Magic Touch
Award-winning designer Kelly Caron helped turn this seaside Palmetto Dunes home into a show place.
Story By Dean Rowland + Photography by Anne
There’s something special about a magnificent oceanfront home on Hilton Head that soothes the mind and body when the salt air wafts inside and out.
This story began about a year and a half ago with a phone call from builder Brian Quinn to interior designer Kelly Caron. Quinn, founder and owner of The Twelve Oaks Group on the island, was with the homeowners of a tear-down property that was being built on when they reached a standstill on an interior design detail.
Quinn sought Caron’s opinion about the color to use for a specific tile. Caron, founder and principal designer of Kelly Caron Designs, ASID in Bluffton, met with Quinn to settle the dilemma.
“Within a matter of minutes she had the whole design pulled together,” Quinn said. “Our home owners were absolutely blown away with her talents in that brief meeting and I remember them looking at me and saying, ‘We want to work with her!'”
The foyer (top right), which stretches front to back with a view of the ocean, showcases an antique console, a custom-ordered rug from KPM Flooring, pottery lamps and striking contemporary art. The comfortable media room (top left) on the first floor overlooks the ocean and features custom artwork on canvas that conceals a television. A long linear electric fireplace completes the ensemble. The informal dining room (middle left) and living room on the second floor abound in natural light. A dry bar (bottom left) with custom-made cabinetry by Arlene Williams Kitchen Design shares kitchen space upstairs. A bench at the foot of the master bed (middle right) on the second floor and a pop of color at the lamp’s base in a guest bedroom (middle right) and a Mongolian fur cover on the bed bench in the family’s young daughter’s bedroom (bottom right).
Caron, who often collaborates with Twelve Oaks, spent about a year on the project in Palmetto Dunes. She initially saw an empty canvas of open space, untouched walls and floors, an abundance of natural light, delightful architectural nuances and ocean views from nearly every angle. She also saw the promise of grand potential as an award-winning designer.
Neutral colors awash the master bathroom (right) and its double vanities in private luxury.
“He (Quinn) knows how I work,” Caron said. “He sees a vision and
tells me the vision.” Then she makes it happen.
Caron filled the 4,340-square-foot, four-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom transitional Lowcountry home with some traditional elements. She also worked with items her clients brought with them. She collaborated with colleagues Kathleen Mayers at KPM Flooring and Arlene Williams of Kitchen Design.
Caron chose a white, gray and varying shades of soft blue as the base color scheme throughout the home, accented by striking pops of other colors in the custom-made rugs and modern art pieces prominently hanging in select rooms.
“I love the quiet color palette, but the client trusted us to add color with patterns and texture,” she said. “They let us do our magic.
Brian Quinn of The Twelve Oaks Group built this Palmetto Dunes transitional Lowcountry home that includes a balcony on the second floor living area. The homeowners can enjoy a dip in their pool or in the ocean just steps away.
“I wanted to make sure I worked with Kathleen Mayers at KPM Flooring, because there was such a quiet color palette,” said Caron, who was named best interior designer in 2016 by the Home Builders Association. “We custom-made several of the rugs with KPM (including from Nepal). Kathleen and I met, and we would find a pattern we liked and figure out what colors we needed and custom ordered it.”
Caron described her work as “transitional design with mixes of traditional elements and contemporary art and rugs.” The homeowners allowed her to texture the interior with a mix of rustic, antique consoles and a blend of wood and stone.
Working with Williams on the custom-made cabinets proved to be a major component in the process.
“We work together all the time. She’s awesome,” Caron said.
One striking design element that Caron punctuated is in the media room on the ground floor, a space shared with three guest bedrooms. Custom-designed art displayed on two canvases are stretched on Quinn’s builder-made frames that conceal a large-screen television. Below that masterpiece is an eye-catching long linear electric fireplace.
The end result of Caron’s work: “The color palette and furnishings are more of the transitional even though we had some traditional cabinetry. It was nice to have a blend of that. And I think it was more comfortable and livable for the client,” Caron said.
THE HOME TEAM
Interior Design Kelly Caron Designs, ASID
Builder The Twelve Oaks Group
Rugs KPM Flooring
Cabinetry Arlene Williams Kitchen Design
