How to Make Cozy Look Cool

Florals can make a room feel warm and inviting…or stuffy and outdated. Overdoing them can be especially hard to resist if you happen to grow flowers for a living, as Leah and Ken James do: They own a greenhouse business in Georgia. “We gravitate toward nature-inspired design elements anywhere we can find them — in wallpaper, art, furniture, even light fixtures,” says Leah. The couple and their teen daughter, Amelia, used to live in a house on the grounds of their company, but in 2016 they moved to Athens, choosing a Craftsman-style home built in 2002.

They worked with local designer Jade Joyner on several major updates — replacing the cold terra-cotta-tile floors on the first story with heart pine, renovating the kitchen and a bathroom and painting all the rooms. Then came the fun part: choosing wallpaper and art. The result — a mix of cool floral patterns, warm wood and modern metallics — makes their take on cozy totally fresh.

Leah and Ken’s love of stuff found in nature is on full display here: The teak sideboard by Noir has seagrass door fronts, and the driftwood coatrack from Roost is a definite conversation piece. The moth print by Joseph Scheer “looks like a natural history museum exhibit,” says Leah. “I’m also fond of the pink.” The lamps are by Arteriors, and the vintage runner is from designer Jade’s store, Metal + Petal.

It perfectly encapsulates the home’s style: equal parts comfy, earthy and whimsical. “The wood coffee table reminded me of mushrooms when I first saw it,” says homeowner Leah. (It’s by Noir.) The fireplace is surrounded by graphic cement tiles by Clé. Leah kept the rest of the room’s pieces simple, with a sky blue tufted sofa and leather wingback chairs, all from Anthropologie.

With its wire grilles and brass Scout & Nimble lights, this bookcase has old-school-library appeal, but quirky floral wallpaper from Anthropologie and unexpected collectibles — a cactus here, an elephant there — make it hip. “I liked the pattern so much, we used it in the mudroom, too!” says Leah. At designer Jade’s suggestion, she removed the dust jackets from the books for a prettier look.