A Brookhaven Home Blends New Holiday Traditions With Timeless Southern Style

A hand-painted landscape mural by Nashville artist Charlotte Terrell dresses the dining room of a Brookhaven home in subtle sophistication. Designer Lauren Davenport leaned into her traditional style with a red and green color palette.

On the Brookhaven home’s stone facade, an ivy-clad archway and green garland juxtaposed with oversize red ornaments frame the grand front door, setting the tone for the tasteful holiday decor inside.

Holiday happiness on the dining room table abounds. The crystal champagne glasses are a special family heirloom that the homeowner’s father brought back from international travels years ago.

The home’s foyer represents Christmases past, present, and yet to come. Davenport combined an antique sideboard from the homeowner’s collection with new wainscoting on the walls, while festive garland heralds the holiday with hopeful anticipation.

A cherished relic from the client’s former residence, the bronzed chandelier shines in its new home, providing a strong visual complement to the room’s wooden beams and nature-driven hues.

Dressed in blue and green baubles that complement the living room’s ginger-jar lamps, the yule tree becomes a sculptural work of art.

In the kitchen, the walnut bartop by Against the Grain was raised to disguise dishes in the sink. Decorative details on the backsplash by A Touch of Stone, Inc. and the range hood dress up the space.

Strategic design choices, such as concealing the refrigerator behind cabinet doors by The Town Carpenter, keep the kitchen entertaining ready.

In the powder room, the evergreen leaves, tied to the sconces with a shiny red ribbon, bring the wallpaper’s botanical motif to life.

Davenport layers pastoral oil paintings atop walls wrapped in a botanical Thibaut wallpaper in the first-floor hallway. The tree is loaded with ribbons and Bauble Stockings, sentimental keepsakes for the homeowner.

The covered porch and outdoor fireplace serve as another place to gather year-round. Davenport consulted her sister and Newnan-based floral designer, Kathryn Drennan of Forage & Flower, to adorn the mantel with dried hydrangeas, holly, and pinecones.

Rather than let her client’s Susan Gordon pottery collection gather dust in a cupboard, Davenport created a clever art installation above double beds in the guest room.

A martini table from Visual Comfort & Co. and green wicker chair make for a charming pair.

The primary bedroom’s clean color scheme of creamy off-whites and forest greens makes for a peaceful retreat for the homeowner adjusting to her new address.

Sparkling touches continue into the refreshed primary bathroom, anchored by a freestanding silver tub from Renaissance Tile & Bath.

While the depth of the double vanity by The Town Carpenter was diminished to allow easy access to the morning porch, a custom backsplash by A Touch of Stone, Inc. encasing twin oval mirrors proves no style was sacrificed in the process.

Some years, holidays are all about nostalgic memories and time-honored traditions, while others bring the chance to make new ones. When one of interior designer Lauren Davenport’s repeat clients relocated to a different address, she and senior designer Anne Spencer Proctor aided her in doing a little of both.

“This client had a much larger home in Alpharetta that she loved, but it was time to downsize,” recounts Davenport, noting the homeowner wanted her Brookhaven residence to echo the same comfortable feel and sentiments of her previous abode, especially at Christmastime.

The vision centered around the client’s favorite color: green. The dining room’s vaulted ceilings provide ample canvas for the mural wallpaper in verdant hues by Nashville-based artist Charlotte Terrell. The mural’s peaceful, pastoral landscape not only balances the scale of the room and informs the home’s palette, but also stages the ideal backdrop for layering in pops of red come December. The dining table and chandelier are festively dressed with a classic tartan plaid, heirloom crystalware, and natural elements, including winterberries, red roses, and evergreens.

The emphasis on nature continues into the kitchen, where Davenport collaborated with contractor Matthew Morris of M.T. Morris Construction on a robust renovation, including new hardwood floors and millwork ceiling beams, without altering any square footage. The island’s bartop was raised and fitted with dark walnut wood—strategically adding warmth while hiding the sink. Above the range, the vent hood received a glow-up with metallic banding, and is now flanked by brass and copper sconces to create a strong focal point that feels less utilitarian and more welcoming.

Nowhere is the home’s connection to the outdoors stronger than the covered, all-season porch, complete with a stone outdoor fireplace. The latter’s mantel provides the perfect canvas for an organic approach to decking the halls: with dried green hydrangeas, holly, and pine cones.

The holiday cheer continues in the back hallway, where a tall yule tree holds a prized collection of Bauble Stockings. A masterclass in layering, Davenport pairs these tiny works of art with the detailed botanical wallpaper. “Display what you love,” advises Davenport—and that doesn’t just apply to Christmas decor.

Upstairs, Davenport gathered together the client’s Susan Gordon pottery and installed it above the double beds in the guest room. An antique sideboard in the foyer and the chandelier in the living room were existing pieces brought over from the former property—seamlessly blending her past and present.

Best of all, for this fresh chapter, Davenport showed her client how to love something new: the color blue, to which she was previously averse. The living room’s ginger-jar lamps add a subtle touch of timeless Southern style. The combination is echoed in the cobalt ornaments on the evergreen tree and mantel garland—a gentle reminder that beauty abounds in contrasts.

INTERIOR DESIGNER Lauren Davenport, Davenport Designs, (404) 405-1788; davenportdesignsltd.com CONTRACTOR Matthew Morris, M.T. Morris Construction, (404) 375-0129; mtmorrisconstruction.com