When you arrive at the El Dorado home that designer Andrea Brooks shares with her husband Jay and their two sons, Jay Anthony and Evan, the first thing you notice is her canary-yellow front door. In fact, it’s drawn lots of notice from neighbors as well. “I’ve been trying to slow down traffic on Madison Avenue, and the door definitely did the trick for about a week,” she says.
The fun, whimsical feeling established at the front door is certainly carried throughout the home’s interior. “This house just had a very quirky feel to me when we first moved in,” Andrea says. “It has very traditional bones, but something about it seemed anything but.” The historic home is the ideal showplace for Andrea and Jay’s collection of antiques, some inherited from their families, and some collected from various spots they’ve lived or traveled. However, she maintains a lighthearted atmosphere by pairing classic and contemporary pieces against a backdrop of eye-catching color. “The color scheme doesn’t exactly follow any standard combination,” she says. “It dances around the color wheel but attempts to stick with hues of the same saturation and value.” …