We are so excited for this month’s house tour and Q&A with Main Line interior designer Larina Kase. When I visited Larina’s home this month, I was immediately drawn to her use of color. Her home is colorful, comfortable and calm. The home she shares with her husband and boys is inviting, kid friendly and is one of those homes where you get the vibe that you can sit back and relax.
What does home mean to you?
Home to me is about family and memories. I’m a sentimental person and also very visual. So I have so many memories of the spaces where I’ve lived and how those spaces hosted important times in our lives. To me home is about enjoying food, being together as a family, and having fun. Also it should be an inspiring, relaxing and rejuvenating space.
How would you describe your style?
My style is eclectic. It’s a good thing that I’m a designer or I would need 100 houses to express my ideas. I love to mix up traditional, vintage, and modern elements. I love to include what’s in style currently, but I have quite a classic taste. The major pieces in my home tend to be things that will never go out of style. I am very much influenced by many of my family member’s styles. My father is an antique dealer and my mom is an artist as was my grandmother. My sister has an amazing style too! Also, my uncle is in fashion and my aunt’s an interior designer.
What was the biggest obstacle with designing your home?
I would have loved to do more renovations in my home, but the space didn’t call for it. I would love to have designed a new kitchen but the kitchen was new when we bought our home. I did some minor renovations in the powder rooms. I also added all new lighting fixtures throughout the house. I’d like to move at some point and do some major renovations, maybe even move into an older home.
Also, I was trying to be budget-conscious and I didn’t wallpaper my dining room. I wasn’t sure how the paper I loved would hold up with three boys, but I used a similar paper in the powder room and it’s been fine. So now I regret that I didn’t paper the dining room.
What is your favorite thing in your home?
Other than of course the people, I’d say the gallery wall of my children’s art. It makes me so happy to look at all of the colors and think of them creatively expressing themselves.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
I would have planned things out more. With my clients I’m meticulous with floor plans, concept boards, and product samples. With my house, I was a bit more impulsive and just ordered a bunch of things! I got lucky and everything worked okay, but if I could do it again I’d treat myself as a client and create 3 room designs per space and refine from there.
What is your favorite space in your home?
I love to enjoy good food, so the dining spaces are important to me. I like both spaces in different ways. Red is probably my least favorite color and it’s one of my boy’s favorite colors, which is why I challenged myself to use it in the breakfast room. Then I found a shade that I love (it’s a lighter red and has orange in it). I also like the softness of the monochromatic color scheme in the dining room to balance the bright colors and keep it sophisticated.
What’s the difference between designing your own home vs. a client’s?
It’s a bit harder to design my own home. Especially because it’s not just for me, it’s for me and my husband and three boys. My husband tends to be more reserved, while I’m more artistic. So I presented some ideas and let him adjust them. I can’t say that he loved the idea of a bright orange door (it’s persimmon, actually, I explained 🙂 but fortunately he trusted me and was on board with my having some fun with color!
I had some fun with my home office too. I choose fabrics and colors that make me happy. I think it’s important to work in space that you love.
Since we have energetic and creative boys, we both thought that color in the space would be fun. I had my boys select the dining chairs (they chose red) and they did a lot of the designing of their rooms. This was tough because I had ideas that I loved, but ultimately I wanted them to choose.
Larina painted many pieces of the art around her home.
Thank you Larina for letting us tour your beautiful home! It was a real treat for me and it was so nice getting to know you a little better. Larina specializes in residential interior design along the Main Line and you can see more of her award wining work here.
Photography by Amrit Gluck of Magnolia Main Line.
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