It may be in walking distance to the beach, but the three-level house in Kiawah Island, S.C. that Jonathan Savage recently designed is not your typical beach home.
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The approximately 6,500-square-foot family getaway is in perfect harmony between soft, contemporary details and structured lines. Savage elegantly layered a neutral color palette of grays and whites across the interior and exterior spaces of the home, which can be described as traditional in architecture but transitional in style.
“It's a varied take on sophistication because everything is not blue and green,” says Savage, lead designer of SAVAGE Interior Design. “My inspiration was a take on the beach but in a subtle, more modern way.”
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There is nothing more modern than the two kidney-shaped sofas that are situated perpendicular to each other in the center of the living room. The cream-colored seating was inspired by the designs of esteemed American designer Vladimir Kagan. Two wicker chairs painted in gray with cushions wrapped in a palm leaf-patterned Carelton V fabric further accentuate the chic vibe in the living area.
Borrowing from hues seen in nature’s green foliage, Savage accented the living room with chartreuse, using throw pillows on the sofas and lamps on the three-tier glass side tables.
A pair of French doors in the living room leads guests outdoors to a resort-style oasis, complete with a pool, deck, and cabana that sit under a verdant landscape of palm trees. Outdoor living can be equally appreciated by sitting on the front porch listening to the ocean breeze.
These outdoor elements weave effortlessly into the inside of the home centrally located on the island. Palm trees are not just visible on the perimeter of the house but also in some of the eye-catching wallpaper that covers many of the interior walls.
“The client likes to use a lot of wall covering —we even wallpapered some ceilings,” says Savage. “That was a request from the homeowner, and we went overboard with it.”
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In the basement-level game room, the wall covering displays a striking contrast of white palm trees on top of a dark gray background. Meanwhile, one of the guest bedrooms features a paper-backed fabric of gray-brown palm trees on top of a white backdrop. Savage, who has been an interior designer for nearly 15 years, found the Pierre Frey wallpaper in France one year before he began designing the home.
“This French wall covering is one of my favorite things in the home. It’s quite beautiful,” he says. “The way I think people want to live at the beach is sort of in a simplistic manner, and we designed it with that in mind but yet it's very stylish.”
Another one of Savage’s most treasured pieces in the home is an 80-pound chandelier made of seashell fragments that hangs in the dining room. The turret-style ceiling from which it hangs is covered in a woven pattern wallpaper of creams and grays, giving onlookers the illusion of real woven material even though it is flat. Centered underneath is an 84-inch ebonized wood table surrounded by white leather dining chairs that Savage describes as “wipeable and kid-friendly.”
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The family can also dine in the breakfast room while seated on the chartreuse banquette made of outdoor canvas fabric created by luxury Italian brand Loro Piana. Tall, white textured metal outdoor lamps flank the banquette, as do white Belgian linen curtains that have a chartreuse Samuel and Sons faux bios tape trim.
Savage says he was determined to meet his client’s request to create a comfortable home that could host as many people as possible and to equip it with entertainment.
“This is indoor/outdoor living at its finest,” he says. “I feel we accommodated their wants and needs in the utmost kind of way. And when you do that, you obviously walk away proud.”