Freestyle Restyle Crafts a Tranquil Retreat Above Chleo Wine Bar
Presented by Freestyle Restyle | Fall 2024 | Design Feature
As the founder of Freestyle Restyle, a full-service interior design studio based in Kingston, Kate Cummings’ philosophy is about finding the path to personalized design.
Her approach is what drew Hope and Charles Mathews, owners of Kingston’s popular Chleo wine bar, to work with her on the redesign of their apartment, which is located above the restaurant. “A lot of firms design in a way that’s specific to their look, but we loved how each project she did was an individual expression,” says Hope Mathews.
The result was a complete transformation that gave the Mathews a comfortable, sumptuously designed refuge from the hustle of restaurant life.
Cummings designed this Kingston apartment as a refuge from its owners’ busy restaurant life. Photos by Kyle J. Caldwell. Styling by Gina Ciotti.
When the couple purchased the circa 1880s building, it had lived an eclectic life as a gift shop, ladies’ tailor, shoe store, travel agency, and pizza parlor—and showed it. “They knew that the building needed some updates, but didn’t realize the extent,” Cummings says. “There were five different floors laid atop of one another and even a large hole in the bathroom floor covered by a shower stall.”
The project became a full gut renovation of the 1,600-square-foot space, providing a blank slate that allowed Cummings to design responsively to the couple’s needs.
Previously two separate apartments, the residence was unified and expanded by removing several walls. In the process, they exposed an original brick wall in the living room that adds historic ambiance. A skylight was added to bathe the dining room in light and double-hung windows were replaced with casements to provide an Old World aesthetic. The flooring was removed and replaced with wire-brushed wide-plank wood. A cozy new breakfast nook now doubles as a home workspace.
Throughout the space, Cummings used the Mathews’ desired color palette of rich, romantic jewel tones. One delightful surprise was the discovery of a muted pink tin ceiling that was too damaged to be used, so the designer recreated the ceiling in the kitchen and referenced the pink tone in a backsplash behind charcoal cabinets.
“The pink kitchen is a favorite feature,” Mathews says. “It’s totally different from what I’d typically go for—this rusty, dusty pink—but I love how it came out. Our home is everything we hoped for.”
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