she wanted it to be fun, so our pops of color are on the pillows,” Eyl says.
Throughout the home, there are splashes of color on a design element Kate loves — wallpaper. “I was so happy that Cindy was equally excited by wallpaper and was willing to do that in so many rooms of the house,” she says.
The formal dining room, where there’s a fireplace from the original house, features a Trustworth Studios wallpaper called Woodland Carpet. Kate’s mom found the green floral pattern with yellow, red, peach, purple, and blue in a magazine. After looking through “hundreds” of samples, Kate says, “We ended up right back at that one that she had found.”
Other wallpapers come from House of Harris, Katie Leede & Company, and Phillip Jeffries. The den’s textured wallpaper, a grasscloth with rivets by Jeffries, gives the room a slightly more masculine, yet cozy, feel. “That’s supposed to be their adult retreat,” says Eyl. Demosthenes says other families would have turned it into an office, but he wanted a “hangout room” to read and relax in.
In the kitchen, the family gathers for casual meals at a Brazilian marble–topped island that seats five. “That marble is a little bit easier to maintain,” says Eyl, noting that marbles from some other origins are “always going to etch.”
Cabinet hardware and fixtures follow the current brass trend. “We tried to pick brasses that are going to age well and that are going to feel like those old traditional houses — so some unlacquered brasses. We picked some aged brasses. Some of the light fixtures have brass that just have a nice finish to them,” says Eyl.
The living room lacks one common item — a TV. Kate says Demosthenes was “adamant” there not be a TV over the fireplace. “I sort of thought it was a mistake, but I went along with it,” she says. Now, it’s her favorite room.
“Whenever I sit there in the mornings and have my coffee and do my work, and it’s quiet and it’s calm, and it’s so beautiful. I’m just so happy with that space, that it’s not a ‘kids’ space,’ right?” she says. “It’s just a calm, beautiful space where I feel very comfortable.”
Demosthenes says he envisioned what the room would be like with a TV. “I was just picturing the kids commandeering the room and YouTube blasting, or some cartoon blaring, with toys thrown everywhere, and I didn’t want that.”
The space, with Clad Home custom-made sofas that face each other and commissioned artwork by Washington, DC, artist Lanie Mann, now serves not only as Kate’s quiet spot but as one where they can entertain and have conversations.
For Demosthenes, the bedroom’s sitting area with its swivel chairs by Ted Scott Designs turned out to be his preferred spot to unwind.
“It’s in the back of the house. It’s a very quiet room. And sometimes I go upstairs to change or whatever, and then I just decide to sit in the chair. I just end up sitting in the chair and forget about what else I’m supposed to be doing,” he says.
The remodel gave the couple the aesthetic they wanted along with the tranquility Demosthenes sought. “I very feel strongly that a home should be a sanctuary,” he says.
Feature image by Angela Newton Roy Photography
This story originally ran in our August issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
