After putting the finishing touches on Mumi Phan and Anh Duong’s Cape Cod home, designer Hannah Oravec sat down for lunch with the couple. Then, Duong turned to his wife and said, “Now we need to get Hannah up to the North Shore.” A month later, the Lawless Design founder began devising the scheme for the family of four’s primary residence in Andover.
Oravec took cues from the geography for both homes. While foundations are neutral, the palette on the Cape skews cool with watery blues. Here, the neutral base is warmer and the accents richer, with touches of black for contrast. Greenery plays an important role, too. “We live in the woods with nature all around us,” Phan says. “It’s very soothing; I wanted to bring that feeling of well-being in.”
The aesthetic, which Oravec calls “organic modern,” embodies the values of her business. “We strive to source eco-friendly and nontoxic products made from natural fibers,” she says. “We also use a lot of vintage pieces from small and local businesses, which introduce character and personality.”
The front door opens into the main living space, so Oravec created a beautiful and functional vignette where one can set down a purse or check the mirror. The distinctive tessellated stone console not only speaks to the organic nature of the home’s decor, but it also establishes the owners’ love of postmodern pieces. “The living space was the biggest driver for the design,” Oravec says. “It’s the first thing you see and where the family spends the most time.”
To ease circulation and better define the perimeter vignettes—beyond the entry, there’s a dry bar, a slider to the leafy backyard, and a bistro table for morning coffee—Oravec recalibrated the size of the seating area. “The door almost hit the sofa before,” she says. The new RH Cloud couch is smaller in scale, but still plenty large enough for family movie night.
A reclaimed wood coffee table and jute rug add texture, throw pillows from Elburne and a vintage ceramic lamp from Brimfield Antique Flea Markets add pattern, and an arc floor lamp makes fun use of vertical space. “Mumi was all about adding funky shapes and curves,” Oravec says. The homeowners’ influence is also on display in the corner where retro macramé plant hangers showcase easy-to-care-for houseplants.
There are live plants perched on tree trunk-like pedestals over the sculptural concrete desk in Phan’s office just off the living room, as well as a framed fern print on handmade Nepalese paper. “I just wanted a big desk with some greenery,” Phan says. “I try not to keep clutter around.”
In the center of the house, Oravec spruced up the kitchen with freshly painted cabinets and then punctuated the doors with black hardware and hung handmade ceramic pendant lights from Etsy vendor Clay Cafe. The cabinetry carries into the dining room, which Oravec outfitted with a reclaimed-wood dining table and armchairs with caned sides and backs. The ensemble lends rustic appeal, while floaty linen drapery adds softness and allows the strong sunlight to filter in without sacrificing privacy.
The adults-only den has a cozier, funkier vibe. The Mario Bellini–inspired velvet sofa and faux shearling teddy-bear lounge chairs beckon all for a hug. Phan practices mindfulness here and refers to the room as her “wellness hut.” It’s also where the couple spend time with their parents and siblings. “The den is an intimate setting for heart-to-heart conversations,” Phan explains. “How we use the den is very different from how we use the living room; this was very intentional.”
The adjacent guest room is equally welcoming, thanks to the curved, velvet bed and striped recycled-cotton rug. Upstairs in the couple’s five-year-old daughter’s bedroom, a green and white striped rug from Pittsfield company Hook & Loom is a playful combination with the peel-and-stick wallpaper with leaves and lemons. Oravec used temporary wallpaper in the 12-year-old’s bedroom, too, in a subdued floral that echoes the curves of the occupant’s existing bed. “I’m a big believer of using what you have if you can,” the designer says.
The rooms all work as intended. “We thought about how we live and how we want the spaces to function,” Phan says. “We appreciate it more and more over time.”
Interior designer: Lawless Design, lawless-design.com