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carolina bound » Carolina Bound: The Decorating Plans Begin!

Carolina Bound: The Decorating Plans Begin!

By Kate Morgan Jackson

Our dream house may still be months away from being finished, but with the help of our friends from Southern Studio, our decorating plans are well underway!

The Southern Studio

So many fun things have happened since my last update on our Carolina Dream House, but ABSOLUTELY the most fun thing has been our most recent decorating adventure with our friends from Southern Studio.  But let me back up a bit.

The Southern husband and I have learned from experience that while we are good at many things, house decor is, ahem, not one of them.  I was under the delusion that I was pretty dang good at it.

And then we worked with a designer on our kitchen reno up here, and, um, I realized that things go much better when you leave them to the professionals.

So right after we bought our piece of Carolina land, I asked our fabulous realtor for some decorator suggestions.  I am now wise enough to know that I would not be good at figuring out how to put a house full of New Jersey furniture into the new house and fill in the spaces we will need to fill in.  Live and learn!

And luckily for me, we ended up in the amazing hands of the team at Southern Studio…and now, at least six months before our finish date we have an amazing decor plan.

Even though our Dream House currently looks like this…

foundation

(I am super excited about all those cinderblocks though.  We recently roamed around it and boy, this is feeling REAL!)

Anyway, the first thing we did was meet with Vicky Serany, the head of Southern Studio, to explain our plans and meet her wonderful team.

She immediately made us feel like we were in good hands, and among other things I am now obsessed with their Instagram account which is full of GORGEOUS homes they have worked on.

The second thing that happened was that Vicky and her colleague Elizabeth came all the way from North Carolina to New Jersey to check out our current furniture.

southern studio friends

Here we are in my New Jersey studio.  I might need to get those pants hemmed?

Vicky and Elizabeth measured every single stick of furniture in the place.  We talked about the pieces I could not live without, and the ones that might have done their job and could now be put out to pasture.

Then they went home and working with our blueprints, created a room by room plan of the new house, that placed all of our current furniture, with various options for the various rooms, and a list of the things we would need to fill in the empty spaces.

Elizabeth and I went back and forth on these plans until they were just perfect, and then they said the next step was the Design Throwdown.

The what?  Whatever that was, it sounded thrilling, and so a couple of weeks ago the Southern husband and I trundled down to North Carolina, scooped up our daughter and sweet son–in-law and arrived at Southern Studio, all ready for throwing down whatever was going to be thrown down.

As it turns out, the Design Throwdown is where Vicky and Elizabeth show us furniture and fabrics and bedding and rugs and everything else we need to think about to start getting the things we need to fill in around our New Jersey furniture.

The first thing was picking out fabrics.  The Southern Studio team had laid out all kinds of options for everything from chairs to pillows to rugs to quilts, and our job was to take out anything we DIDN’T like.

fabric choices

As it turns out, we all have pretty much exactly the same taste, so this was all kinds of fun, and we ended up with a gorgeous array of choices for Vicky and Elizabeth to work with…

selections

I love the beachy, farmhouse, comfy vibe of what they found for us.  Check out how it works PERFECTLY with our paint colors…

paint swatches

…which is why they are awesome decorators.  And I am not.  :)

Next came the testing of the furniture!  They have various kinds of chairs and sofas around so we could try out how they felt, and whether we wanted firm (me) or comfy (the Southern daughter) or in between.

We took this job very seriously.

chair tester

Head chair-tester…

secondary chair testers

…secondary chair testers! (Check out all those awards behind us!)

After we had done all that, Vicky explained that the next step would be for them to create a board full of choices for the furniture and fabrics and everything else that would go into making our new house a beautiful, comfy home.

This is a board they just finished for another lucky family…

Vicky Serany

…and when we get ours they will let us take it home so we can gaze at it and figure out what we like best.

Throughout all of this, Vicky and Elizabeth have been so warm and welcoming and just plain nice.  They have come to our house selection meetings with us, they have sent us so many creative and happy emails, and they are clearly excited about working on this home with us.

I can’t tell you how much this means to all of us, because honestly, while I am so excited to move down to our new home, the thought of packing up everything here and figuring out where it needs to go there is more than a little daunting.

Or WAS more than a little daunting, because now we have our Southern Studio friends by our side!

And last but not least, after the Throwdown was over, we proceeded directly to the Pharmacy, which is a beer and wine bar in an old pharmacy right near the studio…

Pharmacy

…to raise a glass to Vicky, Elizabeth and all the exciting days to come.

Next up: THE FRAMING.  Stay tuned to this channel!

 

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Kate Morgan Jackson

Hi there!  I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover.  I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN!  My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too.  And if you make this recipe, I would love you to tag @FramedCooks on Instagram so I can see the deliciousness!as seen in logos

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Published on December 17, 2019

Good for: Southern Husband's Favorites

Last Post:
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  1. WPBHosting says

    December 17, 2019 at 1:46 pm

    I love the name of the watering hole “The Pharmacy” – after the day has worn you down! :)

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      December 18, 2019 at 9:22 am

      I think it might be one of our new favorite North Carolina places! :)

      Reply
  2. Alice says

    December 18, 2019 at 11:29 am

    Kate, I just love hearing about all the plans for your new home! It’s so fun following along with you so keep these posts coming and good luck with everything!

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      December 19, 2019 at 8:02 am

      Thanks Alice – we are having such a great time with all of this! Thanks for coming along for the ride! :)

      Reply
  3. Annette Vanore says

    December 18, 2019 at 11:56 am

    Kate,
    I just LOVE being part of Carolina Bound….everything looks absolutely beautiful and you were so right bringing this team on board. I have always wanted to do that but unfortunately never did and I know my home can use that magic touch.
    I just love all the colors and fabrics that were chosen…. you can feel the warmth and comfort.
    Looking forward to the next chapter.
    Wishing you and your family many Christmas blessings and just think next year at this time you will be celebrating your first Christmas in your new home….I can smell those Christmas cookies now :)

    Reply
    • Kate Morgan Jackson says

      December 19, 2019 at 8:02 am

      Annette, thanks so much!! And yes, the folks at Southern Studio are amazing! Christmas blessings to you and yours, too. :)

      Reply

Hi, I’m Kate! I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I’m so glad you’re here!

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