Photography by Donovan Roberts Witmer
From the moment you walk into Jodie Landry’s home, you know: This is a designer’s home, from the neutral color palette, right down to the ornate lighting fixtures. Yet, a closer look reveals that this isn’t a copy of any décor magazine, nor television remodel show home. Items aren’t haphazardly plucked off a high-end department store shelf to resemble a store set. Rather, they’re amassed: scooped up at yard sales, auctions or thrift stores; carefully selected from designer-for-less stores; or better yet, they’re passed down from family members and rehabbed, or handmade and stitched with care.
Landry herself is the ultimate more-for-less shopper who enjoys the thrill of a good find and the satisfaction of repurposing. “If it’s not on a budget, for me, it’s not fun,” Landry explains. Today, as she walks us through her home, Landry is clad in a stylish black and white striped blazer, big hoop earrings and chunky silver jewelry. She speaks softly, with a slight Southern accent, and lights up as she explains her stellar steals.
“How much do you think I paid for that piece?” Landry playfully asks as she gestures towards a massive bureau in her foyer. “Hundreds? Thousands?” She says the bureau is from the 1800s; the marble top and ornate hardware make the piece look incredibly expensive. “How about twenty dollars?” she quips, before launching into the story of a missed auction sale and a phone call from the auctioneer begging her to take pieces away at scandalously low prices.
“It’s almost like an adrenaline rush,” she says. “It’s like, ‘I’ve gotta get there first! I don’t want to miss it!'” When the weather is nice, Landry will go treasure hunting on a weekly basis, scouring yard sales and Craigslist ads. She has even driven as far as Annapolis, Md., for what she deemed a fantastic deal.
“I’m a big fan of Restoration Hardware, but I don’t want to pay their prices,” she says. And while there are plenty of Restoration Hardware purchases sprinkled throughout her home, Landry truly loves the character that old pieces of furniture or accessories bring, especially when she rehabs them. These are the types of items she sells in her beloved boutique, Pieces, on South Queen Street in York. “The store is my baby,” she says. “I’m very proud of it. I’m excited how well-received it’s been.”
While Landry has no formal design training, she grew up with a seamstress mother who inspired her to dabble in custom window and drapery treatments. Her design style is a mixture of trendy and stately, a juxtaposition of chic new additions with large character pieces. “I just have an eye for décor,” she says. “I’m passionate about it. I live, eat, breathe this stuff.”
When her family moved from Fayetteville, N.C., to York County three years ago, Landry took the opportunity to design the home of her dreams: Rooms are decorated in creams, taupes and ivories, with noticeable pops of bling; each has a delightfully luxurious feel, without ever feeling stuffy or inaccessible. And while rooms are uniquely decorated, Landry adhered to a neutral color scheme. The result is a coordinated home with effortless flow. Even with a house of boys, three teenage sons and her husband, Landry makes her home shine.
Bedroom
Designer Jodie Landry was inspired by a photo she saw on Pinterest and fashioned her bedroom like a relaxing retreat. There is an opulent, hotel-like feel to the room with touches of silver elevating the whites, grays and creams. The focal point of the room is the large bed, with a gigantic taupe headboard framed with nail heads. Overstuffed pillows that Landry sewed herself make the bed look inviting, comfortable. A tiered glass chandelier hangs above the foot of her bed; two glass lamps sit on wooden side tables. Landry chose dark wood for the floors because she felt like it grounded the room, while the addition of a 6-foot, cowhide rug was for the glam factor: “I’ve got to have my bling!” Landry says.
Throughout the room there are vignettes, each featuring repurposed items. On one side, a silver tea set sits upon her desk; the rounded cream and sugar servers hold dozens of fluffy makeup brushes. In another corner, a large china cabinet houses Landry’s collection of Louis Vuitton and Gucci handbags. “I save on furniture so I can buy purses,” says Landry with a laugh. Painted wooden angel wings tacked to the wall add to the room’s overall sense of serenity.
Study
While the style and color palette is similar, there is a different mood to the study: It feels a bit more masculine, more serious. It lacks the sparkle or bling of other rooms and feels like business. “I was working with larger pieces,” explains Landry, “and it forced me into treating this room differently.” A wool Persian rug of tans and blacks covers the floor, while a carved wooden desk, recently painted a soft pecan color, stretches prominently across the room.
On top of the desk sits a vintage Underwood typewriter from the 1940s, an heirloom passed down from her grandfather. “It means a lot to me because it was his,” she says. Large books stacked serve as accent pieces; others in a yard sale secretary-turned-bookshelf are flipped around so their colorful spines are hidden and aged ivory pages show. The room is framed with chevron curtains of taupe and black. On the back wall, a gilded mirror with speckled glass looks decades old. The room is a curious amalgam of classic pieces and antiques that create a definite sense of nostalgia.
Dining Room
Landry’s favorite room in the house is her ultra-glam dining room, with its deep charcoal-colored walls. “I’ve never done such a dark color on a wall, but I always say, ‘It’s paint: If I don’t like it, I can re-do it,’” she explains. But Landry’s bold choice paid off, the perfect backdrop for a dazzling array of blinged-out accents and character furniture. The first piece for the room was a glitzy antelope head sculpture that Landry hung on a wall. “I built the room around that piece,” she says.
Landry then added a large wooden table to the center of the room and reupholstered a formerly orange bench with a geometric quatrefoil design. On the table, distressed wire birdcages hold tall candles. A horizontal lighting fixture hangs above the dining room table, cascading crystals and clear bulbs. The curtains are Ikea panels that Landry cut up and re-sewed with tassels and beaded trim. Despite the glamorous additions, Landry says her overall goal was still creating a room that was accessible, and that the whole family could enjoy. “I didn’t want any space in my home to feel like it was off limits,” says Landry.
Living Room
Nowhere in the house is Landry’s motto of “go big or stay home” more apparent than in her living room. The focal point is a “splurge purchase” for Landry, a large, puffy sofa from Restoration Hardware. “I wanted it to be a place we could actually use, we could all pile in there,” Landry says. In front of the sofa, three mirrored vases are perched on the coffee table, made from reclaimed wood. “I kept looking until I collected a trio,” she adds. “Anything that sparkles always catches my eye. It makes the room a little whimsical.”
A flatscreen TV is mounted above the electric fireplace; Landry stenciled the French phrase, “Famille et Amis,” which means "Family and Friends," on the mantel. And while the furniture feels stately, there is also a certain warmth and romance to the room. One corner of the room is taken up by a chrome tripod lamp; another by a vintage-style gramophone, the only gift Landry wanted from her family this year. She places her iPhone in the dock and soft music fills the room. “It’s definitely a talking piece,” Landry remarks.
Kitchen
With its stainless steel appliances and hanging chrome light fixtures, Landry aimed for a modern kitchen. Yet the designer still added her own personal touches, bling and repurposed items, to the mix. Oak cabinets were painted an off-white color and jazzed up with sparkly hardware. A hammered silver ice bucket in the corner hides bread, while old books are piled high for display.
In the eat-in kitchen area, Landry incorporated a “scratch and dent” table and set out round glass plates as chargers. A silver thrifted tea set houses salt and pepper, and a teapot missing a lid holds a floral arrangement. The over-the-top, glass chandelier is hung unexpectedly low to the table. “My husband wasn’t so sure, but once he stepped back, he got it,” she laughs.
Ryan's Room
The fact that Landry’s 13-year-old son, Ryan, is colorblind played a pivotal role in the design of his space. Landry removed the bold colors and switched to a black and white palette. A lacrosse stick is hung on a homemade tassel on his wall; next to it is the room’s statement piece, a wooden piece of wall art that details Parisian places. It’s a steal from Homegoods, Landry says, that manages to elevate the space. On the bedside table sits a “skeleton” lamp, a wire frame without a shade, that adds to the masculine feel of the room.
