Modern Love


When Jan Donley and Diane Felicio first saw their 1940s home, just a block from the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. The cramped kitchen, enclosed dining room and redbrick fireplace did not appeal to their aesthetic or their lifestyle.

But Donley and Felicio saw potential in the small spaces. They tapped designer Frank Valdés, principal of FJV Design in Boston, to help transform the bungalow into the contemporary, colorful home they envisioned.


When Jan Donley and Diane Felicio first saw their 1940s home, just a block from the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. The cramped kitchen, enclosed dining room and redbrick fireplace did not appeal to their aesthetic or their lifestyle.

But Donley and Felicio saw potential in the small spaces. They tapped designer Frank Valdés, principal of FJV Design in Boston, to help transform the bungalow into the home they both envisioned.

Before meeting with Valdés, the couple, who relocated from Vermont, had a good idea of what they wanted in their home. “We knew we wanted a contemporary look, open and minimalist, with lots of color,” says Donley.

A larger, more functional kitchen was a priority. “A large Viking range—a stove I could grow into—and a place to store cookbooks were important priorities to me,” says Felicio, who does the cooking. “And Jan wanted the kitchen to be functional.”

The couple wanted plenty of open wall space to display a diverse collection of contemporary art that they amassed during the past decade together. “Early on, we told Frank that the design needed to provide room for our collection to grow,” says Felicio. “Our art collection is very important to us.”

Inside Out
During a year of remodeling, the main goal was to think bigger. Michael Griffin, owner of Griffin Remodeling in Jamaica Plain, removed walls on the first floor to create a much more open living space. “Prior to renovation, the living room, dining room and kitchen were very compartmentalized,” says Valdés. “We decided to rip out every wall around the fireplace, and make the fireplace the center of the space with everything pivoting around it.” The open-air effect is still cozy, without being locked into small rooms. Removing these walls created fluidity.

The result is a living space that is large, open and comfortable—a feat for any bungalow, a construction style that tends to favor smaller, divided living and dining rooms. An oversized island juts out at an angle from the fireplace, physically separating the kitchen and the dining room, but the living room space extends naturally without boundaries from these two rooms.

Outside Angles
The same open-air design was applied to the couple’s outdoor space. Valdés suggested removing the tiny, jalousie-windowed sunroom off the kitchen to make room for a new, extended deck in the large backyard. The deck is ideal for entertaining, whether the couple is hosting a few friends or enjoying an intimate meal. “We love the deck,” says Felicio. “We eat dinner out there all summer.”

The deck overlooks the tree-filled backyard at a higher level. “This greenery and trees are the reasons for the location of the glass door,” says Valdés. It’s framed by a copper canopy, so the couple can enjoy the outdoor view inside and out. “The copper canopy extends out to the deck as if the inside is spilling out,” says Valdés. “This canopy also creates protection when entering from the rear on a rainy day.” The cedar deck was expanded in size by more than half. “We tried to use simple elements,” he says.

As the structural renovations were being completed, Valdés worked with the couple to transform the home into the contemporary style they envisioned. Felicio researched kitchen materials; she didn’t want to use standard-variety granite countertops and tile floors. “Diane once told me if someone says, ‘This is our most popular item, then that’s the last thing that I want,’” says Donley.

Instead, they chose cork floors and concrete countertops in acid-wash brown by Form/Function Concrete. “These were not trendy choices at the time we made them,” says Felicio. “We try to keep it new and interesting.” The couple also wanted eco-friendly materials.

Living Color
Multicolored glass tile on the fire-place and on the backsplash behind the new Viking stove was another distinctive choice the couple made. “We wanted to make the fireplace a showpiece,” says Valdés. “My wife and I spent a whole day with Jan and Diane coming up with interesting patterns for the fireplace and the backsplash.”

In earth tones with vivid accents, the tiles complement the paint colors that Donley and Felicio chose for the space—all warm, bright tones from Benjamin Moore. The ceiling throughout the house is painted a rich Hawthorne Yellow, the hallway is reddish brown (Bronzetone), the kitchen is eye-popping Jalapeño Pepper green and the living and dining rooms are both decked out in warm gray. “We wanted a contemporary space, but we also wanted it to be comfortable,” says Felicio. “The colors that we chose, although bright as an overall palette, are warm in tone. We did that on purpose.”
Other decor choices, such as light maple cabinets with stainless-steel hardware in the kitchen, the geometric-patterned rug in the living room and handcrafted lighting fixtures by Hubbardton Forge in Castleton, Vermont, help complete the home’s cozy, modern appeal. “It’s modern, but not ‘cold’ modern,” says Valdés. “It’s a lounge-y, relaxing modern.”

Despite removing most walls downstairs, Valdés was still able to maintain enough wall space to display the couple’s cherished art collection in a gallery-like setting. He designed cut-outs on the narrow wall between the living and dining rooms for their ceramic sculptures. “I tried to maintain open surfaces for the artwork,” says Valdés. “They can’t put it all up—but they have enough wall space that is flexible enough for different sizes, and they can rotate the art so the space is continuously changing.”

Felicio and Donley are thrilled with the results of their year-long, highly collaborative bungalow renovation. “I love how open and contemporary and colorful it is—and I love our artwork in this space,” says Felicio. “It speaks to Frank’s design—everything is connected, planned and thoughtful.”