A Designer’s 890 Sq Ft Charleston Home with Classic Southern Charm l House Tour l 4K

Hey, Homeworthy. I'm Jeanne. Welcome to my bee's nest in Charleston, South Carolina. Come on in. You're watching Homeworthy, where we believe every home has a story. My name is Jeanne Gilmer. I'm an interior designer. Welcome to my home in Charleston, South Carolina. So I have lived in this home in Charleston for about a year and a half. I was looking to move here. My daughter and son-in-law live here, and they were expecting a baby, so I knew I needed to be closer. And I love this area. It's about six minutes from downtown. It's quaint. It's quiet. And not many homes come on the market in this neighborhood. And one day, I was driving through the neighborhood, and I saw a gentleman in here working actually in the house and asked him if he owned the house, and he did. And it was already down to the studs. And I asked him if I could buy it like that because I love a project. And he actually said, no, I want to finish it out. It was for my grandmother lived here. I want to kind of do it in honor of her and in memory of her. And so I asked if I could still purchase the house and then we could work on it together. And that's what we did. This house, it was built in the 1940s. This whole neighborhood was done in the 1940s. And it's kind of interesting. It was done for people coming home from the war that worked in the Navy. And they built this neighborhood for them to live in, and then they could work in the Navy yards. So all the homes in this neighborhood were built to be two bedroom, one bath. And there were actually four house plans. So this is, I think there are four other houses in this neighborhood that are built like this one. Peyton, who is the architect, Peyton Averitt is the guy who I bought the house from. He had a vision as far as the bones and structure of the house. And then I came in and helped with the actual design of the house. And so we wanted to really respect the age of the home, keep it with lots of character, and keep the initial there, you'll see in a little bit, the arches, we wanted to keep those and enlarge some spaces like closets, kitchen, make that a little bit more functional. And you can see in before pictures to how we kind of changed that around. Welcome to my living room. It is a bright, happy place that I have surrounded by lots of items that I absolutely adore. And one item that goes with me wherever I go is a picture of Jackie O. She is my style icon. I just admire her so much, have read every book about her, watched every movie on her. And so she goes with me everywhere that I go. Another fun thing that I have are photos of my family and all of my coffee table books. And I call them my textbooks because I love to go through them and read and resource and also just learn from other designers. Another thing that I love about this room is this coffee table is actually one that I found at a thrift store. And because of my love of Jackie O, I was reading a home book about Lee Radizell, her sister, and she had a coffee table almost exactly like this in her New York apartment. So I love this table. So another thing that I love about this room is this piece of artwork right here. It looks like art, but it's actually an old card table. And then on either side, I have these two old antique lampshades. So I just made it into art, which I love. So I did go a little bit neutral too with the intaglios on either side of the card table. And then there's a nude sketch drawing by an artist in Greenville, Charlie Pate. And then I also did an original piece of art on the top. And that is by Paul Flint. And he's out of Greenville, South Carolina as well. So I just kind of like the eclectic look of all of this art. One of the biggest things that I love to do in a house is to have really good looking pillows. So these pillows are some of my favorite. And I've chose the colors because there's some depth to it. And I wanted kind of the dramaticness of these because everything else in this room is really neutral and bright. So, but I love these. So one thing that I wanted to do in this room too, because it's not a really large room, I did want to be able to seat at least four people. And I've got these little slipper chairs. They're not overwhelming, but they have a fun pattern on them. And they're on rollers. So they're easy to move and relocate if I need to do that. And just super comfortable. Another favorite piece of mine in this room is this piece of art that was done for me years ago. And it's actually supposed to be me, my youngest daughter, and then my oldest daughter. And then it has woven into it, my favorite Bible scripture and an actual helm. So it has a lot of mixed media in it. And it's just really special. Again, my artwork that I love, I actually got this piece at an antique store. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I wonder why. And then also this one I love. This one is by a local artist in Charleston. Her name is Ann Darby. And it is called the Silent Nurse. And I thought it was just really sweet. This is one of the pieces in my house that I adore. It's an antique that I bought years ago. It serves as a drop zone. It serves as storage. I'm not going to open this up because things will fall out. But it is a great piece to serve right beside my front door. And then this is actually my TV that shows artwork. And one little design tip is to add an art light above it. And it kind of tricks the eye and it tricks people that come in here and they think that I have artwork and not a TV. So when you live in a small house, you'll find anything you can to store things. And one thing that I love are antique boxes. So I go around when I'm resourcing for clients. If I see an antique box that I really like, I'll pick it up. And it's a good way to store sunglasses or your car keys. I have one that stores dog leashes, checkbooks, pens. It's just a great way to store things but also still look pretty. And she has been coming along with me for a long time. And I actually got her at a really cheap store. But you can dress them up with a Christmas ornament and a velvet bow. Who knew? One thing about this room being so neutral, I do like to mix patterns. So with this cute fabric, fun fabric, I mixed this Schumacher fabric that has a fun pattern. Still light and airy but gives it a little bit more depth and dimension. And then I add these Roman shades that are cloth. And you can just pull them down and then push them back up. And they're wonderful. And it also helps keep down the heat during the hot Charleston summers. They're fabulous. One thing that I also did to this room to kind of change it up a little bit, I painted my front door black. And the back side, like the side that we see on the inside, it's also black. And I just like the contrast, especially with the shade. I think it adds a little bit more interest. One of the things that greets the visitors that come to my house is this door knocker. It's a brass bead door knocker that I found at an antique store in Charleston. And it's actually from England. And I just loved it. So the next place that I want to take you in is my office. So welcome to my office. It's super cozy. I have it filled with, again, artwork. And then also I have samples that I keep in here. You'll see lampshades. You'll see an extra mirror for an upcoming install. And then I have a beautiful desk. One of my favorite things in my office is this console table. It was actually an outdoor table. And I had a piece of wood put on the top of it and then had this skirt made. And so it hides my printer. It hides some boxes that carry things that I don't want to really see every day. So it's a great way to have a pretty piece of furniture in your room, but it's also very functional. One thing that I love too about this little nook are the window treatments. They're a chocolate brown with green. I wanted to do something kind of earthy just to tie in with the rest of the house. So I have that. And then I have my girls, their wedding portrait, and then a fun photo of my dad and mom years ago. They were Tarzan and Jane for a Halloween party. And it just gives me joy. This is a painting that I actually bought at an auction. And it is part of a lady's estate in Charleston who is a big artist. And she has since died. And this was part of her collection that she had. And I just fell in love with it. Probably one of the most unique things that I have in here is the settee. At the time I bought it and was in, when I first bought the house and was making this my office, I had an old dog. And I she loved to sit in my lap. And I spend a lot of time on the computer. So I was like, well, I need to find something that she can be comfortable in. And I found this settee. So she would lay beside me as I worked. And since then she's passed away. But this still serves a great purpose. When my daughter and her husband come, they set up both computers here and they both work here. So if you want a cozy way to make your office, I would strongly recommend getting a settee. I love this desk too. It's not only beautiful, but it's also functional. I did try to stuff as much character into this little space as I could. And one way to do it was to add a beautiful light fixture. This one's actually by Visual Comfort and it's on a dimmer. So if I'm entertaining, I can set this up as a bar and put this on a dimmer and it's really pretty in here. And another thing that I love about this room is this wallpaper. It's actually a fine sisal wallpaper. So it's still neutral, but it gives it a lot of texture. It just adds to the coziness. And then I have this beautiful piece of artwork that I actually found at Rosemary Beach and she is from Belgium. I feel like it's in the perfect place. She's just kind of tucked away. So she has her privacy as a nude, but it's just beautiful. My personal style when it comes to design, really as an interior designer for somebody to walk into a house that I've done. And if somebody says, did you have somebody help you? That is the biggest compliment because that means that I did my job and I reflect the best of their personality and their taste. So with my home, I, my taste, I know over the years has evolved. And one thing that I have learned to really appreciate is local art and antiques. So I kind of like to incorporate old with new, but definitely showcase artwork. So I'm really big and to art. So now we're in the kitchen. And one of my most favorite things about this kitchen is the Carrara marble and the backsplash on it with a little shelf. It just kind of reminds me of old English and which in Charleston, there's so much history. So I just think that this whole concept here really mimics old Charleston. I feel like a kitchen doesn't necessarily have to look like a kitchen and so ways to make it look a little bit more cozy. You can add some light fixtures. So I added these sconces in here and then got the artwork. I researched, I love the sanctuary, which is in Charleston, and they have a ton of artwork in there by this gentleman. And I looked him up and actually gave him a call and I bought these two from him. And because the sanctuary is one of my most favorite places, this just kind of reminds me of the sanctuary. We did vary with the cabinet colors. So this is a really creamy, kind of a rich cream on the bottom. And I do like the way it contrasts with the white Carrara marble. And then we have the dark stain and these two towers are awesome. This one is actually my pantry and then the other side serves as my appliance garage. So they again hide things, but it still looks pretty and it's very functional. We cooked for 10 people in here yesterday, so it works great. Another way that you can make your kitchen really cozy is to do an oriental rug. I found this one at an antique store and it's darker colors, so it works great in here. One fun thing that we did too, we added a mirror in here just to try to make the space look a little bit bigger. And then I found this old piece of artwork that is just fine from an antique store and it's from the 1800s. As a designer, I have the opportunity to do some really large kitchens and then medium size and then like this small size. They're all the same. It comes down to you're using the same types of appliances, a stove, a range, a coffee pot, an air fryer. So it's just knowing where to put those things. And if you're in a small space, you might want to get a professional organizer to come in and help you set that up. I'm fortunate that I have a daughter who does that as a profession. So she was able to come in here and set everything up. So it works functionally, but it's still pretty. Even like the coffee area. I don't have space for a coffee bar, but I made this space look as nice as possible by doing it on a silver tray and then having a pretty piece of original artwork behind it. I started design about 30 years ago. It's hard to believe I've been doing this for 30 years. And I actually went to college, majored in communications, but always had a passion for design. I was one of those who grew up in a house, would rearrange furniture, change my bedroom around 10 times. I just loved it. I thought it was so much fun. And then the college that I went to, they didn't offer design school. So I majored in communications. And then when I graduated, I did a couple of jobs. And then as people would come into our house, they would ask me, do you do design? Can you help me? So actually I started it kind of as a hobby and then it turned into a business about 30 years ago. And so I don't have formal education in design. I don't have CAD background or design background education, but it's a passion. And I feel like I have really learned just from the bottom up. And one of my favorite things to do is actually do a house from the ground up from the plans and to actually just walking out having flowers on a coffee table and saying, enjoy your home. That's my favorite thing to do. So I've got two bedrooms in this and I'm on the way to the guest room, but let me show you the laundry room tucked right behind this door. So this is a guest room. And one of the design elements that I thought of when I was doing this whole house is if I were put in a time capsule and came back 20 years from now, I would want it to still be in style. So everything's very classic, but just with a little bit of whimsy here and there. So one of the things that I love to do is lighting and artwork. This is a really fun lamp that is actually paper mache. That's really fun. So this piece of art actually came from a client of mine. She was downsizing and wanted to get rid of some of her artwork. And she asked me if I wanted this and I about died because I loved it. And do you know it is by Betsy Havens. She is the artist and she is actually the artist that I bought the piece that's in my office at an auction. So I just thought that was crazy how that went together. So she's meant to be here. So another thing that I've done in here is more layering. I love these window treatments and I actually just added the trim to it and then have the same shade. I did the same shade throughout the house since it's so small. I did the same one and bedding. I love bedding. I think it's important to have pretty bedding and to add layers. So one thing that you can do a little design tip is when you have your comforter at the foot of the bed to keep it fluffy like this, you can add two pillows underneath and it adds the fluff. And then when guests come, if they want to sleep with two or four pillows, they'll have the extra pillows too. So it's not only pretty, it's very functional. So in a small bedroom in tables and lighting can be kind of tricky. I found these tables at an antique store and they're called nesting tables. So you can actually pull this out and put a glass of water on it or noise machine or whatever you need for sleeping. Another thing that can be kind of tricky is the lighting. So you can add sconces and then that way they can be used for reading. And to make the room look bigger, I added this large mirror. I do think that a bedroom should have a chair just to have a place to sit and put your shoes on. This one is actually from an antique store and it has come with me from a couple of homes. And then I used to use it as a host and hostess chair for a dining room table, but now I have one in here and then one in the primary bedroom. This painting is done by an artist in Greenville, South Carolina. Her name is Kim Hassled and I loved it because there was a blonde and a brunette girl and my girls, I have a blonde and a brunette. And actually when this one was done, Kim had painted both of them blonde and she went in and changed one to a brunette for me. And this is also a mixed media and I love this. Another thing that I love in this room is this light fixture. It has also come with me in a couple of homes and would be another item that I would take with me in another home. But it's just fun and whimsical. I think what gives a home a soul is really the people, of course. And for me, it's getting to know the client, getting to know them well, their personalities, what makes them click and really showcasing that in their house. It's interesting if technology is their thing, then I meet with an AV person and try to make it as seamless and interesting as possible for that client as far as if they want AV. If artwork is their thing, I get really excited about that. So I can help them and recommend artists. Some people, they love fabrics, so I can look at different textiles, wallpapers that will reflect their personality. So it really just depends on the client and getting to know them and what their interests are. So now come along with me. I'm going to take you into our primary bedroom. So now we are in my primary bedroom, and I love this space because it is actually larger than what it used to be. The old home had the laundry room back here. And so when Peyton was doing the renovation, he took down the walls and made it a large room. And I loved it because I could get a king size bed in here, which was very important for me. One of the paintings that I have in my primary bedroom is this one, and it is done also by Kim Hassel. And my sister had this done for me years ago. And it's actually my, I have an identical twin sister. So it's my sister, me and our best friend, Lori, and they are both holding a glass of wine. And then she put me with a Bible so that I could pray for them. But it actually looks like a wine bottle. This is actually one of the very first antiques that I bought, gosh, probably 35 years ago. So I love this piece. And it's great for storage too, because it actually lifts up and then I have the storage underneath here. And then this sweet thing is from my dad. It was actually my great grandmother's and it was passed down. And my dad used to get baths out of here and his mom would pour the water. So I just think it's so sweet. And here you see the matching chair from the one that was in the guest room. This is one of my most favorite things. And actually my logo for my design business is based off this jar. They were originally jars and I had them in a previous home in a kitchen up on shelves with lights over them. And then when I moved here, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them. And then I decided, I know what, this room is large enough to handle it. I'm going to make lamps. So I just think they're a very dramatic element in here where everything is so neutral. And I just love it, especially off of this window treatment with the trim and the same Roman shade. I just think it's so pretty. In this room, I wanted to do a king-size bed. So I started with a bed that is upholstered and then it has a green wood trim with a gold accent that I adore. And then I added, again, more pillows, more layering. And this bedding is so comfortable and very practical. It's by Matouk. It can be a little pricey, but it is well worth it because it will last for years and you can actually wash it every day. It is wonderful. One way that I added color in this room is with artwork. And this is by one of my very best friends in Greenville. Her name is Larlan Luce. And it's special to me because it was the first painting she did after she had kids and they grew up. And she was an artist, but put it aside until her children were old enough. And then she started painting again once her children were old enough. And once she picked up the art brush, this is the first thing that she painted. And I just love it. And I love the colors. And I just love the background, the backstory to it. On this end table, I think it's really sweet because I have my favorite lamp. And then also down below, I have a showcase box. And my godly mother would give me a Limoge box every year. So it's a collection of probably 30 to 40 Limoge boxes. And then another antique box that I can store things. And then a sweet letter from my godson that he sent me when he was three. So every nook can be made special. This is what I tell my clients all the time when I walk into a house. Your pillows and your lamps really need to tell the story. And then a couple of showpiece pieces of furniture. Everything else we can find, we can thrift, we can do online. But really have one or two showcase pieces as far as furniture. Make your pillows really stand out and be beautiful. And your lighting is huge. Don't skimp on your lighting. So now we are in the primary bathroom. And really it's the primary bathroom for this whole house. It's the only bathroom. But I love it. It's really beautiful and functional. And there are several ways that you can make a small space, small bathroom, very functional. So there are a few things that I did in here to kind of make it feel like a jewel box when you're in here. One, the tile that we used is a neutral on the floor. But then we accented it in the shower and it's a really pretty green. So still sticking with the earth tones. And then I added a basket weave grass cloth, which you would think wouldn't work well in a bathroom. But for this space, it's worked perfectly. One way that you can maximize storage in a small space like this is by adding a sink skirt. And there is a ton of things underneath here. I have a basket that has all the hair products. It has the cleaning supplies. And it also has extra rolls of toilet paper. And then my daughter, the organizer, she came in with boxes. And ladies, you know, we love our products. So in all of these boxes are products that we can use for teeth, for face, makeup, everything is in here. Another thing that we have in my whole house, Peyton, the architect, he found these doorknobs and they are old. They look old, but they're new and they're great. And I think they go with the character of this home. So don't be afraid to hang artwork in your bathroom. These are actually three different nest renderings. I call my house the bee's nest. And so I fell in love with them when I saw them at market. This is a piece of artwork that I found at an antique store. And he reminded me of, I call this young man, his name is Brock and he's like my chosen son. And he is precious and he has ears like that. So I had to get Brock. And so Brock looks over the bathroom for us, which is kind of funny. Another design tip for y'all is that you can buy two shower curtains and have it meet in the middle. And it looks like a window treatment. I think it's so much better than one panel. And then for this bathroom, I got a third shower curtain and had my seamstress make a valance for it. So it's really a focal point in the bathroom. What I love most about my home is what I've learned most about myself. Throughout the years, I've lived in homes that were large and coming into this space after, let's say I did probably four or five downsizes to get to this point. And this one is 890 square feet. And what I learned is it's not the size of your home. It's what you do in your home, it's the memories, it's the family, and it's being surrounded by what you love the most. And I think that's what I've learned the most about being in a small space is that anybody can do it and you can make it just as special as these huge ginormous homes. It doesn't have to be a huge space. So now I'm going to take you to our outdoor space. So welcome to the backyard. This is where we live about 80% of the year. Definitely not July and August because it's too hot. But other than that, we're back here all the time. One of the things we love the most is this backyard shed. It was built to not look like a shed, but just a really cute vocal point for the yard. So these two mirrors here are mirrors that I've had in previous homes. And when I brought them here, I didn't have a space inside. I was like, oh no, I want to use them and I don't know what to do. And then coming out here, I saw these brick walls. I was like, that's perfect. So don't be afraid to hang mirrors outside. So another thing that we love about this backyard is that we can actually have a dinner party. We love this table. This table is actually a table I've used in a few homes. So it had to come with me. So this table is one that I had made years ago. And the countertop that I used in a previous kitchen, we had a remnant and made this into a table with iron legs and it's been wonderful. And then we just do the simple acrylic chair. So it keeps it simple. So one thing that we love about this backyard is this tree that is actually our neighbors. It's more than a hundred years old and it's absolutely gorgeous. And it's a wonderful backdrop to the rest of this yard. This yard, there was no yard when I first moved in. And so we've worked hard to make it a sanctuary and we just love it back here. Home to me means family. We love having chosen family over. We love to entertain and we love to share our space. Homeworthy, thank you so much for stopping by. It's been so much fun. But right now I gotta go eat some shrimp and grits. I'm starving. Bye! Thanks for watching. Go to homeworthy.com for exclusive content and shopping guides.