Text by Bethany Adams
When interior designer Lindsey Spearman was brought on board to help update a project in Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina, she found a home that was begging for a breath of fresh air. Outdated patterns, dreary paint colors, and a poor use of space obscured a cottage with the potential to be a getaway worth coming back to. “I really wanted to just clean it up a bit and give it a fresh take,” says Lindsey.
The home now welcomes visitors with a supremely Southern front porch, complete with a haint blue ceiling and a windowed door that reflects the coloring of the landscape—a theme that Lindsey carried through the entire home.
Inside, those natural tones complement and enhance a white backdrop warmed by wooden accents. Slipcovered living room furniture surrounds an ottoman upholstered in a mossy green velvet, which was one of the first fabrics Lindsey showed homeowner Beth Burns. “It’s really hard to find these colorways, because a lot of greens out there right now are either kelly green or pastel,” Lindsey says. “That kind of decided the whole house, to be honest.”
The influence led to a reoccurring motif of soft green tones and natural materials, something that’s most clearly seen in the kitchen, where the island sports Benjamin Moore’s Galápagos Green. “If you’re in Palmetto Bluff, there are so many beautiful greens and browns, and we were doing the rest of the house white, so I was really a proponent of keeping the brown cabinetry,” Lindsey says.
The kitchen space originally included a dining table and chairs, but as the location didn’t lend itself to the family’s living habits, Lindsey relocated them to the living area. “The dining chairs were original to the house in 2004, and we just gave them a facelift,” Lindsey says. “We found a Crypton fabric by Kravet, [which] means…it looks like a linen, but it’s durable.”
As with the dining chairs, Lindsey incorporated certain existing elements into the design of the home’s three bedrooms, like the bed and nightstands in the master bedroom. Along with new paint, lighting, and rugs, she updated the spaces with elements like hand block printed fabric by Erika M. Powell Textiles on the bed pillows.
Other areas, however, underwent floor-to-ceiling transformations, like the master bathroom that was converted from what was once a porch. “We wanted to keep the porch feel,” Lindsey says, noting the tone-on-tone of the cabinets, floor, and walls. Visible from the bed, a soaking tub beneath a chandelier sits tucked behind a pair of pocket doors, contributing to the spa-like spirit of seclusion.
To add to the list of relaxing spaces in the home, Lindsey updated the existing outdoor furniture on the porch with calming materials that perfectly capture the charm of Southern style. That choice, along with the space itself, is reflective of the changes made throughout the design—by refreshing things with a breezy, updated style, Lindsey highlighted the home’s existing appeal to create a getaway that glows with the natural beauty of Palmetto Bluff.
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