Southern Lady Southern Style Summer 2016

Though summer entreats us to get out and about, there is something about these lengthened days that also calls us home. Perhaps it’s the season’s inherent nostalgia that strengthens our ties to the spaces we love, whether a sunny kitchen smelling of freshly squeezed lemonade or a back porch tailored to drink in a July night. These places brim with our sweet memories, but also the elements of style that help defi ne us. With this issue, we celebrate that masterful partnership and the variation it brings to classic Southern design. From an urban dwelling that delivers on the owners’ wish to banish beige (page 75) to a coastal residence where frequent game nights influenced the living-room design (page 7), I hope this tour of beautifully personal spaces inspires you to…

This Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, home is marked by a bittersweet backstory. After Cindy Barganier helped Reece and Elizabeth Alford design their dream home in WaterColor, Florida, a sudden job transfer forced the couple to put the house on the market the week they moved in. In the new home, the team worked to incorporate pieces of what had been left behind on 30A. They decided on a white canvas throughout. In the entryway, they put in marble floors and a 30-foot linen drapery treatment to help lighten up the structure’s original dark and dated interior. “We started to breathe new life into the home and bring some happiness to this young family,” Cindy says. The kitchen and the living room were designed with both sophisticated entertaining and family living in…

A FARMHOUSE TABLE PAIRED WITH MISMATCHED CHAIRS APPEARS FRESH AND INVITING, WHILE AN ANTLER CHANDELIER ADDS A HOMEY FEEL REMINISCENT OF A COZY CABIN. With its mingling of stylish fittings and familial accents, the breakfast nook at Jeramy Neill’s Fairhope, Alabama, home exemplifies her approach to design. Jeramy’s handy husband built the impressive banquette, which provides both extra entertaining space and additional storage. Assorted pillows add color and pattern and tie into the rainbow of framed kids’ art hanging on the wall. “ EVERY ROOM IN OUR HOME HOLDS PERSONALIZED PIECES AND FAMILY HEIRLOOMS,” SAYS JERAMY, WHO ECHOES THE TENET OF HER DESIGNER, VIRGINIA VOLMAN: IF YOU LOVE SOMETHING, YOU’LL FIND A PLACE FOR IT. Throughout the master suite, splashes of ocean blue nod to the home’s coastal setting. Jeramy’s husband designed and…

Previous pages: Homeowner Heather Williams fell in love with the painting above the fireplace during a trip to Russia with her mother. “We actually purchased it from the artist herself—it’s a self-portrait,” she says. The ceiling is fashioned of wood from a tree in the yard that had to come down; Heather and husband Knox had it whitewashed to amplify the natural light. A collection of cloisonné vases glow against textured wallpaper and an antique dining set, bought at an estate sale in the couple’s native Texas. The turquoise-and-coral mirror (bottom right) came from a gallery near Knox’s family cabin in New Mexico. Because Heather and Knox love to cook and entertain, a well-equipped kitchen was paramount. They bought the oversize pendant lights while visiting Heather’s sister in San Miguel de…

Designer Will Huff and his team gutted and revamped this oceanfront structure, opening up the kitchen and dining area and configuring three new bedrooms and baths. The abstract painting over the living-room sofa touched off the color scheme—Will incorporated blue accents throughout for continuity but mixed in other hues to punch up the various rooms. “We didn’t want the house to feel like you were in a beach house, but at a house that happens to be at the beach,” Will says. A chevronpatterned white wainscot offsets the heaviness of the traditional antiques and makes the lacquered marine-blue walls pop; a garden-stool cocktail table and capiz-shell lamps add a bit of levity. For the dining area, Will designed a banquette surrounded by bookcases (above) to carve out space for a…

“IT’S BEEN A HOBBY FARM, MORE OF A GETAWAY,” SAYS DESIGNER ERIC ROSS, “AND I WANTED TO GIVE IT A SERENE FEEL.” Designer Eric Ross struck a balance between beauty and utility when he started work on this Morrison, Tennessee, farmhouse. Owners Debbie and Joey Jacobs wanted a home that would live up to minding a farm and raising cattle. The inspiration started with durable slate floors to camouflage the dirt tracked in with a typical day’s work of gardening and tending the herd. The final look was a fresh blend of American and French country. With a kitchen done in a palette of chocolate browns, creams, and verdant hues, collections of Spode Woodland china and transferware appear right at home. “Debbie is an avid collector,” Eric says. “Having the open…