Get the Look: A Mudroom with Personality and Playful Refinement

Funky refinement creates an entirely new aesthetic in this tucked away owner’s entrance.

Story by Barry Kaufman + Photography by Kelli Boyd

The owner’s entrance to a home often gets sadly overlooked. If you’re designing your dream home, you want your wow moments front and center, where everyone can enjoy them. For the place where you leave your shoes and drop your keys, a family photo or one of your less-dazzling pieces of art is generally the extent of it.

Not here, in a Palmetto Bluff home where the order of the day was creating something entirely new with the Lowcountry aesthetic. The home’s living spaces exult in a fearless remix of the brick and wood elements that have long defined the Lowcountry look, and that philosophy doesn’t end at the kitchen. 

At the heart of this space, a bold console table anchors the space with a rich dark statement.

“This owner’s entrance is right off of a powder room that has a beautiful dark blue board-and-batten look, so playing with that contrast of lighter and brighter, with the cane texture on the doors adding a kind of casual air, really gives you something interesting,” said interior designer Adrienne Warner of  Court Atkins Group. 

Up above, a pair of bold woven light fixtures carry the home’s dedication to texture. “Those came from the High Point Market. We had to make two trips – they’re bigger than you think,” said Warner. 

Along the walls, the typical shiplap has been broken up by alternating size boards that created a new spin on the typical nickel gap accents.

“This is one of the design elements that the homeowners allowed us to incorporate into a design beyond the typical Lowcountry aesthetic,” said Brandon Edwards with Element Construction. 

And tying it all together is a piece of artwork that carries the playful sense of whimsy found throughout the home. In the great room and beyond, playful sheep stools add eccentricity and charm. In the owner’s entrance they are joined by an enchanting Paul Meyer portrait of a humble donkey.

“The homeowner was so trusting. There was worry at first that maybe we had too many animals, but I saw the donkey portrait at High Point, and it just worked,” said Warner. “And they were my cool clients, who were game.”