“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today” is a saying often attributed to Ben Franklin to discourage procrastination—the idea being that the sooner a task is done the more time you’ll have to relish the fruits of your labor. A young family of five took that notion to heart after purchasing a Capitol Hill row house. “They’re in the weeds of their careers in lobbying and have young kids; they didn’t want to wait to do the entire house at once,” shares Richmond-based interior designer Elly Cooper, who steered the project. “They wanted to make the first floor inhabitable asap, so they could enjoy it and entertain friends and family.”

The circa-1890 brick abode was in mint condition and needed no major renovations, a lucky break for the couple. The only modifications were the conversion of the fireplaces back to wood-burning and the removal of some overly ornate mantel details that had been added over the years. However, the home’s dark interiors and Victorian spirit were at odds with the wife’s colorful Southern sensibility. “The question was, ‘How do we brighten it up while still maintaining the history of this older house?’” reflects Cooper.

A scenic wallpaper—one of the wife’s must-haves for the dining room—offered the necessary spark to alight the scheme. A garden view of blossoming trees against a pale cerulean background, “it gave us a launching point for the palette,” explains the designer. As the enfilade of rooms unfolds, a wash of blues and greens unfurls with dashes of pink and paprika in good measure. Cooper learned about color and continuity from the best: She trained under designers Ashley Whittaker and Meg Braff. “I always make sure there is a thread,” she notes. “You never want everything to match perfectly, but something has to pull your eyes through, while giving you a minute to exhale between rooms.”

Crossing over the threshold into the vestibule with its time-worn mosaic tiles feels like stepping back in time. An architecturally inspired wallpaper by Katie Ridder gooses the space with assertive color, providing a fun, modern foil to the original floor. “The wife said it was her favorite thing because it gives people a peek at what’s to come inside the house,” says Cooper. “That paper took the space from gloomy and sad to vibrant and fun!”

The cheerful mood continues in the adjacent front parlor where scale was key in order to fit the family grand piano. An abstract painting by Richmond artist Kiki Slaughter presides over traditional-leaning furnishings in shades of sage and sky. Trim, applied to pillows and skirted chairs, echoes the inlaid Greek key border of the original hardwood floors throughout the main level. “One of the fun challenges of working with a row house is that it forces you to make sure the rooms have a connection while still feeling like individual spaces,” says Cooper.

And like the blossoms referenced in the film Steel Magnolias, sometimes things that appear pretty and delicate on the surface are surprisingly hardy. Take the furnishings and finishes, which exude Southern gentility yet are durable enough for the couple’s three young children. The Bunny Williams dining table and many of the upholstered pieces were designed to take a beating. One of Cooper’s tricks? “If we need to pick practical fabrics, let’s give it a bit of an edge. I always use contrast cords, tapes and gimps to add a little polish,” she says.

Summing up her process, she adds: “My clients are going to such great lengths to work with a designer, so I want every piece of furniture in a house to feel like it was made exactly for them.” It’s all those little details that add up to a home that feels like a deeply personal reflection of its inhabitants.