From Farragut to Florida
A Dining Room Revival

One of the most rewarding aspects of being luxury interior designers in Knoxville, Tennessee, is the opportunity to work on diverse projects. Sometimes this includes vacation homes, and when we’re lucky, these homes are in fabulous, warm places that we get to visit in the dead of East Tennessee winter. We had the pleasure of revitalizing a Tampa vacation home for one of our long-time Knoxville clients. Earlier on the blog, we gave an overview of the transformation, but today, we’re breaking down one fabulous room.

The dining room was as outdated and uninspiring as the rest of the home’s design, and the dark colors did not make this space feel like a beachy getaway. Our clients desired a bright, modern vacation home that would feel like their very own luxurious vacation. This dining room transformation is a testament to how we bring our Rowan Hall touch to every space we design, from Farragut to Florida.

The Initial Challenge

Our clients, who love contemporary and bold designs, had purchased a Tampa vacation home that was decorated in a very traditional style. The dining room, in particular, felt outdated and didn’t reflect their modern aesthetic. Before they even finalized the purchase, they sent us photos from the real estate listing and asked if we could update the space to match their style. We were excited to take on the challenge and knew we could make it work.

As with all our out-of-state projects, we began with a trade day. Alfie flew down to Tampa to take measurements of the space and assess the existing elements. Our Knoxville interior design team then had numerous discussions with the clients to understand their vision and preferences. We decided to keep the dining room’s structure intact but focused on aesthetic changes to brighten and modernize the space.

Creating the Flow

We started by deciding to open up the niche to create an opening into the eat-in kitchen. This created better flow throughout the home, making the dining room feel more connected and spacious. We painted the walls a light neutral color and the ceilings white to give the illusion of higher ceilings. This simple change instantly made the room feel more open and airy.

Given that we chose to utilize the eat-in kitchen as more of a sitting room, the dining room needed to have plenty of seating for dining. We opted for a round pedestal table to maintain easy walking space and keep the flow of the home intact. The furnishings we selected are modern with a slight retro flare. The fluted and gold base of the dining table makes this piece contemporary and timeless at the same time.

A Fresh Look

The dining room’s traditional elements, like the dark wood furniture and heavy chandelier, were replaced with sleek, modern pieces. The before photos show a room dominated by warm, dark tones and ornate decor. We introduced a fresh, neutral color palette, opting for light walls and contemporary furnishings that made the space feel airy and inviting.

A stunning modern chandelier became the focal point of the dining room, replacing the old, ornate fixture. We also added contemporary artwork, a vibrant rug, and chic accessories to bring in color, while keeping the furnishings neutral. These pieces of furniture can work in any home these clients move into, and we can help them keep them fresh by changing up the other pieces in the room.

Let’s Plan a Getaway!

The transformation of this dining room is nothing short of spectacular. The once dark and dated space now feels fresh, bright, and modern. Our clients are thrilled with the result and love how the room reflects their contemporary style. It’s now a perfect place for family dinners and entertaining guests.

This dining room makeover is a great example of how Rowan Hall Interiors can take any space and transform it into something beautiful and functional. Whether you’re looking to update a single room or an entire home, we’re here to help bring your vision to life. If you have a vacation home or remote project, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to be a part of your design journey!

If you’re looking for your own getaway location, Rowan Hall would love to be involved! Call our team if you’re interested in interior design and remodeling for vacation homes or remote work of your own. We can’t wait to hear from you!

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Tampa Vacation Home
Multi-Functional Basement Remodel

How does a team of Knoxville Interior Designers get hired to update an entire vacation home in Tampa, Florida? Having amazing clients who wouldn’t dream of moving into a new home without their favorite Rowan Hall ladies!

After completing a full-service interior renovation of the family’s Knoxville residence, our clients invited Rowan Hall to give their new vacation home a fresh new look. We gave an inside look at the primary bedroom of this Tampa vacation home, and now we’re heading down to the basement to break down how we created the ultimate hangout spot.

No Working Allowed

The previous owners of this home used their basement as a home office, but vacation homes are not meant for working! Our clients intend to use their second home as a weekend getaway and a place to rejuvenate with their family. We decided that bonus room for relaxing and extra accommodations would serve them better, so we started planning for this multifunctional space!

This space had a leg-up on other basements due to the three windows letting in natural light. There was also a bathroom, which meant it could be used as an extra bedroom. The clients agreed that that would suit their needs. Having an extra bed meant more visitors could come, including their aging parents.

Although we agreed to include a bed in this space, we didn’t want to eliminate any other potential use for this space. It could also be a great hangout spot for the clients’ young adult children or a quiet place to read. Therefore, we opted for a comfortable, space-saving Murphy bed that could stay folded in the wall when not in use. The piece is flanked by shelving and can be pulled out easily for a comfortable sleeping spot when visitors come to stay.

A Place to Unwind

Comfort was key in this space, so we brought in a custom sofa in performance fabric and upholstered ottoman for lounging. The lightweight ottoman was a better option for rearranging than a heavy coffee table, and the fun striped fabric we chose gives a pop of color to this neutral room. 

More vibrant colors and bold patterns were incorporated in the throw pillows and custom draperies. We wanted the space to feel youthful and modern. A mix of patterns in shades of aqua and lime green give that fun flair our clients were looking for. Geometric style lamps and an epoxy side table add more style to this otherwise neutral room.

The rug we chose also gives a neutral base for the fun patterns to pop. A rug makes any room cozier and will also dampen the noise in this case. Layers of texture and color make this once dreary basement an inviting space for the whole family. 

Room for All

Although our clients didn’t need this space to function as a home office, it would still make a great place to work from home! The beauty of this basement is that the options are endless! Rest and relax, curl up with a book, have a movie night, or pull out the Murphy bed for a good night’s sleep. This flex room is cozy and inviting enough for all of it!

Even if you don’t have a spare room in your second home for us to play with like these clients do, you probably could use some multifunctional solutions in your own home! Our team of design experts can come up with simple solutions to make your life much easier and your home much more livable for you. Give us a call to get started planning your home project today!

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Tampa Vacation Home
Primary Bedroom Renovation

When one of our favorite Knoxville clients purchased a new vacation home in Tampa, Florida, they knew they wanted Rowan Hall to make it their own. After years of working to design their Farragut, Tennessee home to perfection, they trusted Alfie to give them a place in the Sunshine State that felt like home. Despite the project location being a quick plane ride away, our 15-step white glove process allows our design team to execute remote projects efficiently. Today, we’re breaking down the primary bedroom design and how we gave this room’s blank canvas a colorful new life. 

Alfie admits that the primary bedroom had much more hidden potential than what she envisioned at first glance. The room wasn’t initially very inviting. Our team needed to give the space some life and transform it into a restful retreat for our homeowners. To begin, we decided to utilize shades of blue that our clients loved. We set out to achieve a transitional style with a light and airy feel–the perfect vacation home vibe.

Bedding Blues

In a bedroom, the bedding is the star of the show! We put much thought into the fabrics and functionality of the pieces we chose. Alfie selected a beautiful chinoiserie toile pattern from Thibaut fabrics to make a large, sumptuous bolster pillow. This same pattern adorns the end of the bed and the draperies, adding pops of color without overwhelming the space. The deep blue half-inch flange around the bolster pillow ties in the blue brushstroke pattern on the lamps, bringing every detail together in this beautiful new space.

Because of the nature of this home, we opted to bring pattern and color with a bed scarf. You’ve probably noticed bed scarves most commonly in hotel rooms. They help protect the linens from suitcases and travel bags when visitors are unpacking. Truthfully, it would be heartbreaking to see a suitcase on this gorgeous piece, but it was necessary in this vacation home. Should our clients choose to share this home with friends and family, their clean, cozy linens will be protected from airport grime. Bed scarves are typically 32 inches wide, but we opted for a bit wider to make the piece feel more grand. This was a way for us to make a stunning statement on the bed without adding a full comforter and duvet cover, which would make our homeowners far too warm in that Florida heat!

A duvet cover also would have required five times the amount of fabric, making it less cost effective for our clients. Bed scarves are a great way to preserve fabric and labor, but they give the same look as a folded, fluffy duvet. Because we were renovating and furnishing their entire second home, our design team worked to stretch their investment as far as possible. It takes an expert, experienced designer to know how to work within our clients’ budget without sacrificing that luxurious feel they are hiring Rowan Hall to achieve. This is just one of the many advantages of working with our Knoxville interior design team!With the bedding thoughtfully designed, this space needed a bed that allowed those beautiful blues to shine. The custom-upholstered headboard was designed with performance fabric and gold nail heads. Alfie selected this pop of gold to tie in the accents on the nightstands, frames above the bed and bedside lamps. We chose these transitional end tables from Phillip Scott and layered them with beautiful lamps from Gabby. We established simple themes, adding greenery and books to the table surfaces to give them a cozy feel.

Tampa Vice

When our Knoxville interior designers travel to markets in Atlanta, Georgia and High Point, North Carolina, they are searching for those perfect pieces that will make our clients light up. One of the pieces of inspiration in this room was a stunning piece of furniture from Currey & Company. Alfie sometimes teases our client and calls her “Miami Vice,” because she always wants to be more glamorous and live on the edge when it comes to her interior design. This cabinet definitely had that Miami flare. It has a more transitional feel than many of the other pieces, thanks to the dark sapphire-blue finish that strengthened the sycamore veneers on the door fronts. The wood grains imbued the cabinet with hints of distressing that contrasted with the sleek lines of the base and the antique brass-finish door pulls.

We placed gorgeous sculptural vases as accents on this piece, and we also left space for a television should our clients choose to put one there. TVs typically aren’t beautiful, but let’s face it–they’re functional, and our clients who want them deserve to have what makes their home feel perfect for them. This cabinet gives them the option to add a TV, and it also gives them additional storage. However, this room was blessed with a massive closet, so storage didn’t have to be top of mind for this design.

Window Dressings

Of course, no Rowan Hall room is complete without custom window treatments, and these were some of the prettiest we’ve ever done. The view off the Juliet balcony is supposed to be the million-dollar shot, but before Rowan Hall went to work, even the best part of the room fell flat. The custom curtains we selected frame the view perfectly, making the outside look even prettier thanks to the fabulous inside. We used split curtain rods for the nonfunctional panels and were able to add color, texture and interest on that wall in the process.

Above the bed, we hung a trio of beautiful framed medallions. Alfie typically opts for something above a bed, as long as it’s not too busy. She likes having a place for the eyes to rest, and these fit the bill. This set of custom artwork from one of our favorite manufacturers frames pieces of gold, antique jewelry. Simple and captivating, they give the space another pop of gold and round out those warm accents. Having more areas of interest for the eyeballs to land makes this room look much bigger, helping us achieve its full potential.

Coastal Transformations

As far as the foundation of this room, it only required a few cosmetic upgrades. A light, neutral color on the walls brightened the space, making it feel less dated without the yellow-toned walls from before. A new ceiling fan modernized the space, and just like that, this primary bedroom didn’t feel like a blast from the past! 

We were able to achieve a transitional, beachy feel (with a hint of Miami Vice), giving our coastal clients a home away from home they can enjoy on their many trips down south. From Knoxville, Tennessee to the Sunshine State, Rowan Hall’s expert interior design team knows how to get the job done! We love when our clients ask us to travel with them. After all, who knows their home living needs better than Alfie herself! After years of getting to know her clients, she knows how to curate a space that serves their lifestyle better than they do. That’s the reason they trust us! It all began with an initial consultation, and their working relationship has only grown from there. Schedule your initial consultation today–your future self will thank you!

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Tampa Vacation Home
An overview of our latest Florida home

One of the best parts of being luxury interior designers in Knoxville, Tennessee, is that sometimes our amazing clients purchase second homes and call on us to revitalize the interiors of those new properties. As much as we love designing homes in beautiful East Tennessee, we love any opportunity to expand our reach, especially if that happens to be near some clear, blue water. In addition to our local Knoxville projects, we also have the option to do interior design and remodeling for vacation homes. Such was the case with one of our Knoxville clients. We had worked with this family for years and had redone most of their Tennessee home, taking on a few rooms each year. When they purchased a Tampa vacation home recently, they reached out to us to bring our Rowan Hall touch, this time down in sunny Florida.

Miami Takes Tampa

The home was in a glorious location, only steps from the heart of the city and the Tampa Riverwalk. That area is the focal point of the downtown landscape, within walking distance of the city’s awesome restaurants, arts scene and cultural events. This would be a great place for the family to get away for the weekend from time to time. Another advantage of them buying there was the abundance of inexpensive flights from Knoxville to Tampa, plus the fact that they had friends and family nearby.

Alfie used to tease the wife about how her style was so “Miami.” She loves bling and bold choices was always wanting her interior style to be a little more contemporary, despite the fact that their Knoxville home was more on the traditional side. Fortunately, we were able to bring that style to some extent in remodeling the family’s new Tampa home. In particular, we were excited about having carte blanche to give everything a fresh look.

Formal living room before
Formal living room before

Before our clients even purchased the property, they called on their favorite interior designer. They sent existing photos of the home from its real estate listings and asked if we thought it would be suitable for them. Bottom line: Could we update it? Alfie could tell from the photos that the home did not match their style in the least. It was decorated in a very traditional fashion, which was not a style the family would enjoy. It was time for an update, and we knew we could make it work.

The Fun Begins

As she would typically do when working on an out-of-state project, Alfie began by flying down to Tampa and taking measurements of all the spaces. We call this our “trade day,” step three in our fifteen step interior design process. After this kickoff to the project, our Knoxville interior design team had many discussions with the clients. We made a lot of decisions when it came to selecting materials, colors and furnishings. 

Our Knoxville interior design team did most sourcing from our usual vendors. Our favorite companies can ship to anywhere in the country, so we contracted with a warehouse in Tampa to receive those orders for us. We’ve worked diligently over the years to perfect a remote process, so our clients can invest in a Rowan Hall home no matter its location. As is typical with remote projects, major pieces were shipped to the Tampa warehouse. More delicate items like custom draperies, rugs, lamps and other breakable items were delivered to our Knoxville warehouse. We made sure every item was in pristine condition, carefully loaded up the van, and headed south for install day!

A Worthy Investment

This home was in great shape and did not require a total remodel, so we focused on salvaging what was there to create a home that was more our clients’ style. For example, the floors were in fine condition as were the kitchen cabinets. Instead of replacing them, we made the decision to invest in other areas. 

Kitchen beforeKitchen after

Overall, we made aesthetic changes and brightened the home significantly with a fresh coat of paint, relying primarily on neutral colors. In addition to the walls, we painted the kitchen cabinets, the ceilings, some of the floors and some of the wood molding. The most substantial thing we did architecturally was to knock out an arched niche in the dining room wall and open it up to improve the flow into the kitchen.

Dining room beforeDining room after niche opened up and paint changedDining room after

We also changed the lighting, getting rid of the fixtures and doing a refresh by hiring a local Tampa contractor. It was one the family already had a relationship with, and he was wonderful to work with. He was able to tell us what made sense in terms of which updates would be expensive and which would be more reasonable.

An Optical Delusion

When it came to the bathrooms, we decided that we might update them substantially at a later date. Since they were not in bad shape, we simply made cosmetic updates and fluffed them up to make the spaces look more appealing and current. We debated changing out the sink basin and mirror in the powder room because the existing was overly decorative. Instead, we kept them and hung a more traditional style of wallpaper to create a cohesive look.

Powder room beforeAfter: powder room wallpaper

The powder room, however, did present us with an interesting challenge — a tromp de l’oeil, which is an artistic term for the optical illusion of three-dimensional space created by painting a two-dimensional surface. It was just one example of the many decorative faux paintings throughout the home. As you can see in the above photo, a recessed wall in that room served as the canvas for a faux window view of a waterfront scene. It was honestly pretty wretched.

Formal living room after paint changeFormal living room after

We found several other features of the home to be challenging. For example, we did not love the arches, the ornate staircase or the really red floors. But it also didn’t make sense to completely change them at this time because they were in good shape. Fortunately, by the time we moved some beautiful elements into those spaces, the bad elements weren’t as noticeably awful. In fact, the floors actually wound up providing good contrast to some of the cooler new colors we selected. We also tried to minimize them by utilizing sleek and clean-lined furniture.

Fun and Fabulous

Basement after

Another focal point of this project was the basement. The previous owners had used it as an office, but our clients didn’t need one. So we changed that area into a den as well as a space that could be utilized for additional sleeping. There is a bathroom downstairs, so that made a perfect place for extra accommodations.

Primary bedroom beforePrimary bedroom after

You can see from the before photos that the primary bedroom was in good condition. A fresh coat of paint and a new ceiling fan were enough to make the space feel brand new. New custom window treatments in a bold fabric and pops of color made this space more exciting and gave our client that fun, contemporary style she desired. 

In general, the changes we implemented also turned this makeover into an investment. The family can enjoy their vacation home for years to come. If they ever decide to sell the property, Rowan Hall has helped make smart upgrades that will set them up for success.

We’ve given you a small taste of what went into transforming this Tampa Bay vacation property, but don’t worry. We will be breaking down all the design details and sharing much more inspo from our funky Florida vacation home. Keep your eyes peeled for future posts, in which we go into more detail about what our Knoxville, TN interior designers did to freshen up each individual room.

If you’re looking for your own getaway location, Rowan Hall would love to be involved! Call our team if you’re interested in interior design and remodeling for vacation homes or remote work of your own. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Have a vacation home that needs a redesign? Click the button below to contact us.

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