For more than two decades, Trish Santarsiero and her family have called their Kings Park house home, but after completing some construction work several years ago, there was still a part of the project that never quite felt finished.
The house needed decorating choices that would bring everything together.
Santarsiero wanted something lighter than what the family had before, with a coastal feel that also borrowed from the comfortable style of New England homes. When a friend recommended Joseph DeVito of White House Home and Douglas Elliman, Santarsiero had already seen some of his work on Instagram and thought his approach might fit what she had in mind.
What began as plans to update two rooms eventually expanded throughout the first floor, showing how much a home can change through design choices without relying on extensive construction.
The kitchen offers one of the clearest examples of the approach. Rather than gutting the room, the project focused on a new backsplash and lighter wallpaper, replacing the gray tones that had made the kitchen feel darker. Hardware was changed as well, while smaller furniture helped open the space.
“Just those three things right in the kitchen made it look so different, so bright, so airy,” Santarsiero said.
That experience carried into other parts of the first floor, where furniture became an important part of the transformation. Santarsiero said some of the family’s existing pieces were large and bulky, so DeVito helped them find smaller options that still met their needs.
In the living room, that meant gaining a more comfortable traffic flow without sacrificing seating. The fireplace also became a focal point with cut stone and bookshelves on either side.
“We actually have more furniture than we did before, but it’s smaller and it works,” Santarsiero said.
Santarsiero knew the feeling she wanted even if she did not have every detail worked out.
“We were looking for something very coastal, but also a little bit New Englandy,” she said.
That idea became a thread connecting the rooms without making them identical. In the bathroom, beige-and-white palm wallpaper replaced the previous gray look, creating what Santarsiero described as the feeling of a hotel resort bathroom. The dining room also moved away from its darker palette while retaining existing wainscoting. New wallpaper and better-scaled furniture made the room feel more spacious and easier for the family to use.
The selections did not come from a single retailer, which Santarsiero said helped them stay mindful of their budget while building the look they wanted.
Santarsiero originally contacted DeVito after seeing his work online and hearing about her friend’s experience with him.
“We like to go by word of mouth,” she said.
Once the project began, she said the process felt manageable because DeVito listened to what the family wanted and presented options rather than overwhelming them with decisions.
The scope eventually expanded from two rooms to the first floor.
For Santarsiero, the experience also reinforced the importance of allowing a home project to develop at a comfortable pace. There were moments when the family wanted time to absorb the changes before moving forward and she appreciated having that space.
The result is a house that remains familiar to the family while looking dramatically different to people who knew it before.
“When people walk in, they barely recognize our house,” Santarsiero said.
And she absolutely loves the finished look.
“It looks like a hotel,” she said.
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