Lisa Gleim-Jonas’ grandmother and mother inspired her interior design decisions.
In her renovated Buckhead home, framed color and black-and-white family photos dominate the stairway and second floor landing and cover a piano that belonged to an ancestor.
She remembers photos filling the walls, from the floor to ceiling, in her grandmother’s den, which was her favorite room. Her late mother had the same love of photos.
“I think that’s something that kind of connects me to her,” she said. “It’s having my family around me when they’re not around us.”
Snapshot
Residents: Dr. Bill Jonas, Lisa Gleim-Jonas (owner of Lisa Gleim Fine Art Portraits) and their daughter, Libby.
Location: Buckhead
Size: About 5,000 square feet, four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths
Year built: 1964
Year bought: 2007
Architectural style: Federal
Favorite architectural elements: Cupola in the studio, copper roof, archway separating the breakfast room from the kitchen, fireplace mantle and built-in bookcases in the family room, classic brick exterior with columns
Renovations: Instead of renovating the house at once, the bathrooms, studio, family room and kitchen have been remodeled over the years. The size also has increased, as they doubled the size of the kitchen and added a breakfast room; the ceiling height in former den, which is now Lisa Gleim-Jonas' studio, also was raised.
Contractor: Dan Holly of Holly Builders & Remodelers in Marietta
Interior design style: Traditional yet eclectic
Favorite interior design features: The unusual fixtures, including an Italian glass chandelier in the dining room and bat-themed light in the entryway that Gleim-Jonas views as sculptures.
Favorite piece of furniture: Mahogany sofa in the formal living room. The sofa came from an ancestor's plantation home in South Carolina.
Favorite artwork: A Russian painting in the family room that the couple, who has visited cities such as St. Petersburg, purchased at an auction. "As a landscape painter myself, I'm drawn to color. When I paint I like to create my paintings to show the effect of light," Gleim-Jonas said.
Favorite outdoor feature: Koi pond with Japanese maple tree
Landscape designer: Chris Serafin of Top Notch Landscapes in Marietta
Resources: Sewell Appliance in Sandy Springs, Lewis & Sheron Textiles and Scott Antique Markets. Reinhart Furniture of Woodstock built the cabinetry in the kitchen, family room, master bedroom and studio office.
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