When Kim Noland decided to take on a complete renovation of a 120-year-old home in Athens, Georgia, she had a fresh start in mind. On the heels of a divorce, she desired a welcoming place for herself and her three children—Mary Abbott (now 14), Caroline (12), and Trip (10)—to begin a new phase, and the house was ready for its own sequel. “It felt like exactly what we needed,” she says.

For Noland, a Texas native who has lived in Athens for more than 17 years, staying close to her current neighborhood was of paramount importance. “My kids have so many friends who live nearby, and they love to walk to the bakery and chocolate shop,” she says. “It’s just a great place to grow up.”

The Craftsman-style home was one of the first to be built along a historic street in the Five Points area, just blocks from the University of Georgia’s campus and the scenic row of sorority and fraternity houses on Milledge Avenue. It instantly grabbed Noland’s interest, as she had been looking for “something to preserve.” She tapped Tami Ramsay of the interior design firm Cloth & Kind, who had worked with her on previous projects, to team up again for this undertaking.

The renovation took roughly seven months from start to finish, and the end result is an old-meets-new haven that is oriented for the whole family. “I wanted somewhere that the dogs could get up on the sofa and my kids could do their crafts at the dining table,” says Noland. “It’s very cozy and calm.”

“It was quite a departure from her previous home, which leaned toward more masculine colors and formal materials, like dark wood,” says Ramsay. “We wanted to go for a brighter, more light-filled look that reflected her own style and interests, free of any compromise.” That perspective extended from the interiors to the layout.

Tweaking the existing flow, as well as rewriting some elements from a no-love-lost 1960s add-on, required approval from the local historic preservation commission. “We didn’t end up changing anything drastically as far as the original blueprint or size,” notes Ramsay.

There was an unsightly porch that had been tacked on at the rear of the house. “It needed a major refresh,” says Ramsay, who helped turn it into a flower-centric mudroom where Noland could indulge her love of gardening and arrange flowers. Meanwhile, a side room next to the entry was absorbed into the primary suite to create an inviting sitting area and private library, offering a special hideaway for holding Noland’s favorite reads as well as family heirlooms. “The kids have ended up using these rooms as much as me for their own hobbies,” Noland says.

Core facets of the historic home were honored, including a closed floor plan, while other features, like the kitchen, were updated and expanded to better suit the family of four and their two dogs—Ava, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, and Clue, a young Labrador retriever who “helped break in the house,” recalls Noland. To match the unique single-pane, vertically aligned window style in the existing kitchen, Ramsay commissioned perfect reproductions to flank an elegant AGA Elise range and allow in more light.

“Since she brought over many furniture pieces from her old house, we focused on transforming them to fit into her new aesthetic,” says Ramsay, who reupholstered certain elements and dispersed dark wood antique furnishings amid lighter, breezier options. A sofa now used in the library was effectively sliced in half, re-covered in a stylish bouclé fabric, and given custom armrests that were made to match the built-in bookshelves.

Thoughtful, undaunted uses of color throughout weave the whole place together from the moment you step onto the front porch, where the ceilings are coated in classic “haint blue” paint. Cabinets, shelves, and interior millwork are washed in other shades of blue, which accent the library, kitchen, and coffered ceiling beams in the living room. The botanical-themed mudroom and her daughter’s bedroom and bath are rooted in earthy greens. “I lucked out that this house hadn’t been touched in 60 years—shag carpets, paneled walls, and all,” Noland says, laughing. “Now it’s the perfect place for us.”