Interior designer Dawn Cook guides Cleveland Heights client out of the dark and into the white (video and slideshow)

Everyone told Kylie Volpe it would be a mistake to paint over the dark wood paneling in her historic Cleveland Heights home. But the dark, dated rooms were something Volpe couldnt live with.

She found an ally in interior designer Dawn Cook, who redesigned the living and dining rooms into modern rooms: clean and crisp, not fussy or over-decorated. And yes, she painted the woodwork white.

The naysayers shut up.

We wanted it to be sophisticated, said Volpe, 35. It is definitely 100 percent that.

Cook loves the results. This is one of my favorite designs Ive ever done, she said.

Cook and Volpe found each other on Houzz, a website that allows homeowners to review work done by designers and contractors based all over the world. Volpe and her husband moved from another Cleveland Heights neighborhood to this elegant seven-bedroom, 6,200-square-foot residence this spring. The 1920s home was designed by one of the citys foremost architectural firms of the day, Walker and Weeks.

Volpe had never worked with an interior designer, but she was pregnant with her second child and not up for running all over town looking for samples and matching colors. Cook immediately understood why the homes dark wood paneling, bare windows, traditional wall scones and green marble fireplace surround needed to go.

It was not my style at all, Volpe said. We like a lot of color.

But the designer initially cringed at Volpes insistence on painting the wood paneling white. Recognizing that its the designers job to make the clients wishes come true, Cook began researching the correct way to paint woodwork. She learned that Europeans paint woodwork all the time. That relieved my mind, Cook said.

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Interior designer Dawn Cook guides Cleveland Heights client out of the dark and into the white (video and slideshow)