PLAYING IT COOL

Reprinted from "Better Homes & Gardens" Magazine
May 2004
by  Lisa Frederick

Clean and crisp as a beach breeze, a blue-and-white
palette airs out this renovated cottage in West Palm
Beach, Florida. For interior designers, coordinating any
client's house comes with its own set of pressures,
from time constraints to the occasional conflict of
personal taste. And if the client just happens to be your
boss-well, those pressures rise to a level all their own.

But when Stephen Pararo, owner of Atlanta design firm
Pineapple House, tapped one of his associates,
Meegan Jowdy, for help with his vacation home, she
welcomed the challenge. Knowing Stephen so well,
she says, "I could be a little more on the edge with him."

Deep into renovating the 1922 cottage he and Jim Moss
had bought in West Palm Beach, Florida, Stephen had
no time to give the interior its due. So when he
approached Jowdy, she suggested he "play client for a
change so he could get a sense of what it feels like for
our clients," she says. "He's never let go that much." He
agreed, laying two ground rules: He wanted Midcentury
Modern overtones-a departure from his hallmark
traditional style-and a cobalt blue and white color
scheme, whose cooling feel he and Jim had admired
on a trip to Greece.

With the palette predetermined, Jowdy had license to
focus on subtler details: texture, form, pattern. "It made it
more interesting to find things that worked together in that
same family," she says.   She took advantage of her free
rein to have a little fun with the design. Her quirky finds
range from hand-painted 1950s lamps for the living room
to institutional-grade stools for the breakfast area. She
even raided the design firm's warehouse for pieces once
used for show house rooms or charity events.
Sentimental items went into the mix, too, most notably a
1950s dining table from Stephen's parents.  

Meanwhile, the renovation sped along. When Stephen
and Jim first spied the cottage, in West Palm Beach's
historic Old Northwood community, they were sold on its
generous rooms, indigenous-pine flooring, and open
backyard. But the four-over-four floor plan badly needed
an update. A quartet of upstairs bedrooms, with one lone
bath, was reshuffled into three bed-and-bath suites.
Downstairs, the living and dining spaces remained intact,
but the kitchen was gutted and upgraded and an awkward
laundry nook got converted to a breakfast area.

To spice up the dining room chandelier,
Jowdy hung a piece of handblown art
glass amid the cobalt pendants

New screened porches flesh out the rear facade: one off the master bedroom for sleeping;
another off the living room. Opening the home to light and fresh air was a key goal. "Design is a
sensory experience," Stephen says. "It's not only how it looks, but how comfortable is it? Does it
smell good? Does it feel good?"

Equal work went into turning a neglected back lawn into a fenced, brick-paved courtyard. The
impetus for buying a South Florida retreat was Jim's fond memories of childhood vacations to
his aunt's Miami house, so lush landscaping echoes the flora that captivated him back then. "I
loved the vegetation that she had-mango trees, orange trees, banana trees," says Jim, a
Realtor and former bed-and-breakfast proprietor. Orange, lime, tangerine, and banana trees,
plus coconut palms, bougainvillea, and jasmine, frame the courtyard's new swimming pool.


CONTINUE ON PAGE 2

The renovated courtyard and new pool area make
the perfect place to gather with guests on a summer
evening. Fencing and brick pavers define it as a true
outdoor room.