Pembroke Pittsburgh Featured in Table Magazine Summer 2025
Our Pembroke project is in Table Magazine!
The Summer 2025 issue just came out, and they featured our renovation of Pembroke — a 1903 landmark in the Squirrel HIll area of Pittsburgh’s historic East End, just minutes from Shadyside and Squirrel Hill. Table called it a serene and sophisticated renovation, which made me smile because that’s exactly what this family wanted.
This house is 120 years old. It has the kind of original woodwork and architectural detail you simply can’t replicate anymore — intricate crown molding, white oak trim, hardwood floors that have seen a century of life. But like so many of Pittsburgh’s historic homes, it also had dark, compartmentalized rooms, outdated kitchens and baths, and beautiful details that had been painted over or neglected over the years.
The clients are a young family with two little ones. They wanted something that felt calm and sophisticated for the adults, but still durable and happy for kids. Less rainbow this time, more serenity.
How we approached it - For Pembroke, we kept coming back to three ideas:
1. Preserve the architecture.
We restored the original white oak trim, the crown moldings, and the hardwood floors throughout the first floor. In the living and dining rooms, we kept the original proportions and freshened everything with paint — Benjamin Moore White Dove on the trim, and a soft lavender-gray on the walls that lets the woodwork shine.
2. Create a soft palette.
Unlike Cornerstone, which was all about bold color, Pembroke wanted to be quiet. The client loves lavender, so we built the whole palette around soft whites and warm grays and layered lavender in unexpected places — a Schumacher wallpaper in the powder room, lavender velvet dining chairs in Perennials performance velvet (so kid-proof), and handmade ceramic tile in the kitchen in the softest lilac glaze.
3. Layered patterns, from quiet to high-impact.
This is what Table Magazine picked up on. In the primary bedroom, we kept the patterns quiet — a subtle Pierre Frey linen, a textured Stark rug that feels like a hug. Then in the family room, we let ourselves have a little more fun with a bold House of Hackney print and some vintage art we collected along the way.
The result is a home that still honors its 1903 roots, but now feels playful and inviting for modern family life. Serene and sophisticated, just like Table said.
Thank you so much to Table Magazine for featuring Pembroke in your Summer 2025 issue, and to our wonderful clients for trusting us with this landmark.
Featured in Table Magazine Summer 2025
See the full project: Pembroke Pittsburgh
Read the full article: Table Magazine