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A House Beautiful report profiles designer Ariel Okin’s work on a five-bedroom New Canaan home for a couple with two young children. Okin said the family’s interest in nature and collection of bird figurines shaped details including patterned wallpaper, while the children’s rooms were designed to suit their current needs and grow with them.
Designer Ariel Okin has transformed a newly built, five-bedroom Colonial in New Canaan, Connecticut, into a family home shaped by its owners’ interest in nature and collection of bird figurines, according to a House Beautiful home tour. The report describes how floral and bird-patterned wallcoverings, soft colors and practical children’s spaces were used to give the previously plain interior a more personal feel.
The homeowners, a married couple with a toddler and an infant, hired Okin to make the new-build feel welcoming and work for family life. Okin, whose practice is based in Connecticut and New York City, said the house initially felt like an “empty white box.” The family wanted to bring the surrounding pastoral landscape indoors, she said, and the designer built the palette around florals, stripes, airy linens, pale blues and chocolate browns.
The home sits near a horse farm, and its setting helped guide the design. The bird theme appears in selected furnishings and finishes, reflecting the clients’ figurine collection. In the dining room, Okin chose a Lewis & Wood wallpaper with bird motifs. A first-floor powder room features a bright green bird-accented wallcovering made in collaboration with The Mural Source. The report says Okin used the motifs selectively to keep the rooms from feeling like a museum display.
Other rooms combine antiques, textiles and family-friendly layouts. The entry includes vintage and antique pieces, while the living room pairs pale blue millwork with neutral grasscloth and patterned fabrics. Okin said the family spends much of its time in the family room, so function mattered alongside appearance. The nursery uses creamy striped wallpaper and primary colors; the playroom has a youthful design. Okin said both children’s spaces were planned to remain useful as the boys grow.
Nature Shapes a Family Home
The project shows how the family’s interests and the home’s setting informed specific design decisions, from bird-patterned wallpaper to the broader use of floral textiles and earthy colors. In the House Beautiful report, Okin describes an effort to make the new-build feel connected to the surrounding farmland while still reflecting the owners’ personalities.
The children’s rooms also address a practical challenge for a household with a toddler and an infant: creating spaces that feel engaging now and can adapt over time. Okin said the aim was for the rooms to “grow with the boys” while remaining exciting at the toddler stage. The source does not report measurements, costs or a formal evaluation of how the spaces perform.
bird-themed wallpaper for living room
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From New Build to Personal Retreat
The house is described as a white clapboard Colonial on a hill near a horse farm. Its exterior already had a New England character, but Okin said the interior felt impersonal when the project began. The family’s brief focused on bringing in the pastoral landscape and making the home suitable for life with two small children.
Okin worked with builder Mike Cerreta of Cerreta Builders. The tour identifies selected furnishings and finishes, including Lewis & Wood dining-room wallpaper, Schumacher window-treatment fabric in the kitchen, and Farrow & Ball’s Borrowed Light paint on living-room millwork. It does not provide a full project timeline or an overall budget.
“It was an empty white box when we started working on it.”
— Ariel Okin, designer
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Project Details Not Reported
The House Beautiful account is a design tour based on the designer’s comments and descriptions of the rooms. It does not state when the renovation or furnishing work was completed, what it cost, or whether the family plans further changes. It also does not include independent comments from the homeowners; Okin says they sent her a note of gratitude after moving in.
vintage and antique home furnishings
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No Further Project Update Listed
The source describes the finished home and includes no announced follow-up, planned renovation or next project milestone. Okin’s account says the family moved in and expressed gratitude, but the report does not give a date for the move or indicate whether additional updates are expected.
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Key Questions
Where is the home?
It is in New Canaan, Connecticut, near a horse farm, according to House Beautiful.
Who designed the home?
Ariel Okin, a designer based in Connecticut and New York City, led the design work. The report says she worked with builder Mike Cerreta of Cerreta Builders.
How does the bird theme appear in the rooms?
The clients’ bird figurine collection informed selected decorative choices. The dining room has Lewis & Wood wallpaper with bird motifs, and the first-floor powder room has a bird-accented wallcovering designed with The Mural Source.
Were the children’s rooms designed differently from the rest of the house?
Yes. The nursery and playroom use brighter, more youthful details than many of the nature-inspired shared rooms. Okin said they were designed to suit the boys as toddlers and grow with them.
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