2015 Serenbe Designer Showhouse

This past weekend, my husband and I drove to the idyllic community of Serenbe right outside Atlanta to tour the 2015 Serenbe Designer Showhouse. If you are not familiar with the community of Serenbe, it’s a really interesting living concept founded by Marie and Steve Nygren. Years ago while introducing their children to the Georgia countryside, they discovered this gem of land and created a community that nurtures mind, body, and spirit through nature and the Arts. From the Serenbe website:

“Values & Vision

At Serenbe we value nature, passion, creativity and community. We believe people can live more fully when connected to the wonder of nature.

We value people for who they are, not what they are or what they do.

This is a community where people live, work, learn and play in celebration of life’s beauty. A place where connections between people, nature and the arts are nourished.”

It’s a pretty little community with lots of natural beauty, great shops, eateries, art, a local Playhouse, and lovely homes ranging from cottage/industrial to modern. Proceeds from the 2nd annual Showhouse presented by Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine will go to Serenbe’s Art Farm, a complex that houses and supports visiting and permanent artists in Serenbe’s thriving artist community.

This year’s Showhouse was a lowcountry style house located on Grange Lake- a beautiful lot with plenty of trees and gorgeous views from every window! The architect for this project was J.P. Curran, the builder was Monte Hewett, and Bellwether Landscape Architects did all the landscaping and garden design. 12 interior designers’ work was featured throughout the 2-story house which I believe is approximately 3,700 square feet.

As is the case with all showhouses in Atlanta, there was constant inspiration around every twist and turn of this house. Now I’ll let you enjoy the beautiful work of these designers! I will give a resource link at the end of this post.

Front Porch by B.D. Jeffries

I wish I had taken more photos of B.D. Jeffries’ front porch- their work and line of products is exquisite! Also, I LOVE LOVE the shutter color used on this home. Currently, I cannot find a paint resource list for this Showhouse, but if I do, I’ll update with a link.

Entry & Upstairs Powder Room by L. Kae Interiors

Beautiful use of Thibaut’s Birding Blue Wallpaper and shade in Kravet’s Gaffey Snow. Looking into the powder room, do you see the wall treatment? Such beautiful texture applied in a shake siding-like way. Love it.

Dining Room by Amy Morris Interiors

The Oushak rug and chandelier had me at first glance! Also love the softness the curtain panels bring to the space.

Kitchen & Screened Porch by Huff Harrington Home

Are you drooling over the honed marble island counters yet? Or maybe the stainless Thermador stove and range or hood? The open industrial shelving was a great touch in this space, I thought. Huff Harrington knows just how to add all those lovely touches throughout. The screened porch had a large stainless grill ( not pictured ) and this lantern and farm table….Swoonworthy! The hardwood floors throughout the main house are by Authenic Reclaimed Flooring.

View of side of house from the screened porch. Those barn doors below…that shutter color again! Does anybody else go through showhouses like 4 times, too? HA, I have certain friends that love doing the same and they are who I go with to these events. My husband is a trooper taking me to these things occasionally, too. He’s an Environmental Engineer, so the Bosch products and other high efficiency technology appeals to him. 😉

Living Room by Lauren DeLoach Interiors

Lauren DeLoach’s living room: pretty, soft details with an overall French feel. I was totally smitten by all the dark gray interior doors, too! Favorites in this room were the rusted iron coffee table and the chairs and ottoman in front of the fireplace. Oh, and the aged doors over the fireplace? Fabulous focal point.

Master Bedroom & Bath Suite by Cloth & Kind

Details for days, y’all! Such an interesting space with a gallery wall of black and white art sketches flanking the hallway, a global feel to the overall bedroom, and a beautiful view. I found myself coming back to this room just studying (again) the details of the wallpaper, fabrics, and accents. I was especially attracted to the way the meshy-like jute window treatments were used as a panel on the main window and a shade on the side windows. Great idea!

Downstairs/ Laundry & Mudroom by The Jane Group

Stunning dragon roman shades by Jim Thompson Fabrics in mudroom, and the ceiling was wallpapered in a gray and white small polka dotted Schumacher wallcovering. ( sorry, my picture of that didn’t turn out well! :/ ) Love the weathered gray finish on the laundry room cabinets and the little dog bath niche! I would really like to have one in my future home- very handy.

Family Room by Shayelyn Woodbery Interiors

Really, really like the furniture arrangement in this family room. Very conversation friendly with comfortable swivel-style chairs. Love the use of art and fabrics in this room, too. Not pictured but another great feature was a large built in bar that expanded an entire wall of the space.

Bedroom 3 with Bath by Dillard Pierce Design Associates

This bedroom was my FAVORITE! Probably because it is closest to my own design style. I just love the soft bedding, linen shades, aged and chippy panels on the wall, and the simple but dramatic black pendant light. It’s so true that every room needs a touch of black, isn’t it? It just really brings focus and detail to a space. What about the tile flooring in the bath? So good!

Office/Den by Jason Mitchell

Jason Mitchell’s office/den probably was the most dramatic and interesting room in this Showhouse. His space had so many great pieces of furniture, including a sewing table that had been his Grandmother’s that he repurposed as a bar. Oversized lamps and chairs really added that WOW factor. A good example of how using large items in a small space does not have to make a room appear smaller (and neither does dark paint) – it’s all about the overall scale.

Would have loved for you to see the tall and grande desk chair, but my photo didn’t turn out well. That’s what happens when all you remembered to bring was your iphone camera! There will be professional photos of this home in an upcoming issue of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine so make sure to check that out.

Guest Bedroom & Bath by Barbara Heath

Oh, Barbara Heath! She is always a favorite of mine with her timeless and classic designs. Look how beautifully and seamless these 2 spaces coordinate.

And last, but certainly NOT least…..

Rear Terrace by Stuart Pliner

Such a relaxing and lovely outdoor space. Love the swing style and the softness the curtains add. Definitely going to try this on my porch soon for some added privacy.

This was such a fun house to tour on a rainy, cool Saturday. We have had LOTS of rain in Atlanta lately… almost 10 straight days. Nothing like our South Carolina friends are experiencing though! My thoughts and prayers go out to you all. Stay safe and dry…..

Although the Designer Showhouse is over now, if you haven’t been to the Serenbe community, you must! It’s a great daytrip and place to walk around. They have a spa, lots of cute shops and places to eat, and the Serenbe Playhouse. Lots of inspiration and nature to enjoy, as well. For a listing of all designer resources by rooms, click here.