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Text by Mary Forsell •
Styling by Megan Chaffin
For years, Sherri Mullins was a world wanderer, living out of a
suitcase with six other flight attendants in an apartment near JFK International
Airport in New York. Even after she married husband Mike, director of business
development for a convenience food company, she continued to travel
frequently.During a stint in Dallas, this Kentucky native returned to school
to study interior design. It wasn’t long before she traded her uniform for a
designer’s clipboard. “As a flight attendant I had seen the world, and it opened
my eyes to my true passion,” she says. Then the couple moved again. They’ve
now spent eight years in the Chicago area, a record of sorts. “Even though I’m
not a cold weather girl, I really love it here.”
(1) In a sitting room addition off the kitchen, white woodwork is a crisp foil
for suede-textured caramel walls. Rug and matching pillow, Village Carpets. Art
by Jean Jack, Tucker Gallery.
(2) A living room armchair has luxurious silk upholstery on the back and
sides and cotton on the front for easy cleanup. Art by Barbara McCleary,
Greenleaf Gallery. Patterned pillow, Village Carpets; “Serenity” pillow, Simple
Blessings/Valerie Foradas. (3) An original stained-glass window. (4)
Interior designer and (very pregnant) home-owner Sherri Mullins.
With hotel design as a specialty, it’s little wonder that Sherri is a whiz at
making the most of compact quarters. “We needed to maximize every bit of space
in this house, which was originally built in 1898,” says this mother of a
growing family.
(5) The dining room was a DIY affair. That cornice over the window is
particle board cut with a jigsaw then painted and glazed. Sherri measured out
the scallops using a jar lid (6). The armchairs cost 50 bucks
total. Reborn with florals and checks combined, they got a finishing flourish of
fringe and rickrack. (7) Using a fleur-de-lis stencil, Sherri painted
the ceiling fresco with an artist’s brush. Apply burnt umber craft paint
sparingly, then add creamy white highlights.
Even awkward sloping ceilings can become noteworthy design
features. (8) Horizontal stripes wake up an office/reading room. “The darker shade
softens the shocking red.” Standard linen curtains get a custom look from trim
applied with fabric glue. “Take Time” pillow, Simple Blessings/Valerie Foradas.
In the master bedroom, (9), she added subtly patterned paper
to the angled wall behind the headboard. A canvas headboard gains drama from a monogrammed linen accent.
Throw, vine coverlet, pillows, Bedside Manor Ltd. Art by Leslie Wu, Greenleaf
Gallery. In Nicholas’ nursery, (10) she
painted the ceilings white to play off the cadet blue walls. “If a room gets a
lot of light, I like a bolder color. It’s all about contrast.” The nursery. Art, Oopsy Daisy Fine Art for Kids by Charlotte
Lyons.
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