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CALHOUN, Ga. — When Debbie King volunteered her family’s yet-to be-completed home to be part of her neighborhood’s 2006 Christmas tour, her decorating schedule moved into high gear.
The fact her family was spending part of its time in an extended-stay hotel also played into the decision.
“It all happened very quickly,” said Mrs. King, whose orthopedic surgeon husband, Steve, had taken a job in Calhoun, precipitating a move from Chattanooga.
Today, the family’s 4,200-square-foot, one-story brick home in The Villages development built by Brent Stepp is nicely appointed in a mix of traditional and classic styles.
“I wanted the feel as much as possible of an older home in a newer neighborhood,” Mrs. King said.
When choosing the design of the home, she said, she wanted all the bedrooms on one floor. She also wanted several large windows.
“Light is very important to me,” Mrs. King said.
The antique heart pine floors, made of remilled lumber by Scotland Neck (N.C.) Heartpine from the wood of the former Kentucky Wagon Manufacturing Co. building in Louisville, Ky., add warmth to the surroundings
Mrs. King determined the color palate for many of the rooms from specific pieces of art, including many of her own floral still lifes.
The colors in the Janet Taylor portraits of her children, Ben and Emma, in the living room, are picked up in the greens and pinks in the room, for instance.
The family room, with gold and red accents, is decorated around a still life by Mrs. King of a dogwood blossom. The reds, she said, make it much easier to decorate at Christmas.
An iris still life, with pinks and purples against a chocolate brown wall, is the focal point in the guest room. The same color is picked up in the bed linens and curtains, done throughout the house by Shelley Mullinax.
In daughter Emma’s room, which she laughingly terms the “pink explosion,” Mrs. King stenciled the harlequin pattern on one wall and the butterflies on another.
Son Ben’s room is painted a Wedgwood blue and has decor emblematic of his love of sports in general and the University of Georgia specifically.
While not decorated around a specific painting, the buff-colored walls of the master bedroom display three small French pochades by Beverly Hills, Calif., artist Paul Rafferty, with whom Mrs. King has become friends, and a cross-stitch of Psalm 23 done by her husband’s mother.
Other accent pieces around the house, and the numerous photographs of the foursome, offer testimony to the Kings’ love of family.
The warm family room, for example, contains a primitive desk that belonged to Mrs. King’s great-grandfather, her grandparents’ mantel clock and a cross-stitch of the Lord’s Prayer done by Dr. King’s grandmother.
The master bedroom, accented in coral and green, includes a chest from Dr. King’s great-grandparents (that once traveled by covered wagon), lamps purchased from the Read House in Chattanooga during a hotel makeover and a Karastan rug purchased at an estate sale.
The formal dining room contains a reproduction mahogany china cabinet — purchased from Clements Antiques of Chattanooga — with the couple’s Duke of Gloucester china, an antique chest, a trompe l’oeil still life of fruit by Mrs. King and several decorative Herend bunny figurines.
“I love bunnies,” she said.
The kitchen, which doubles as Mrs. King’s studio when she is able to paint, features stainless-steel double oven, double refrigerator and double dishwasher; glazed cherry cabinets; African ivory granite countertops; and ceramic tile floors.
The 16- by 30-foot pool, designed by landscape architect Ken Miller, has a fountain that constantly spills into it and a patio area — of Belgard pavers — that surrounds it. He also planted nearby hydrangeas and azaleas for color.
Shawn Langston of Langston Lighting oversaw the installation of soft moon lighting high in a tree overlooking the pool.
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