Tag : Southern Coastal Living

November 8, 2019

The Guest Room

Design, Hospitality Design, Residential Design, Southern Coastal Living

The guest room in our home gets lots of use. Not only do we enjoy entertaining, we love to host friends both old and new. In our design work, the guest room is a place that we can focus our attention to detail to help our clients create lasting memories for their friends and family. In a word, hospitality is the gift of making people feel as truly welcome and cared for as they do at home—and even more so. When family and friends come to visit for an overnight or longer, it is so nice to provide them with all the essentials for a happy, memorable stay, and some thoughtful luxuries too. The world’s great resorts and hotels do that as a matter of course, which is where I believe this crossover story starts.

Interior by Sharon Cleland

In a guest room, as elsewhere, thinking about how the space is meant to function helps me to determine what furnishings and accessories to include. Beside the bed, I always make sure to have a place to set a glass and a bottle or carafe of water. I want people to feel comfortable using it, so I’ll make sure there is a coaster or something comparable handy. When possible, a bedside table that is large enough to accommodate a reading lamp, a guest’s reading glasses, a book, and even a box of tissues makes the room feel homey. Optimally, the bottom of the lampshade or wall sconce should be 20 inches above the bedside table or mattress. The smallest of details all layer to create a welcoming experience.

Montage of four images that illustrate layering texture in an interior

Blog

September 16, 2019

Layering Texture

Design, Southern Coastal Living

Successful interior design is all about getting each of the elements in a room to work well together while still standing out and making an individual impact. Nowhere is this more apparent than in layering texture in a room. The following are Joni’s thoughts on layering texture:

“Layering texture in interior design is most successful when it activates and pleases all the senses. We respond to a design first with our eyes, of course, but the quality of touch is just as important. The relationship between the two is fascinating. As a designer, I know that the eye longs for elements that break up the continuity or sameness within our field of vision. For me, that ability to interrupt the continuity is texture’s purpose and function.

three images of collections used in decoration of living room

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August 18, 2019

Artworks and Collections in Interiors

Joni Vanderslice, Residential Design, Southern Coastal Living

The most dynamic and livable interiors include artworks and collections. They are not confined to furnishings of any singular look or period combining personal pieces and art works that vary in period, shape, form, color or culture and arranging them harmoniously creates interest, timelessness and in some cases a bit of whimsy. Interiors are deeply personal and by layering artwork and collections tell the stories of the people who inhabit them. J. Banks Design Founder and President, Joni Vanderslice , includes the following chapter in her monograph, Southern Coastal Living.

View of pool and brick patio in Palmetto Bluff designed by J Banks Design Group

Blog

July 9, 2019

Southern Coastal Living: Indoor-Outdoor Living

Residential Design, Resort Design, Southern Coastal Living

We are so very fortunate with our climate in the South, especially along the coast, which permits relaxed, indoor-outdoor living bringing us into nature on a daily basis. Many native species of flora and fauna flourish in this part of the country, where gardens are the passion of many. Our harbors and the ocean are so full of bounty and beauty. On Hilton Head Island, where development is planned and much of the land protected, our indigenous wildlife has a safe home. How we interact with the outdoors, how we extend our living and entertaining spaces beyond the walls of our houses, how we ease ourselves into the landscape are questions my designers and I think through with every home that we work on, including our own.

A collage of a man's office, showing his collections of fishing equipment and memorabilia

Blog

June 16, 2019

Happy Father’s Day!

Joni Vanderslice, Residential Design, Southern Coastal Living

“Men’s Spaces” – an excerpt from Southern Coastal Living: Stylish Lowcountry Homes by J. Banks Design

In almost every home that we do now, the men want one room that is their own designated domain: a place where they can get away to, concentrate, watch a football game. They always want these personal spaces to reflect their interests: golf, boats and the nautical life, travel, whatever it may be. Part of the fun for me is pulling that information out of them. Watching them settle in once the rooms are complete is such a pleasure. They really use their rooms. Usually, they cannot wait to show off their space to their friends and visiting family members.