Private Quarters: Yolanda and Garrick Thornton

Home and Garden

Private Quarters: Yolanda and Garrick Thornton

Yolanda and Garrick Thornton have put their own design imprint on the Lithonia home they share with their son, Garrick Jr.

The home was built for another buyer, with upgrades, but when that contract fell through, the Thorntons bought the house, which was only about 2 miles away from their former neighborhood.

“I like the Queen Anne look, but I wanted to modernize it a little bit,” Yolanda says of her style taste, which is Traditional.

Yolanda Thornton on her kitchen design: "With the layout, I can be in the kitchen and also still be able to communicate with my husband and son while they're in the den." she says.

The couple knocked down a wall between the master bedroom and what had been the fifth bedroom to make room for an office in the expanded master bedroom. An archway with columns separates the bedroom from the office area.

“You can always add to your home. You can always bring in a contractor to help with you with your vision,” Yolanda says. “A really good contractor will put your vision to work.”

"I wanted to add a jazz type of flavor in the house, because everything is so traditional. The shelf there and the sofa table was an opportunity to add something different the room." Yolanda says.

A grandfather clock, from Ashley Furniture, that fills the open entryway is the home's statement-making piece. “It just makes a really good statement when you walk in. It’s an eye-catcher because a lot of people are used to these smaller traditional grandfather clocks,” Yolanda says. “When they walk in and it’s right there, it adds something to the space. It kind of sets that tone. We see this really detailed grandfather clock, so it seems like all of the other furniture is detailed the same [way].”

They debated between creating a media room or centering the room around a pool table for entertaining. The pool table won out. “That’s our upstairs man cave,” Yolanda says. Beach artwork and tropical plants also bring in an island theme, which reminds them of their vacations.

When shopping for accent pieces, Yolanda waited to catch deals such as 50 percent off at stores such as Hobby Lobby and discontinued accessories being discounted at furniture stores.

The Thorntons' dining room table seats eight.

Visiting homes on the market, taking home tours and shopping in furniture stores gave Yolanda Thornton plenty of ideas for how to furnish and accessorize her Lithonia home.

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Yolanda and Garrick Thornton have put their own design imprint on the Lithonia home they share with their son, Garrick Jr.

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