Get Cozy
Living Room
Bill Hudgins
Nature was Bill Hudgins’ inspiration for the living room, carried out in a subdued tone-on-tone palette. The quiet colors make this a serene space, as does the overall “updated classic” styling. The room’s generous dimensions not only handle large-scale furniture but also a colossal Christmas tree in one corner and a pair of grand palms, one on either side of the sofa. “A lot of interiors can be enhanced by large houseplants,” says Hudgins. The palms get plenty of natural light thanks to the designer’s decision to leave the room’s window wall unadorned—possible because the home’s setting is so private. The vista becomes an important part of the scheme, visually bringing the outdoors in. It’s only appropriate, then, that many of the room’s accessories are “of the earth.”
RESOURCES
Upholstered furniture: Smith Grubbs & Associates
Artwork: Myott Studios
Antique rug: Moattar Ltd.
All accessories and lighting: Lush Life
DESIGN DETAILS
Bill Hudgins
Lush Life Gardens and Flowers
(770) 841-9661
Breakfast Room
Paula Dies
With floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, this breakfast room is flooded with light, making it a cheery place to start the day. But the casual elegance given to it by designer Paula Dies makes the country French space just as welcoming for a holiday brunch or a quiet dinner. At each end of the table is a pair of leather-covered armchairs; a wood-and-rattan bench provides seating on one side of the table, and two chairs of a similar style are on the other.
“I don’t like seating that’s too matchy-matchy,” says Dies. “I think it’s more interesting to mix things up a little.”
Using the color of the damask draperies as the springboard for the room’s scheme, Dies sprinkled in touches of sage green and terra cotta, too. The combination is just as warm and inviting as the sun that spills into this space.
RESOURCES
Table, chairs, bench: Highland House
Drapery fabric: Rye Damask in Fox, Lee Jofa
DESIGN DETAILS
Paula Dies
PWD Inc.
(770) 232-9392
Down-Time Room
Wendy Blount
This second-floor space is the perfect place to unwind; it’s filled with books, games and a stereo—with nary a television in sight. “It’s a place to spend quality time alone or with each other,” says Wendy Blount, who co-designed the room with Brooke Taylor. “You can play board games, listen to music, draw on your sketch pad or read on the super-deep, super-fluffy linen window seat, which gets great sunlight in the afternoon.”
In fact, it was this room’s natural light that inspired the neutral scheme with bright yellow accents. And the decision to go contemporary in the Tudor-style house? “Because it’s over the vaulted living room, this [space] has a lower ceiling than the rest of the rooms upstairs,” Blount explains. “I felt it needed to have contemporary touches because, architecturally, it wasn’t a traditional, high-ceilinged space.” Contributing to the contemporary ambience are an acrylic chair—taking up very little visual space—and a “Sputnik” chandelier. Likewise, painted rattan chairs give a nod to the home’s traditional roots but are still, says Blount, “fantastically graphic.”
RESOURCES
Table and rug: Renfroe
DESIGN DETAILS
Wendy Blount and Brooke Taylor
Blount Architectural and Interior Design
(404) 888-0826
Keeping Room
Janie Hirsch
The holidays are about bringing family and friends together, and this keeping room is a great gathering spot. Janie Hirsch combined classic furnishings with treasured antiques to create a sophisticated mix of comfort and style. A pair of sofas faces off in front of the stone fireplace, their chocolate brown mohair upholstery and caned frames emanating understated elegance. There’s a comfy armchair as well as benches behind one of the sofas that can be pulled up for extra seating. “I like the furnishings to be manageable for a large crowd,” says Hirsch.
Even the color scheme is appropriate to the holidays; traditional green and red hues accent the room, though not in the usual shades. Instead, sage and paprika spice up the area in a fresh way. The window treatments, for instance, are fashioned from a sage green that’s banded with paprika, then trimmed with a stunning velvet-and-glass-ball fringe. It’s just another example of the sparkling touches that make this room so inviting.
RESOURCES
Sofas, benches and cocktail table: Amy Howard through Beacon Hill
Chocolate mohair fabric; Silk plaid and chenille pillow fabrics & trims; Window treatment fabric & trim; Linen-and-silk-covered armchair: Beacon Hill
Velvet-and-glass-ball fringe: D’Kei, through Ravan
Console table: Oliver Walker & Co.
Rug: Sharian
Hand-embellished photo over fireplace: Pezhman, through Deljou Art Group
Lighting: J. Hirsch Interior Design
Accessories: Beacon Hill, Baker, MacRae, J. Hirsch Interior Design
DESIGN DETAILS
Janie Hirsch
Janie Hirsch Interior Design
(770) 781-2868
Dining Room
Marty Cohen
In keeping with the architecture of the house, designer Marty Cohen used furnishings in the dining room that reflect a “modern Tudor” sensibility. An antiqued table and matching consoles, for instance, are all edged in gold and silver leaf while reproduction Winterthur chairs are wrapped in luxurious mohair. The 68-inch square table, which echoes the shape of the room itself, “lends itself to easy conversation,” says Cohen. “And because it’s oversized, there’s plenty of elbow room.”
Conversation at this table invariably leads to the custom artwork done for the room; “What Would They Bring Today?” explores the journey of the Three Magi.
It’s only fitting, then, that the Tabriz rug—underscoring the dining area—features a pattern similar to the stained glass windows of a cathedral.
DESIGN DETAILS
Marty Cohen
The M Group Interiors Inc.
(919) 806-8600
mgroupinteriors.com
RESOURCES Table and consoles: R.L. Goins
Foyer
David Henson
Inspired by the Old World elegance of the home, David Henson wanted to use an eclectic mix of Continental antiques and exquisite artwork in the foyer. But he faced the challenge of a space with no wall against which he could put furniture. Thus, he says, “anything I used had to have a dramatic effect—including the Italian sconces and the tapestry, which pulls blues and golds from the nearby powder room.”
Even the central table has some drama. A round one would have been the obvious choice, points out the designer. Instead, Henson opted for an octagon. And the surprises don’t end there: The juxtaposition of concrete planters on and around the Regency table is unexpected yet inspired, providing the perfect place for au natural holiday décor.
RESOURCES
Sconces: A. Tyner Antiques
Regency table: Bobby Dodd Antiques
Concrete planters: Foresters Greenhouse
DESIGN DETAILS
David Henson
David Henson Interiors Ltd.
(404) 550-2948
Library
Margaret Norcott
Sometimes during the hubbub of the holidays, you simply need to escape to a quieter place. This library, designed by Margaret Norcott, is such a space; it invites you to curl up with a good book or simply sit back and admire the surroundings. Brazilian cherry walls and bookshelves warm this elegant environment visually while the limestone fireplace does the same physically. And the limestone’s neutral hue finds its way onto the low-slung armchairs, too. The backs and sides of the chairs are wrapped in velvet while a herringbone pattern covers the fronts; both fabrics are cream with gold accents. “I used touches of gold throughout to reflect light—even the ceiling’s recessed coffers have a gold-leaf, faux-painted detail,” says Norcott. “The gold touches are so reflective, which is especially nice at the holidays with candlelight.”
Light and dark palettes provide contrast, as do the varied textures, while a gorgeous chandelier over the concrete coffee table sparkles and shines with holiday cheer through its glass mosaic links. And the holiday décor? Tufts of fresh pine needles tucked here and there are the only greenery needed.
RESOURCES:
Chair and pillow fabric: Kravet
“Navarre” chairs: Kravet Furniture Studio
Table and floor lamps, chandelier, sconces, three-tiered console: Baker, Knapp & Tubbs
Coffee table with waxed concrete insert: Custom-designed by Milieu Design Group Inc., Bradley Hughes
Art: Lowe Gallery and Tew Galleries
Rug: Sahar-Gabbeh from Designer Carpets
Coffee table: Noreen Kloc, Designer Wall Finishes
DESIGN DETAILS
Margaret Norcott
Milieu Design Group Inc.
(770) 552-7417