Lathem added the fireplace and the flanking built-in bookcases to the living room during a partial renovation of the 1940s home. This wall is opposite the one shown at top, where artwork is layered over a wallpaper mural. Find the garden stools here.
For Lathem Gordon, co-founder of Atlanta-based design firm GordonDunning, home is where the art is. Just about every room in the Decatur, GA, home she shares with her husband and their two young daughters is chockablock with paintings (including some by her paternal grandmother), family photos, etchings, prints, and other artworks. Not only was Lathem’s undergraduate degree in visual arts, but her globe-trotting maternal grandmother insisted that she always buy artwork while traveling because “whether it comes from a gallery or an artist on the street, the work holds meaning, beauty, and a memory,” Lathem says.
“I grew up in a house where art was regularly rotated in and out,” she continues. “As a result of all this, I have a lot of art. And my husband had his own art from travels as well… and we have collected a great deal since being together—from travels, local artists, etc. With the variety of texture, color, and subject matter that is inherent in a collection formed over so many years and from such a variety of places, we took great care to curate the collections for each room.”
So in the colorful living room, which includes a botanical wallpaper mural, they opted for works with more-muted palettes. In the primary bedroom, which is predominately blue and white, the art is more colorful. Then there’s the guest bathroom, which “we jokingly call the ‘ladies and landscapes’ bathroom,” Lathem says. “For this space, we curated a special group of female portraits and landscapes from travels across the globe.”
“We’re big fans of British kitchens at GordonDunning. We love the cozy hug they give,” Lathem says. That’s apparent in her kitchen, with cabinets in a “muted, muddied” teal that references a color in the dining room draperies.
The home’s furnishings, like the artwork, are an inspired medley of old and new. Chinoiserie accompanies suzani and Peruvian textiles; a prayer rug Lathem’s husband bought while deployed in Iraq complements furniture passed down from her great-grandmother; vintage silver serving pieces sit atop teal kitchen cabinets; a clear acrylic console table supports an antique lamp.
And just about every room has at least one garden stool. “One of our GordonDunning rules is that everyone needs a place to put their drink,” Lathem says. “We use garden stools and martini tables—or ‘coasters on sticks,’ as we call them—in almost every project. No matter the size of a space or its primary use, if you are going to be able to truly relax in a space, you can’t be too far from your beverage.”
For Lathem and her family, the home is not only a place for relaxation but also “a collection of collections,” one that “brings me joy every day.” You can’t ask much more from a home than that.
View an Atlanta home designed by GordonDunning >
Shop vintage art >
The dining room is an olio of styles, with an Empire-influenced chandelier from Visual Comfort sparkling above chairs from an estate sale and a Tulip-style table. The abstract painting is by John Ishmael, whom Lathem once worked for.
In the primary bedroom as well as in the living room, Lathem installed gallery rails to hang art from, minimizing the number of holes that had to be put in the walls and making it easier to switch out art. Find a similar wall mirror here.
“I adore photography, particularly photos of people I love doing things they love. We wanted a family gallery wall but had sort of run out of space at that point!” Lathem says with a laugh. So she created a gallery hallway instead. Each photo is black-and-white and framed in gold to create a sense of cohesion.
Lathem’s “farm-raised” husband built the back porch, which encompasses living and dining areas and is one of the family’s favorite spaces. “We use that living space at least as much as our indoor one, and the dining area allows us to host larger groups of friends than we can indoors,” she says. Find similar slipcovered chairs here.
Join the Discussion