Some projects are quick, while others require years of fine-tuning.

​

Just ask Expert Palmer Weiss, who recently completed a cosmetic refresh and addition for longtime clients. “I honestly can’t remember a time when I wasn't working with them,” she says. The home, a stately 1908 shingle-style in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights with views of the bay and Golden Gate Bridge, graced the cover of Elle Decor in December 2014, and in certain rooms, not much has changed.

​

There’s the foyer’s French settee and the living room’s tufted English-arm sofa. “I’ll go to my grave thinking that’s a great piece of furniture,” she says of the 14-year-old custom piece with its still perfectly plush cushions. Timeless design isn’t about chasing trends but trusting your gut and knowing when to invest in a piece that’ll be stylish for decades, she notes.

​

While the home was first tailored to meet the needs of the family and their three daughters, Weiss took the opportunity to finally say goodbye to bunk beds and hello to a few more daring yet sophisticated choices.

​

That is most apparent in the kitchen, a spot now displaying dramatic lacquered cabinets and painted floors in lieu of farmhouse sinks and homework stations. “I’m a fan of a non-white kitchen,” she says. “The room gets so much light facing the back garden that it would feel luminous no matter what.” Studio Green from Farrow & Ball gave the existing cabinets a greenhouse feel and encouraged the owners to embrace an edgier aesthetic. “If you’re going to go dark, a high sheen is a nice way to offset it.”

​

Palmer worked with Eichler|Davies Architecture to “rip the band-aid off the old design” with a subtle 107-foot addition that allows for a separate, casual breakfast nook. The existing floors were on their last leg, posing a challenge as they couldn’t be sanded again and wouldn’t match the new section. Her solution? Paint them. “It was part patchwork, part solution,” she says. The decorative painter gave them a subtle tile-like wash to ensure a seamless transition to the back deck.

​

The office, once a family study with dark, library-esque paneled wood, has become the wife’s command center. “I’m typically against painting wood, but it was time to give it some fresh life,” she says. The window treatments are done in wool “so they never wrinkle,” while their tone, a pastel lavender, is a nod to the skirt fabric. “I like to find a hero fabric and then dilute that shade by about 75% and make it the second dominant color in a room,” she says.

​

The former playroom is now a chic media lounge with low-slung red Togo loungers. Window treatments act to both shade the room and cut noise during movie nights, while the art piece is one of the first items Weiss bought for her clients. “They’re in this serious house and I didn’t know if they’d have the humor, but I showed it to them and they loved it,” she says.

​

Palmer isn’t afraid to rethink a space entirely, especially when something starts to feel a little too “done.” In the primary suite, she swapped green grasscloth for a more serene palette backed by a subtle wallpaper and wavy yellow headboard, while the original bedside tables and sconces complement the calmer mood. The dressing room followed suit. Formerly all wood, a coat of Farrow & Ball Elephant's Breath, a mid-tone gray with lilac lean, pairs with a punchy botanical window treatment. If you want to revamp a room, “paint is often the easiest, but it’s not always the cheapest,” she says.

​