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March 19, 2024March 19, 2025

Vol. XVI: Lilse McKenna Off-Duty

Vol. XVI: Lilse McKenna Off-Duty

I am excited to share a peek into our Charleston clients’ home as featured in the WSJ’s Off Duty this past weekend. The home belongs to the ever-stylish influencer Julia Berolzheimer, her husband, Thomas, and their two girls. The room originally two rooms: the screened porch and the family room. Thomas came up with the idea to enclose the screened porch and make the two rooms one larger living space. The goal was to add layers, creating a room more in sync with their well-traveled taste—without losing a sense of place. Here I share a few of the key design tools and trick that we used. The result: a space that is as custom and beautiful as it is functional and inviting.

Living room with green sofas, blue built-in shelves, white light fixture

Go for back-to-back seating. I love a double-sided sofa. It breaks up long spaces and works so well for entertaining. It also adds a casual air to the room for relaxing, reading and TV-watching.

Moroccan-inspired plaster light fixtures

Silver Jubilee On the grasscloth paneled walls and jib doors, I enlisted our decorative painters, Snyder Studio/SO Beaux Arts, to create their own version of a personal favorite: Silver Jubilee, a chintz by Clarence House. I am not the first to use this pattern and I certainly won’t be the last! The fabric is a large-scale paisley that reads as a floral that isn’t overtly floral, giving the room a focal point and sense of joie de vivre. I had one panel of the original chintz to use as a reference point; I wanted to utilize it for a project when I first started my firm but it had been discontinued. The pattern really lent itself to the panel design given the lower and upper sections; we adjusted the print to Julia’s liking and tested a handful of different colors, landing on a dark green that paired well with a blue trim.

Be practically pretty. We didn’t want the space to feel overly formal—and we’re always trying to be practical. Natural materials are forgiving… there’s almost nothing here that can’t be cleaned.

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Panels with hidden storage

Hidden storage To give proper hidden storage and make the room feel complete, we made an entire wall of hidden panels, most with deep storage closets and one with a secret passage to the mudroom. One of my favorite features of the room is one that you can’t see—the carved pulls on the stiles of the doors.

Heed nature’s call There’s something innately beachy about the Charleston area, and I wanted to keep that spirit with this design. We layered custom delicate plaster Moroccan-inspired light fixtures and upholstered wicker seating in a kilim flatweave as a nod to the casual coastal vibe. JJ’s team also made the incredibly delicate and special Moroccan- inspired plaster light fixtures. Side note: we had to make these three times to get them right...every exciting idea has it’s hiccups! Well worth it in the end.

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Rattan chair closeup

Lilse McKenna Inc.

About the Firm

Lilse McKenna designs homes that are rooted in tradition and tailored to reflect each client’s personality and lifestyle. Drawing on years of experience in residential design, Lilse expertly layers pattern, color, and texture to create spaces that are sophisticated yet eminently livable.

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