Since I’ve started writing for the WV Design Team, I have gotten requests for certain topics to be covered. With pleasure, my fellow readers!
Most frequently, I am asked how to incorporate the old with some new in order to keep your home updated and relevant, without holding too closely to any one single style so to stay in classic design.
I thought of about a thousand different answers I could go over in minute detail, but a particular client of mine seemed to keep popping into my brain, and I thought, “Why just write about it when I have a perfect example to show you?”
Dixie Pack has been my own little ray of sunshine ever since opening our Yeager Design & Interiors showroom. She pops into our place a couple of times a week with her perfectly coiffed blond hair, makeup and dressed head-to-toe in black. And if you know me at all, you know that this makes her a woman after my own heart.
She’s always full of joy with a smile from ear to ear and starts every visit the same way: “Hey gals! Anything new that I can’t live without?”
You see, Dixie is what I call a “Frequent YDI Flier.” She can spot a new item in the showroom in an instant, and has distinct taste with a love for silvers, golds, black, white and gray.
Elizabeth Yeager Cross (left) and Dixie Pack. “I especially love that I am invited into people’s most private spaces and get to help them love their rooms even more,” says Yeager Cross
You might be surprised to learn, though, Dixie has never purchased anything over $250 at a time in our showroom. She strictly sticks to art, accessories and lighting while shopping, with the occasional rug or mirrored end table sprinkled in here and there.
In my opinion, Dixie’s home is a perfect example of someone who stays true to her own style while being true to her budget at the same time.
On my first visit to her home, Dixie opened the front door and I knew I was in for a treat. Upon entering, I could see an immaculate open space plan that provided a view of the dining room to my immediate left that spread seamlessly into the main living area and on into the kitchen and breakfast room. Shades of white, gray and black adorned every piece of furniture and accessory in sight. This created a clean modern look that felt serene and very up-to-date.
Pack was able to marry existing pieces (like her husband’s favorite leather chair) with new pieces (like our gorgeous mirrored nesting tables.)
Dixie explained to me that she had just purchased the home from Jaime Spencer, a lovely lady who writes about beautiful homes in her blog, awelldressedlife.com/. Jaime and her husband had done extensive renovations and updates to the home and even sold Dixie some of their carefully selected furniture items since it fit the space so well.
To make the space her own, Dixie incorporated her vintage dining set, her husband’s favorite black leather recliner, and many of her own occasional pieces.
She asked me for my professional advice on each piece in the space and if I thought that any of her older pieces stuck out like a sore thumb. I insisted that they were the pieces that were needed to give the room character and actually provided a lot of warmth to the overall design.
The biggest questions on Dixie’s mind were what to do with all of her accessories and odds and ends from her and her husband’s travels over the years. For instance, there was a gorgeous gold wall plate from China that was just collecting dust and I persuaded her to bring it out into the space.
Two beautiful black-framed canvases with gold touches were also wasting away in a spare room. We moved them into the entry and stacked them one on top of the other to create height and connect her tall ceiling to her entry console. As we began incorporating these gold pieces into the design, the space got more and more interesting. Soon, her black-white-and-gray concept began to have a metallic pop that truly added interest and glamour without being over the top.
She purchased some silver and gold apples, artichokes and pears for a lovely centerpiece that we cushioned with Spanish moss to pull in her gray.
We also added touches of gold in her sofa’s accent pillows to pull our new found hue through the rest of the space.
Every visit I made back to Dixie’s proved to be more exquisite than the last. She always made changes that would subtly make the large, open area feel even more connected than the last time I visited.
By pulling the Euro shams up, we were able to create the illusion of a headboard without covering up the gorgeous wallpaper or fighting the mirror hanging above the bed
One of our latest consults included her master bedroom and bathroom. She felt like her bed was missing something but, because she had such an amazing wallpaper design, she wasn’t sure about adding a headboard.
I suggested she pull her Euro shams higher up on the bed to create a line across the back that gave the bedding height and more stature.
She also felt that her mirror in the master bath was less than glamorous compared to the rest of the space.
We glammed up a boring contractor-grade mirror with a beautiful bevel trim onlay to go along with Dixie’s other mirrored accents in her master bathroom.
I suggested we add a bevel trim onlay to her contractor-grade mirror to give it more detail and a finished, custom look. When it was installed, it really made a difference in the finished details. Buying a brand-new mirror of that size with a bevel trim would have been next to outrageous in cost, so this was the perfect solution.
As you can see in the pictures of Dixie’s home, this woman knows a thing or two about design. I think the best detail about their space is how they use it. Dixie and her husband, Bill, love to have their family over, and especially love to spend time with their grandson. While the space she has created is designed to the hilt with crisp white ceramics, gorgeous exotic florals and some of the latest transitional styles and pieces, it remains a comfortable family space that they can use and be proud of.
This vignette in Pack’s home is the perfect example of blending old and new. She’s paired a family heirloom chest of drawers with new, modern accents purchased from our showroom.
My best advice, as a designer, is to keep the items you’ve collected over the years that truly mean something to you and your family. Treasured mementos from trips, family photos, glassware and furniture handed down from generation to generation — all of these things can have a place and can be easily mixed in with newer and more transitional pieces.
Sometimes it just takes an outsider’s perspective to provide an impartial opinion to see the value in some of the things you already have lying around, as well as what you may need to spruce up your space.
As a designer, I love to form these special client relationships that most often turn into friendships. I especially love that I am invited into people’s most private spaces and get to help them love their rooms even more. While providing advice to others, I am continually taught new things from each of my clients and that is what is truly beautiful. Not everyone gets a client like Dixie, but I’m always thrilled that she’s all mine!
As always, design help is just a phone call away! And if you follow our column entries, let us know if you have design questions or topics that you’d like to have covered and we would be delighted to help!
– To see more pictures of the projects featured in this article: Pack Home
– To read the full article: http://www.wvgazette.com/article