Photo by Winona Barton Ballentine Sun floods into Oldenburger and Smykowski’s kitchen,even on winter days. The thriving wall garden adds layers ofgreen to the beige-on-white design. Oldenburger found twoof the Vernor Panton chairs by Vitra at a vintage shop andmatched them with a round table and pillar pedestal base.The wall pots and hanging lamp are both by West Elm. “I dolove plants,” she says. “I try to have live plants throughoutthe house and encourage my clients to also.” Megan Oldenburger has mastered the art of not breaking the mold—rather, instead, redesigning it. The founder of Dichotomy Interiors, Oldenburger has spent a decade taking the Hudson Valley's outdated Colonials, worn-out farmhouses, and funky, falling apart hand-built homes, as well as myriad other vernaculars, and transforming them into livable, flowing, thoroughly modern spaces. "Most places up here haven't really been updated and still have `70s-, `80s-, or `90s-style interiors. I basically go in and completely gut them," she explains. "But some of my favorite compliments come from clients who thought their homes were beyond saving and then ended up falling in love with them when we were done."