From home interiors to fashion runways, a particular kind of quiet luxury has come to define the past decade––restrained palettes, hushed materials, and statement pieces that don’t do much more than whisper. What happens when calm is no longer found in color’s absence, but instead in its abundance? This joyful Long Island home offers a different answer: joy as a design principle, color as a reset.
Set atop a hill and surrounded by old-growth trees, this 12,000-square-foot contemporary home was originally conceived as a study in minimalism—clean lines, sharp angles, and an all-white interior that mirrored the prevailing aesthetic of restraint. But for its owners, a dynamic family deeply rooted in New York’s culture, that neutrality felt less like sanctuary and more like silence. What they wanted instead was something far more radical: a home that radiates happiness.
Working with a blank canvas and full creative freedom, Shanna Gatanis Design Studio leaned into a subversive approach, transforming the stark shell into a saturated, high-energy environment that still manages to feel deeply restorative. The result is not chaos, but calibration, and a declaration that joy can be just as grounding as stillness.
Bright hues are uplifting with the power to positively affect changes in mood. Color, in this sense, becomes less about decoration and more about emotional infrastructure and a tool for resilience. Here, that philosophy is embedded into every space.
The palette pulls from 1990s hip hop ephemera, retro sports graphics, and the chromatic buzz of a recycled Nike sneaker floor—the project’s unlikely starting point. Blues anchor the home, providing a sense of depth and continuity, while saturated reds, yellows, and greens move through the interiors with rhythm to create visual beats that energize without overwhelming.
It’s a deliberate rejection of “chromophobia”—that quiet cultural fear of color that has long dictated what is considered “tasteful.” Instead, this house leans into what color does best: reflecting mood, amplifying joy, and even inviting participation.
The home’s delicate balance between vibrancy and excess lies in its material intelligence. Warm woods, terrazzo, colored glass, and lacquered surfaces create layers of tactility, while sheer fabrics and rounded, 1970s-inspired forms soften the intensity. The effect is immersive but palatable for daily life.
Programmatically, the house unfolds as both a playground and retreat. Open entertainment zones flow into more intimate family spaces, while amenities—a basketball court, music lounge, pools, and a convertible outdoor room—extend the idea of home into something experiential.
Moments of delight are everywhere, often quite literally. A Lego-inspired fireplace rises as a sculptural focal point. A graffiti mural weaves together Brooklyn, Biggie, and basketball into a visual love letter to the family’s roots. While these gestures could be read as whimsical, they become markers of identity, memory, and belonging.
That sense of personal narrative is what ultimately elevates the project beyond spectacle to autobiography. Perhaps calm isn’t always found in muting the world, but in meeting it in full technicolor. And to do that means dialing up the saturation.
To see this and other works by the unabashed design studio, visit shannagatanis.com.
Photography courtesy of nickjohnsoninteriors.com.
