When a home needs to stand up to the wear and tear of family life, Lauren Nelson knows that striking the balance between practical and beautiful is a delicate dance.

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“Sometimes you score both in one swoop, but often you just have to wave goodbye to that dreamy splurge piece knowing the kids will destroy it,” says The Expert, laughing. Yet in this classic revival home in the heart of San Francisco, it wasn’t sticky fingers or piles of toys threatening the furniture—it was Max, the family’s mammoth Bernese Mountain dog.

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Lauren’s clients, a couple with three young teenagers, embarked on an ambitious remodel of the 1908 home which involved retaining only the front facade. They excavated the basement to create a garage, added an entire floor for a home office, raised the ceilings throughout, and opened up the back wall to take in the city views.

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Renovating the home top to bottom without taking too many shortcuts meant taking a considered approach to furnishings—like indulging in lighting over rugs which might need to be swapped out over time. Lauren made any compromises feel less like trade-offs and more like bold design moves. The family room sofa, for example, is covered in Dedar’s Schwarzwald, a modern reinterpretation of a tapestry. “This is the most used sofa in the house and the fabric is pretty bulletproof because it's dark, easy to clean, and if stains were to happen, the busy pattern hides them,” she explains.

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The clients’ desire for the house to feel traditional coupled with the property’s newly extended proportions paved the way for an injection of architectural molding and wall paneling. “It brings a nice layer of formality and interest,” says Lauren of the intricate millwork. “It’s almost like a substitute for art… You can still layer in unique pieces, but it instantly adds more depth.”

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The walls themselves reveal how adventurous the clients were with color. Lauren avoided trending tones and favored a rich palette instead. In the restful primary bedroom, cues were taken from the dramatic Calacatta Viola marble used in the ensuite bath. “We took that purple undertone and wrapped the room in it, but made it softer,” she shares. (The cost of said stone was offset with inexpensive limestone tiles laid in a pretty pattern.)

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Her brief for the 10-year-old daughter’s bedroom was “nothing too girly—no pink or purple and a cool wallpaper.” Lauren landed on Schumacher’s ethereal Bisou panel set, which looked like it was designed around the rattan headboard, a vintage gem acquired from a Palm Beach estate. The Expert isn’t usually one for a feature wall, but “this mural felt like it had a good start and stop,” she explains. “Something about it was calming alongside the painted surfaces.”

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Lauren remembers presenting her ideas to the youngest client: “She’s really into design and wanted to have a part in it, so that was fun.” She also notes how refreshing it was to create the kids’ rooms without being stifled by future-proofing: “The parents were up for making them feel special by investing in wallpapers, even if that meant changing them in a few years.”

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Lauren had just as much fun conceiving the kitchen, which took on several iterations. The challenge: was the 16-foot island going to look like a runway strip, or would it feel appropriate because of the lack of division between the family room? “In the end, the scale works quite nicely,” she says. Choosing walnut cabinetry, she scrapped initial plans for units along the entire wall as they would have felt too heavy. A custom hood flanked with tall cabinets on each side feels less imposing while highlighting the lofty ceilings. And of course, there’s the handsome slabs of Calacatta Monet to admire.

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The designer’s proudest feat in this remarkable home is the front living room, which instead of merely acting as a foyer, now serves as a retreat for post-dinner cocktails. The banquette was created to conceal a header from the newly-created garage but it’s so naturally done—not to mention comfortable—that you’d never know. The fireplace only adds to the room’s cozy appeal. “The clients told me that they’re surprised by how much use this space gets because it was so underutilized before,” says Lauren. It’s even optimized for Max, who has his own slipcovers (in Rose Uniacke’s linen-wool blend) so he can lay by the window and watch the world going by.

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