Inside A Joyful Alabama Home Filled With Colorful Details And Family-Friendly Ideas

When Lindsey Ellis Beatty first toured her family’s would-be home in Mountain Brook, Alabama, the former magazine editor fell hard—not necessarily for the 1950s house itself but for the details. “I loved the doors and the hardware,” she says. The rambling corner lot, complete with a muscadine vine, was equally tempting. “With three boys, my husband, Kevin, and I were like, ‘Oh my gosh, that yard is amazing,’ ” she recalls. “The lot and location were most appealing, and I thought, ‘I can fix the house and make it livable.’”

For their young family, that meant converting the attic into a bedroom, turning the existing darkroom into a play area, and flooding every nook and cranny with easygoing upholstery and vibrant color. In the 10 years since, they’ve continued to reimagine the house to suit their evolving needs.

“That’s one thing about us: Nothing stays the same for long,” says Beatty. “We’re constantly reshuffling, rearranging rooms, and moving people from one spot to another. We’re always reworking how we live in this house.” 

For instance, the darkroom turned playroom is now her office, and their sons’ hangout is a rec space in the basement. “As everybody grows, what we need changes,” she says. “That’s something that was appealing about this house from the start. It’s a very flexible layout; there are lots of different ways to use it.”

But even as the house bends and flexes, one thing hasn’t changed: Beatty’s much-loved front doors, which she covered in a chalky Palm Springs-inspired pink (Benjamin Moore’s Victoriana, 1263) right after they moved in. “I talk about repainting the doors every other month,” she admits. “Kevin always says, ‘Leave them alone! They look good; it works with the house. It’s your thing!’” Here, Beatty shares her moves for a family home that is beautiful, comfortable, and perfectly personal.

Prioritize Comfortable (And Practical) Upholstery

“When we first moved in, I had camelback sofas, which I loved, but they’re just not conducive to watching football,” confesses Beatty, who traded the prim perches for deeper-seated ones piled with throw pillows in cheery shades. “Color is a great camouflage for all kinds of mishaps when you have kids, so I like to use a lot of it.” She covered a pair of chairs in a striped pattern from Schumacher and an ottoman and an armchair in a print from Quadrille Fabrics. Durable white is an unexpected winner when it comes to family-friendly upholstery. “You can bleach it, so it’s much easier to clean than gray or beige,” she explains.

Make Room For Little Things

“As a stylist, I like to have places to arrange accessories on—so I love a small end table,” says Beatty, who used a pair of them in this cozy den next to the kitchen.

Carve Out Rooms That Suit Your Taste 

Beatty’s classic-meets-beachy design duality is most apparent in the dining room, where she paired a traditional dining table she picked up years ago at a Destin, Florida, antiques shop with painted rattan Chippendale chairs. To make the white furnishings really pop, she covered the walls in zippy Netherfield wallpaper from Osborne & Little. “I’m not sure whether this is our ‘forever home,’ but I never think about resale when decorating,” she says. “I just go with whatever I love.”

Don’t Shy Away From A Statement

“I like an all-white kitchen—don’t get me wrong—but I wish people would take more risks with that space,” says Beatty. In her home, she took her own advice, covering the length and height of one wall with Popham Design’s sea glass-colored Goa tile. It’s a functional move too. She notes, “The whole wall behind the stove is a working area of the kitchen, so it made sense to pull the tile all the way up.” Practicality also dictated the lighting. Rather than pendants over the island, which would have underscored the room’s lack of symmetry and blocked the view, she chose ceramic flush mounts from Cedar and Moss.

Come Up With Creative Work-Arounds

The primary bedroom’s design began with the bed. “I loved the lines of it, but the fabric is gray-beige, which is a shade I typically avoid,” she says. However, re-covering the frame was going to be involved and expensive, so she embraced its neutral nature instead, wrapping the room in Jungle Leaves by York Wallcoverings. For a little oomph, she layered in aqua window treatments and peachy coral and mint green throw pillows. “I like colorful, collected rooms that look like they evolved over time,” says Beatty. “I’m a maximalist and feel most at ease when surrounded by pattern and color, but I always try to balance the two.”

Go All In On Earthy Textures

Beatty infused her small primary bath with major style cred through a combination of natural materials. “I picked a bunch of things I love and packed them in together: zellige tile for the tub, terra-cotta on the floor, polished brass fixtures, and Erika M. Powell Textiles’ printed grass cloth on the walls,” says the designer. “I don’t often use natural wood but decided to try it on the vanity. It gives the space a bit of an island vibe.”

Use Your Imagination

“We love our deck now, but it was a disaster when we bought the house,” says Beatty. “It had a tree growing up through the middle.” New railings and paint worked wonders—as did removing the tree. The outdoor furniture was a Target find, which the designer reimagined with fresh fabric and a coat of paint. “We start Saturdays out here with coffee and end them here with cocktails,” she says.