At really any point in history , a small Manhattan apartment shared by a couple and two young children would conjure scenes from Bedlam . Amid a once-in-a-generation pandemic , a tight situation felt tighter for this family of four . So , relishing a dramatic cost of living differential , they traded city life for a sprawling four-level , four-bedroom Cape on two acres near Scarborough in Narragansett .
Just before signing the papers on their new digs , the family commissioned Julie Sanford of White Slate Studio to handle whole-house interior design — read : furnishing and decorating all 3,800 square feet .
Early on , Sanford gauged their personal styles ( midcentury and neutral for her , colorful and unfussy for him ; she had her work cut out for her ) through collaborative vision boards . Then , she got to work .
“ The number one thing is really understanding their design style and what their needs and wants are ,” says Sanford . “ It ’ s us listening to what they want .”
92 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2021