Weaving Antique and Architectural Pieces Creates Interesting Interior Tapestry
From vacation souvenirs to inherited family pieces, it takes a special talent to weave eclectic pieces into an interesting tapestry of home décor. Nashville designer Kippie Leland, Leland Interiors, has that artful touch which she has applied to the Gentlemen’s Study of the Southern Living Showcase Home. Built by Castle Homes and presented by LP Building Products, the home is open through Sunday, November 6 in the new Dorset Park neighborhood in south Nashville.
So what do you do with that festive African mask or cool light fixture from Avignon, France? Leland says it is possible to bring those unique elements into a cohesive design. Leland has acquired a fascinating collection of antiques from world-travels from Atlanta and New York to France and Belgium. In order to achieve, a cohesive look, she has several design principles to which she adheres. “For large architectural pieces, it is important to make sure it is scaled to the room,” Leland said.
The large, leaded and stained glass windows originated in an English church. "I worked with my client, Judy (and Ray) Danner’s architect, Scott Wilson, to incorporate them into billiard room addition achieving a seamless design," Leland noted.
Leland applied these fundamentals when designing the Gentlemen’s Study of the Southern Living Showcase Home using a century George II style chair, with a striking ikat upholstery, and wrought iron chandelier from Avignon, France.
“I use simple lines and a narrow color palette to help them become art pieces for the room. It is also important to have continuity which I achieved with repetition,” Leland said. The X element is repeated in the étagères and the library desk. In addition, when you don’t have a lot of pattern and color, bring in textures and materials to give the room character and intrigue.”
In the end, Leland loves to be unpredictable in her design. In the Southern Living Showcase Home, she has added a vintage acrylic and stainless steel swivel desk chair with a Madeline Stuart desk. Leland worked with a wrought iron fabricator, Charlie Deathridge, to craft brackets to display African masks imported from the Congo. And, her biggest unpredictable element is an eight-foot clock face with pressed zinc leaves as numbers dominating a wall. She found the clock face at Garden Park Antiques in Nashville which owner Keith Merry acquired from a building in Chicago being demolished.
Built and designed by Castle homes, the Southern Living Showcase Home is open daily through Sunday, November 6, for more info on the home’s building and design, on-line tickets and directions, visit www.castlehomes.com.
Interior Design Inspiration : A Few Of Our Favorite Things
Great design inspiration for your own home awaits you when you step inside the inviting seeded glass, knotty alder door of the Nashville’s only Southern Living Showcase Home open daily through Sunday, November 6. So, slip on the shoes covers, grab your camera and be prepared to take some great notes.
First, from the tour guide outlining paint colors and room sources to the display area in the garage, the Southern Living Showcase Home provides great building and design information. In addition, there are over a dozen designers and decorative artisans contributing to the project. Their website and contact information is included as well.
Bring some drama to a smaller space has been accomplished by designer Kippie Leland in the Gentlemen’s Study with an English Jacobean style coffered ceiling. Leland has taken a simulated clock face with hand-hammered zinc leaves as numbers creating a unique focal point for the room. Acquired from Garden Park Antiques in Nashville, the piece has huge wooden clock arms.
Not your college dorm captain’s chairs! Designer Jerome Farris has woven whimsy into the elegant Living Room with a new take on this element with chairs of silver-leaf, chrome and cream leather with raw-silk cushions. You’ll also see a great example of using a neutral palette (Sherwin Williams’ Oyster White Walls) and adding dramatic splashes of teal and turquoise.
Convert a picture frame into a clever bulletin board. Bella Tucker Decorative Artists’ Brook Tucker found a nice size picture frame and converted it into a clever corkboard in the Tween Girl’s Bedroom by designer Kristen Finney. Using the popular Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, described as faux paint for dummies, Tucker’s frame takes on a new personality.
Speaking of new ideas in paint, Castle Homes’ in-house designer Caroline Weigel has used dry-erase paint outlined with decorative moulding for clever family message board in the home’s mud room.
What, what do you do with the narrow wall of a two-story staircase? Local art expert Ron York called in one of his creative big guns Michael Bush to create a delightful triptych “Caballo” custom to the slender space framed by pretty sconces. York encourages homeowners’ to be unafraid of commissioning special pieces for their home. By doing so, you transform the transition space into an artful addition.
Rough and tumble boys with huge imaginations deserve a room which reflects that personality. Designer Lee Shacklock has re-purposed plumbing pipe into the curtain rod and desk frame of the Industry Whimsy themed boy’s bedroom. Using a world-map mural to wrap a flying machine, created by Tweed Baby Outfitters, completes this inspiring space.
Intimidated by Pink? Designer Amanda Burdge has provided the showcase home with a fresh take on this sometimes disastrous color. Weaving a vintage pink, a variation of the design industry’s top color of the year, she brings Southern glam to her soothing guest retreat.
Encourage your kiddos to linger at the dinner table through informal seating. Desiger Beth Jones has long been an advocate of adding comfy seating to the kitchen table to please all members of the family. Mom will love the look of the clever bench seating in the showcase home’s Breakfast Room while kids will appreciate the posture break.
Find your own inspiration through Sunday, November 6 at Nashville’s only Southern Living Showcase Home in the new Dorset Park neighborhood off Old Hickory Boulevard and Granny White Pike benefiting Ronald McDonald House Nashville. For directions, hours and on-line tickets, visit www.castlehomes.com and follow the Showcase Home on Facebook and Twitter.
Avoid The Man Cave & Embrace The Space
Who doesn’t love that huge room over the garage? For many, it is a catch all for toys and dust-gathering work out equipment. However, Nashville’s only Southern Living Showcase Home has embraced the space with a clever “envelope of color” approach being implemented by experienced Bradford’s Interiors’ designer Treesa Hudson, Allied ASID.
The approximately 400 square foot room has various sloped ceilings which make it a very interesting space but a little challenging. Hudson has chosen to paint the trim and media cabinetry, walls and ceiling all the same shade of soothing Sherwin Williams #7653 “Silverpointe.” All of the paint colors for the showcase home are listed in the event’s tour guide available at the site gate. Hudson says by using this approach, the room is then unified so the home owner can create several vignettes of function for a large space without too much distraction.
“In the Southern Living Showcase Home, I have created four areas for family living. We have two, plush sofas adjacent to the large screen television for movie viewing, a modern writing desk in the window nook, a lovely rosewood game table with an upholstered banquette which has its own smaller, wall-mounted television and a cozy reading area,” Hudson said. “The room becomes a very versatile space and even sports a wet bar and huge walk-in closet for games and electronic equipment.”
Modern Chinese Chippendale chairs are a great addition to the family game table. All furniture and accessories in the room are from Bradford’s Interiors.
Hudson said neutralizing the various planes of the room put the focus on people, furnishings and media.Here are her three important tips in avoiding a cave-like feeling in a media room:
1. Wrap the same mid-range or lighter value color on walls and ceiling.(flat or egg-shell finish all over)
2. Use a similar or same tone for the trim in a satin finish.
3. Use a floor covering shade in a similar color value as well.(does not have to be same color- just same value)
The Southern Living Showcase Home’s Media Room lends itself to fun with a modern, fresh environment. To get more design inspiration, visit the showcase home open select days through November 6 at the new Dorset Park neighborhood in Brentwood. For on-line tickets, directions and information, visit Castle Homes, and follow the Showcase Home on Facebook and Twitter.
Vintage Pink Brings Southern Sophistication To Showcase Bedroom
Just as the fashion industry determines hot, new design elements each year, the home design industry anoints its hot color annually. In 2011, it’s a pleasing pink featured prominently in the southern decor of the guest bedroom by designer Amanda Burdge in Nashville’s only Southern Living Showcase Home, open to the public October 21 in the new Dorset Park neighborhood.
Southern Living Showcase Home Guest Bedroom by AB Home Interiors
Interior designer Amanda Burdge, allied ASID, of AB Home Interiors, has adapted a vintage flavor of pink which she has creatively woven in the retreat space from the ceiling to pearly silk drapery panels and cushions for cane chairs. “Picture Marilyn Monroe getting ready for a big night on the town with the Rat Pack. Throughout the room is a sophisticated vintage pink with a gray undertone. The room is fresh and feminine,” Burdge said. “This color is so enamoring to me and it is underestimated as a design element.”
Designer Amanda Burdge, allied ASID and owner of AB Home Interiors, says the right shade of pink can bring a fabulous design dimension to a room.
Stereotyped as a feminine color, Burdge says everybody could use a little calming pink in their lives. “The design industry is reflecting the mood of the nation by embracing soothing colors which are happy, calming and up lifiting,” Burdge said.
Scientifically determined to impact a person’s mood, pink is not the only color trending in the showcase home. The entire palette has a broad spectrum of very fresh, pleasing colors that will inspire tour visitors says one of the project’s lead designers Caroline Weigel, in-house designer for the home’s builder, Castle Homes.
The tour guide for the Southern Living Showcase Home details the colors used throughout the charming French Country home, and benefits the Ronald McDonald House of Nashville. For more information and tickets, visit www.castlehomes.com and the Showcase Home’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
Eat ‘n Greet: Discover What’s Cooking in Kitchen Design
In a truly southern home, the kitchen may as well be called the ‘living room.’ It’s where we gather and chatter, commiserate and contemplate. I’ve been to many events in grand homes with palatial sitting areas, decks and views yet all I can recall are the kitchens. Maybe it’s the anticipation of what’s cooking or the warmth and familiarity of the space. Whatever draws us in, the kitchen is, indeed, the heart of the home.
In the Nashville Southern Living Showcase Home (presently making its debut in Dorset Park just off Granny White Pike), the kitchen is the heart of the matter—by design. The first floor layout embraces our natural inclination to gather in the kitchen. The bright, open space is only a few steps from the front door and flanked by inviting areas for milling, relaxing and (of course) dining. The space embodies the concept of southern hospitality.
Mind you, this is a “Showcase Home,” so no detail has been spared in presenting the absolute latest and greatest in a chef’s kitchen. Design elements and product selections were made by Caroline Weigel and Heather Looney, who form the in-house design team of show house builder Castle Homes. From premier appliances and hardware to durable surfaces and generous conveniences, this kitchen has it all.
Here’s a quick list of the must-see touches:
- A highly functional center island constructed of Calcutta Gold honed marble with thickened edge, containing a pop-up lifter for a kitchen mixer, towel pull-out and Asko dishwasher
- Perimeter counters in Caesarstone (a non-porous, mineral-based surfacing product) with a mosaic natural stone backsplash
- Maple cabinets, custom crafted for the space by Larsen Cabinet Shop and painted an “Origami White” for a fresh, open feel
- A Wolf dual fuel 48” range with double ovens, topped by a pewter finished hood, as well as a Wolf microwave drawer
- An enameled, cast-iron farmhouse sink with apron front and parq chrome, bridge-style faucet—both by Kohler
- A Sub-Zero 27” wide, tower refrigerator/freezer with a new flush inset with cabinet panel doors
- Entire area, including adjacent breakfast nook, features low VOC paint, 3”-thick, coffee-stained oak flooring and fresh, ample and attractive lighting and natural color schemes for walls and upholstery
“This showcase home is about southern hospitality, and we didn’t forget a key part of being hospitable is cooking,” Designer Heather Looney summarizes. “Every square inch of this area is inviting, comfortable and welcoming…and ready for gourmet cooking.” While this home is a true showcase of the grandest products and designs, Looney offers some practical design insights so we can all add a little “Southern Living” to our kitchens. Here are the take-aways.
- Counter intelligence: Choose durable surfaces for lasting functionality and beauty, and keep those surfaces as uncluttered as possible to make food preparation simple.
- Bright ideas: Don’t skimp on good lighting in the kitchen, and select soft, natural colors for draperies, cabinets and walls to enhance the view from within.
- Appliance reliance: Invest in appliances that will meet your family’s needs long term. Even if you can’t attain the Sub-Zero or Wolf selections, opt for good performing, sturdy and generously proportioned refrigerators, dishwashers and ranges.
- Soft landings: Contrast the hard surfaces of kitchen cabinets and counters with plenty of upholstered seating and drapery panels.
- Open up: If you’re considering a remodel, find ways to open up space around your kitchen to make all that southern gathering and chattering more comfortable and possible.
Get firsthand kitchen inspiration by touring The Southern Living Showcase Home between October 21 – November 6. For more details, visit the Showcase Home on Facebook and Twitter.
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