Tour a Comfortably Chic Charleston Family Home

With four boys from 12 to 17 (and dog Lucy), downsizing from a 4,700-square-foot home to a 2,600-square-foot one meant that Elizabeth and Curt Nesbitt had to be smart about their space. Their stunning, contemporary Sullivan's Island home on the lush green marsh of the Intracoastal Waterway benefits from an airy, open living room, dining room and kitchen on the home's second floor. Floor to ceiling windows let the light flood in and make the space appear even more expansive. Designer Jenny Keenan worked with the Nesbitts on the smart, chic design of their spacious-feeling home.

The massive, heavy cypress front door immediately establishes the mod-meets-organic bonafides of this chic but highly functional Charleston home.

The Nesbitts put the kitchen and main living area of their Charleston home on the second floor for a very good reason. "We did that so we could maximize our views," says Elizabeth. Sliding glass and metal doors open the living room space up to the amazing view of the Intracoastal Waterway. The light fixture is a repurposed marine buoy.

Elizabeth describes her home as "not over-the-top modern. It's just manageable," she says of a home design that keeps extraneous clutter tucked away. "Everything has a place," says Elizabeth, and her new house rules are that shoes are left at the front door to keep the space tidy. She says that her home's California-modern look makes her life simpler and easier, in some ways, than the larger, traditional home her family moved from. Of her white marble countertops, Eiizabeth notes, "everyone tried to talk me out of it."