By Lauren Weedon Hopkins | Photographs by Jessie Preza
How does an inside designer select to brighten her own residence? “I’m used to creating many selections on daily basis and shortly for my purchasers,” says Coleen Norris, founding father of Nesting Place Interiors. However when it got here to creating her personal area, it was not as simple. “As a designer, I see and really feel and expertise so many concepts,” she says.
Coleen and her husband of 34 years, John, have been blessed to construct a number of houses through the years, and it had at all times been a dream to dwell proper on the ocean. They discovered an untouched lot in Ponte Vedra Seaside in 2020 and enlisted architect Michael Stauffer to create their sanctuary.
Coleen prefers to work from the surface first, then to the within. Her imaginative and prescient for the house’s exterior was impressed by her travels overseas in addition to close by Alys Seaside, Florida, with its European coastal structure and pristine white sand. “I knew I wished the outside design to have a Dutch Colonial really feel,” she says. The completed look was a singular idea for her neighborhood, together with parapets and gambrel roofs with curved eaves.
It took practically three years for the house construct. Sadly, the development begin was
delayed because of the have to relocate the gopher tortoises’ habitat on the undeveloped lot. As soon as the protected animals had been moved to security, builder Heritage Properties Jax started their work. The 4,800 sq. house was accomplished within the fall of 2023.
Coleen describes the house’s inside as “very relaxed, with a French aptitude” in addition to practical to accommodate sandy toes and playful pet, Banks. The rough-sawn, whitewashed distressed beams, sourced from barns in close by Callahan, and a number of reclaimed French doorways from an vintage supplier in Alabama, are standout inside options for Coleen. “I really like their old-world appeal,” she says.
Coleen’s ardour for creating magnificence started at a younger age. From her childhood in Alexandria, Virginia, she was at all times immersed in designing and crafting, pushed by a boundless enthusiasm for making issues. She nurtured her creativity additional whereas learning at Flagler School in St. Augustine. After graduating, Coleen pursued careers in design and hospitality within the Washington, DC space. Following her time with Scalamandre on the DC Design Middle, she was impressed to launch her personal impartial inside design agency in 2010.
Immediately, because the founding father of Nesting Place Interiors, Coleen channels her ardour into designing lovely, practical areas for her purchasers. By mixing fashion and practicality, she creates environments that seize the essence of every consumer. Her designs are a steadiness of sophistication, simplicity, and magnificence.
For the reason that Norrises like to entertain, their house’s out of doors areas are a focus. “We like to have Low Nation boils underneath the pergola and play bocce ball with pals on the weekend,” she says. Additionally they have a placing inexperienced and a golf simulator, that are favorites of John’s.
To capitalize on its beachfront location, the architect designed a dawn balcony on the bottom and a sundown balcony dealing with west on the frontside. Coleen added out of doors swings to each for straightforward spots to benefit from the expansive views of the Atlantic Coast.
One other favourite spot is the sizable wine room, which showcases a set of classic
wines in addition to a bit of bourbons, framed by reclaimed eyebrow arched doorways from France. “I discovered the doorways first, and constructed the room round them,” says Coleen.
Her enterprise is thought for designing custom-made bunk beds for bedrooms and the Norris house is not any exception. “We’ve got two grown sons and after they had been in faculty, they might carry pals house and comfortably keep within the bunk room in our earlier home,” she says. “Now when I’ve pals come go to, it’s a enjoyable approach to accommodate much more folks.” This room additionally apparently has wallpaper on the ceiling.
In a single day guests might also go for the visitor suite, that includes a {custom} rope mattress that seems to be hanging. “It’s a relaxed, chill area the place you may let your hair down,” says Coleen. The room has a pure, beachy vibe, due to the distinctive mattress at its heart.
One other spotlight which demonstrates Coleen’s love of texture is the chandelier made with coco shell slivers within the eating room. A combination of wicker and linen cotton chairs add to the room’s distinctive really feel. Within the kitchen, Coleen tried one thing she had by no means included in a house design earlier than—a single marble slab lower out as a backsplash. The outcome? This new thought brings the entire room collectively.
General, Coleen and John Norris’ oceanfront house unites a relaxed and peaceable coastal
vibe with European accents, resulting from its predominately white décor and furnishings. It’s the right showcase for the designer’s ardour for creating lovely areas.
Credit:
Inside Designer: Coleen Norris, Nesting Place Interiors
Architect: Michael Stauffer
Builder: Heritage Properties Jax
Images: Jessie Preza
Stylist: Leah Kennelly