Before + After

Leanne Ford Transformed Her 1900 Pennsylvania Attic With a 360-Degree Paint Job

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Leanne poses in her curated third floor.ERIN KELLY

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When interior designer Leanne Ford moved her husband, Buck Mason cofounder and CEO Erik Allen Ford, from Los Angeles to the suburbs of Pittsburgh to establish a family headquarters, she knew exactly how to make the cross-country transition easier for him. She dramatically transformed the well-worn third floor of their 1900 abode into a cozy home office, complete with a dreamy Zoom background and guest suite for out-of-town visitors.

BEFORE: The original floors needed a revival.

ERIN KELLY

AFTER: “When you have an attic or an angled space, I really recommend taking the paint from walls to ceiling because people just don’t know where to chop it—but you just don’t need to chop it,” Leanne says.

ERIN KELLY

First, Leanne ripped out one of the level's three bedrooms to form a big, open-concept space that now includes Erik’s work zone and a snuggly living section. Knocking down multiple walls meant she needed to patch the original wood floors, which she did using scraps from the demolition. She had also wanted to vault the low ceiling, but structural restraints like giant beams foiled that idea.

Instead, Leanne embraced the angled attic shape and added a sense of airiness by painting every surface the same creamy hue. “I used Behr Crisp Linen on the floors, ceiling, trim, walls, cabinets, steps—everything,” she details. “That’s why it feels so vast. Everybody has this misconception that the trim has to be a different color, and I actually love the opposite. It creates one beautiful light box.”

BEFORE: Original cabinetry had an orange hue.

ERIN KELLY

AFTER: A Jeanneret armchair is painted white, like its surroundings. “Nothing’s safe with me when the paint can’s open,” Leanne admits.

ERIN KELLY

Though Leanne wouldn’t ordinarily paint historic timber, she felt its beaten-up state gave her permission to play. Plus, the material likely wasn’t high-quality to begin with. “In these older houses, they would save the fancy wood for the main levels that people would see and then, progressively, as you got to the third floor, they would use the cheap wood,” she explains.

For the furniture, Erik requested a minimal amount of vintage and lots of clean lines, so Leanne and her brother Steve crafted a simple, straightforward desk using a blueprint they developed with Hart Tools. The unsightly desktop computer is easily tucked away into the original cabinetry, which Leanne outfitted with an outlet and a pull-out drawer, while seating options include a midcentury Jeanneret armchair and the Jeannie cane accent chair from Leanne’s Crate & Barrel collaboration.

AFTER: The reading nook revolves around a vintage Percival Lafer leather chair.

ERIN KELLY

The living area also features pieces from the line, like the lounge-y Ever sectional, which manages to strike the impossible balance between aesthetically pleasing and sink-right-in comfy. Its loose, understuffed pillows and casual slipcover are juxtaposed with a sleek Karl Springer coffee table, rustic wire chairs, and sculptural Martini ottomans for a collected, transitional vibe.

AFTER: Leanne adorned the original built-in cupboards with vintage hardware from elsewhere in the home. “This house was like a treasure trove,” she shares. “It was so awesome. In fact, any cabinetry we had to pull out, we saved all the hardware and used it in other places.”

ERIN KELLY

While the color palette generally ranges from white to beige, Leanne made sure to incorporate some dark notes with a Salt Ceramics checkered pitcher, a George Nakashima chair, a Willy pedestal side table, and a work of art by Elaine Sullivan. “Even though I love all this lightness and brightness, I always use hits of black because I think it grounds the space,” she reasons. “It modernizes it.”

BEFORE: Leanne kept the existing sconces and sink in the bathroom.

ERIN KELLY

Leanne got creative in the bathroom, where she blotted two shades of paint together for a budget-friendly version of limewash. The textured walls are paired with original sconces, sink, and cast iron tub, as well as imperfect Zia tiles installed by Williams Home Services to complete the aged look. “I wanted this third floor to feel like it’s always been there,” she reflects. Mission accomplished.

AFTER: “It was a total art project,” Leanne says of the bathroom walls. “I use my own house as a place to try things. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”

ERIN KELLY