From Shadows to Light in a 1970s Washington Split-Level

For Emily Nicoara, renovating her 1970s split-level in Richland, Washington, meant putting her whole story into the walls. “My goal was to strip back the curtain, show the sides of ourselves we had kept hidden, pull forward memories that had been buried for safekeeping, and find joy behind the pressures of life,” she says.

Named Project 1994 for the year both she and her husband were born, the home moves between mossy greens, stormy browns, and warm, copper light, telling a story of turmoil, nostalgia, tension, and joy. Each space holds a piece of their shared history from the weight of years as firefighters to the quiet triumph of creating a home that feels beautiful and emotionally layered.

Design: Emily Nicoara Design Studio | Photography: Amy Bartlam | Florals: Belle Flower Farm

A Kitchen Steeped in Nostalgia

The kitchen was always going to be the heart of the story—a space that could hold the weight of Emily’s memories while working harder for daily life. The original layout, with its clunky peninsula and undersized island, chopped the room in half and turned its back on the view of rolling green hills. By reorienting the kitchen toward the outdoors, removing upper cabinets, and coating the cabinetry in Farrow & Ball’s Broccoli Brown (“It mimics moss growing alongside a river,” she says), Emily grounded the home in nature and nostalgia.

The plastered limewash walls feel soft under shifting daylight, while honed Statuario marble and scalloped glass-topped shelves from her Nara Collection add depth and detail. In the dining room, a vintage table and Turkish rug create a seamless rhythm to the space.

Living Spaces Full of Joy

In the living room, Emily set out to balance the adrenaline of firefighting with the relief of coming through the other side. “The immense joy of overcoming challenges,” she calls it. Harsh ’70s angles were tempered with curves: a copper rug that glows in the evening sun, a custom white oak Luca table, and drapery that pools softly on wide-plank floors. The mantel and stone facade were stripped from the fireplace, allowing the asymmetrical walls to stand uninterrupted.

Just beyond, the entryway frames a 17th-century French tapestry against a custom white oak front door. The scalloped wrought iron handrails feel at home beside the console table, featuring salvaged marble from an old bakery, set atop iron legs once used in Arizona’s mines. Emily and her husband drove it 36 hours straight to get it home, and she says it was well worth the work.

Moody Rooms with a Glimmer of Hope

The entertainment room and powder bath reflect a quieter, more introspective side of the home.  Inspired by the quote “I sat with my anger until she told me her name was grief,” Emily drenched the walls in JH Wall Paints’ 109, a moody beige-gray that feels like standing in the eye of a storm. Open shelving replaces the old closet, hiding toys behind cafe curtains while vintage pottery and books line the rest.

In the powder bath, the same color wraps the walls and cabinetry, allowing the rough-edged travertine to stand out, along with the vintage glass pendant. When sunlight hits, the glass scatters tiny rainbows—“a touch of hope after the storm.”

A Home That Holds it All

From the moss-colored cabinets to the moody walls downstairs, Project 1994 carries its story in every surface. It’s a home that holds space for joy and grief, for the quiet pull of nostalgia and the lightness that comes after a storm. The design nods to Emily’s classic Modern European aesthetic, but what lingers is the feeling and the way each room meets you where you are.

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