Better Together

A Dennis Campay painting takes center stage in the foyer. A bench covered in a leopard Schumacher fabric fits just right beneath the Queen Anne-style console. The Waterford lamp belonged to the homeowner’s mother. 

Amid two sconces from Visual Comfort & Co., a vintage screen demands attention inside the elegant dining room. The woven paper wallcovering is from Thibaut and the gold leaf chandelier is from Ella Home.

New fabrics bring a fresh look to the living room. The skirted table fabric is by Anna French and the drapery fabric is by Kasmir Fabrics. A pair of demilune tables were cut down and united to form the coffee table. The Oushak rug is from Parviz Oriental Rugs.

The kitchen island doubles as both a prep and serving station. The Taj Mahal quartzite countertops and handmade cable knit-patterned ceramic tile backsplash are from Renaissance Tile & Bath. All hardware is from the Davenport collection through Top Knobs.

A reinterpreted bar space utilizes an English commode. The painting of a dish towel was found at Red Bird Gallery in Seaside, Florida, several years ago.

A painting by Dennis Campay hangs above the sofa in the keeping room. The drapery fabric is by Serena & Lily and the chandelier is from Visual Comfort & Co. The carved wood lamps are from Scott Antique Markets.

The primary bedroom includes an array of collected items to create a serene at-home retreat. The cool blue and green palette is pulled from the vintage framed botanicals above the bed.

Framing the space in drapery by Carole Fabrics with trim by Chelsea Textiles, the primary bath enclave is supremely inviting—especially with the display of Florentine trays.

The guest bedroom features a bevy of blues thanks to the homeowners’ affection for the hue. The blue tole chandelier from Ballard Designs caps the room in nautical style.

With access to the guest room and hall, the guest bath doubles as the powder room. A patterned wallpaper by Stroheim lends a silvery touch.

Moving into a new home comes with the opportunity to reevaluate, take a hard look at your collections and determine what items really mean the most. For Atlanta empty nesters downsizing to Peachtree Hills Place, designer Lauren Davenport of Davenport Designs, Ltd. embraced the task of disassembling two homes she had previously helped design for the clients, editing and combining pieces to create a new oasis that feels like the best of both.

Shopping their second home in St. Simons and their primary residence in Atlanta, Davenport and her clients went room by room evaluating needs and wants for their new home. “We considered what we could use and what items the owners truly loved, while deciding which pieces they could hand down to their two daughters,” says Davenport.

After taking inventory, Davenport worked out a furniture plan on paper. Well-appointed rooms in both houses were split up and redistributed. “We broke up the old designs and moved pieces to where they would work best in this space,” she says.

For instance, the French commode in the foyer used to belong in a living room. That same room’s chandelier was formerly one of a pair that hung in the kitchen. The screen with the aviary scene that takes pride of position in the dining room was culled from a hallway. Occasional tables pulled from here and there serve as end tables in the keeping room. Larger collections, such as the Florentine trays now hanging in the bath and the tole trays in the living room, were divided and spread out into properly proportioned groupings.

“We were lucky to have two houses to choose from with a large amount of furniture and styles,” the designer says. “The only things we had to purchase were rugs and window treatments to fit the new space as well as some fabrics to tie the scheme together.”

Most of the upholstery was neutral, so Davenport let cherished artwork and accessories drive the fabric choices. In the more formal living room, Davenport re-skirted a pair of round end tables and added accent pillows in blue hues to complement the Donna Hughes marsh painting. The cool tone also found a home in the bedrooms. In the primary bedroom, Davenport pulled blue and green from the framed botanicals, painted the walls blue and used green in the pillows and drapery. “We already had the pillows, and fortunately, we were able to reorder more fabric for the window treatments.”

Elsewhere, Davenport found new spots to show off heirlooms, memorable pieces from travels and favored finds. “When we let things go, we didn’t lose any big heartbreakers,” says Davenport. Thanks to careful selections, both in scale
and sentiment, everything is exactly where it belongs.

INTERIOR DESIGN Lauren Davenport, Davenport Designs, Ltd, (404) 405-1788; davenportdesignsltd.com