Naturally Inspired: The Familiar Warmth of an Old Kentucky Home

The Familiar Warmth of an Old Kentucky Home

Taking design cues from her passion for gardening, antiques, and seashells, Margie Schubert created a blissful home stirred by elements of nature and the colors of the surrounding Louisville landscape.

The Familiar Warmth of an Old Kentucky Home

In a city where chance and odds are inherently part of a long-standing cultural tradition, it seems befitting that Louisville, Kentucky, designer Lee Stough considers it to have been “a lucky day” when Margie Schubert called on her to help decorate her new residence. “When Margie and her husband, Allen, moved their family back home from Houston,” Lee recalls, “I was familiar with the wonderful Indian Hills property they had bought, and I knew Margie’s Louisville family, but did not know her.”

The Familiar Warmth of an Old Kentucky Home

As the two women have since become dear friends, it is apparent that their chance meeting quickly flourished into a charmed collaboration. “Lee was immediately drawn to what she calls my ‘natural curiosities,’” says Margie, referring to her extraordinary collections of seashells, antique floral fabrics, and organically inspired needlework. “I’ve always been inclined to bringing the outdoors in, and Lee helped exemplify this.”

 The Familiar Warmth of an Old Kentucky Home

The Schuberts’ newly purchased 1930s-era Louisville home had been occupied by three separate owners who had each done renovations in dissimilar styles within the past five years. “When we bought the house,” Margie says, “our primary focus was to take the home back to its roots.” With like-minded vision, Margie and Lee set out to create a series of soulful and organic interior spaces, incorporating natural elements from Margie’s collections along with an earthy color palette that extends to the outdoors and echoes the lush greens of the regional landscape.

The Familiar Warmth of an Old Kentucky Home

“The only exception is the vivid coral color on the walls and shelves in the room adjacent to the dining room,” says Lee of the brilliant glazed paint treatment that was executed by Margie’s longtime friend, Gwen Burke, a local decorative artist. In addition, Gwen’s masterful Fortuny-like effect on the dining room walls, as well as her elegant stenciled medallions on the living room settee, brought yet another element of distinction to this collective endeavor. “For me, moving back to Louisville and renovating this house was very much about reconnecting with family and friends,” says Margie, “and my home is a true reflection of this.”

Text Jeanne Delathouder
Photography Kimberly Finkel Davis

To learn more about this interior, see “Naturally Inspired: The Familiar Warmth of an Old Kentucky Home” on page 74 of the March/April 2010 issue of Victoria. 

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