Huntsville, Alabama
Tucked in a small historic section of Huntsville, Alabama is a community known as Edgewood. A special client reached out to ask if I could help her decorate the house she and her husband had purchased recently. The house was not historic, but a more recent addition to the neighborhood, however, the client wanted it to feel more traditional, filled with antiques and fine furnishings—a home fit for its surrounding neighbors.
MORE DETAILS
The house had a generous entry the allowed the eye to travel through to the back of the house. Off each side of the entry was a long hall to bedrooms and a large formal living room and dining room. To unify the entry and bedroom hallway I selected a graphic wall covering in a trellis pattern. The wall covering acted as a unifier of the two spaces and made the hallway feel as if it were part of the entry hall. The client had several antique pieces in her collection, so I just added an antique mirror and large demilune console to finish out the space.
The living room and dining room were two spaces, separated by an elevation change—the living room was sunken. The spaces were very large, so in order to create more intimacy and interest, I chose a hand-painted, chinoiserie style wall covering from my friends at Gracie Studio for the dining room and a pale blue wall color for the living room. This created a special dialogue between the two spaces, but also allowed for more visual interested in the large areas. I filled the rooms with the client’s existing antiques and added some updated upholstery for elegance and comfort.
The rear of the home hosted the family room. When I arrived at the project, this room was painted deep chocolate, so I decided to embrace this saturation of color and use peacock blue with rust and green as a counterpoint. I recovered one of the client’s favorite chairs and added a new custom sofa in a faux wool to complement the clients existing collection of antiques, collectibles and other soft furnishings. A large sisal rug was layered under the client’s Persian rug to better fit the dimensions of the room.
For a house in one of the most sought after historic areas in Huntsville, I was able to create rooms with historical decorative details and traditional aesthetic, though the house itself was more contemporary. The magic of decorating is in choosing the right solutions to overcome visual obstacles, no matter how challenging. By using the client’s own antiques and giving them a context with traditional finish materials for the rooms, the home now feels as if it has been there for a century.
“Blue with brown has been a classic combination for centuries. Here, the rich tones of the antique American furniture resonate well with the paper’s saturated hues and scale.”
– As seen in THE ART OF GRACIE
Curated, Collected and Tasteful
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