Tour This Renovated 1928 Home In Delaney Park

Delaney Park is a laid-back neighborhood, where brick-lined streets meander around parks and lakes, and duck-crossing signs warn motorists of the two-legged, feathered residents. It’s the kind of getaway Orlando could easily fall in love with — and that’s what happened to Greg Achley and Charlie Komsky. Which is why they purchased a two-story Craftsman house built in 1928 and set out to convert it while preserving its good bones.

“We lived in Delaney Park a couple of years ago. We decided to go back and were lucky that our ex-neighbour, who had lived here for over 20 years, was preparing to sell her home. We figured it out before we put it on the market and bought it,” says Achley.

The couple appreciated the traditional elements of the house that had been preserved, such as the staircase and wooden floors in the living and dining rooms. However, their style leans more towards elegant and sophisticated modern design. The question was: How does this style fit into a more traditional home?

Atchley says that when it comes to choosing an interior designer, they know who they want. “We’ve always been fans of Ted Maines. His style, his art collection, the way he brings things together made sense to us.” Although they had seen ultra-modern Maines design in the apartments, they weren’t convinced that it could blend the traditional elements of their classic home with modern style. Once Mainz showed them examples of his work doing exactly that, they were on board.

When the interior designer began working with Ashley and Komsky, Mainz realized that the two men had a great sense of style, and that they both had a passion for design. “I felt they were a little more developed, a little smarter than a lot of people looking to do the renovation, and I wanted to do something that would embody those parts of their personalities. They travel a lot and care so much about them,” says Maines, president and director of Ted Maines Interiors at Winter Park. Entertaining, fine dining, cocktails, wine, and making friends.

Maines and his team wanted to embrace the unique architecture and original details of the house while creating an environment that would accommodate the Ashley and Komisky lifestyle and still be a comfortable home.

“We are known for our modern work. Classic and modern is our niche,” Mainz says. “My goal with this house was to have a more international style. There are elements of their homeland that can be very European.”

From the front porch, the first room the visitor enters is the living room. It serves as a welcome transitional space. The eye is drawn to the original fireplace, which was updated with tiles laid out in an eye-catching mosaic pattern. Mainz chose gold and black tiles that match well with the room’s geometric ottoman-style fabric. He brought in a mustard gold sofa and two gray armchairs in a bouclé that he contrasted with the fabric of a classic Chanel suit. “These pieces definitely have that European vibe,” he says. “For me, it has a Parisian feel.”

To give the room a clean look, Maines chose plantation shutters instead of blinds. “We thought plantation shutters would be effective where you have privacy and you can open them up to light, without adding a lot of clutter and drapery to the walls,” he explains.

Mainz also wanted to create a flexible ambiance in the living room through lighting as well as sconces installed in gold tones. Their blackout sets the perfect mood for entertaining, but sconces can also be used as strategic lighting for artwork while homeowners build their collection. The finishing touches to the room are a regulated chandelier and reflected sunlight above the mantel.

From the living room, guests enter the dining area and the adjacent open kitchen, both located between the living room and the TV room. Mainz purposely created an open area, or what he calls a “negative space,” for people to gather and move around, rather than filling the room with furniture. “People will stand and mingle, have cocktails, have appetizers and dinner. Everything socializing isn’t always done with people seated. We wanted to have great places where they could sit, but we also wanted to leave room for them to stand,” he says.

For entertainment, the zone should be easy to use. Banquette folded over a set of large windows. Here, a custom-made round table fits elegantly with three chairs upholstered in soft teal and striped velvet.

On the wall, artwork by Brazilian-born artist Rubim Ruperp is displayed. Ashley and Komsky found the sensational piece at the New York Show. “It’s eco-friendly because it’s fake” is written in neon green on a plank of artificial grass. Ashley explains that when they moved away from Delaney Park, they lost the neighborhood. For them, the artwork is a reminder that it’s not always greener on the other side.

When it came to the kitchen of the old house, a little work was needed because it was renovated two years ago. Maines decided to keep it neutral, painting the lower cabinets black to accentuate the white marble countertops and beaded ceiling, giving it a crisp update.

In turn, the TV room underwent a radical change. Everything from white and beige has been transformed into warm and dark tones. “Ted told us we wanted a cozy space, and I privately said I wanted it to be kind of dark. I’m a big movie guy,” says Komisky. Mainz brought two giant deep and luxurious Ultrasuede sofas where men can relax and unwind with ease.

“We try to use high-performance fabrics in the TV room because someone is always eating or drinking and they can spill something on the fabric,” Maines says. The color of the sofa, dark gray with brown undertones, works beautifully with the room’s grassy wallpaper. The glossy fabric wallcovering was chosen not only for its aesthetic appearance but also for its acoustic properties; Its heavy texture makes it perfect for the TV room. It also enhances framed Ashley photos from a trip to the Antarctic adorning the walls, complementing the room’s Roman shades.

When one enters the TV room, the eye is drawn to the floor, as porcelain tiles with a decorative pattern reminiscent of old world designs serve as a great accent for the décor. Rather than running bespoke tiles on the room’s edges, Maines created a solid tile border and placed an area rug over the trim to balance the floor’s overall design—and prevent bold pattern from overwhelming the room. Above, solid wood beams crisscross, bringing together all the rich colors from floor to ceiling.

Outside the TV room is a powder room, where Maines enjoyed a sepia wallpaper titled “Crowd (Where’s Warhol)” from Flavor Paper in Brooklyn. Background takes its design from a page in a file where is dad? The book was perfect for the quirky atmosphere that Mainz wanted in this space. The funky wallpaper company used a news image from 1955 of the crowd in St Peter’s Square in Rome on Easter Sunday to create the design. “Guests come out of the shower room and say ‘There are people watching me,'” says Atchley, pointing to the millions of faces covering the bathroom walls.

An enterprising innovator, Mainz approached the master bedroom with bold creativity. “We have an idea that fits in the home time frame, but it’s a little bit bolder than the rest of what we do,” Achley recalls. “He had to sell us on this.” But in the end, the guys were dumbfounded.

Maines compares the design of the master bedroom to the design of a very high-end boutique hotel room. ‘It could be in any city, anytime, in the 1940s or 2022. The room has luxurious materials, plush rugs, velor fabric for curtains, and custom linens. I love that room; it’s so elegant, sophisticated and unusual.’ Something says Maines. You don’t see it everywhere.”

The bright royal jewel tones in the bedroom are timeless and give the master a sense of luxury. Thick ceiling-to-floor curtains of emerald green velvet surround the room, creating a cocoon and masking any trace of walls and windows when closed. For Comiskey, who works as a pilot and often needs darkness to sleep during the day, blackout curtains are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also functional, as they block out light and muffle outside sounds.

Ruby red rugs enhance the room’s jewel palette. Although it has been a part of the old house for years, it is modern at the same time. “The carpet was also tough to sell, but when we saw it, we agreed it was perfect,” says Komiski.

When choosing the bed and cabinets, Mainz looked for pieces with design elements from French Empire furniture, seeking grandeur with period characteristics. Choose furnishings in a dark shade that enhance the room’s saturated colors. Adding richness to this serene space, there’s a blue outlined headboard as well as soft gold-trimmed linens, a monogrammed pillow and a gold quilt.

For a touch of intrigue, Maines chose two black chandelier-style light fixtures and hung them on either side of the bed. They add a glamorous Old Hollywood vibe to the room. These Zaha Hadid pendant lights for Slamp are made from thin sheets of Cristalflex, a shiny, translucent material like crystal, that forms an irregular sculpted silhouette. Light filters through layers to create a dimensional aesthetic.

For anyone who admires Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, lighting fixtures have sentimental value. “It was one of the last things she did before she died unexpectedly. I was very fascinated by her work, which I saw in the Middle East, Madrid and New York,” Mainz said of the architect who was considered one of the top five in the world.

The master bathroom underwent an update to change its dynamic and better complement the redesigned bedroom. The cabinets are painted a navy blue to carry the color from the bedroom to the bathroom, and they work well with the white and gray marble.

Describing the master bedroom and bathroom, Maines doesn’t hold back from his enthusiasm: “I thought it was really different, but it’s also timeless and wonderful. I just love the luxurious feel of it. It screams elegant and gorgeous and so luxurious.”

But the stylist doesn’t stop there: “I can bring my toothbrush and go back to live in that house. I really like it. I like the way it’s done, the whole ambiance.”

Ashley and Komisky, no doubt, echo his sentiments.