Jamie Merida spotlights daring, trendy artwork in a vintage-style cottage on Sanibel Island
“If each room has a million-dollar view, you do not have to do a lot,” explains designer Jamie Merida. He is referring to a customized retreat he just lately adorned for a Maryland consumer. The beachfront property overlooks the Gulf of Mexico on the scenic and secluded Sanibel Island. Designed within the vernacular of the Nineteen Twenties Florida cottage, it showcases its proprietor’s eclectic aesthetic by way of whimsical, up to date artwork. “She’s an artist and a collector,” Merida notes. “My job was to curate her collections and make them shine – after which fill in any blanks.”
In opposition to a conventional backdrop of overlapping siding and distressed oak flooring, Merida launched a recent palette of white partitions and smooth furnishings that mirror gentle, placing the proprietor’s signature work, sculptures and collections on the focal point (classic Nineteen Thirties sand buckets playfully displayed on a bookcase, for instance). Items made by the proprietor additionally adorn the partitions – primarily textile, paper and paint collages.
No sooner was the challenge accomplished than Hurricane Ian arrived. “The proprietor barely received one season,” Merida says ruefully. Fortuitously, though the bottom flooring was destroyed, many of the distinctive items have been preserved. Designer and consumer are already at work to revive the home.
Structure: Leslie Kelly, Leslie Kelly Structure LLC, Wilmington, Delaware. Inside Design: Jamie Merida, Jamie Merida Interiors, Easton, Maryland. Builder: The Wolter Group, Fort Myers, Florida. Landscaping: RS Walsh Landscaping, Fort Myers, Florida. Styling: Charlotte Safavi.
