Interiors main — Surrounded by nature thanks to full walls of sliding glass doors as well as a vast backyard, the living room is the perfect marriage of fun and serene. Neutral white furniture is juxtaposed by a disco ball overhead. Interior photos by Chad Chenier.

Design within reach: An unpretentious attitude guides the interiors of a midcentury home in Meadow Lea

February 1, 2023

‘Nothing is even remotely close to perfect,” interior decorator and homeowner Erin DeBosier says as she reveals the story behind her master bedroom curtains. The white panels knew a shinier former life—that is, before DeBosier decided to bleach them when one panel was stained by a dying plant that had been placed a little too close.

“I liked the change of color, actually,” she explains. “It’s the color I originally wanted.”

Now, many years later and sans sheen, the curtains are just one of the many elements contributing to the eclectic charm that pervades this Meadow Lea home. “I hate the idea of everything looking new,” DeBosier says. “Everything in this house has a story.”

DeBosier turned the original dining room into a light and bright office. Fuchsia flocked damask wallpaper covers the walls. Two vintage chairs once owned by a friend’s grandmother were recovered in a colorful, abstract fabric.

And she isn’t shy about sharing those stories, from the pair of high-back chairs in her office that originally belonged to a friend’s grandmother, to a rocking chair in her bedroom that was once used to settle her newborn father to sleep by his own mother. For DeBosier, it’s all about new life—both for the furniture pieces and for herself.

Navigating life following the tragic loss of her husband Matt in 2011, she says her time within the walls of this midcentury modern home can be divided with a rule of three. Three years spent lonely. Three years spent in turmoil. And three years in the best place she’s ever been. But for her, that’s the beauty. It’s all about the journey.

“Just like with life, with this house, I’ve done so much work and been through so many different phases,” DeBosier explains. “Now, I’ve reached a place where it’s comfortable.”

The fuchsia stripe down the ceiling of the home’s main hallway leads to DeBosier’s bright office, with its papered walls featuring a similar shade of pink.

A kaleidoscope of brass butterflies flutters across her bedroom wall, acting as a symbol of the revitalization that DeBosier found during the process of designing each of the home’s rooms. The insects are the perfect combination of whimsical and sentimental—two adjectives that can be used to describe nearly all of the house’s interiors. One of the best examples of this is the arrangement of four velvet chairs at the rear of the living room. Each in a different shade of green, they add a dose of unexpected fun to the largely whitewashed space, but their variation in color is more than just a happy accident. The four colors were matched to four of DeBosier’s favorite plants that take root right outside the room’s sliding glass doors.

“I wanted to really bring the outside in,” she says. “The greens all correspond to different plants in the yard that I love. My favorite is the one that was matched to the butterfly bush. That plant is one of the original reasons I bought the house.”

With most all of the rooms in the house containing floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors (there’s only one true window), the outdoors is always within reach. The large backyard, which backs up to a serene pond, was transformed by DeBosier into an entertaining space complete with an infinity-edge pool, an outdoor kitchen and a pair of swings that look like something straight off a Caribbean coast. Behind them, a vintage light-up sign from Storyville is the finishing touch.

The shag cover on the master bed is something DeBosier had made out of many smaller sheepskins. Over the bed, DeBosier had a piece by artist Carrie Kniveton, who she met at Round Top, mounted on a canvas. “I like the rough edges,” DeBosier says.

But as picture perfect as it may seem to step out of your bedroom and onto the pool deck, DeBosier emphasizes that she doesn’t pretend to have it all together. It’s a house, not a Ritz Carlton, after all.

“I’m not a fancy bedding person,” she says as she straightens the pillows on the guest bed, which is backed in a bold, riveted wallpaper by Phillip Jeffries. “I hope my guests don’t mind.”

For her, it’s all about the life that happens within the walls, coffee table dancing and all. And as she flips to the Yacht Rock station on the home’s audio system, it’s easy to envision the space filled with friends sharing drinks and memories underneath the living room’s eye-catching disco ball.

A record player and a wall of album covers make the most of what could have been just a basic corner.

“There was a disco ball here when I bought the house, but the former owners wouldn’t leave it,” DeBosier explains. “I loved it so much that when I moved in, I got a new one. I like that it’s indicative of the lightheartedness of the house and its former life.”

Details like the original kitchen cabinets from the home’s construction in 1957, as well as the latticed ceiling in the entryway and accordion coat-closet door, point to the history of the home in a similar way as the disco ball, but looking back even further. With each owner, small updates have been made, but the integrity of the original design has remained, quirks and all. And that’s what makes the house so special to everyone who visits. There are no “factory settings” in this space. Rather, it’s all unique and, thanks to DeBosier, pretty bright.

DeBosier repainted the original kitchen cabinets in a statement green. The high-gloss paint job makes the space just as fun as the rest of the house.

“I call the green of the kitchen cabinets ‘happy green,’” she explains. “And the pink line in the ceiling down the hallway—I just thought it was fun. Pink is my favorite color.”

When it comes down to it, DeBosier says her design choices are all centered around happiness—finding it and holding onto it. The details don’t have to be brand-new and perfect. Rather, she says, it’s better if they aren’t. Then they have something to say, something to contribute to the richness of a given space.

“I like that the things in my house are kind of a collection,” she says. “When I look around, I remember different times in my life, and I like that. It makes every room special.”

See more from this home in our gallery below: