My Trip to the Southern Living Idea House
Last week I got to take a trip to Bald Head Island, NC to tour the beautiful Southern Living Idea House. My trip and this post is sponsored by Delta Faucet. All words and opinions are my own.
I have been on many blogging trips over the past 8 years of blogging, but this trip was one of the best. Not only because I got to tour the beautiful Southern Living Idea House in person, but the weather was perfect, the group I went with, fun to hang out with and any time time spent getting to explore a place I have never been to is always something I enjoy.
I have been to many beaches along the North and South Carolina coastlines, but never to Bald Head Island, NC which is a car-free, accessible only by boat barrier island located about 35 miles south of Wilmington, NC and 70 miles north of Myrtle Beach, SC.
This post is photo heavy. Instead of giving you all the details of each room in the idea house, I am going to show you the parts of the house I liked best and how you can DIY some of the ideas in your house.
But before I show you the house, I want to show you where we stayed… the newly renovated Inn at Bald Head Island. I lucked out and got to stay in the top center room. :-) I had a great view of the harbor.
The innkeepers made sure our every need was met. They even took us out on their boat one evening to explore the area by water, wine included!
When you are on the island, golf carts and bicycles are the only modes of transportation. I traveled in style with Julia from Cuckoo 4 Design, Emily from Emily A. Clark and Amie from MeMe Hill, plus in another cart were Jolyn and Bella from Delta Faucets who made sure we got to where we had to go.
I took this photo from the porch off my room when I woke up the first morning of our stay.
We came to see the Southern Living Idea House, but The Inn at Bald Head Island was a well decorated and comfy place that was right in line with my personal decorating style.
I picked up a few ideas, like this light fixture shade in the foyer. The inside has black and white photos of Bald Head Island inside that add an unexpected visual surprise to the space.
I love the openness, the dark wood floors with the white walls and seating. I could have stayed here the whole time, but after eating breakfast the first morning, off we went….
… in golf carts to the other side of the island to tour the Southern Living Idea House. It was about a 20 minute ride.
We parked the golf carts near the front entrance and began the tour. The builder, Jeff Sanderson and the architect, Eric Moser were both on hand to tell us more about the area, the house and why it was designed the way it was.
My first takeaway – This house was designed for living indoors and out. Porches on all sides of the house with large windows and doors that let the fresh air flow easily through the house.
All the windows and doors inside and out were painted black or were bronze, the trim white.
Many houses on the island have a space called a “Crofter” that is connected to the house. It is a unique term that describes the golf cart garages on Bald Head Island homes; it’s also a great place for a guest suite.
When you step in the front door of the house, you walk into a large and expansive living room. The interior designer of the house, Lindsey Coral Harper mixed things up and was not timid in her use of colors and patterns. Her philosophy is to mix it up, layer, and edit while adding both old and new items. The mix is how to make your home feel just right for you. Everything doesn’t have to be new.
The pearly white ceiling mixed with the antique white wall and trim keep the room bright but not glaring. The bronze windows ground the expansive space and demand attention. When they are all opened, the air can freely flow throughout the space.
The real star of the room though is the reclaimed 12-inch wide plank pine flooring that was found at a tobacco company in Wilson, NC. All that was done to the wood, was a very light sanding and 5 coats of tung oil.
You can see how nicely the mix of dark and light pieces of furniture work together in the neutral room with coral and green pops of color throughout.
The living room blends right into the kitchen that has a few very unique features of its own. First, check out the mix of metals. There is no longer a need to have to match the color of the fixtures in a house or room. You can see here how nicely the ESSA Faucet in Venetian Bronze pairs with the gold cabinet and drawer pulls.
Second, is the fantastic bi-fold window above the kitchen counter and sink…
… that opens up like a drive-through window to let in a fresh breeze…
…and entertain on the porch in ease. It also provides easy access to the outdoor serving and grilled station.
When the party is over, the window simply slides shut. There are locks on the inside.
Back inside the kitchen you can see the flow from the butler’s pantry to the living room.
The stove top area and subway tile backsplash are very nice, but the main attraction of the kitchen is what is above the kitchen island.
There is an opening to the second floor. This was done not only to add interest, but to allow the heat from the kitchen to rise to keep the first floor as cool as possible.
I will take you up there via the fabulous reclaimed pine that is on the staircase.
Once you arrive on the second floor you are greeted by a painted floor that wraps around the ceiling opening to the kitchen.
The hallway and rooms on the second floor all wrap around this opening.
Pretty cool, right?
The other room that blew me away was the first floor master bathroom….
Hello…open shower…
…the large open shower is not even the best part of the room. See the exterior door on the right?
It goes out to a private outdoor shower. I would love something like this for my house… someday. :-)
The entire house was a feast for the eyes and I came home with many ideas…like this painted hallway floor…
that continues in the bath.
The bold use of colors and patterns in every room.
More reclaimed flooring and subtle, yet attention grabbing wallpaper in the yellow bedroom.
Trimmed out horizontal panels on the bottom half of the wall keeps the wallpaper from overpowering the room.
In this bath, after the designer had it decorated she thought it needed a punch of color. I loved how she added it by gluing yellow grosgrain ribbon around the edges of the wallpaper using Welbond Univeral Adhesive. Ribbon is so affordable and can be used to decorate a room in many ways.
The wicker fixtures add a laid-back vintage beachy vibe. The bronze shower fixtures, sink faucet and towel bars are from Delta.
The Crofter bathroom had another DIY that I think you will like. With no where to place a CB2 mirror, the designer added rope around the mirror and hung it using an old pulley.
One more other feature of the house that I thought was so smart was the fact that the architect designed the house so that the hallways were not wasted space. Behind these rolling doors…
… a large place for storage.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of the Southern Living Idea House though my eyes. This is only a partial tour.
To see more photos of the rest of the house and read more about the designer, builder and architect of the house, check out this article over at Southern Living.com or the August 2017 issue of Southern Living magazine.
If you have any questions about a certain piece of furniture, fabric, fixture or paint color used in the home, I do have a list of the resources. Just ask in a comment and I will do my best to get the info to you. Many of the pieces of furniture are vintage and owned by the interior designer.
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