Leanne Ford Has The Smartest Tricks for Modernizing a Dated Home
This home was once overrun by doilies. It’s not the homeowners’ fault-it wasn’t their taste-but given the house’s Victorian architecture, they felt compelled to stick with the theme. That is, until they met Leanne Ford.
“We broke them free of that,” Leanne said. It was one of her first projects for season 2 of her hit show, Restored By The Fords (which airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on HGTV), and half the fun of it was figuring out how to add modern touches to freshen up its traditional style-and reflect the couple who lived there.
The transformation started by looking on the bright side-literally. “Lighting is such a key part of everything I do, so I wanted to really play with that here,” she said. Sleek, streamlined fixtures served as a lively counterpoint to all of the heavy wood in the house. That juxtaposition-combined with another signature Leanne move: painting everything white-instantly brightened up the space.
From there, she worked in other modern accents, like a large crystal in the bathroom, or running the subway tile in the kitchen from the floor to the ceiling, so the space wouldn’t feel so dark and dated.
With a brighter, cleaner foundation, Leanne gave the room two other layers of personality: First, a nod to the past, with a few nautical elements. Second, a smattering of quirky objects to give the space character.
“The house was built and owned by a sea captain, so we brought in navy and white touches to play that up,” she explained.
The wooden floors had such gorgeous patterns that Leanne decided not to touch them-even going so far as to avoid covering an inch of it with a rug. Bare wood floors could easily be deemed stark and uninviting, but that’s where little flourishes of personality come in.
“This house has a tendency to be very serious, so playing with small details-like painting a blush stripe on the wall that mimics the arch of the doorway-balances it out,” she explained. She upped the cozy factor by incorporating a Victorian touch-velvet upholstery-but chose to do so in more modern colors, like the orangey-pink sofa, so it wouldn’t read too old-timey.
Just behind that sofa, in fact, is another example of quirk at work: Leanne knew that one of the homeowners loved girly looks (while the other wasn’t so big on them), so she added floral wall art and a gilded mirror-but made sure not to go full chintz and glitz. A graphic Wolf & Friends print that reads “Surround Yourself With People Who Get It” keeps things from skewing too cutesy.
“It creates this neutral ground, where there’s masculine and feminine, and overall, it just makes you feel happy,” she said.
In other areas, the art was kept simple, with Leanne jumping in to paint the charcoal wall art in one room. (Fun fact: Leanne admitted her team winds up making art for almost every house they complete for the show, since any art filmed in the house must get prior approval to be filmed by the artist. On such tight production timelines-Leanne and her brother, Steve Ford, renovated 15 homes over the past year for the show-it’s often easiest to go the DIY route.)
One of the most surprising touches, though, is the chandelier in the living room. It’s the big, tiered number the ‘80s were known for, and in a room with a lot of mauve and mirrors, it’d be exactly that-a relic of the past. In fact, it’s such a sign of the times that you may deem it beyond hope, but Leanne argues, that’s all a matter of perspective.
“It’s a great example of context-bringing in something unexpected to make a room come to life,” Leanne said.
In a way, that one lamp embodies Leanne’s approach to the entire house, and its whole vibe: Surround yourself with people who get it-your love of ‘80s chandeliers and all.
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