Long before Pantone announced Cloud Dancer as the Color of the Year, the interior designer Leanne Ford was making her mark on homes across the nation with a white-on-white palette. In addition to restoring residential properties to glory on HGTV, Ms. Ford became known for putting an edgy-yet-elevated spin on Buck Mason’s retail stores (her husband is a co-founder) and designing collections for retailers like Crate & Barrel and Loloi that embody her lived-in aesthetic.

True to her roots, most of the design of her own home is monochromatic white. But the sunroom in the 20th-century cottage — bathed in dusty, earth tones that absorb all the natural light pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows — stands out.

In 2020, Ms. Ford and her husband, Erik Allen Ford, relocated to Sewickley, Pa. from Los Angeles, looking to slow down their lives and be closer to family after having their daughter, Ever. They purchased the cottage, which was built in the 1900s, after three months of house hunting. Ms. Ford’s 2024 book, “The Slow Down,”captures her passion for stewarding the house. “It’s the house that affects the point of view,” she said.

As only the third owners of the historic property, the Fords wanted to preserve as much of the home’s original details as they could, finding small ways to bring the 1,200-square-foot space to life for a 21st century family.

Although she doesn’t like to pick favorites, Ms. Ford felt drawn to the sunroom from the first moment she stepped on its terra-cotta floors. But when the Fords first moved in, they couldn’t shake the disconnectedness of the space compared to the rest of the house. According to the designer, it had been a neglected breakfast room, closed off from the kitchen by a wall with a door. Her husband suggested getting rid of the wall entirely, which they did in a month long demolition. They also removed a fireplace, which Ms. Ford used in another residential project in the neighborhood.

Otherwise, Ms. Ford insisted that “how you see it is exactly how we found it,” including original glass which “is not the smartest for the heating bill, but that doesn’t bother me one bit.”

Now that the sunroom has been tastefully refined, the Fords treat it as their family room. The door is usually propped open, providing direct access to the enchanting garden in the backyard. (Recently, the room was the star of the campaign for Ms. Ford’s rug collection with Loloi, inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel “The Secret Garden.”)

The sunroom has seen many iterations, including as an all-white oasis with plushy cloudlike furniture, but at the moment, the designer is enjoying this chapter in the house; she describes it as the “feel free era” of design where all styles are welcome in a “no judgment zone.”

“Our homes are our best canvas, and they’re the best place to try things and practice and play,” Ms. Ford added.

Easy Upgrade

D.I.Y. ceiling molding

In the middle of her project to open up the sunroom, Ms. Ford noticed that the kitchen ceiling had an Art Deco-style molding. She thought that recreating this architectural detail would make it feel like one continuous space.

To achieve the look, she layered three 1-by-6 primed boards from Home Depot on top of each other to form a stepped border running across the perimeter of the ceiling and painted them with Shoji White paint from Sherwin Williams. Ms. Ford described it as a “fun accidental victory,” but she admitted that “although the material was not expensive, it wasn’t a small feat to create.” A vintage pendant from Rengi Living dangling from the ceiling was the finishing touch.

Splurge

A vintage 1970s Ligne Roset Cinna Sofa from Eneby Home, $11,500

When Ms. Ford spotted a corduroy couch in a washed-out, rusty hue, it vaguely reminded her of the one she grew up with in the suburbs of Pittsburgh during the ’80s. This particular vintage Ligne Roset sofa was from Eneby Home, a Nashville store that sells modern and vintage furnishings and antiques. Ms. Ford met the owners, Doug and Carina Jenkins, the first time that she went to Round Top Antiques Fair in Fayette County, Texas back in 2017.

The family isn’t precious about the luxury sofa — she and her husband drag it around for movie nights and other activities. “Everybody can jump on that thing, it kind of lives as a jungle gym for my daughter,” Ms. Ford said. “The corduroy makes it feel warm and inviting and more family-roomish.”

One of a Kind

A vintage cabinet from Eneby Home, $20,000

Like most modern families, the Fords spend a good amount of time in front of the TV. They bought a Samsung Frame TV, which displays artwork as a screen saver when not in use, but Ms. Ford wasn’t jazzedabout putting it on the wall alongside beautiful artworks by Heather Chontos and Hugh Holland; the very idea of the TV being the focal point in the room felt outdated to her. Instead, the designer’s preference was to hide the screen inside a vintage wood cabinet with glass doors that she’d been eyeing from Eneby Home.

In her previous homes, Ms. Ford never had a room that was large enough to accommodate such a massive piece, but once the keys to the cottage were in her hands, she wondered if the cabinet might work on the only solid wall in the sunroom. It turned out to be the perfect fit, and also blended in with the surrounding glass walls.

Along with concealing the television, the oversize cabinet is used to store an inventory of items, including an assortment of vintage china, arts and crafts supplies, and gift-wrapping materials. Although the cabinet wasflawless in its composition, Ms. Ford still felt compelled to whitewash it with a thin coat of paint; she also had to cut through it to mount the TV.

“I always talk about ‘for the greater good of the room,’” she said. “Yes, this cabinet is magical, but if it’s not doing its job right in this realm then we’ve got to adjust that. I think for the greater good, sometimes you’ve got to take some paint to things.”