Southern Lady Southern Style for Fall 2022

“AUTUMN CARRIES MORE GOLD IN ITS POCKET THAN ALL THE OTHER SEASONS.”—JIM BISHOP, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR“THERE IS A HARMONY IN AUTUMN AND A LUSTER IN ITS SKY.”—PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY, POET…

Just as interior designer Rhea Crenshaw put the finishing touches on Cathy and Craig Weiss’s new home in Memphis, a cataclysmal kitchen fire ruined it all and sent them back to square one. But there was a silver lining. “We had the grace to see how they lived in it before. We got to go back with a more cohesive style that really suited them and the activities of each room,” says Rhea, whose firm Rhea Crenshaw Interiors helped the couple, their three teenage children, and three dogs through the unexpected redo. The Weisses, who love to entertain, had lived in the newly built residence for almost two years when Rhea was hired to complete several décor projects they had started and postponed. Having gotten to know the family, Rhea was able…

Interior designers often attract clients by word of mouth, but word of snout—the canine kind—better describes how Abbe Fenimore formed a collaboration with Dallas homeowner Courtney Davis. The two women share a love of Brittany spaniels and met when they used the same veterinarian for their pets, Caddo and Bowie. Serendipitously, their friendship blossomed about the time Courtney had begun work on the décor of her 1920s cottage and realized she needed help. “Courtney said to me, ‘My grand-mother passed away, and I’ve gotten all these furniture pieces from family, and I don’t know if I love them. I don’t know how to use them. I don’t know what my style is. Will you please come help me?’” says Abbe, the principal at Studio Ten 25, the firm she founded in…

When Elizabeth Lee and her husband bought their home—a small 1950s build with three bedrooms and one bathroom—they immediately fell in love with their suburban Birmingham community. “Our street is a very ‘front yard street,’” says Elizabeth. “In the afternoons, you’ll find all the neighbors visiting while the kids play. It’s like Grand Central Station.” The couple knew they wanted to stay in the idyllic neighborhood, but with three young sons growing up in the abode, they also knew they needed more space. The Lees began renovations after living in the house for several years, so they knew exactly what they wanted. Keeping the original footprint, the couple drew plans to add a second level with a low profile to keep it cohesive with the rest of the street. Elizabeth grew…

Small in stature but larger-than-life in her aesthetic choices, Dominique Cornell has a self-described “tough” style that kept designer Michelle Doughtie on her toes as the two worked to finish a six-bedroom abode in Atlanta’s gracious Chastain Park neighborhood. “I tend to go toward a pretty, delicate look, but I think we used her look and my look together to create a mix of the two,” says Michelle, principal of Schilling & Company Interior Design in Dunwoody, Georgia. The result is a mélange of light and dark, artistically tensive and traditional, with touches of the unexpected. A golden angel wing sweeps across an office credenza, faux white alligator skin fronts a sideboard in the dining room, and lots of brass and iron fixtures are countered by soft textiles and light stained floors…