Southern Living 2012 Idea House

After mass, Honey took the boys and I spent the day with Sister, Mother and Daddy-O down in Senoia at the 2012 Southern Living Idea House.  We’d all already poured over pictures on blogs and in the magazine but it was well worth the hour trip to see it in person and kick around the little historic downtown area.  Now, on to the good stuff…

The house is a revival of an early 19th century cottage-style farmhouse whose interiors were smartly appointed by Tracery of Rosemary Beach, of all places! Nearly all of the furnishings are from Ballard Designs and Ikea and it was impressive to see them in person – I have to say that all of us were surprised at the quality of the wood pieces and comfort of the upholstered pieces.

The front porch was host to three separate vignettes – including an impressive farmhouse dining table, porch swing and luxurious little side sitting area.    
We loved the planed wood in the entry foyer and that both sets of doors were framed with burlap curtains.

Just to the left of the foyer is the main living space of the house.  There wasn’t much to dislike in this gorgeous room!  Along with the breakfast room it was my favorite space in the house!

The living room was open to the Ikea kitchen.  Some of the vignettes took the country farmhouse theme a little too far, but overall it was quite nice.


And off the kitchen was my other favorite space.  While the gorgeous upholstered settee and dining chairs wouldn’t work for my crew, they were really beautiful in this little window filled nook.

Behind the kitchen was the keeping room – and the gingham wall treatment that’s been pinned one gazillion times on Pinterest!  It was really, really gorgeous in person.  I was gaga over all of the Old Try prints throughout the house.


Continuing down the hall was the chalkboard-walled laundry room and a mudroom type entry.

The back stairway led to a bed/bath suite overlooking the back courtyard.

Going straight down the main entry foyer is the master suite.  It was very large and overly luxurious. 

And, before heading upstairs, we checked out the main floor powder room and one of my favorite nooks in the house.  I adore that deer painting and the collection of vintage trophy cups.


Upstairs was the bedroom that inspired some of the fabric choices in the baby’s big boy room.  I also loved the ensuite – especially that gorgeous shower curtain.

The other upstairs bedroom was also very nice.  We all loved the bed side chests and baseball painting.  All of the bedding is from Ikea!

Outside was a nice screened porch with the retractable phantom screens (ahhh…loved those!) that opened onto a small back yard with a sitting area and fire pit.

Overall, I’d say the house was one of the more practical and attainable show houses I’ve ever toured.  Nothing was really jaw-dropping, but it was certainly worth the twelve dollars!  After the tour we headed downtown to a few shops and for a “snack” at Maguire’s.  We all raved about our food and I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

I’m signing the PCP out of school early for a dentist appointment and he’s literally over the moon.  Keep your fingers crossed that the baby goes in half that excited to have his pearly whites checked out :-)
xoxo