This Neutral and Textural New Jersey Home Is Full of Surprises

Name: Julieta Alvarez and family (two kids, husband, and dog)
Location: Montclair, New Jersey
Type of home: House (Side hall Colonial)
Size: 2,200 square feet
Years lived in: 3 years, owned

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Our home is eclectic, creative, and full of surprises. While some spaces are colorful; others are neutral and textural.

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: We are a family of five including our miniature dachshund. My eldest is 4.5 years old, and my son is 6 months. My husband and I couldn’t be any more different. He is a numbers person, hence his job is in finance; and I am a bohemian/creative type who has a very hard time with numbers and logical thinking.

We get along superbly probably because we are the exact opposites. We moved from West New York, New York (right across the river from NYC) to Montclair about three years ago. I am an interior designer working in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Anything that gets to be in my home is because it either has a meaning or memory attached to it. Or I absolutely love it and had to have it. Things that create clutter or I do not like enough, they are either given away or sold.

What is your favorite room and why? Oh, that is a tough one because they all have their own quirkiness to them, and they are all so different from one another. If I have to pick one, it would have to be my son’s room because I commissioned his own piece of art over his crib; and I painted the trim in gray (Revere Pewter) with white walls (Alabaster SW) and a light blue ceiling. So it is pretty unique and the color scheme as a whole is killer. I chose different shades of blue, green, and pops of bright yellow. I also love the simple natural wood furniture (IKEA crib and dresser) and the vintage runner over the white sisal rug.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? More art for my “never ending” gallery wall in my staircase. I think I need two small pieces and I am done. It looks done but I can fit two tiny frames still, a pair of small commissioned paintings from Valerie Leuchs. I also bought a pink and beige runner for our blue sunroom, and I am obsessed.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Yes, do NOT buy anything that you don’t completely love just to buy something. It will end up being clutter in the near future or that voice in your head would always tell you “I don’t like this thing” whenever you see it. Your mind talks, and it is usually right.

This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

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