Homeowner-designer relationship results in ‘dream home’

When a homeowner seeks an interior designer, it can be like looking for an artist-cum-psychiatrist to both extract and fulfill a vision. And when a good match is made, the bond that’s created is more than merely client and professional.

Just look at the relationship between Athens homeowner Kerry Johnson and Alpharetta-based designer Donald Mitchell (www.donaldmitchelldesign.com), who have each other over for parties and family occasions.

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Photos by SEAN DRAKES/Special

Kerry Johnson loves the color red but, by working with designer Donald Mitchell, learned to use it more sparingly. The two collaborated to bring a Tuscan feel to the home.

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In 6-year-old Isabelle’s room, striped wallpaper, circular plaques on the walls and striped, wooden balls on the ceiling add whimsy and dimension.

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The ‘travel room’ includes luggage Kerry Johnson’s father gave to her mother when they got married and clocks set to different time zones because ‘surely it’s cocktail time somewhere.’

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The way Johnson explains it, Mitchell “got in my head” to translate her thoughts into reality, creating a “dream home” for her and her husband, Dr. Joe Johnson, both 45, and their daughters, Abby, 16, and Isabelle, 6.

When the family moved to a new home last year, Kerry Johnson wanted a Tuscan look that would make use of family heirlooms and be large enough to host their friends and close-knit Italian families (Kerry is one of six children, Joe one of seven — “big Catholic families,” she says).

So Mitchell took the home from 4,400 square feet to nearly 7,000 with the help of local contractor T.D.E. Inc. Construction & Painting. They created a “pool wing” by linking the existing media room with an added guest room, storage room and bathroom. And the unfinished attic was reinvented as a glamorous suite.

“It was in the heat of summer, and I was up there climbing around” with a flashlight to gauge the possibilities of the attic space, Mitchell said.

The resulting renovation summons the creative masterminding often seen on HGTV, only with higher-end touches. A set of traditional-looking stairs that seem like they’ve long been there lead from the media room to an area housing Abby’s groovy bedroom, plenty of storage for Johnson’s extensive Christmas decor and a guest room that re-imagines traditional antiques and patterns with a modern mix.

In fact, Mitchell combined wallpapers and wood tones throughout the home.

“Kerry is anything but dull,” he says, and because the family is such fun, it “made sense to play with the colors and textures throughout the home.”

“I’m not a matchy-matchy person,” Johnson says, adding that she’s “willing to take chances and put different things together.”

That’s how the “travel room,” a name coined by Isabelle, came about.

Johnson wanted to display the luggage her father gave her mother when they got married. And because she kept joking throughout the remodeling that “surely it’s cocktail time somewhere,” they installed clocks from different time zones. Completing the look are her grandfather’s desk, the Lionel train she played with as a girl and abrass bell from Annapolis — a nod to the naval service of Johnson’s father and husband.

“We’re very sentimental,” she says, so she likes to incorporate pieces that mean something into each room. In the end, the use of colors, anchored in red, green and brown, and furniture passed down or handmade by family, led to an eclectic home she loves.

“The whole house is just me,” Johnson says.

Lessons from Johnson: She loves the color red but, by working with Mitchell, learned to use it more sparingly — in accents rather than on entire walls. “Don’t be afraid to try things and go with your designer’s opinion,” she says. She also champions Mitchell’s advice: “Less is better.”

Tips from Mitchell: As long as the hallways and central spaces carry the same color scheme, other rooms can present individual looks. “It makes the entire home a lot more interesting,” he says. Also, make it yours with your things. “For me, it makes a house more of a home when you can incorporate family heirlooms and valuable collections that are important to you,” he says.

Among the most imaginative designs: Anchoring Abby’s room is a wow-worthy bed design. Mitchell took advantage of the sloped ceiling by extending her headboard 7 feet into the space.

For 6-year-old Isabelle, it’s like a circus came to play. Striped wallpaper on one wall meshes with circular plaques on others and striped, wooden balls on the ceiling for whimsy and dimension. “A lot of parents are afraid to do that in their kids room,” figuring they’ll outgrow the look, he says. But he finds the effect stimulates kids. “They’re only young once.”

Future projects: The Johnsons plan to enhance their backyard with a pool, kitchen and covered pavilion.