16 Sep Family vibes
Usually I start my articles with a few observations about a house or property and then my photos begin, but I just had to open with this beautiful family photo and give you a short back story.
This is the Kelley family. Cory, Kat, Cooper and Charley. I met Cory when he was just out of college and working at Newschannel 5 where I was anchoring at the time. I knew he’d started his own production company and gotten married but never ran into him until this past summer in Westhaven. I told him about Stylish Retreats and he said, sure, come on over! Little did I know he had an impressive home studio for his business, ChromaZone Productions. The company does the television opening for SEC football. If you watch the games, be sure to look for it with country superstar Jason Aldean. This is Cory’s baby. He directed it!
Aside from his talent at creating memorable productions for the SEC and other huge sporting events, Cory has a knack for home renovations. He installed wood from Jack Daniels barrels on the walls in his studio. Clever and so much more interesting than plain dry wall.
The family actually landed in the charming neighborhood by mistake.
Cory bought a farm in Leiper’s Fork hoping to move there. But while they were renting in Westhaven, as fate would have it, this charmer came on the market. Turns out it was next door to where they were living temporarily, and they knew the homeowners so they made the leap. Who could turn down a front porch like this with a neighborhood full of kids?
That’s one of the architectural elements you see a lot of in Westhaven. Large front porches with swings on the tree lined streets are such a throw back to small town life in America.
If you’re not familiar with Westhaven, it’s a planned community in Franklin, south of Nashville. Besides beautiful homes, a clubhouse with workout facilities and a golf course, there’s a town center with just about everything you would need that’s walking distance or a golf cart ride away!
Imagine this being your neighborhood health club!!!
The homes are various architectural styles.
The Kelley home has great curb appeal and the back is wonderful and welcoming too. You’ve gotta love the blackboard message and of course the family pet Lulu is there to say hey, I’m awesome too!
Cory built the wall, laid the stone patio, and did the yard work as well, making it so visually pleasing and comfortable for his family. In this photo you can see the side of the garage that is also a guest house.
Their kitchen has its original cabinets and they’d like to update and add a new range, etc., but I think it’s still good looking and great for a family. I love the way Kat decorated the wall above the sink with the mirror and the pendants with rope over the island are a fun touch too.
The kitchen opens to a den a few steps below with many built-ins including a small bar with more wood Cory lined the wall with from Jack Daniels barrels.
Their cozy living room is more of a study/office in the front of the house that Kat has filled with books she found at various shops. And there’s white oak barn wood Cory got from Karmel Skillington to cover the entrance hall walls.
The dining room has a soothing simplicity about it with the lighter colored walls and mix of chairs with a bench at the farm table.
I’m so happy to see someone I worked with fresh out of college accomplishing so much in his career and even more importantly, having a sweet family to share it with in a beautiful home to make memories in for years to come.
Thanks so much to Cory and Kat for making time for me to come out and see their home retreat.
Stylish Retreats is always looking for new spaces and home resources to share. Let me know what you’d like to see more of by sending me an email; amy@stylishretreats.net. Thank you.
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