Lake Norman Project Reveal

Are you enjoying the cool Fall temperatures as much as we are? There is the crisp Fall chill in the air that makes us want to snuggle up with a good smelling candle burning and browse some home decor magazines, Pinterest, and blog posts to soak up some inspiration. We figured it was just about the right time to share another one of our latest completed projects to hopefully inspire you!

At the end of the summer, we finished up one of our biggest projects we have taken on at once – furnishing the entire downstairs of our lovely client’s home in Denver, North Carolina. Our clients bought the house 3 years ago as a vacation home and just recently decided it was time to move down permanently. Having furnished the home with either unused furnishings from their previous home or quick purchases to make the home livable for the weekends, they were ready to start fresh and make the home a place that they could truly enjoy everyday with their family and friends. The views off their back porch and deck are breathtaking, and our focus was to make the inside just as spectacular. It was tough competition, and we focused on keeping a light and airy color palette with pale blues and rich browns to bring in the lake feel from their backyard.

Family Room Design

The family room is the center of the downstairs with large windows showcasing the lake view, beautiful built-ins, and a new fireplace surround that our clients had installed before we started the project. There are dark wood cabinets in both the kitchen and dining room, so while we wanted to keep the space light and airy, we also needed make sure that it tied in with the dark wood finishes in the surrounding rooms.

We kept a similar layout to how they had their current furnishings arranged with the sofa facing the lake and two chairs facing the TV. Our goal was to keep the space in front of the windows open to keep from blocking the view, but we snuck in our favorite Bobbin Spindle chair and ottoman in the corner to create a little reading nook.

Our client, John, was a bit upset about loosing his beloved recliner, so we made sure to find a replacement leather motorized recliner for him that allowed for comfortable TV watching. We also were able to find a complimenting upholstered chair for Susan, his wife, where we added a small bobbin footstool so she could put her feet up, as well. The leather recliner is from Bradington-Young and both chairs and sofa were ordered from Fairfield Chair.

We loved the stone top and dark wood base of this coffee table from Bernhardt and felt like it was the perfect centerpiece to bring in rich dark tones with lighter natural elements. To keep the patterns simple, we added in our Signature Linen Gray and Embroidered Trellis Navy pillows to the cream Fairfield Chair sofa. The sofa is upholstered in stain resistant Crypton upholstery to help keep things tidy when grandchildren come to visit.

We added in a subtle gray grasscloth to the back of the built-ins to bring in a bit of texture and allow the new accessories to pop. Our Cream Signature Linen drapes just frame the large windows to help with sound absorption (two-story ceilings and wood floors allow so many echoes!), but the drapes are simple enough to not distract from the view.

Dining Room Design

The dining room was the first room seen when you walk into the home, and our clients had this beautiful built-in unit put in to compliment their kitchen cabinets and dining table. They had a navy blue rug in their basement that we were able to pull upstairs and used this as the basis for the color choices in the room.

We were able to use their existing dining table with a few small repairs and updated the furnishings with new upholstered dining chairs. We selected the same cream stain-resistant upholstery for the front of the chairs as the sofa and had the back upholstered in our Navy Signature Linen to create an unexpected pop. The small bronze globe fixtures from Feiss were hung so they didn’t block the view of the beautiful built-in and allowed for the table to be extended for special occasions.

We always add one of our custom table runners to our dining room projects and this was no exception. We opted for the Navy and Cream Monogram Table Runner in the single block letter. It seems like the majority of our client’s who “don’t like monograms” are always easily convinced to add this particular one to their table. It’s very subtle – the single block monogram is simple and hardly visible from most angles.

Foyer

The entryway was open to the rest of the space and our goal was to keep it neutral so it didn’t compete with any other visible areas when you walked in. The X-door buffet is a favorite of ours from Drexel Heritage and we had the base finished in their pretty Vintage Smoke paint and the buffet top in a dark wood. The modern abstract artwork is from Leftbank Art and the two matching lamps are from Surya.

Kitchen Design

Since everyday living just included the two of them, the need for another dining table in the kitchen was not necessary. They had recently had the kitchen renovated with beautiful dark wood cabinets, cream granite counter tops and a geometric gray glass tile backsplash. We added 4 gray upholstered stools from Fairfield Chair to their breakfast bar for casual evening meals during the week.

For their small nook off the kitchen, Susan and John requested two comfortable chairs so they could enjoy coffee and read the paper in the morning. We selected our Bali Gray Ikat for the upholstery based off of the gray and taupe tones in the kitchen finishes. To minimize distraction from the view out the windows, we framed the multiple kitchen windows with cream lightweight sheer panels to soften the space. The black metal window hardware was chosen to match their iron cabinet hardware and light fixtures in the kitchen. We added two custom rugs from Surya in a taupe windowpane pattern for the breakfast nook and as well as in front of the island for more comfortable standing while they were preparing meals.

When it came to install, all hands were on deck to make sure that this delivery went off without a hitch. It was quite a day delivering all of the furniture, accessorizing the bookcases, hanging window treatments and pictures, and making sure everything was positioned just right! In the end, we are super pleased with the results (and the fact that every single one of these pieces of upholstered furniture came in correctly – yahoo!!) and we know our clients are, too! Now, if we could just get Wayfair to correctly ship the last two white pears instead of the 4 GREEN pears that they keep packing and shipping for the kitchen cabinet display, we’ll be officially wrapped up!

We’d love to hear what your favorite thing is about the space. And if you see something in these pictures that you love and I forgot to mention, please e-mail me at melissa.lee@newsouthhome.com and I’d be happy to let you know where you can get it from!

Happy Fall, y’all!