Nearly 1,000 miles south of their Virginia home, the Sunshine State beckoned Natalie and Matt Nichols. The couple, who has college-aged twins, purchased a house in South Florida as a haven for their family, envisioning interiors that would be just as sunny and charming as the outdoor setting. Their directive to designers Sarah Griswold-Johnson, Lisa Sokol and Paige Orpin was clear: Lyford Cay Club meets Park Avenue apartment—a jewel-box look with punchy colors, sophisticated accents and the occasional palm tree motif. “We had an opportunity down here that we wouldn’t normally have up north,” Natalie explains. “We wanted it to be playful.”
Having just worked on the family’s Virginia residence, the designers understood their clients’ tastes well. This time, the canvas was a fairly recent Bahamian-style build in Delray Beach that, upon first glance, barely needed any tinkering. “Everybody who drove down the street and saw this house would say it had amazing curb appeal,” architect Gary Eliopoulos describes. “Although the house was pretty, it was not conducive to the family’s needs.” For one, the Nicholses preferred the family room adjacent to the kitchen, a wish that required reconfiguring some areas. “We extended the front elevation to add space,” general contractor Mike Rega says. This allowed for the expansion of the entry courtyard, which received a new gate and an updated pool. The team also constructed a garage on one side of the house, balancing the opposite end with an outdoor kitchen to maintain the façade’s symmetry. Landscape architect Carol Perez then enhanced the structure with tropical plantings such as medjool date and coconut palms, all installed by landscape designers Bob Glynn and Amanda Lee. “The overall goal was to make the house look like it has always been there behind the trees,” Lee says.
Once it was time to dress the interiors, the designers intuited a palette of pinks and blues, with prominent touches of green. Their instincts were solidified early in the process when they took the Nicholses on a shopping trip to New York, an excursion that yielded a Kelly green rug with climbing leopards, two scenic wallpapers and a few choice antiques, including an octagonal table Matt fell in love with. “By the time we finished that first buying trip, we had the skeleton of what we knew we would be designing,” Sokol recalls. Their strategy: Layer different time periods and influences, marrying various elements to create a feast for the eyes.
Returning to Florida brought more inspiration. After she saw the work of Mary Meade Evans in a local show house, Natalie knew she wanted the decorative artist to paint a light-blue palm tree mural for the stairwell. There, complementing the leopard runner, the designers crafted a green lacquered bar—which in turn inspired the purpose of the adjacent den: a cocktail lounge. “The Nicholses can entertain a smaller group in there if they don’t want to use the great room,” Griswold-Johnson points out. Influenced by the work of designers Mark Sikes and Miles Redd, the team upholstered the walls in blue-and-white stripes and added leather doors with emerald glass knobs. “It’s a very layered room but simple at the same time,” Sokol adds.
Other memorable details include a blue-and- green kitchen backsplash that could double as a Lilly Pulitzer print; hardware that resembles malachite starbursts and delicate dogwood; and a spirited fringe on the living area sofa that recalls the shimmy of a grass hula skirt. “We love to have hidden gems you don’t notice right away, but when you come in closer, you see a little surprise,” Griswold-Johnson says. The designers also helped the Nicholses curate a collection of locally sourced period ceramics and glassware, peppering in additional Palm Beach spirit.
While majority of the home’s palette adheres to sunny pastels and saturated brights, the powder room and primary bedroom are dramatic departures. “These spaces are the rebels of the house,” Sokol muses. Adjacent to the ornate bar, the powder room is enveloped in a metallic wallcovering of iridescent koi fish and a floor- to-ceiling antiqued mirror. Giving the eyes a rest, the primary bedroom is a soothing cocoon with Chinoiserie-inspired wallpaper, a verdant green ceiling and window pelmets with intricate scrollwork. Altogether, it makes for a welcoming visual treat, to the owners’ delight. “When I wake up every morning, I can’t believe I get to live here,” Natalie reflects.
