An Alabama homeowner blends favorite antiques with family-friendly furnishings for a livable style all her own. Just inside the front door of Sandy Mulvaney’s home hangs a painting in an antique frame that pre-dates the artwork—and the artist, her daughter. It’s one of the homeowner’s most prized possessions and, like many of her furnishings, holds as much sentimental value as it does charm.
In the years since Sandy and her husband built the residence, several family heirlooms and special treasures have come home to roost. The living room holds a chest of drawers and a secretary inherited from Sandy’s mother-in-law, and the dining room displays vintage bottles from her great-aunt’s antiques store. With the exception of the mocha dining room, all of the home’s walls feature a warm white shade that gave Sandy license to showcase her keen eye for prints. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten braver and found that I really like to layer patterns,” Sandy says.
With four dogs and three kids, Sandy opted for furniture in hues of brown to camouflage wear and tear. In the family room, the scheme carries from the artwork to the floor coverings and seating. Beams are a focal point of a patio just outside the family room, so she repeated the look indoors to tie together the two spaces and give the den a warm, cozy feeling. A favorite painting sets the tone in this bedroom as large pillows and a crushed-velvet sofa echo its earthy hues. “The colors and scene just say restful to me,” Sandy says. Antique lamps inherited from her great-aunt got a modern update with black shades.
Sandy used a vintage gaming table in her breakfast nook, pairing it with woven rush cane chairs and a distressed bench. She chose bamboo blinds for a casual solution to filter out the setting sun. At the Mulvaney home, texture plays as much a role as prints. One of Sandy’s favorite details has the color, prints, texture, and history she loves—vintage relief tiles she discovered while antiquing and incorporated in the kitchen backsplash. “I like that they had a previous life and will have a life long after we are gone,” she says.
Text by Mona Moore Photography by Marcy Black Simpson and Caroline Smith
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