A Braithwaite Conclusion

It's always hard for me to leave designers whose work I really admire.  So it is with Nancy Braithwaite.  Today, I'm covering two of her more recent home designs, ones you may have already seen.  I post about all these designers so I have their work chronicled for myself and hope you enjoy seeing them for your first time or your fortieth - they always inspire.

When I first saw this home, I liked it very much but was surprised Nancy had designed it.  The more I studied it, the more I saw her uncluttered, neutral stamp, and the more I loved it.

Please read the article's explanation - so much better than mine - then see how well Nancy fulfills her client's wishes. 

Architect Norm Askins worked with Nancy on the interior architecture of the home above just as he'd done on several previous projects.  Remember when this busier style seen below...

changed to this sparer one?  It did so with help from Norm Askins.

Let's just take a peek at more of Askins's work as seen on his website.

All very pretty, right?  But let's look now at a result of Nancy's collaboration with architect Jim Choate on Kiawah Island (Veranda, March 2011), and it's not a "pretty" picture.

Really different, from early work with Askins, right?  Maybe not - the simplicity, the neutrals were always present.

From James Choate website

From James Choate website

Nancy "had to have" these toads by Robert Kuo because they were as "sculptural as the house."

Is the sheep here also the work of Kuo?  Anyone know?

And was this sheep transported from the Braitwaite home in Atlanta, or just a sibling?  A tiny mystery.

So what do you think?  Has Nancy abandoned her southern love of softness and antiques?  Do you feel betrayed somehow? Don't.  Her journey seemed headed this way all along.  Remember this early un-soft, un-antique Nancy below.

And here.

It seems Nancy always followed her love of simplicity and neutrals, and her love of "integrity".  In her Kiawah home, she says, "Every single element had to be simple and powerful," but I believe her elements always were.

A few more images from James Choate's website.  Below the Braitwaite's Kiawah home from the outside.

Concrete and stone are probably very wise materials on a southern island.

A few more examples of Choate's non-Kiawah work where he too deals in integrity and power.

So ends my Nancy Braithwaite posts.  I really feel quite sad about it, but hopefully we'll soon see more of her beautiful work in another perfect location.  I'm ending with a kitchen I have loved, one that speaks to today's themes - simplicity, neutrality, integrity.

Next time, still in the south.

b