Before & After: Three Creative Sisters Team Up to Remodel Their Mom’s Forever Home

The cheerful Seattle midcentury sports fish scale shingles, punchy paint, and stained glass windows designed by one of the siblings.
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One of the first times Cynthia Chua saw her future home in person, it was about to take an excavator to its side. Fortunately, the Seattle property was handpicked by two of her daughters, Sarah and Julia Smith, who have a keen eye for design: Sarah is an architect at local firm Best Practice Architecture, and Julia works at Unique Art Glass, a family-owned, custom stained glass studio.

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Rachel Gallaher
Rachel Gallaher is one of the design industry’s most prolific writers, contributing regularly to dozens of titles, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Robb Report, Dwell, Architectural Digest, Azure, Luxe, and...