Welcome to our gallery featuring the Transcending Traditional project, a home created by Heather Garrett Design.

This project was crafted for a young family who were hoping to combine the rich history of their Southern roots while maintaining the thoroughly modern convenience of a contemporary home.

The results speak for themselves in a myriad of ways, both big and small.

The family had multiple generations in North Carolina, where this home resides, and wanted to honor their heritage with this immaculate interior design. At the same time, they didn’t want to sacrifice any of the modern efficiency and convenience developments that an up to date house should have.

Thus, the aim for the designers was set: a perfect hybrid of traditional Southern comfort and deeply contemporary planning.

The look seen here embraces tradition in the materials and surfaces throughout, while helping foster a casual lifestyle feeling. In other words, the home manages to evoke the past without appearing like someone’s actual grandparents live in it.

The homeowners are entertainers with vast knowledge of fine arts, owning a carefully curated modern art collection. Thus they wanted a special space that would both complement their art and offer a relaxing living situation.

With two teenage boys and a love of entertaining for neighbors and friends, the careful placement of furniture and textures was a practical as well as aesthetic decision.

The balance of eclectic materials and styles breathes fresh life into a very livable, comfortable home, steeped in tradition and history as it is. The resulting interior design scheme is as elegant as it is inviting.

Photography: John Bessler

The living room is wrapped in warm salmon tones, with a textural wallpaper finish that helps connect the various artworks and other important details throughout the room. Furniture selection leans toward traditional shapes with modern tones.

Pulling back from the living room into the foyer, we see that the space is absolutely flush with intriguing hybrid style details, like the button tufted ottoman crafted over an acrylic cube. The hardwood flooring anchors everything in a traditional tone.

Intricate, period-specific furniture pieces are seen everywhere in the home, including this nailhead trim armchairs and the steel drink cart in the corner. The thoroughly modern windows are framed in old school drapes for a timeless look.

The home features a massive formal dining room, fitting for its Southern heritage. The walls in this space are uniquely wrapped in large scale mural style painting, rather than single color paint or wallpaper, which adds a hearty dose of personality and style.

The dining room centers on an incredible rich wood dining table and matching chair set, with intricate carved backs and nailhead trim cushioning. The green and white curtains here complement the wall mural.

Finally we arrive at the foyer, the space pictured at the very top of this post. The room is wrapped by the elegant white staircase and is populated with this simple love seat and metal table combination, offering a great example of the spare sophistication of the home.

In addition to the traditionally styled furniture, the home features an abundance of idiosyncratic details, like the bamboo umbrella stand and small white glazed barrel here in the foyer. Above are some of the owners’ art collection.

Here’s a smaller family room space within the home, features more subtle colors over an interesting set of materials, including nailhead trimmed, upholstered wall panels. The neutral palette hosts elegantly crafted furniture.

Here’s one of the teenage boy bedrooms, absolutely bursting with color and character. One entire wall is a world map, while the furniture all sports multiple colors and patterns.

The bedroom features loads of particular details, including this rich wood writing desk and the international flag dresser seen at left. It’s a riot of color within the more reserved home.

The bathroom offers another take on the unique mixture of traditional and modern, with a marble topped, chrome framed vanity and ornate mirror standing over a micro tile floor.