Black-and-White

This waterfront home in Naples’ Moorings area has a simple color scheme that makes it welcoming and timelessly elegant.

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What’s black and white and loved all over? This new waterfront home in the Moorings designed by Stofft Cooney Architects and Carrie Brigham Design. Sticking to a simple palette, interior designer Carrie Brigham created a space that feels welcoming and, above all, timeless. “That was their primary goal,” Brigham says of the homeowners. “They wanted a home that wouldn’t date itself, and that they could eventually grow into.”

The owners also shared with Brigham that they have a slight aversion to color and have always gravitated toward a black-and-white color scheme. So, the designer incorporated shades of taupe, gray and tans to lessen the formality of black and white. Per their direction, she focused on using varying shades of neutral tones to create contrast.

A perfect example in the great room is a commissioned piece by local artist Danny Geschardt, who is best known for his use of pastels. Here he stuck to black, gray and white for the 50- by 75-inch canvas that anchors the space.

Brigham, who chose everything from the rooftop tiles to the driveway pavers to the garage doors, landed on a medium-toned Legno Bastone wide plank smoked white oak for the floors to keep the home from looking too cold. She played off that with the wet bar in the great room, which has upper and lower cabinets made of bleached walnut and complemented it with brass grills and hardware. That same space features a uniquely shallow built-in cabinet along the media wall (in charcoal), with the added quirk of having a John Richard 3D woven media cabinet in taupe-stained oak below the 85-inch television.

The black, gray and white Danny Geschardt painting in the great room speaks to the palette throughout, including in the kitchen and dining area where various neutral tones play off each other.

The adjacent and expansive kitchen continues the color theme with white cabinetry (also used in the butler’s pantry) and a display cabinet that matches the gray of the great room’s built-in cabinets and features the same bleached oak from the wet bar as an insert.

The seating space within the kitchen/dining area has become unexpectedly lived in, the homeowner says. “The cozy sitting space within the kitchen area is where everyone seems to congregate. Our grandkids play with their toys on the table while grandma and grandpa can relax,” she says. The butler’s pantry, meanwhile, proves useful for making smoothies and fresh-pressed juices each morning, with the mess remaining tucked away.

The kitchen also houses a 14-foot island, covered in a variant of Taj Mahal quartzite, with end cap of steel bars on each side. “I knew that the island was going to be huge and that the end looking at the great room was going to be a focal point. Normally, I like an island to have a closed end, but I wanted this to be a combination of open and closed,” Brigham says. The dark wood and steel works perfectly below a pair of pendant lamps in black, brass and white that are 36 inches by 24 inches, helping balance the scale of the island and oversized range hood.

The master suite has 14-foot vaulted ceilings with tongue-and-groove paneling, along with black window frames, gray walls and potted trees for greenery.

A 52-inch wand chandelier illuminates the spacious en suite bath, which also has an abstract painting from Naples’ Sweet Art Gallery, where most of the home’s art came from.

Another highlight is the master suite, which showcases the residence’s use of black windows against white wood trim. The 14-foot vaulted ceilings, with tongue-and-groove paneling, canopy the king-sized upholstered bed. “I decided on a wall molding to go around it,” Brigham adds. Potted olive trees add greenery and enhance the connection to the outdoors.

The large en suite mixes stark detail with statement pieces. A standalone tub presides under an abstract work from Sweet Art Gallery in Naples (where much of the home’s artwork came from), while a 52-inch modern wand chandelier illuminates everything, including the natural stone flooring. The master suite opens onto a pool area replete with spa, fire feature and conversation area, all of which look out over the bay.

All in all, Brigham proves that color is not the only way to achieve vibrant results. Rather, it’s restraint that offers style and longevity in a world where few things are black and white.

The pool and outdoor spaces overlook a bay and are punctuated by a spa, fire feature and conversation area.

Architect: Stofft Cooney Architects Builder: Knauf-Koenig Group Interior design: Carrie Brigham Design Photography: Blaine Johnathan Photography