Real estate agents see hundreds of homes every year. Because of their easy access to properties both in person and online, they have a pretty good idea of what is available that would fit the needs and wants of each client. And when house hunting for themselves, they have an even better idea.
A lake house was on the wish list for ARC real estate agent Barbara Lummis, husband Greg, and their family. When this Lake Martin property popped up, Barbara knew it was “the one” in an instant. “I never even looked at another house in person,” she says. “This one had everything we all wanted.”
The house checked all the boxes, including its location on the Dadeville side—just a 30-minute drive from Auburn, the entire family’s alma mater—and its square footage that offered plenty of room for all three of the Lummises’ grown children (and more family, later). Plus it had already been renovated by the previous owners, so it was move-in ready.
The only thing it lacked? Furniture. “We didn’t have anything to bring from our home, so we had to find everything” Barbara says. She called in decorator Lauren Conner, a longtime friend who is well tuned in to Barbara’s style. “She knows that I love anything blue and beachy, and she easily created that mood,” Barbara says.
Using a range of blues as accent colors—navy, royal, peacock, denim, and sky—punctuated with just enough pops of red, Lauren brought an assembly of mostly neutral upholstery and finishes to life. Pillows, drapery, bedding, artwork, and even the monogrammed napkins stay true to the scheme. Graphic designs, polka dots, and stripes, all in varying scales, push and pull the eye across the rooms to the vast lake views beyond. And while the house certainly shines, the real star is outside. “Not only is the house perfect, the views are incredible,” says Barbara.
