When Kelly Chew and Aalap Shah decided to move from Brooklyn to Philadelphia, they chose a historic Fairmount residence as their future home, writes Paul Jablow for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The three-story rowhouse they purchased in 2022 did not require any structural changes, but it was not kid-friendly and its color palette was too dark.
Architect and designer Juliet Whelan, of Jibe Design, took on the task of transforming the house. She summed up its redesign succinctly: “Create a child-friendly home that also has a sophisticated design sensibility.”
The renovation took eight months to complete.
“The entire inside was reimagined to simplify the finishes to align with Kelly’s minimalist sensibility,” said Whelan.
The designer used white paint to brighten the exposed interior natural brick. She turned the primary bedroom into a room for the couple’s young twin daughters, Sonia and Olivia Shah, and left plenty of space for sleepovers and hanging out with friends.
She also installed a climbing wall in the kitchen that is reminiscent of an abstract sculpture when the girls are not climbing on it.
“We wanted the whole thing to look like an art piece,” said Aalap Shah.
Read more about the Fairmount home’s transformation in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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