home: Lowcountry Remix

While the home that Ali and KJ Pringle purchased in downtown Charleston had been renovated in 2010 and was move-in ready, they felt something was missing. It fit some of their parameters—it was in a walkable area where they could take their young family to restaurants, coffee shops, and a nearby park—but the interiors were lacking personality. “We could have moved in, but we bought it with the vision of having more children here,” Ali Pringle says. “We needed to make it our home.”

Pringle, who previously lived in New York City, connected with Gabriel Gonzalez and Danielle Connelly at Brooklyn, NY-based interior architecture studio Evidence of Things. The husband-and-wife team specializes in designing story-driven residential and hospitality projects. “I didn’t want the typical Southern coastal style in this home,” Pringle says. “I was looking for an edgier style that was not quite as traditional as other homes in the Charleston area.”

“The home was the definition of a white box,” explains Connelly. “Usually homes need more architectural intervention; this one had nice bones but lacked personality and nuance.”

A New Lowcountry Lens

The designers led the transformation with heritage-forward styling, injecting the owner’s Northern background into the interiors while keeping an of-the-place feeling. “We took the opportunity to do as much as possible that felt unique and different from what is already in the area, while allowing the details to nod to the Lowcountry setting,” Gonzalez says. They added subtle statements about geography through the use of colors and materials. The powder bath, for instance, received Voutsa’s hand-painted Clouds Chinoiserie wallpaper in a blue-and-white colorway that instantly reminds of oysters on the half shell. “Our reference was Leon’s Oyster Shop, a local restaurant which is one of the first places our clients bring visiting guests,” Connelly says. Floating porcelain and stoneware rings by ceramic artist Kristina Kotlier mimic the organic ovals on the wallcovering, while an unstructured mirror hanging above the sink echoes natural forms. Accessories such as a woven seagrass floor vase and fiber pendant lighting reflect the surrounding natural geography.

Other regional touches remind the owners of the home’s Lowcountry setting. “We used salvaged beams from a local 1800s-era barn as floating shelves in the living room,” says Connelly.

The design duo embedded unexpected textures throughout the interiors, including velvet, embroidery, and quilted fabrics. The revamped living room includes many of these textural masterpieces, such as the cozy window seat with custom oversized bolsters and cushions sewn in Quilted Folklore fabric by Harwood House.

The living room’s color palette was inspired by a Vogue cover shot by photographer Annie Leibovitz referencing deep pink and mossy green. Those colors became the starting point for the room’s design, along with the homeowners’ request that the living room look and function like a refined hotel lobby. “With a layout of flexible seating groupings of swiveling armchairs, window seat cushions, ottomans and a piano bench, the room can flex for both small and large groups to gather with a sense of intimacy,” says Connelly. “We also used deeper wood tones, richer colors and stronger contrast than the typical coastal look.”

A Nickey Kehoe Italian wingback chair upholstered in a rosy Plush Checkers velvet from Robert Allen is a favorite living room seat. “I would never in a million years have chosen the funky red chair,” says Pringle. “But I trusted Danielle and Gabriel to run with it. I’m happy they pushed me to mix patterns.” The designers swapped standard white blinds in the room for thick drapery and striped Roman shades, adding handwoven and hand-knotted textures for interest, such as the rattan-wrapped chandelier.

Taking inspiration from nearby sun-dappled, cobblestone streets, the team incorporated layers of texture and pattern into the primary suite. Starting with Soho Home’s stately Rivas bed upholstered in a honey-hued velvet, they piled on Coyuchi’s organic pebbled quilts and shams topped with a woven leather bolster from The Citizenry, all grounded by a woolen offset-striped rug as a base.

Timeless Transformation

“Ali wanted to bring in high-end, investment-level furniture that she can hand down to her children,” says Connelly. “We sourced timeless, well-made, and handcrafted solid wood pieces.” The entire home can be shopped via the Evidence of Things’ shoppable online store that resides on the ShopMy.us website.

While the primary focus was on renovating the home’s interiors, the designers also increased the function and appearance of the porch. They first removed an obtrusive set of stairs, which broke up the outdoor living space, and then adjusted the layout to create a true Charleston single porch, complete with a dose of traditional haint blue on the ceiling and window boxes for colorful flowers. “By removing the porch staircase and adding a screen enclosure, our clients gained an entire dining and lounge area that is a perfect outdoor oasis,” Gonzalez says.

“It’s amazing how much transformation can be done without a gut renovation, just using wallpaper, paint, and the appropriate furnishings,” Connelly adds. “Throughout this process, we learned that distilling a Lowcountry vibe becomes inherently linked to the heritage of those who live within it.”

The Pringles are happy with their finished home and the seamless working relationship they experienced with the Evidence of Things team. “The home feels so put together,” says Pringle. “I am proud for visitors to walk in. The team was wonderful to listen to our feedback and help us get to the final product. Plus, it was fun working with someone with a different eye outside of the area.”

To learn more, visit evidenceofthings.com.