Layered, lived-in, and rich with character, this cozy space is the personal family home of Dafna of Daf&Co. The nearly century-old Spanish Colonial was thoughtfully redesigned to feel soulful yet functional, with every selection chosen to honor the home’s historic bones. Photographer Lindsay Brown captured the warmth and intimacy of the space in the tour below.

From Daf&Co… After living in NYC for 15 years in prewar buildings, I developed an appreciation for the character that comes with old homes. We rented for two years waiting for a special old home to become available and made it ours. Our Spanish Colonial home is almost 100 years old and I set out to honor the history of the home in my design. As with all of my projects, I layered in lots of pattern and vintage pieces to bring warmth to the spaces. My husband and I share the home with our three young children, so while there are many nods to the past, I kept the kid spaces playful but not babyish, so that my choices could grow with them.

I made every selection aiming to stay true to the spirit of the architecture and respecting the history of the home. I infused our home with warm, layered, and collected selections. 98% of what we have in here was purchased for this house, but I did not want everything (or really anything) to look shiny and new. I wanted it to look collected over time, and to do that I incorporated a lot of vintage, layered patterns, and embraced the quirks of the home.

Before we moved in, we restained all the floors, switching them from light to dark, and painted every surface. The walls were a drab blue-grey, and we lightened them with a warm white. It made a lot more sense to have the floors be dark and the walls be light, so we reversed that. We had to add 8” in height to the stair railing for safety. We did this by adding the top swirl to what was already there. I added the Saltillo tile in the entry, converted a coat closet into a mudroom, but the most work was in the primary bath. We changed out everything while keeping the location of the plumbing the same.

Discover the talent behind the story… Interior Design: Daf&Co. · Photography: Lindsay Brown · Styling: Adam Fortner