CREATING A HOME AWAY FROM HOME IN KEY LARGO

If you’re anything like us, you have a long list of home design reads that keep your inspiration levels up—and are a reliable resource for decorating, party planning, or redesigning. Just as the latest trends shift with the seasons, so, too, do your list of favorite looks. We can help, whether you are looking for inspiration for a new home, re-designing an office, or simply looking for the perfect accent to your downsized home. Our services bring many choices for you to consider from top brand name manufacturers. Our focus is on individual lifestyles, budgets, long-term needs, and desires of our clients.

Ruth’s clients wanted the home to exhibit an elegant and clever sense of style that would contribute interesting elements of design emphasizing the home’s setting without detracting from its calming sense of space. They chose pieces that were current in design with cool and often aquatic color tones and motifs. And while they created a distinct feeling of purpose for each area of the house, they also maintained a feeling of continuity through the use of subtle color transitions and the placement of accessories that bridged the spaces between the rooms.

The home opens with a central foyer whose cream marble floor continues through past columns, which support the second floor balcony, to the main livingroom. This room features a high ceiling and a high mantled fireplace that connects to one side the master bedroom and another lower level bedroom and, to the other side, the dining room, office, kitchen and family room. It faces, through three sets of french doors, the pool and patio area which are enclosed in a framed mesh, providing both open air and bug free dining, swimming, and lounging. The patio area looks out onto an expansive golf course and this view is enjoyed not only from the patio itself but from the master bedroom, living room, and family room, the last of which has broad sliding doors which open the space completely when the weather is inviting. The second floor features three bedrooms connected by the upper balcony overlooking the living room which also features a sitting area.

Ruth’s clients wanted the furnishings in the home to reflect what they saw in the architecture–a home ideally suited to hosting both friends and family, refined and yet warmly inviting. They wanted each part of the house to feel connected to the whole just as they wanted all of their guests to feel connected when they stayed there.

In the living room, she began by filling the spaces to either side of the fireplace mantle with two large, clean lined curios from Century Furniture. She filled them with marine inspired accessories of glass and choral and, above each, placed four fern prints from Trowbridge. She used upholstery from Pearson in cool blues, off whites, with hints of gold and platinum. As with many of the accessories, she introduced a variety of natural materials that imbue the sleek, contemporary lines with warmth.

The colors and lines of the dining room are a continuation of the contrasts found in the living room of straight and curving forms and light paints and fabrics with deep, rich wood tones. She surrounded a Century table and sideboard with upholstered Elise dining chairs from Councill, whose polished wooden and fabric backs cleverly exhibit this contrast. The chandelier from Visual Comfort and buffet lamps from Global Views gently soften this effect with satin brass. On the wall over the sideboard she used three of Ben Wood’s Sepia Shells from Trowbridge and, on the opposing wall, Thomas Pheasant’s cleverly abstracted “Constellation” mirror by Baker.

The family room extends out from the kitchen and transitions from its brilliant white, granite, and nickel palette to warmer shades of browns and blues.

The walls are covered in an earthy yet sophisticated grass cloth which softens the white bead board of the ceiling vault. A soft, transitional area rug under a painted, Jacobean chair and ottoman, a taupe painted cocktail table and a light brown Pearson sectional provide the main seating area.

She used several pieces from Hickory Chair in this room. Against one wall, the Marielle upholstered bookcase in a soft brown highlighted with rows of nailheads is filled with shells and marine blue glass accesories. She used a painted finish on the Julien game table and a wood stain on the Avondale chair legs, picking up the stain of the adjacent Blackland bar cabinet, and a coral patterned cut velvet for the game chair’s upholstery. Over this table she hung Aviva Stanoff’s Elephant Ear triptych from Trowbridge.

The patio was furnished with a dining set, sectional, and lounge chairs from Brown Jordan’s Fushion collection.

These pieces are made with aluminum frames and woven with a UV resistant extruded polyethylene resinweave that resists corrosion. The fabric and cushions themselves are also made of mildew and corrosion resistant materials insuring a long life outdoors. As with the contrasting wood and upholstery inside they continue the contrast of light and dark.

A crowd of divers from Global Views set into the exterior wall and images of life in the form of carved stone turtles brings a sense of fun to the pool area.

The master bedroom was from the Wellington Court collection by Century and features turned posts and a tufted headboard. They used gold elements such as the hanging porcelain orchids and vertical mirror against a soft blue paint which reflects the blue of the pool visible through the french doors.

Down the hall, her daughter and son-in-law’s room features Century’s Metro Luxe bedroom. She placed three of John Richards recessed mirror framed botanicals above the bed’s headboard.

In the upstairs bedroom for her son and daughter-in-law she used Century’s Consulate collection. There she placed three Trowbridge botanicals framed within the headboard’s poster rails. Over the Tribeca writing desk she used the clever little Sol Doble mirror from Carver’s Guild.

The upstairs also features two smaller bedrooms for guests and, eventually, grandchildren.

She used brightly colored fish prints in the one room and sea urchin prints in the other.

Some of the most magnificent large scale prints were placed in the upper balcony’s seating area. There she featured Ben Wood’s Ammonite Shells from Trowbridge over a scalloped backed padded Town and Country bench from Century.