Out of the Blue

Design by Lindsey Black Interiors | Story by Terri Glazer | Photography by Sélavie Photography

With a unique, cocktail lounge vibe, this retro chic pool house is ready for fun.

The phrase “pool house” might not usually evoke images of a space described as “lounge-y” or “cool,” but those words kept popping up on a recent visit to this East Memphis pool/guest house. Renovated by Lindsey Black of Lindsey Black Interiors, the structure has a style that’s a bit unexpected, but a perfect fit for the homeowners and their young teenage children.

The owners renovated the main residence when they moved in a few years ago, but they had yet to give the pool house the same attention. They brought Black on board in early 2020 to put their stamp on the space. Before she and her team started the creative work, she met with the couple, as she does with every client at the outset of one of the large-scale projects in which her firm specializes, to get to know them and understand their needs. During the session she learned a few things. The wife wanted to use the pool house for year-round entertaining and for overnight guests. She wanted it to be a spot where kids could hang out, and one that adults could also enjoy. And it had to be cool, with a cocktail lounge vibe.

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The designer recalls that the initial meeting happened just before one of her semi-annual buying trips; fortunate timing because it allowed her to select items at market specifically with the pool house in mind. Every project starts with a jumping off point. For this one, Black says, it was the large color photograph of a swimming tiger that now hangs in the living area. “The water tied into the pool nicely,” she says, and the animal’s deep orange color influenced other design choices. Next came the fabric for pillows on the sofa and the dining banquette. The retro print in bold colors has just the right degree of old Havana flair.

Pillow fabric might seem a minor detail in a full-scale redesign project, but Black says each feature is important to making a room, and a whole house, come together with a cohesive look. “We really do put thought into every little detail we choose in a room and how it all works together,” she says. “Even though a pillow is a small element, it inspired most of the color choices in the room.”

And, thanks to the introduction of a wealth of new high-performance textiles and fabric treatments, Black had plenty of choices when selecting upholstery. Gone are the days when pool houses had to be furnished in vinyl and hard plastic. Today’s advanced materials come in a myriad of options and can stand up to catastrophes from wet swimsuits to spilled drinks, no worse for the wear. Everything from the clean-lined living area sofa to the dramatic tete-a-tete chaise by Ray Booth for Hickory Chair to the stunning blue/green velvet banquette is covered in fabric that is as durable as it is beautiful.

In the dining area Black removed a large round dining table at the homeowners’ request. The family tends to entertain more informally, however, if a larger group wants to gather, the new game table, with an extra leaf installed, can accommodate. 

Nestled under a handsome work by West African artist Kader Boly, the banquette, paired with a trio of small round cocktail tables and wood/woven leather chairs makes a perfect spot for a group conversation, an intimate drink—or for kids’ post-swim snacks and sodas.

Black enlisted Greg Hampton of Hampton Fine Finishes to paint the kitchen cabinets in the same saturated gray/green as the living area. The existing copper vent hood is perfectly warm, juxtaposed against the cool-toned cabinetry. Poster-sized photos of iconic Memphis neon signs jazz up the kitchen and provide a funky home-town touch when the space is used as a guest house for out-of-town visitors. “It’s fun to put things like that in here that you might not place in the main house,” says Black.

It’s a toss-up as to who loves the new game room more, the teenagers or their father. During the initial conversation, Black learned that the man of the house is a huge Marvel Comics fan, so she turned to local artist Daniel Tacker to create a custom multimedia work featuring the superheroes. The art seems to fly off the wall, with Wolverine, dad’s favorite character, leading the way. The designer commissioned the painting and chose all the art for the project with deliberate care and with local talent in mind. A figure painting by Memphis artist Heather Howle hangs in the dining area.

The pool house has a lot of wall space, so Black was tasked with finding multiple pieces. She explains, “You have to be careful about how you mix artwork. I think it can make or break a space so you have to consider the style of the art, who the artist is, color versus black and white, media, but also scale is so important. These are all statement pieces. They stand on their own, but they complement instead of competing with one another.”

It’s clear that Black loves the way her concept came to completion for these clients, but she stresses that it’s not all about appearances. “As important as it is that a space looks good, for me it is critical that it works for the client, that it meets all their needs and it checks all the boxes they give us.” This chic backyard cocktail lounge/teen hangout with the unexpected ambiance checks those boxes perfectly for the homeowners, their children and their guests.

A Cook’s Kitchen

Written by Terri Glazer | Photography by Darren Lykes Photography

At Home’s culinary guru shares the making of his dream workspace

To say that Jim Norton’s kitchen has come a long way would be a massive understatement. The original portion of the historic Oakmont estate in Jackson, TN, was built in 1860 as a log cabin. Even 15 years ago, when Norton and his partner Robert Walden purchased the much-expanded home, it didn’t have a fully functioning kitchen.

He recalls, “The lady who lived in the home previously didn’t cook. She really didn’t have a kitchen. It was like a caterer’s kitchen; there was no stove. The only stove was in the master bedroom behind two folding doors. There was a 1950s-era unit with a tiny cooktop, a very small oven and a sink.”

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Out of necessity, the homeowners created a galley-style kitchen with an adjacent eat-in area. It served its purpose, but they soon realized it could be better. Norton and Walden love to entertain and have parties often, from intimate get-togethers for close friends to the annual Patrons Party for the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation, a soiree for 250 they’ve hosted for the last decade. Norton realized that large gatherings always seem to produce a bottleneck around the kitchen, so when they were having some other home-improvement projects done, it seemed the perfect time to reimagine the kitchen and remedy the situation.

“To expand the kitchen we knocked out a couple of walls from an adjacent bedroom. We got rid of the bedroom and made it part of the kitchen. Now there are four ways in and out of the kitchen,” says Norton. “This year was the first Patrons Party we’ve had with the new kitchen, and it made all the difference.”

Norton masterminded the extensive kitchen redo, using his combined talents for a stunning finished product. In addition to being a renowned master of entertaining who has hosted celebrities and appeared on national TV cooking programs, Norton is an interior decorator by trade. Three major elements drove his design process. The new kitchen had to be large enough to accommodate crowds and the layout had to facilitate conversations. “When we have dinner parties everyone always wants to come in the kitchen and talk to me and watch while I’m cooking. The old kitchen wasn’t conducive to that at all. So I wanted a nice large island where people could sit on the other side. My cooktop is in the island so I can cook and have people sitting at the barstools and we can look eye to eye.”

The overall aesthetic was also important. Norton explains, “I wanted something that was fresh, that was current, but it also had to match and flow with the rest of the house, which is very traditional. We tried to bring in elements like the cabinet color, which is very current, but the actual cabinets are traditional with raised panels. The countertops are carrara marble, which is timeless to me. But to make it a little more edgy, we did the backsplash in a herringbone pattern with gold accent bars running through it. That gave it more of a contemporary vibe. That kind of goes with our house. We’ll have a piece of 18th-century furniture with a very contemporary abstract painting hanging above it. So I wanted the kitchen to reflect that, as well—the new blending well with the old.” 

One of the room’s most notable features is the large built-in refrigerator. It’s the product of one of Norton’s favorite tricks of the kitchen design trade, a gem he graciously shares with At Home readers. “You can get a large refrigerator without spending $12,000 or more. We purchased two single-door refrigerators; one is a right open and one a left open. We put them together and built the cabinets around it. It ends up looking like a massive commercial refrigerator at a fraction of the cost. The trick is the trim kit that you put around the two refrigerators. You can purchase the Subzero trim kit for around $300. It adds six to seven inches in height so it gives not only the large appearance, but also the tall appearance that Subzeros have.” 

From marginally functional to a cook’s dream, Oakmont’s new kitchen is a masterpiece only a true expert could envision.