The Elmwood House

Historic homes carry stories in their walls — and they also carry the particular challenges of decades of updates, additions, and deferred decisions. For this Oak Park home, a new family was ready to make it fully their own. Our role was to honor what was already beautiful while updating everything that wasn't working.

The project touched multiple rooms throughout the house, threading a cohesive design sensibility through spaces that had accumulated mismatched finishes and competing styles over the years. We worked through each room methodically: rationalizing the trim details, introducing a palette that felt fresh without fighting the architecture, and furnishing each space to suit how this particular family actually lives.

The Elmwood House is a reminder that the best historic home renovations aren't about erasing the past — they're about making the house feel like it was always waiting for this family.

Design by Kathryn Murphy Interiors · Oak Park, IL · Historic home renovation · Full-service interior design · Oak Park family home renovation