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Name: Mamie + Alan (husband), along with two pitbull-kids, Henrietta Modine (9) and Wednesday Stewart (3)
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Size: 2,470 square feet
Type of Home: House
Years lived in: 2 years, owned
We lived downtown as newlyweds, in a home my husband owned for many years, and were not at all in the market for a new home when I stumbled upon a brand new listing just out of town, on Paris Mountain. The house went live at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, we toured it at 4 p.m., and put an offer in by early evening. I found out we got the house later that same day while singing “Acid Tongue” at the top of my lungs at a Jenny Lewis show. What a night.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: Maximalism meets Amelia Bedelia meets my mother’s full-length fake fur from Costco
Inspiration: Miles Redd, Morgan Parker, Frank O’Hara, Beata Heuman, Ocean Vuong
Favorite element: I love our red floral sectional. Alan and I partook in a cocktail or three while visiting Asheville, North Carolina, before stumbling upon a furniture store where we fell in love with the couch’s shape. As it was being delivered months later, he said, “I could have sworn we ordered this in gray.” Which is hilarious. I have never ordered anything in gray a day of my life.
Biggest challenge: When we moved in, our house was a flip that had been taken from its ’80s build into pristine white totality. That was one reason we purchased it. I thought owning a home so serene and bereft of stains and clutter would make me, well, serene and bereft of stains and clutter. Eventually, though, in my messy design heart, I knew that wouldn’t work for us — that wasn’t us. I sort of tip-toed around for a while before (quick like a Band-Aid, as they say) wallpapering our main living space in this relatively intense pebble situation I found for thirty cents per square foot. After that, I couldn’t exactly go back.
Proudest DIY: Okay, I’m not the handiest person; my DIY skills are narrow and few. But I’m pretty proud of how frugal and squirrelly I can be. If we’re speaking in those terms, I’d say our coffee table in the library/music room. It’s an acetone barrel we found for nothing in a thriftyard and had fitted with a glass top. Guests tend to really love that thing.
Biggest Indulgence: Wallpaper. Well, wallpaper and art. In 2020 I set out to support local makers as best as our bank account would allow. I won’t buy a six-pack of soda unless it’s BoGo, but I will shell out some dough to buttress creatives busting their tails in our town. Also, the kitchen’s white faucet. I was hell-bent on a matte white faucet, and everyone in fixtures acted like that was crazy. Of course, a few months later, Jason Wu introduced his white faucet line through Brizo and I wanted to yell, “SEE?”
Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? I’m not sure. A new friend — he’s a painter — came by to prep our front door the other day. When he entered the house he said, “It’s like you give zero f—–s.” Oddly, in many ways, I feel like the opposite is true. This house is what it looks like when I give an actual, very many, lot of f—–s.
What are your favorite products you have bought for you home and why? I’m forever adding to our cozy throw blanket and increasingly unnecessary throw pillow situation. My favorite throws and pillows come from Salt & Sundry in DC and Cottage Grove Vintage, here in South Carolina.
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximalizing and/or organizing tips you have: I think being honest about your own needs straight out of the gate is super important. Something can look amazing and make no sense for your family. For example, we have a full-on allocated office, and yet I tend to work and teach virtually from the craft closet in one of our guest bedrooms.
This house tour’s responses were edited for length and clarity.
