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 A young Charlotte couple transforms a neutral palette into a lively, livable, and distinct home, unique to them.  When Caroline Trammell and her husband purchased their home in Myers Park, the clean, crisp palette of white walls and neutral decor was so appealing. It was tempting to leave well enough alone, but one look at the design boards created by Charlotte Lucas of Charlotte Lucas Interior Design and the pair couldn’t wait to get started. Of course, it helped that Lucas was a lifelong friend of the family, so her intuition on their style and needs were happily spot on. With a toddler running around and one on the way, the home had to be simultaneously functional, classy, and full of character. “The neutral palette made it easy to forget what interest color brings, but after seeing what Charlotte had planned, I wanted every room in the house full of bright, vibrant colors and patterns,” Trammell explains. Together, Trammell and Lucas agreed on a beautiful, inviting home that was still appropriate for children. Part of the design plan also included a renovation of the master bathroom, but within just a few months the home was ready for the young family to enjoy every day. Lucas’ design plan came together fairly easily. “I design best for people I know well,” she says. “Specifically for Caroline, I wanted her home to tell their story. They do a lot of ministry work in Africa, so I really wanted to turn the sitting room off the foyer into a fun, inviting jungle-inspired room.” Using the many treasures the Trammells brought home from Africa, Lucas mixed African print wallpaper, genuine zebra hides, woven baskets, and African swords with Trammell’s style requests, which included the modern velvet sofa and splashes of peacock blue with hints of blush. It’s one of Trammell’s favorite rooms. “The jungle room is so fun! I feel like I’m on vacation in some fabulous city,” she says. Lucas adds, “It’s so happy and so Caroline; you can’t go in there without wanting to sit and hang out.” The new, improved master bath is sophisticated, soft, and bright, designed around Miles Redd for Schumacher chinoiserie wallpaper, which was a favorite of Trammell’s. “I have to say, my bathroom is my favorite room,” Trammell admits. “It’s romantic and feminine. I love it.” With a few heirloom pieces refurbished and repurposed, the Trammells’ home is at once personal and stylish, new, and curated. The family dining room table found a home with modern chairs and a new sisal rug, layered underneath the heirloom antique oushak rug for depth. The pair of chairs and ottoman in the master bedroom sitting area belonged to Trammell’s parents but found new life with a little white paint and some gorgeous Kelly Wearstler fabric. Art pieces were carefully selected – some from Africa, some local, and even still, some personalized. The framed bird panel tucked into the book corner of the master bedroom, for example, echoes the de Gournay wallpaper style Trammell loves so much but is actually a hand-painted antique silk screen that Lucas had framed and hung. “Art is a great way to personalize a home,” Lucas offers. “Without art, there’s no story.” “Getting to know my clients is what creates successful projects. It goes beyond scale and down to the finishing touches with accessories,” Lucas explains. “It’s hard to go there after all the money is spent, which is why we try to include it in the budget, but it is what truly makes a house home-y. Without the layering of accessories, the home never feels quite finished.” Pulling locally from Slate Interiors, Darnell & Company, and their own inventory, in addition to all over the world, Charlotte Lucas Interior Design hand-selects every finishing piece according to their client’s style, interests, and needs. “We freehand it and do what feels right. But one thing is true: you can never have too many books.”

Sallyann Cox used her creative talents to extend a small bungalow and make the most of the delightful coastal views. Idon’t want to live in a bungalow – I’m not ready for that!’ was interior decorator, stylist and maker Sallyann Cox’s reaction when her husband R ichard suggested it. It was back when the couple were regularly spending a few months at a time sailing around Greece and knew a lock-up-andleave home would fit the bill. The idea became a sad necessity, however, when Richard was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and had to use a wheelchair. ‘We’d looked at so many places, none of which were suitable,’ remembers Sallyann. Finally, and with no real enthusiasm, she went to see a small, two-bedroom bungalow almost untouched for nearly 50 years and had a change of heart. ‘During the viewing, I walked into the cluttered garage and noticed a tiny window on the side – one glimpse at the view and I realised there was so much untapped potential here,’ she recalls. The house itself had effectively been built facing away from ever-changing views across fields to the Salcombe-Kingsbridge estuary much beloved by the couple. ‘I knew that by doing some rejigging to the garage, I would be able to make a special place where Richard could enjoy sitting and watching the ebb and flow of the tides, and the boats down on the water – it would be a nourishing environment.’ In the end, Richard was not able to move in as his illness progressed quickly, but, after his death, Sallyann decided to continue with their plans. ‘It was very hard to be there without him and, for the first couple of years, I didn’t do much at all apart from replacing the bedroom window with French doors onto a little balcony; I had a constant need to get outside rather than be cooped up, so opening up the house as much as I could became a priority.’ Two years later, when she felt able, Sallyann began work on the rest of the house. The garage and carport were demolished and replaced with a sleek extension. ‘I knew I wanted an open-plan space where I could cook, eat and relax,’ she says. The original rooms were reorganised making an extra bedroom and guest bathroom, as well as a large, bright hall where Sallyann makes lighting and mirrors from items she salvages on nearby beaches. ‘I’ve always been drawn to the sea, whether living on it or near it and I’m always out collecting all manner of things!’ Her creative eye has also been used on the interiors. ‘I’ve designed and decorated shops and restaurants in the past, invariably in vivid colours with a Mediterranean influence, but in this house, I’ve been more restrained with lots of neutrals. I decided to think of it as a blank canvas that I could add to or remove from if I felt like a change.’ There are still pops of colour evident in the soft furnishings and the odd wild wallpaper and vintage find. ‘I used to have a lot more furniture and general “stuff” but we sold practically everything when we went off sailing. I had to start again which is surprisingly cathartic, if expensive!’ Renovating the house also proved to be a turning point. ‘It was completed in nine months and I barely had time to think about much else as there were so many decisions to be made but it was good to engage with something,’ she says. So has Sallyann been converted to bungalow life? ‘I actually feel really lucky to live here,’ she says. ‘The house makes for such easy living and with beautiful views, too – it’s an absolute privilege.

EN-SUITE BATHROOM  Pale Arabescata marble has been used for the elegant bath surround and splashback. The distinctive coral-themed hanging lightis a design by Vaughanhad seen at Charleston, the Bloomsbury Group's Sussex house. They additionally gather works by Duncan Grant – one of its residents.The proprietor had focused on that she didn't need the house to be too 'existing apart from everything else', so it wouldn't feel dated in years to come. Beata concurred and the two of them dismissed a regular cabin kitchen look. 'I needed the kitchen to be new – sort of Fifties in feel, just as the house had advanced after some time,' Beata says. The organizer fronts are plain and she has utilized an unpretentious ribbed wooden completion, painted a solid green, for the focal island, which has a copper work surface. The lights, as well, are copper, while the Swedish cabinet handles, in a few distinct shapes, are metal. 'Individuals become fixated on each metal completion in a kitchen being indistinguishable. It's substantially less inflexible to blend it up a bit.' The detachment of this methodology is adjusted by Beata's fastidious way to deal with plan-ning, which included capturing and estimating the proprietors' preferred belongings before structuring sharp approaches to show them.There are still a lot of chances for no particular reason: in the living room a Matisse-like toss, on the divider over the couch, gives an unex-pected highlight to the room. 'It's crisp and makes the vibe of the room more youthful,' Beata says. A melancholy inglenook chimney inverse was perked up with designed carefully assembled tiles, which reflect light once more into the room. Hand-painted renditions from Balineum include in the pretty cloakroom over the corridor while, in the cozy nearby, hand-painted tiles from Norton Tile Company are utilized to make a level, present day take on a Delft chimneypiece. Here, vintage finds including a couple of shoddy and happy pine dressers and plant prints in lavish Eighties-style casings purchased at closeout make an intriguing space for the proprietors' children to unwind in.Things are more excellent in the twofold stature fundamental room, some portion of the new expansion, with grasscloth backdrop on the dividers and ceil-ing, and a refined Elsie de Wolfe-style headboard in an intense chintz, which makes a brilliant concentration in this quiet room. The restroom adjacent blends provincial and advanced components, its roof of harsh painted boards and pillars furnishing an appear differently in relation to the smooth marble used to make an encompass for the shower and sprinkle backs for the two bowls. His is pared-back on nickel legs, while hers lays on a bended vanity unit, making an edge of Forties chic.Storage with added style is the way to the changing area, with pantries curtained in Beata's orange and inky blue 'Palm Drop' texture, its dark blue theme grabbed in the inherent drawers with their reflected fronts. In here, as somewhere else in the house where a considerable lot of the windows are little and low, Beata has taken the roman blinds up to the roof to cause the space to show up taller.The striking innovation of Beata's plans earned her the title of House and Garden Interior Designer of the Year in 2018. This charac-terful house demonstrates, indeed, what a commendable victor she was KITCHEN AND DINING ROOM A contemporary ceiling fixture with vintage glass globes and modern style metal pendant lights supplement a bespoke kitchen by Jack Trench, which incorporates tall oak cabinets, an island in Fior di Pesco marble and a patinated smooth-complete solid floor by Mass Concrete. A Joseph Goody painting directs an antique Irish feasting table, Oswald Haerdtl seats upholstered in a Robert Allen cotton velvet and a vintage armchaircovered in Scalamandré's 'Heaven Velvet' from Stark