Cool Yule

Jill Sharp Brinson and Suzanne Kasler

Drawing inspiration from Christo and Jeanne-Claude, both French artists with a penchant for fabric, Brinson artfully wrapped one of Kasler’s pre-lit Frasier furs in grey silk, producing an ethereal effect.

Below the loft, a cozy sitting area is anchored by a cream settee flanked by mirrored scones and adorned with festive greenery.

Glowing votives on the stairwell add a welcoming touch. In lieu of a table runner, Brinson draped a cowhide rug over a three-drawer Louis Phillipe console.

“My house is a mix of really collected, personal things” says Brinson.

Glitter-dusted snowflakes, also from Kasler’s collection, sparkle above potted paper whites for a chic white Christmas moment.

She says she gravitated toward the pearl, bronze, and pink painted glass ornaments from the boxed set of 24 in Kasler’s collection.

Salvaged barn beams frame the dining room, where tradition and trend mingle with a pair of natural looking burlap-wrapped Fraiser furs and a bold chevron tablecloth.

Vintage carriage candle lanterns cleverly display a few glittering glass ornaments.

The fabric-wrapped 9-foot Christmas tree lends a fresh perspective to the iconic holiday centerpiece.

“Most people would put them in a bowl or on the tree, but I chose to isolate them as special, beautiful objects” says Brinson of Kasler’s pinecones, hanging alongside other keepsakes on a branch.

Soaring 20-foot ceilings define this loft-like Peachtree Heights cottage. Its serene palette is punctuated by texture thanks to a petrified wood chair, lime ash floors and an industrial glass-top dining table.

A vibrant suzani hanging above the living room fireplace strikes a global note, a sentiment echoed by Brinson’s deconstructed Christmas tree, sparingly strung with keepsakes and Kasler’s glass ornaments and pinecones. “Every year I hang only things on there that I just love” says Brinson.

A tabletop Frasier fur, Brinson’s own nut tree and peacock mementos add character to the mantel.

A wreath festooned on the mirror doubles its dimension, while a Moroccan chicken wire dome displays a collection of personal accents.

Kasler’s classic Frasier fur, tucked inside a versatile bucket planter, adds a festive touch to the limestone entryway, which showcases a photograph from the Brinsons’ forthcoming book, a pouf from Marrakech and a sliding nine- foot steel-and-glass door.

Aglow with varying votives, a spherical-shaped boxwood garden frames the Brinson’s charming 1930s cottage near Buckhead’s Duck Pond.

Kasler’s popular sunburst mirror set, hung from lush garland, adds warmth and architectural interest to the bank of steel and glass windows in the kitchen.

To step through the door of Jill Sharp Brinson’s 1930s cottage is to be instantly swept up in her consuming passions. Guests are greeted with an architectural mix of salvaged woods and steel, embroidered textile as art above the mantel, and decor with references as far-reaching as Marrakech.

“I treat my home like a great outfit,” says the interior designer and stylist of the farmhouse-loft cottage she shares with her photographer husband, Rob, in Atlanta’s Peachtree Heights neighborhood, along with their three dogs. “Sometimes it feels like jeans and a t-shirt, other times, cool heels and an amazing jacket.”

This perpetual styling and personalization of spaces is the designer’s daily pursuit as creative director for Atlanta-based home furnishing company Ballard Designs. “We try to give people a method to build a home that’s personal by moving things around, buying beautiful pieces, then mixing them with pieces from your travels or your amazing eclectic aunt,” she says.

With a kick of her Tory-clad heel, the multi-hyphenated Brinson boots the notion of a conventional Christmas up into the air, creating an unexpected space where you simply want to sit back and soak in the season. To begin, she enlisted the help of friend Suzanne Kasler, incorporating the Atlanta-based interior design star’s latest holiday collection for Ballard Designs into her decor. The line includes chic staples, from glass ornaments and glitter baubles to faux trees and linen tree skirts with velvet trim.

Inside, Brinson maximizes every inch of her European-style cottage’s lofty 20-foot ceilings and open floor plan by installing unique focal points at each turn. A floating branch suspended above the dining table adds unexpected dazzle with hanging glass and glittering ornaments. “Every year I hang things on it that I love, like a Jonathan Adler horse and a funny little bird,” she says.

Brinson’s fresh take on a classic holiday statement fulfills an ethos that she and Kasler share: that “a room should be collected, not decorated,” she says. In the kitchen, Brinson strung Kasler’s sparkling sunburst mirrors across the enlarged casement windows that overlook a Provence-inspired garden. “They look like jewelry,” says Brinson. “They make a traditional space look fun and an energetic space look grounded.” Throughout the house, natural-looking greenery and Frasier fur trees from Kasler’s collection usher in a warm, woodsy feeling while playing up the house’s rustic character.

When faced with convention, Brinson’s imagination shifts into cutting-edge. For the Christmas tree, she pays an artful homage to her favorite French artists Christo and Jean-Claude by wrapping the 9-foot tree with more than eight yards of grey matte silk fabric. “It’s modern, it’s pretty, it’s a little bit ‘wow,’ and that’s how I want to live,” she exclaims. Indeed, the storybook cottage radiates the warmth of Brinson’s lively spirit, from the fresh cedar letters spelling out “joy” that herald the season to the glamorous sea of votives inside and out.

The Suzanne Kasler holiday collection is available through Ballard Designs, ballarddesigns.com