The local designer made his 1970s home inviting through smart design solutions and an accessible, eclectic blend of furnishings.
by Hampton Williams Hofer | by Catherine Nguyen

For Barnett Adler, spaces are almost like living entities. He is always moving, adding, subtracting, figuring out what works. If it doesn’t work, he puts it all back. “I believe in always being open to the option of letting a space change,” Adler says. His friends play a game when they come over, trying to spot what is different, which little piece is new or in a new spot. Adler’s home, in the Quail Hollow neighborhood of Raleigh, is one of seven in a cul-de-sac built in the 1970s, all following a similar floor plan. When he bought the three-bedroom, three-bath space in 2018, he was pleased to see that the previous renovations to the home were well-done and that he liked the direction they were headed. He was also uniquely suited to tailor the home to his own needs.

Adler is a local designer who has worked on dozens of homes around the Triangle. A Wilson native who attended North Carolina State University, Adler has always been connected to Raleigh through his father’s family, which owned a string of retail stores in what was then Cameron Village and on Fayetteville Street — but his first career was in fine jewelry. That led him to working in painted finishes, which gave him entry into people’s houses, igniting his passion for design. In the early 1990s, he opened a home store in Richmond, Virginia, called Du Soleil, which offered a mix of traditional and modern pieces in a fun and funky space that foreshadowed his future home and style.

“People would come into that store and say, This place is so cool— will you come help me do my living room?” Adler recalls.

Many designer showcases later, Adler found himself increasingly drawn to the building side of design — creating the space itself, not just decorating it. “It’s a different experience to get to do both halves,” he says. “Building is the focus, but then it’s fun to be able to go with something I’ve designed and take it to the end of the line, until a whole space is fully realized.”

To update his own home, he gave the interior a facelift — rethinking rooms, building in clever small-space solutions — put on an addition, redid the landscaping and updated the siding and paint. Adler turned the living room into his dining room and de- signed a 325-square-foot living room addition in keeping with the neat and functional vibe of the house: tall ceiling, slanted roof. Now up to 2,000 square feet, his home lives large while entertaining even with modestly sized rooms (he’s hosted a cocktail party for 75!).

Adler is a solution maker, creating his own furniture when needed to suit the space. His kitchen table, for example, sits on an industrial pivot hinge, allowing it to swivel back into the island. In the original house, the small space in front of the island had been a crowded dining area that clogged the path toward the patio. Now the bar top can swing closed for a sleek, spacious feel or swing open to give four or five diners a comfortable table with a better view. (At a recent party, Adler swung it out at an angle to use as a bar.)

Another feature he designed himself is the built-in area under the stairs. Once a floating staircase, it now boasts Baltic Birch plywood shelving with a section that pulls out, hiding computer routers and cords that require accessibility but not visibility. Adler’s style is varied; he likes what speaks to him. He once saw a late-20th-century French rattan chandelier listed for more than $3,000 on an antiques resale website. He bought an identical one for his own dining room from Pier 1 for $49. “You don’t have to spend a ton of money all the time,” he says. “It’s all about the mix. There is much to be said for quality furniture, but you can find cool things anywhere.” Adler also likes playing with shapes and geometric repetition.

In one bathroom, a hexagon-shaped mirror complements a matte black herringbone floor and hexagonal shower tiles. In the dining room, the round table sits upon a rug with circles, under a round chandelier. A rounded sculpture of driftwood lives on a table nearby. “People might not catch it,” he says, of the geometric coordination, “but once I start playing with it, I take off.” The art in his home, all of which is original, follows suit. “I’ve been lucky enough to live and visit places with great art communities,” Adler says of former stomping grounds like Richmond, Chapel Hill and Provincetown, Massachusetts.

“I’ve bought things out of coffee shops and out of fine galleries.” Sepia-tone photos hang above the bed, and in the den is a black-and-white watercolor in the style of an Edward Hopper painting, dense with shadows and layers. In the living room hangs a painting by Luna Lee Ray of Carboro, adjacent a piece by Sue Bolton of Boston and two by Miriam Fried of Provincetown. When it comes to lighting, Adler believes some spaces insist that the physicality of the lighting takes a backseat. “And sometimes,” he says, “it’s a piece of jewelry that needs to show.” Through clever tweaks Adler has transformed his home into a flexible, peaceful and comfortable space to host friends and family. “It’s not a stuffy house,” he says. “I want people to feel like they can throw a pillow or move a chair.”

This article originally appeared in the January 2025 issue of WALTER magazine.