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Interior designer Brittany Hakimfar and her husband, Benjamin, renovated their Philadelphia home after moving from the West Coast to the state where she grew up. The project focused less on structural changes than on scaling down the feel of the large home through intimate rooms, contrasting materials and spaces for family life and entertaining.
Interior designer Brittany Hakimfar and her husband, Benjamin, renovated their Philadelphia home after moving from the West Coast to Pennsylvania, reshaping its expansive rooms to support family life, entertaining and quieter retreats. In a Livingetc report, Hakimfar said the work focused on creating intimacy and changing the home’s dark, dated interiors rather than undertaking extensive structural alterations.
Hakimfar, who trained with designer Waldo Fernandez before founding Far Studio with Benjamin, combined finishes associated with her work in Los Angeles and New York with a darker, more textural palette. The design includes pale oak, rich woods, veined stone, clay-colored walls, black zellige tile and plaid or toile-patterned wallpaper. The couple also added a custom steel-and-glass front door to bring more light into the entry.
The original interiors were dark and, as Hakimfar described them, “so dark, they felt medieval.” The renovation removed heavy window treatments and replaced monotone finishes with a mix of materials, including plasterwork, fluted cabinetry, velvet, wallpapered ceilings and contrasting stone. Hakimfar said the house needed little structural work, but its large proportions called for a more intimate layout.
The living spaces were organized around different uses. The kitchen and family room act as everyday hubs for the couple and their three children, Liv, nine, Leo, seven, and Lex, three. A bar near the dining room was designed to make entertaining easier, while a library and music room, an attic den and quieter sitting areas offer distinct settings. The unfinished attic was converted into a retreat, and the eaves sitting room received an all-black bathroom with a steam shower.
How the Layout Supports Daily Life
The project’s central design choice was to make a large home feel more connected to the people living in it. Instead of treating scale as a feature to emphasize, Hakimfar said the layout was intended to encourage gathering, family time, reading, music and privacy. That approach links decorative decisions to practical use: the bar serves guests, the kitchen and family room anchor household routines, and the attic provides a place for the adults to relax after the children are in bed.
The renovation also illustrates how a home can draw on more than one regional influence without relying on a single uniform style. Hakimfar described bringing some of the understated finishes associated with Los Angeles into a Philadelphia house while adding darker colors and tactile materials. The result, as presented in the report, is a series of rooms with differing moods rather than one repeated palette. The feature does not assess costs, resale effects or energy performance, so its account is about the design and the family’s experience, not a measured evaluation of the renovation.
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From West Coast to Philadelphia
The move carried personal significance for Hakimfar, who grew up in Pennsylvania and had worked in both New York and Los Angeles. “Moving back to the state where I grew up, having worked both in New York and LA, was a big deal for us,” she told Livingetc. Her account frames the home as part of the family’s return, as well as a design project shaped by the couple’s routines.
Hakimfar said the house had been very dark when the family acquired it, and she wanted to change every surface. The redesign retained dramatic dark moments but used texture and material variation to keep rooms from feeling flat. Among the specific choices described in the feature are blackened steel and glass shelving at the bar, hand-painted brass cabinet fronts, bluestone Belgian flooring, white oak cabinetry and a clay wall finish. The report identifies the home as being in Philadelphia but does not give its address or a timeline for the work.
““Moving back to the state where I grew up, having worked both in New York and LA, was a big deal for us.””
— Brittany Hakimfar, as quoted by Livingetc
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Project Costs and Timeline Not Reported
Livingetc’s feature does not specify the renovation’s budget, start date or completion date. Hakimfar said the work took years longer to finish, but the report does not give a precise duration or explain how much of the delay came from the project’s scope, scheduling or other factors. It also does not provide independent assessments of the construction work or details about permits.
The source presents the home through the designer-owner’s account and photographs. It does not include comments from Benjamin Hakimfar, contractors or outside experts, and it does not establish whether the described choices are typical of Philadelphia renovations. Claims about how the rooms function reflect the family’s experience as reported by Hakimfar.
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The Family’s Ongoing Use of Home
The Livingetc report describes the renovation as finished and the family as living in the home, with daily life divided between family routines, work and hosting guests. Hakimfar said she and Benjamin use the attic retreat to watch a show after the children are in bed, while the kitchen and family room remain central shared spaces. She also described the neighborhood’s seasonal changes as part of what makes the house feel like a refuge.
The article does not announce further renovation plans or identify a coming project milestone. The next developments, if any, are not specified in the source; the feature’s focus is the completed design and how the family uses it.
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Key Questions
Who renovated the Philadelphia home?
Brittany and Benjamin Hakimfar renovated the home. Brittany is an interior designer and co-founded Far Studio with Benjamin.
What was the main goal of the renovation?
Hakimfar said the goal was to make the home’s expansive proportions feel more intimate and arrange spaces for gathering, family life, entertaining and quiet retreat.
What design changes did the couple make?
The work introduced a mix of light and dark finishes, including oak, stone, clay walls, patterned wallpaper and black zellige tile. The couple also added a custom steel-and-glass front door and converted an unfinished attic into a retreat.
How long did the renovation take, and what did it cost?
The report gives no exact timeline or budget. Hakimfar said the project took years longer to finish, but did not provide a specific duration or cost.
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