At the age of three, this Myers Park homeowner began taking ballet, advancing to the UNC School of the Arts in high school before becoming a professional ballerina in Atlanta. Knowing she wouldn’t dance forever, she kept up her undergraduate studies. After three years, she pivoted to full-time academics at the University of Florida, where she not only finished college but graduated from medical school.
“The arts enraptured me from a very young age,” the homeowner says. “But I always had a real interest in science and stayed focused on academics, so it was a natural transition for me to go back to school full-time.”
She met her husband while living in Philadelphia during her medical residency. After getting married, they relocated to Charlotte in 2018, halfway between his family in Boston and her family in Florida.
In 2021, the homeowners moved into their current home with their first child, who was one year old. They engaged local designer Shadie Copeland, who was recommended by their new next-door neighbor.
“When we met, it was clear that Shadie had an appreciation for tying the old with the new,” reflects the homeowner. “That was appealing to me because I collect things and am always on the hunt; we have lots of mementos from different parts of our lives we wanted to use.”
Copeland started her Charlotte interior design business in 2019 after honing her skills at New York City and Denver firms. She sketched room layouts before focusing on paint colors, furniture and fabrics.
“This house has 10-foot ceilings and very large scale rooms, so I immediately recognized the need to create spaces within spaces,” Copeland says.
The homeowners originally had a dining table centered in the generously sized breakfast room adjacent to the kitchen. Copeland reconfigured the space, adding a second light fixture and a second rug to create two vignettes: a sitting area and a breakfast nook.
“The breakfast table holds sentimental value, so they wanted to use it, but it was too small to be centered in that room,” says Copeland. “By creating two different areas, we transformed it from an ordinary breakfast room to a great dual space.”
The homeowners owned several rugs that served as color inspiration throughout the house. As they worked with Copeland to select fabrics, paint and wallpaper, their preferred aesthetic was apparent.
“As a dancer, she was drawn to soft colors, elegance and simplicity, and they both wanted family heirlooms and photos included in the decor throughout the house,” Copeland says.
The living room exemplifies the pas de deux between Copeland’s expertise and the homeowners’ style. They first selected the wallpaper, pastel ombre panels of billowy clouds, to set the stage for the room decor. Copeland created a sitting area in the center of the room, deftly balancing the darker woods of cherished antiques with softer hues in fabrics, trims and accessories.
“All of these pieces have beautiful lines to them,” notes Copeland. “The lightness, the elegance, the feminine curves are all subtle and graceful, just like my client’s aesthetic.”
The pièce de résistance in the living room is the palm leaf Murano chandelier that delicately unfurls from the ceiling. The homeowner found the pale pink blown glass fixture through an antique dealer in Texas.
“The chandelier was absolutely perfect with the soft pink color and the palm leaves, which remind me of my home state of Florida,” the homeowner says.
Despite the elevated style and sophistication emanating from this room, it’s not off-limits for the homeowners’ three young children and dog. They regularly use the space.
“While it looks so formal, we’ve hosted toddler sing-alongs in there,” says the homeowner. “We had our Christmas tree in there. It’s a central part of the home, and we are in there daily.”
Similarly, the dining room showcases a mixture of old and new pieces enveloped by a beautiful backdrop of intricate chinoiserie garden wallpaper. The homeowner’s photograph above the antique buffet was taken during her tenure with the Atlanta Ballet, and the newly purchased clover chairs add a modern yet refined style around the vintage table.
“We love the soft velvet fabric for the dining chairs, but I told Shadie to be sure to order extra rolls because there will be pasta sauce in that room!” the homeowner says.
The homeowners’ ultimate goal was to create a family-friendly home in which every room is approachable and comfortable. They regularly entertain family and friends.
“I love thinking of the times when every dining chair is filled, and there is music in the living room,” says the homeowner. “Shadie really helped us create a welcoming but elegant space that still suits the dynamics of a family on the go.”
“As a dancer, she was drawn to soft colors, elegance and simplicity, and they both wanted family heirlooms and photos included in the decor throughout the house.”