How an interior designer leaned into enjoying her own home’s renovation.
By Sharon Holbrook
Nikki Pulver in her foyer. Photographs by Kevin G. Reeves
The lions are the first thing you see.
Stone-faced – and let’s be fair, stone-bodied, too – they could be grandly intimidating sentinels at the driveway entrance to the Pulver family’s Stanford Road home.
Instead, the lions are fun.
In summer, they might sport goggles and bikini tops. At back-to-school time, they’ll be wearing their Shaker T-shirts, pencils and rulersat the ready. The lions even dress up in costumes and give out candy at Halloween. It’s a tradition that predates the Pulvers, who moved to the house in 2020 from another nearby Shaker home.
“When our kids were little, they’d ask me to take them by the ‘Lion House’ because they loved seeing the different outfits,” says Nikki Pulver, a Shaker native and interior designer. Now the family – Nikki, husband Brad, and teens Reese, Paige, and Everett – carry on the tradition of dressing up the lions for holidays and different seasons.
It wasn’t just the lions that had attracted the Pulvers’ attention for so long. With her designer’s eye, Nikki knew the handsome stone house was her dream home, and waited for the time when it would come up for sale.
“We are stewards of this house, and we want our restoration to last for another 100 years.”
“White colonial houses are my favorite. They’re bright, welcoming, and happy,” says Nikki, who appreciates that the Western Reserve colonial style of her 1936 house is a bit more casual than neoclassical colonials of the same era. The home is spacious, but without grand porticos outside or elaborate moldings inside, and has a warm, unpretentious vibe.
The Pulvers made their long-awaited home purchase early in 2020, with the title transferring just before the pandemic.
In a way, it was good timing for the Pulvers to take on this new project. Nikki’s design business was quiet that spring as clients, like everyone else, were focused on disinfecting groceries and avoiding visitors at home. Nikki decided the time was right to push pause on her client work. For the next few months, she leaned into enjoying her own renovation – a rare opportunity for a designer to focus exclusively on her own home.
“I wanted to savor every moment,” says Nikki. “For me, this is fun.”
Warm and Inviting
And there was a lot to do. The Pulvers were meticulous in making sure any neglected mechanical and structural issues were addressed before any decorating took place. “When we purchased this home, I promised we’d do right by it,”says Nikki. “It’s an extremely well-built, solid home. On the original blueprints you can see how much care and thought the architect, John Sherwood Kelly, and the original owners put into it.”
First stop: the basement. Here, the Pulvers began with structural and cosmetic updates so the kids could have a comfy place to spend time during renovations in the rest of the home. The dated brown-and-beige basement was transformed with fireplace upgrades; new walls in a cool, soft blue; new white woodwork; and an appealing array of vintage ski posters. The curved Art Deco bar was updated with new facing and a striking cobalt blue bar top that is big enough to accommodate seating.
“We tried to leave as much as we could intact,” says Nikki, such as the original nickel sink and some built-in shelving, while also bringing a renewed energy to the space with new colors and décor.
On the first floor, where renovations continued after the basement hangout was ready, the front door opens into a stunningly refreshed foyer. A pale blue-and-white painted hardwood floor leads to the hall’s showpiece mural, a birds-in-nature scene spilling over with brilliant blues and verdant greens. The stairs were reinvigorated, too, with the old carpet removed, the woods refinished, and the banister painted in a sleek, high-shine black. In the adjoining living room, the color and energy continue with bright, nature-inspired furnishings, including a vibrant butterfly artwork, flora and fauna textiles, warm chandelier lighting, and ample, inviting seating.
“Inviting” could be the theme of the entire Pulver home. Though it’s the most formal room in the house with its crystal chandelier and large, traditional table and chairs, the soft pinks and florals of the dining room suggest stayawhile comfort and coziness. In this room, as in the basement, the Pulvers made significant updates. The room was formerly a spacious sunroom, but its slate floor had deteriorated, making the time right to install new hardwood floors that now blend seamlessly with the rest of the first floor.
Home Stewardship
The Pulvers love to entertain, and that includes hosting their kids’ friends, too. “I just want this house to feel happy, bright, and airy, and I want everyone who comes into this house to feel at ease and cheerful,” says Nikki.
That sense of hospitality is apparent all the way up to the third floor, where the teens have claimed the spacious attic space for themselves and their friends, and out the back door, where the Pulvers relandscaped their yard with gatherings in mind. The terraced yard is anchored with stone walls, attractive plantings, and patio seating and a built-in firepit – plus the trampoline and volleyball net that the Pulver teens insisted on. Everywhere you look, there’s a pretty place to sit or play, and plenty of room to do so with others.
There are, of course, private family spaces in the Pulver home, and they’re just as charming.
On the second floor, Nikki has updated the roomy primary suite as well as the bedrooms of each of the children. An updated Jack-and- Jill bath joins the sweetly feminine (but decidedly individual) rooms of daughters Reese and Paige, and son Everett has his own teen suite in the former maid’s quarters. Just as in the rest of the home, every detail upstairs reflects Nikki’s thoughtful touch.
The Pulvers are here for the long haul. This, their dream house, is their last big move, and they want to be comfortable. But that’s not the only reason they do every renovation and make every design decision with such care. It’s about the house, too, and what it deserves.
Says Nikki, “We are stewards of this house, and we want our restoration to last for another 100 years.”
