Home: Color Theories

Wielding a bold palette, owners of a 19th-century Rittenhouse townhome take historic living personally

“If I had to tell you what my dream house would be, this would be it,” says Deena Flanagan of her bursting-with-color Spruce Street home, where bright blues give way to rich reds and purples, Asian antiques blend with a Federal-style fireplace, and a flat-screen TV sits comfortably opposite a fireplace

“If I had to tell you what my dream house would be, this would be it,” says Deena Flanagan of her bursting-with-color Spruce Street home, where bright blues give way to rich reds and purples, Asian antiques blend with a Federal-style fireplace, and a flat-screen TV sits comfortably opposite a fireplace with Portuguese tiles depicting a bullfight. “I wouldn’t even want a place where I had designed every detail. The best thing about the house is the eclectic mix of furnishings and color set against an 1860s backdrop.”

Before Deena and her husband, Michael, bought the Rittenhouse gem in the rough in 2002, the previous owner had been been making slow renovating progress, and many original details were intact. Relying on a strong aesthetic sense — Deena is the owner of graphic design business Little Red Fish, and Michael is the director of marketing for Bresslergroup, a product design firm in Center City — the couple made palette choices based on personal items or architectural details in each room. “The rooms all feel totally different, and it suits our personality,” she says. Still, during an entire summer of choosing paint colors, she only got French pedicures. “I just couldn’t pick out another color!”

View the full slideshow of the Flanagan’s home here.