Gazing Inward

A newly built West Palm Beach home's sense of place comes from within.

- Olivia Hosken

EXTERIOR

Building from the ground up let Northworks architects configure the home around a courtyard rather than face the street of this dense West Palm Beach neighborhood. Pineapple lights: Kemble Interiors.

BREAKFAST NOOK

Designer Cece Bowman chose a seafoam green for the spot wher the family enjoys casual meals. Wallcovering: Phillip Jeffries. Chandelier: Julie Neill. Chairs: Design Within Reach, in Pierre Frey fabric. Table: custom.

ONE WAY TO make designers pause? Tell them nothing should match. When a West Palm Beach family commissioned a new home, the clients were clear that a fresh start did not equal a blank slate. “We decided there would be almost no white in the house,” Cece Bowman of Kemble Interiors says. The designer quickly became accustomed to calls alerting her that monkey sconces were en route, that navy tile had been ordered for an otherwise teal-and-cream room, and other decorative leaps of faith. “It became a fun competition to see which of us could push the envelope the furthest,” Bowman says.

Admittedly, it was less serendipity and more coordination that brought the house together. “The paints and wallcoverings took three full workdays alone to plan,” the designer says, noting that all elements—from the ceilings to the air-conditioning registers—take the design to the next level.