Text: Alice Welsh Doyle
Photos: Emily Jenkins Followill
Styling: Thea Beasley
Holiday Decor: Lisa Jones Mason and Lauri Evans, Foxhill Interiors & Design
Sometimes just a coat of lipstick will make a big difference in a home, while others require a more extensive face-lift to imbue them with fresh crispness. A longtime client of Mathews Design Group designers Nina Long and Don Easterling was primed for a head-to-toe reboot on the terrace level of her home. Since it connects to the pool, spectacular property views, and boat pier beyond, she was focused on rooms that would speak to welcoming comfort for entertaining, whether for friends or her family at the holidays.
“Our client has lived in this amazing custom-built home north of Atlanta for over 20 years, but these rooms were starting to feel heavy with Mission-style influences and lots of red-toned wood finishes like cherry, and it was full of stone,” explains Long. “She has a great eye, loves all things beautiful, and was up for our ideas for reinventing these spaces.”
The designers used fresh paint colors and included pretty French oak in many places. They minimized the heaviness and updated existing elements for a bright and light attitude throughout. In that regard, the pair painted the millwork on the ceiling in both the living and dining spaces and had a craftsman give them a hand-hewn look inspired by a restaurant they had visited out West. The partners kept the stone fireplace but changed out the flanking bookcases by painting them in creamy white and swapped out the cabinet fronts, softening the panels with a mini-checked plaid fabric behind brass mesh wire, conveying French country flair.
The former dark wood center medallion feels fresh with creamy paint and hand-hewn detailing in the breakfast space. The cosmetic changes to the kitchen involved paint and a jewel-like custom-colored French range with a new brass vent hood.
All the furniture throughout is new, as is the lighting, but there’s a curated mélange of reproductions and antiques to bring some character, along with many antique rugs that add another layer of color and texture. For the décor in the main living spaces, the designers leaned into a European country house aesthetic with check and floral fabrics in a palette of raspberries, blues, and creams that impart pretty casualness. The duo crafted a more refined look in the kitchen as well, with a custom-colored La Cornue French range with a new brass vent hood and painted and replaced the cabinet fronts and hardware that had a Shaker feel.
While the designers used lots of work-arounds in the living spaces, the bedrooms and baths were totally gutted, and they are bursting with personality. “We decided to give each bedroom and bathroom a distinct look, but all have influences from different
countries,” says Easterling. “One evokes a Swiss chalet, and another leans Moroccan, while the primary bedroom has a British accent.”
For the chalet-inspired guest room, the designers encased it in shiplap, including the ceiling, and made use of a repeating floral print; both add cozy notes in the large room. In the primary suite, the pair designed an intricate, starlike French oak beam pattern on the ceiling, which added instant age while ocher walls and a custom bed in the same hue bring a little daring to the room. The bathrooms range from dramatic to more subtle; the moodier primary bath has a knockout brass soaking tub set against green tortoise wallpaper and a complementary green lacquered vanity.
The powder room reads more classic and feels airy with a delicate chinoiserie wallpaper and ornate French antique mirror. The very large theater room sited near the bedrooms received a total makeover.
“We wanted it to feel like a chic French hotel, so we tented the entire room and used a rich red velvet for seating,” says Long. The tent reveals ticking stripe on one side and red-and-cream hand-blocked floral fabric on the other side. The floral print repeats on drapery panels, which are wrapped around every wall.
“When you walk into the theater, it’s almost like an airplane; the pressure changes, and it’s transporting,” says Easterling. The theater’s reimagining is perhaps the crème de la crème in a home that’s so thoughtfully designed and a true pleasure to experience for the designers’ client and everyone who visits.
Ugly rooms! The colors are awful. Surely Southern Home can do better than this . Why don’t we see beautiful rooms anymore?
I think they are trying something different but it isn’t very pleasing.
Please bring back traditional and pretty. I would never want yo live with these rooms!!!