James Farmer is becoming synonymous with impeccably curated and joyfully more-is-more neo traditional interiors, and it’s easy to see why. As a designer, author and lifestyle expert, he combines fluency in design history and casually contemporary eclecticism to create homes that are both gorgeous and delightfully unfussy.
Case in point: This fresh and welcoming home in Aiken, South Carolina, where a young family puts their feet up after tending to their peach farm. “Though the house is an older home it wasn’t too old to be updated for today’s standard of living,” James says.
Don’t despair if you don’t have family-heirloom furniture or heavy-hitting antiques to display in your home. James’s favorite piece in this project? “A framed packing label reading Stately Oaks — the name of their peach farm. Sometime the little pieces like that mean more than a large antique.”
Striped wallpaper in the foyer highlights an architectural detail in the cased opening to the dining room. It’s also a thoughtful variation on the vertical floral paper in the room next to it.
Want to try a power pairing like the two types of seating in this dining room? The arrangement is simpler than you think: “Start with a host and hostess chair,” James advises of the chairs at the head and foot of the table. “That is the easiest way to mix in a style! Then fill in the others as a set.”
