Sister Suite

By Karin Fabry • Photos by John Jernigan



At the top of a winding staircase are two exquisitely designed and decorated bedrooms. Fourteen-year-old Kelli and 11-year-old Ellison have bedrooms that most young girls dream of. Combine a child’s imagination with the talented insight of local designer, Shannon Roth, and the result is stunning.



The girl’s bedrooms follow the French-style of the rest of the home, with rich, custom-designed bedding and draperies, and antique décor.



Kelli’s room, in jeweled shades of green and purple, is the perfect retreat for a teenage girl.



“This is probably one of the nicest rooms I’ve ever seen,” the girl’s mother Pam says. “I never had a room like this when I was a kid. I don’t think I would have picked purple and green, but Kelli has great taste — the room works. Kelli was the driving force behind her room, and Shannon really brought it together.”



The initial motivation for Kelli’s bedroom was the material for the bed linens that Kelli chose herself.



“You start with an inspiration piece,” Shannon says. “Designing takes a lot of research on my part. I will search and search until I find something that makes my heart flutter. Detail is very important to me.”



Behind Kelli’s bed, a silk canopy is draped perfectly around her hand-painted, black headboard, and is capped off by an architectural carona.



It’s the delicate, personal touches in a bedroom that make it special. Shannon made it a point to include several of Kelli’s cherished collections including a grouping of small mirrors, and her sterling silver trinkets.



“Both of the girl’s have sterling silver napkin ring collections that were started by their grandmothers,” Pam says. “Each girl still gets a new ring on special holidays. Kelli and Ellison both love their collections, and they’re prominently displayed in their rooms.”



The heavy, floor-length draperies hang on curtain rods that were handmade by an iron artist in New Orleans. Shannon admits she’s hard-pressed to pick a favorite thing in the bedroom, but if she had to, she would choose Kelli’s computer desk. Every 8th grader needs a computer these days, and Kelli’s is neatly tucked away behind beautiful purple polka-dotted material.



“The best part of the room for me would have to be the computer desk,” Shannon says. “It’s a very functional, yet very beautiful addition to the room. Kelli certainly gets a lot of use out of it.”



Strategically placed greenery and wonderful decorations add the finishing touches to the room.



The accessories for both rooms came from The Shannon Roth Collection, which is now located on the downtown square. While the Shannon Roth Collection has a large selection of children’s decorations, Shannon’s newest venture, Olivia & Company, specializes in nothing but wonderful children’s accessories and decor. Pam laughs when she remembers how much fun her daughters had going through the many decorating ideas.



“They loved every minute of the decision process,” Pam says.



Following Kelli’s bedroom re-model, it was Ellison’s turn to see her room transformed into something special.



“We knew she wanted to do her room in red and green,” Pam says. “And we wanted to keep the decor very lighthearted.”



When you first walk into Ellison’s room, the first thing you notice is the beautifully embroidered linens on the bed.



“There’s a combination of French Toile and handwoven cottons from India, including a beautiful red embroidered coverlet,” Shannon says. “They’re very intricately detailed. The material on the two bolster and accent pillows was imported and extremely hard to find. As a matter of fact, the materials are no longer available.”



The coordinating plaid draperies are made of the same voile or handmade cotton as the bed. Pam says one of the things Ellison loves the most is the draperies.



“Ellison was very excited about the jester detail that’s featured in the drapes,” she adds.



Shannon, along with Ellison and Pam, created all of the styles for the pillows and bed coverlet from scratch. Ellison’s bed truly is one-of-a-kind.



Above the white, iron bed, that used to be Pam’s when she was a young girl, an antique tin crown-molding fragment holds an unusual collection of mannequins.



“The mannequins are just beautiful,” Shannon says. “They are copied from the Paris salons in the 1800s. They’re very reminiscent of the antiquities, but they have a fun, modern flair as well.”



Ellison’s room features the same handmade curtain rods as her sister Kelli’s room. Both girls have beautiful, handmade, crystal chandeliers in their rooms.



Another highlight in Ellison’s room is the English writing table that holds precious family photos, and her own collection of sterling napkin rings.



“The writing table is something I originally purchased to be a nightstand for me,” Pam says. “It didn’t really work for us, but Ellison loved it.”



Completing the girl’s wing of the house is a whimsically decorated bathroom that joins the two bedrooms. Each girl has her own private vanity area that converges into the main bath. Done in a vibrant shade of green that picks up the detail from each girl’s room, the bathroom is quickly becoming a place to hang out.



“As the girls get older, I can just see them sitting on the comfortable chair, giving themselves a pedicure,” Pam says with a smile. “When I was young, the important conversations took place in the bathroom.”



Pam, Kelli, Ellison, and Shannon couldn’t be happier with the results of their brainstorming and labor.



“It was such fun to design these rooms,” Shannon says. “Kelli and Ellison both have very sophisticated taste.”



Pam says this experience has really encouraged her girls to have an appreciation for the arts and antiques.



“The girls live in their rooms and they truly do love them,” Pam says. “Shannon made their visions come to life.”

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