February 14, 2025

Architectural Design Kingdom

Home is where the heart is

Designer Bethany Andrews-Nichols’ Midcentury Burlington Home

Designer Bethany Andrews-Nichols’ Midcentury Burlington Home

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Bethany Andrews-Nichols and Chad Nichols at their home's rear entrance - LUKE AWTRY

  • Luke Awtry
  • Bethany Andrews-Nichols and Chad Nichols at their home’s rear entrance

Fringy squares in red, orange and blue. Pink trapezoids encasing red circles stacked like snowmen. A melée of florals in primary hues. If you enjoy extravagant color and wildly imaginative patterns printed on paper, walls or fabric, head to Bethany Andrews-Nichols’ Burlington studio, or to her website. The Beenanza Design owner, 41, “loves finding innovative ways to interpret a ‘print,'” she states on the site. And multiplication is part of the mojo, she promises: “No matter how I do it, I do it on repeat.”

So, what might a visitor to Andrews-Nichols’ home discover? Shouty wallpaper? Zigzaggy shag rugs? Cushions with eye-popping optics? Nest determined to find out. The answers were surprising.

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The dining room - LUKE AWTRY

  • Luke Awtry
  • The dining room

Yes, color is elevated at the Lyman Avenue house in Burlington’s “So-Fly” (south of Flynn Avenue) neighborhood. For starters, the exterior doors are peridot green, the siding a complementary rich blue. But inside, the application of color and pattern comes in measured doses. Perhaps that’s because other people live here, too: Andrews-Nichols’ husband, Chad Nichols, 43, and sons Emory, 12, and Oliver, 15. (There’s also a 1-year-old mixed-breed pup named Delta.)

The couple recently renovated the 1964 home, which they bought in 2011. A two-story addition at the rear incorporates a sunken lounge with tall windows overlooking a new deck and grill gazebo; a small back entryway with coat hooks and a bench; a second-floor primary bedroom with a vaulted ceiling and walk-in closet; and another bathroom. Andrews-Nichols designed the striking chevron-patterned privacy screen in white powder-coated aluminum that shields the back door.

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The primary bedroom - LUKE AWTRY

  • Luke Awtry
  • The primary bedroom

The expansion enabled the family to turn a cramped living room into an airy dining room, onto which the front door opens. The wall to the left is cobalt blue. “I saw a photo of a living room in India that was all blue,” Andrews-Nichols said. “I thought, That might not be possible, but I want that color! I went through the Benjamin Moore app and matched [it].”

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The upstairs bathroom - LUKE AWTRY

  • Luke Awtry
  • The upstairs bathroom

The other dining room walls are white; built-in shelves hold books, photos and some family Lego constructions; a dark wood credenza with white doors provides more storage and a deceptively midcentury aesthetic. (“I found that at HomeGoods,” Andrews-Nichols confided.) Above it hangs a print of a space-exploration scene by Scott Listfield, a nod to what Nichols calls his “sci-fi thing.”

To the right is a light-filled kitchen, painted a creamy yellow. The honey-colored cabinetry was already there, Andrews-Nichols explained. The wall that once divided living room and kitchen is now a half-wall breakfast bar. Hanging over it are chic columnar lamps imported from Sweden that had to be rewired for American specifications, she noted. An island in the center of the room is a steel cart on wheels with a chopping-board top. Blond hardwood flooring bolsters the sense of spaciousness.

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Framed graphic art throughout the house - LUKE AWTRY

  • Luke Awtry
  • Framed graphic art throughout the house

Framed graphic artwork throughout the house matches the clean, uncluttered design sensibility. Many of the works are prints by Andrews-Nichols herself, such as orange fruits arranged like a checkerboard and a cartoony stack of women’s breasts in five skin tones. The latter print, a popular item on her website, hangs in the upstairs bathroom.

That room is a welcoming oasis with soft pink walls and emerald-green tiles in the walk-in shower. Andrews-Nichols designed the floral floor pattern of interlocking hexagonal tiles in white, gray and black.

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Chad Nichols and Bethany Andrews-Nichols at their Burlington home - LUKE AWTRY

  • Luke Awtry
  • Chad Nichols and Bethany Andrews-Nichols at their Burlington home

In fact, she indulged her penchant for patterning in numerous black-and-white accents throughout the house: stripes on pillows, a shower curtain, a mirror frame; rugs and bedding with contrasting geometries. It’s the black and white that provide balance and visual cohesion in this home — call it the yin and yang of design. Where color appears, such as a pale aqua wall adjacent to a coral-toned couch, it isn’t shouting; it’s having a conversation.

If this couple have any disagreements about the look of their home, they don’t show it. Nichols acknowledged his wife “knows what looks good.” Their vibe together is comfortable and simpatico; it’s not surprising to learn they were high school sweethearts back in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a long-distance relationship during college. Andrews-Nichols went to Buffalo State University — “Amazingly, they have a great design department,” she said — while Nichols attended Bowling Green State University in northwest Ohio.

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The living room - LUKE AWTRY

  • Luke Awtry
  • The living room

After graduating, the two followed their career paths first to Minneapolis, then to Chicago, marrying in 2007. In 2008, they arrived in Vermont.

Andrews-Nichols worked for Magic Hat Brewing for nine years, designing beer labels for the Vermont-born company and other brands within its eventual owner, North American Breweries. She left “after people started getting laid off,” in November 2017. The following year, she launched Beenanza.

Over those years, Nichols’ professional trajectory included working in commercial and green/LEED construction and renewable energy. During the pandemic, he earned a master’s degree in international business. Now he works at South Burlington aerospace manufacturer Beta Technologies.

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A centerpiece of oranges on the dining room table - LUKE AWTRY

  • Luke Awtry
  • A centerpiece of oranges on the dining room table

At Beenanza, Andrews-Nichols is busy block printing on paper, clothing, fabric for tea towels, curtains and more with her “bold, joyful, happy designs.” She has created murals for commercial clients including Northfield Savings Bank, Trapp Family Lodge, Cabot Creamery and Mamava. She teaches printing workshops for individuals and groups and is partnering with Stash, a fabric company also located in Burlington’s Soda Plant, to “create block-printed fabric on bolts,” she said. “They’ll be printed in India, hopefully this spring.”

At home, the family is still getting used to the new look of their living quarters. “One of our sons said it was like an Airbnb,” Andrews-Nichols said with a laugh. “Now I feel like we’ve added some mess; it’s more lived in.”

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