Southern Living

southern living

Sid Evans EDITOR IN CHIEF EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Robert Perino EXECUTIVE EDITOR Krissy Tiglias DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Jeanne Dozier Clayton EDITORIAL ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Rachel Ellis SENIOR EDITORS Lisa Cericola, Valerie Fraser Luesse SENIOR WRITER Marisa Spyker STYLE EDITOR Betsy Cribb ASSISTANT EDITORS Grace Haynes, Patricia S. York TEST KITCHEN DIRECTOR Robby Melvin TEST KITCHEN PROFESSIONALS Pam Lolley, Ivy Odom OFFICE MANAGER Nellah Bailey McGough SOUTHERNLIVING.COM EDITORS Rebecca Angel Baer, Brennan Long, Katie Strasberg Rousso, Patricia Weigel Shannon STAFF WRITERS Perri Ormont Blumberg, Meghan Overdeep ASSISTANT EDITORS Caroline Rogers, Jenna Sims EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Jorie McDonald, Mary Shannon Wells, Kaitlyn Yarborough FELLOWS Zoe Denenberg, Rachel Mulcahy, Katherine Polcari EDITORS-AT-LARGE Steve Bender, Rick Bragg, Jenna Bush Hager CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Sheri Castle, Elly Poston Cooper, Elizabeth Heiskell, Rebecca Lang, Robert Moss, Elizabeth Passarella, Mimi Read, Julia Reed, Kimberly Schlegel Whitman MEREDITH RESEARCH SOLUTIONS RESEARCH DIRECTOR Bridget Sellers DESIGN SENIOR DESIGNER Betsy McCallen Lovell DESIGNER Lindsay Hale PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHER Robbie Caponetto ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR…

farmhouse charm

I LIVE IN A QUIRKY HOUSE. If someone asks me what style it is, I usually say “farmhouse,” but really it’s a rambling old two-story thing built in 1952. When we bought the place (pictured above), it had sat on the market for a couple of years, probably because no one wanted to take on such a daunting project. It needed a new roof, new wiring, new floors, new plumbing, a new driveway—and those were just the basics. The kitchen was tiny, with a linoleum floor and metal cabinets that squeaked when you opened them. The baths had pale green and yellow tile and little bitty tubs with showerheads about 5 feet high. But there was something very charming about the house and the location that kept bringing us back. It…

a reason to show off

“WHEN A TAPE MEASURE wouldn’t reach, I counted bricks,” explains architect Alyson Sailer about her precise approach to reinterpreting one of Nashville’s oldest houses, the circa-1810 Grassmere Historic Home (the estate is now the site of the city’s zoo), as a new house in College Grove, Tennessee. When Mary and Patrick Hatcliff, owners and operators of Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based Hatcliff Construction were looking to build a Southern Living Showcase Home, they turned to Sailer and six of the region’s best designers to spotlight old Southern style in a fresh way. “Character is often lost in new construction, but we wanted to show how to capture older-home details in smart ways,” says Mary. “Although the exterior is made of all low-maintenance composite products such as James Hardie siding and PVC shutters, handrails,…

“i’ve always had a bug for a good project…”

“I HAVE A HEART FOR restoration and saving places that need life. This one was a prime candidate,” says designer Kara Hebert of the 1,600-square-foot fixer-upper she bought for her family in her hometown of Jupiter, Florida. When she arrived, this town house was stuck in a different decade with mirrored living room walls, popcorn ceilings, a closed-off kitchen, and lackluster beige tile flooring. The home’s prime location on State A1A (just a skip away from the beach and a short bike ride to her office), won Kara over. “I started my career doing hard-core renovations for general contractors, so I’ve always had a bug for a good project,” she says. The downstairs needed a fresh start; gutting it opened the floor plan to max out space. Next, she added…

brighten up boxwoods

Give Containers Character Velvety moss adds extra charm to plain terra-cotta vessels. Speed up the growth by applying a moss-and-buttermilk mixture on new clay pots and spraying them weekly with water. Fill with Pretty Plants Try dwarf English boxwoods, ‘Icy Blue’ violas, and tulips. Make Them Last Surround boxwoods with violas. Add potted tulips purchased from a garden center. (Or next year, plan ahead and plant some tulip bulbs in December or January for early-spring blooms.) Water plants, and let them drain thoroughly. Place in part to full sun. At the end of spring, replace the violas and tulips with summer annuals. ROBBIE CAPONETTO; STYLING: BUFFY HARGETT MILLER…

my toddler threw out my silver polish, and i don’t care

A FEW MONTHS AGO, I opened the cabinet doors under my sink to get the dishwashing soap, and it wasn’t there. Thinking it could have been shoved to a far corner, I stuck my arm farther in, reached around the entire cabinet, and landed on nothing but air. It was empty. What I’ve pieced together is this: My toddler, who has been known to throw things in garbage cans and toilets like he’s playing a sorting game with remote controls and socks, spent a few rare unsupervised minutes putting the dishwashing soap, hardwood-floor polish, Windex, and Bar Keepers Friend into the garbage can under the sink. Afterward, my sleep-deprived husband lifted out the trash bag, tied it, and then threw it outside without noticing that it contained a cabinet’s worth…