“We go way back,” interior designer Rebekah Zaveloff of KitchenLab Interiors says of her friend Lorie FitzGibbon. “We grew up together in Ohio. My mom owned a store that sold the latest fashions; Lorie’s mom was an art dealer. We were both heavily influenced by the style of the late ’70s and early ’80s—boho/hippy meets disco and glam.” So when Lorie and husband John built a new home in the Chicago suburbs, Lorie knew where to find her style muse. “First, I told her what I didn’t want,” Lorie says with a laugh. “I didn’t want a kitschy lake house—even though the property is on a lake—or a house that looked brand-new and didn’t fit with the 50-year-old houses in this little neighborhood.” Zaveloff was already on the same page. “My firm has primarily done remodels—in fact, this was our first new home from the ground up,” she says. “I love the character that comes with old houses, and I wanted to give that aesthetic to Lorie in a home with casual elegance.” The key, the friends agreed, was bringing elements from past eras into the new interiors. “When others zig, Lorie and I zag,” Zaveloff says. “We have an almost visceral reaction to anything that feels too trendy.” Instead, the friends turned to vintage furnishings and rugs, along with other elements that nod to the past, to infuse rooms with an old soul and juxtapose contemporary ingredients in a sophisticated mix. It all starts in the entry, where Zaveloff paired two pieces that Lorie already owned—an 18th-century carved cabinet and a painting by Colombian-American artist Oscar Murillo—with textural shagreen porcelain tile and a vintage rug. In the great room, a newly purchased linen sofa—and a well-loved leather counterpart that Zaveloff had restuffed—join in a multi-era repertoire with brass Design Institute America chairs and a lacquered goatskin coffee table from the 1970s. Lorie spotted the sprawling 60×60-inch table on Chairish. “I fell in love with it, and Rebekah said, ‘Buy it—it’s fabulous!’” Lorie says. “My husband wasn’t so sure, though. He said, ‘You’re buying used furniture?’ I said, ‘It’s preowned. It just has a few scratches, and we have teenagers. If this table made it through 40 years, it’s going to make it through our children.’” An envelope of white walls and neutral upholstery provides an ideal canvas for Lorie’s collected art pieces and a trove of throw pillows covered in patterns that evoke distant travels. “At first glance, it might look like a lot of beige, but it’s not,” Zaveloff says. “The palette with its faded pinks and purples was inspired by a dream trip I took to Marrakesh.” Lorie collects 1950s zodiac pieces by Fred Press. “I started with my own sign, Pisces,” she says. “Now I’m missing just one: Scorpio. It’s very fun. Everyone looks for their sign.” Geometric forms thread through the house, including the staircase. In the mudroom, geometric tile continues the pattern play and stands up to grimy paws. A Jehs + Laub for Nemo chandelier defines the great room’s dining zone. A portrait by Alex Katz hangs over the refinished vintage burl wood table. “Everyone insists it looks like me,” Lorie says. Black cabinetry and handmade tile dial up the drama in the bar area. The melding of influences continues in the kitchen, where Zaveloff contrasted white-painted cabinetry with rift-cut white oak. Traditional moldings and paneled doors play off the farmhouse simplicity of a shiplap-covered range hood. White quartzite countertops politely turn the spotlight on backsplash materials: marble-look porcelain behind the range, terra-cotta tile with a geometric bronze inlay behind the sink. Contemporary black accents marry with timeless unlacquered brass. Caneback, tubular-steel counter stools—a ’70s favorite descended from Marcel Breuer’s 1928 “Cesca” design—provide seating. “There is no one style, no one era,” Zaveloff says. “It’s about how materials interact. I learned that during my time as a collage artist, and it’s just as important in interior design.” When Zaveloff couldn’t find a marble slab long enough for the island she envisioned, she took inspiration from a vintage French cabinet and trimmed the marble with wood. A new hutch built to look like an old piece contrasts the white oak island. A main-level master suite features rich texture in the bedroom, where Zaveloff reupholstered Lorie’s existing headboard and flanked the bed with vintage burl maple side tables. A light-filled master bath offers generous spans of white oak cabinetry, replated vintage mirrors, and a floor clad in trellis-inspired tile. Zaveloff called on a timeless mix of warm and cool tones for this sanctuary space. The kids’ rooms—plus a family room and second kitchen—reside in the ranch home’s walkout basement, where French doors open to the backyard and lake beyond. A walkout basement opens to the lake, making it a great spot for entertaining—and a second kitchen. Cabinets coated in Farrow & Ball’s “Hague Blue,” teamed with Ann Sacks tile on the backsplash, make the space a stunner. A patio and dock take in lovely lake views. “Being on the lake provides immediate serenity,” Zaveloff says. “You don’t need to travel. Here, you feel like you’re on vacation all the time. It’s a place you never want to leave.” Lorie agrees. “I love this house,” she says. “There’s so much of me—and Rebekah—in here,” she says. “We filled this home with things from the ’70s and ’80s that I love. It makes it feel good—it feels like our childhood. And that’s a really happy feeling.”
