Nashville’s Southern Living show case home is well on it’s way. Slated to open late October, this home will offer the ultimate in designer tips, tricks and trade secrets for your home. Not to mention, it’s a sure way to get this seasons best home ideas from the greatest minds in Nashville. Seriously, this design team has some of the best tricks up their sleeve that I have ever seen!

Only a few designers (11 to be exact) were chosen to participate, and  I am honored to have been chosen to do the guest retreat. It’s kinda like winning the miss America pageant only I don’t have to done the dreaded swim suit or wear more aqua net than my grandma. And trust me she wears a lot!

As written in this recent press release:

“A team of the Nashville area’s best designers has been chosen to bring the charm and beauty of Southern Living magazine to this fall’s Southern Living Showcase Home, being built by Castle Homes in Dorset Park”~  Cool Springs news.

Being miss America is tough business. There are so many details that go into a home like this. Coordination, collaboration, details, and designing to the standards of Southern Living, one of the South’s best magazines! Wow! No pressure at all! But don’t worry, Aqua net aside, I can totally do this!

The Southern Living showcase home is fast approaching completion. I went out to the house just a few weeks ago and this is where it was at:

Exterior of showcase home

Holy cow! From the outside it seems the house is almost finished! But the interior was still fairly raw. Still just sticks and metal, (Phew, plenty of time to procrastinate) this was in early July:

Guest retreat, Southern Living showcase home

Guest retreat, Southern living showcase home

However, Thursday we had another design meeting at the house, our fourth since the announcement of selected designers in May and I couldn’t believe the progress in just a few short weeks. Dry wall was up, trim installed and windows and doors finished out. Okay, Miss America is gonna have to wear roller skates!

Miss America, aka: Amanda Burdge

Here I am all smiles, knowing all the secrets that will be revealed at the opening. Prepare to be amazed! These designers, including myself, have done an incredible job with the wow factor. Having so many creative minds under one roof is extraordinary. We are all feeding off of each others expressive imaginations and it’s like Disneyland in here. ( Weeeeeeeeeee!) I cannot wait for you to see these jaw-dropping spaces when they are completed. Ingenuity and clever talent don’t even describe it!

Southern living showcase home meeting

After our quick meeting of updates, and stunning reveals,  I headed upstairs to the guest retreat.

Guest retreat, Southern Living showcase home

My room (above and below), fully drywalled, displayed my paint swatches, trim, and windows. Big difference from the sticks I had a few weeks ago in July! It’s time Miss America kicks it into high gear!

Southern living showcase home nashville

Accessible beige

Castle homes, accustomed to working with designers, has graciously put my paint swatches on the wall and ceiling to get my approval. Designers hold a lot of magical powers when it comes to decorating. Choosing a paint from a 2×2 swatch is not one of them. My wall color will be accessible beige by Sherwin Williams, and a custom pink for the ceiling. Choosing these paint colors was a difficult task. I chose my fabrics in a snap but trying to match a Southern Living, best in the South magazine paint color was making me dizzy. I finally called in the experts! I have amazing friends, and lucky for me, most of them are color experts. Nothing like being a part of the cool kids, or as I like to call them: Color Geeks! Even more lucky for me, one happens to live down the street from my office, Kristie Barnett.

Kristie and I in Show house mania

Kristie and I hashed it out, taking into consideration all the options. She agreed that my accessible beige selection from Sherwin Williams was perfect, (hallelujah)  but thank-god for me, she was finally able to get the pink right! Can I just say that being a part of the cool kids has it’s advantages.

Today after seeing the swatches in the room I have to say the accessible beige is PERFECT, and the custom vintage pink is stunning. ( Thanks Kristie) I would also like to share a special thank-you to Kelly Berg from Arte Styling, Barbara Jacobs from Integral Color, Lori Sawaya from Color Strategies, and of course Kristie, from the Decorologist for running down to my office to save me! Y’all are the best!

If you need color help, Kelly, Lori, Kristie and Barbara are amazing! The four of them easily cover the entire country, and all do color consultations anywhere in the United States. Just watch out for that Lori, she’ll give you an education in color that will make you dizzy!

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