With Flying Colors: A Dream House Realized

When Susan and Tom Jones met their 1930s Colonial, it wasn't exactly love at first sight. After the couple bought the place in 2005, an inspection revealed that the wiring—all of it—was faulty. So down came the walls, along with more than a few creature comforts. And—a hallelujah moment for her—the clean slate provided a chance to layer on character that the home sorely lacked.

A pair of slate-gray Lee Industries sofas and muted lavender walls—Martha Stewart's Saskatoon—set a soothing tone in the living room. Susan found the rug at an antiques store in Colorado and the ottoman at a Henry Road sale.

Bright Idea: All it takes is grosgrain ribbon and upholstery tacks to give a classic sofa a cheeky update on the cheap.

Fay the Weimaraner strikes a pose next to a linen-upholstered antique armchair. Susan Jones bought the cuckoo clock at The Conran Shop.

Eight-year-old Henry curls up in a Dennis & Leen wingback chair, covered in Schumacher fabric. This nook, as well as the rest of the expansive kitchen, was painted with Ralph Lauren's Chocolate Soufflé.

Stainless steel countertops bring a hit of industrial gleam to the kitchen, furnished with Pottery Barn stools painted white to match the custom cabinets.

A Maine Cottage table and vintage side chairs sit atop an antique rug in the breakfast nook. High shelves keep Susan's collection of white pottery on display. The pendant lamp is from Design Within Reach.

You won't see many mudrooms painted bright orange, but Susan chose the color, without hesitation, for its "good sense of humor."

In the mudroom, painted Ralph Lauren's California Poppy, Eloise and Fay chill out on a Ballard Designs bench, while the family's achshund, Dot, lingers beneath a Pottery Barn clock. A red Harry Allen for Areaware frame gives Henry's self-portrait real presence.

Susan scored this game table (its top slides out and folds open) at a local flea market, then later discovered it's a sought-after piece created by Edward Wormley for Dunbar.

A pair of dry-erase maps from Hammacher Schlemmer join forces to become worldly wallpaper—and inspire Henry to dream big. His bed is from Pottery Barn Kids; the linens and green-and-blue basket are from Land of Nod.

When Eloise outgrew her formerly pink bedroom, Susan came up with the idea of painted chalkboard stripes. A plaid blanket by Ratzer adds texture to Nancy Koltes linens atop the Room & Board bed. At its foot, Dot lounges on an estate-sale bench covered with oilcloth.

Tom and Susan Jones join son Henry and daughter Eloise on the front stoop of their 1930s Colonial in Mission Hills, Kansas.

Friends have started asking where they can buy some of the bright pieces that populate the home’s interior, so Susan’s decided to try her hand at furniture design. She plans to start small, with a custom line featuring a handful of items—vintage finds she doctors to look fresh—with the hopes of eventually creating an entire collection she'll market to the trade.