A few more days still remain to tour the Decorators’ Show House and Gardens in Atlanta. Weather you are visiting Atlanta or a longtime native, it is always interesting to see how people live and what sort of art do they admire. While museums and historic homes offer you the opportunity to step back in time, show home exhibits let you visit dwellings that are currently occupied and sometimes for sale.
Last week, I had a chance to visit the Knollwood House, a magnificent estate and home in the upscale neighborhood of Buckhead. The home is designed by renowned architect Phillip Trammell Schutze, while 27 of Atlanta’s prestigious designers showcase their work throughout. The 18 century estate was originally constructed by slaves and modeled after traditional Southern style plantations. Now, the property grounds are scaled down, the home renovated in a modern style and the decor is elegant and functional.
My favorite two rooms in the home are the kitchen (not surprisingly) and the sun room. The kitchen is open and spacious reflecting old world charm and luxurious conveniences. The wood panelings cover oversized appliances and the expansive counters are all in marble. I love how the kitchen overlooks the garden and has its own herb garden by the window. It is designer by Laurie Lehrich of Design Galleria.
The solarium or sun room is something we do not find in homes very often these days. At Knollwood, it was one of the largest rooms with stone floors, floor to ceiling windows, giant indoor plants and comfortable furniture. Designer John Oetgen did absolute justice to this place. It’s the perfect place for me to write or have a home office! Slimming down the documents we have in hand If we ever did decide to go ahead with a full home office conversion makes sense ahead of time. I know many workplaces are using new systems to help with this (like Filecenter, to name one example), so if this space needs to be turned into something like that down the line then that shouldn’t be a big hassle. Plus, there are ways to change it over quickly – it would just be wrong to not kit out your office with chairs; a good chair can make all the difference, especially if you intend to do a lot of writing (which I do!)
There are also culinary demonstrations taking place at the pavilion in front of the home. James Farmer presented “Farmer To Table: Food and Flowers,” and autographed his books. There is food available for purchase by Carole Parks catering, which could be enjoyed in the garden. The 42nd annual Decorators’ Show House and Gardens ends on May 13, 2012.
Photos courtesy of Jeff Roffman
