Saturday, June 26, 2021

The Florida Dining Room

Shelley Johnstone - Frederic Magazine

 

This dining room is in the Naples condo of interior designer Shelley Johnstone. She is a favorite of mine and is based in Lake Forest, Illinois where I grew up. 

I found this dining room intriguing because she uses a lot of the same elements I have in my Venice, Florida dining room. BTW, Naples is about an hour south of here. It occurred to me that there are fundamental differences in decorating in northern versus tropical climates. I have neighbors here who have used their furniture from their former northern homes and it looks so wrong.

Let's look at some examples.

Porcelain tiles used here that look like marble. My floors are limestone. I know several of you go nuts about no rugs, but bare tile floors in Florida are THE way to go IMHO - they keep the house cooler and cleaner. If you want some area rugs go with seagrass, sisal, or jute. And please - no carpet anywhere.

Wicker dining chairs - mine are white wicker S chairs - wicker is so popular and always in style - especially for a beach house. I think wicker dining chairs are the perfect choice for a beach house.

No curtains - she uses blinds whereas I have plantation shutters. To me, a fresh and clean choice for a tropical climate. They don't block the gorgeous views when open, but keep the home cooler when shut.

White walls - these are creamy white and mine are white but with gray undertones. I find saturated colors on the walls too intense in the Florida sun and love light walls. The art above is framed wallpaper BTW. I like the look here of fewer and bigger pieces of art.

Fun tropical accessories - here Amanda Lindroth wrapped wicker glasses and CB2 brass palm candle holders. I have both. The candle holders are wonderful and still available.

 


12 comments:

  1. Our home was built in the 50s and has beautiful terrazzo floors. So many people cover the terrazzo with tile but I think they’re stunning and they stay nice and cool. I also have woven blinds and natural elements throughout my house but now I’m on the hunt for a new sofa as mine is not vibing with the rest of the house!

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  2. I have 4 kubu chairs that I learned about from Joni on Cote de Texas. It took me a long time to find them in stock because everyone wanted them. Such a reasonable price but great.

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  3. I like it. The chair style seems a bit heavy in a grouping of 6 around a rather delicate table but that's a minor thing. But I am all for rattan/wicker chairs and furniture elements, stone/tile/marble floors, no carpeting, no rugs (sea grass fine), shutters or rattan shades, and light airy tropical feel.

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    1. I think the chairs look dramatic and comfy personally.

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  4. Love the brass palm tree candle holders.

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  5. A beautiful dining room and I agree completely with all your points. A lot of traditional furniture, curtains, rugs, and such look too heavy in places like Florida.

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    1. People spend a fortune moving furniture here that just doesn't work.

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  6. My house is the opposite of a Florida look. I think because I have lived here for 40 years and am just over that whole look for myself. As we are renovating our entire house, I am completely going for an antique colonial look, though I am using a lot of pink and my kitchen is entirely white - not such a colonial look! I do enjoy that look in other people's Florida homes, though.

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    1. You should definitely have your home the way you want it. My look was Florida even in historic colonial Alexandria, Virginia.

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