DESIGN MAGIC

“I love designing with color and pattern, so when clients trust me with this mix—that’s when the real magic happens,” says Lake Forest’s Annie Liddle, founder and principal of boutique interior design company, Annie Liddle Design. For the last 15 years, the Winnetka native has become known for design work that is classic, colorful, creatively textured, and tailored to her client’s lifestyle.

Take, for example, a traditional red brick, two-story colonial home in Kenilworth. The homeowners were looking for a refresh after their children moved out.

“This partnership has a very special beginning,” Liddle says. “I met them years ago when I was working with Jeannie Balsam Interiors, and they hired us to redo their primary bedroom. Jeannie was such an incredible mentor and a wonderful friend. I learned a lot from her about design and the business of interiors.”

“Even though I tend to be drawn toward brighter colors, to me bedrooms should feel soothing and calming,” Liddle explains. To ground the room, the walls are awash with the Schumacher Twiggy sisal wallcovering, setting a neutral background for the clean-lined, custom-upholstered bed flanked by Chelsea Textiles bedside chests for extra storage. An antique chandelier original to the home lights the space.

“The pop comes in the whimsical Suzanne Tucker window treatments,” she says. The fabric, depicting an enchanted forest populated with swirling vines, mesmerizing blossoms, and charming creatures, is repeated on the desk chair in the adjacent sitting room. The chair sits in front of a clean-lined Haslev desk from Julian Chichester framed by window treatments fashioned from Peter Fasano Sarpa fabric that provides a perfect, jewel- colored finishing touch.

A couple of years later Liddle was tapped to redesign the first floor of the home. Liddle tackled the dining room, living room, sunroom, and powder room simultaneously to ensure cohesiveness.

The dining room was swathed in a Gracie Antique Peony hand-painted wall covering that Liddle needed to build her design around. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Liddle welcomed the opportunity to marry the old with some new. She introduced hourglass Loren dining chairs from Artistic Frame upholstered in a Holland & Sherry leather on the front and the silvery gold Byzantium fabric from Fortuny’s Bivio collection on the back. “The chairs are the perfect shade of lavender,” she adds. They are a fresh contrast to the dark-stained custom walnut dining table with 24-karat gold leaf detailing that Liddle designed.

The dining room’s color story continues with the perfectly pleated teal Holland & Sherry wool draperies with a Samuel & Sons’ trim on the lead edge. “I think everything deserves a cord, a little taping, or some sort of embellishment. There is a way to accomplish this where it feels fresh and new,” Liddle says. The David Burdeny Abandoned Villa photograph from Anne Loucks Gallery grounds the room, while the ethereal ceiling design by Studio Lunaris takes your line of sight to the stunning gold leaf Niermann Weeks chandelier.

In the living room, the existing colorful artwork provided inspiration for Liddle’s revamp. “I really wanted to punch up the furnishings with fun patterns and bold colors that tied into the paintings,” she says. A plum-colored Coraggio mohair sofa from A. Rudin anchors the room and is accented with sculptural bronze side tables from Baker Furniture. “The color is deep enough to be sophisticated, but also approachable and fun,” Liddle says.

Liddle gave the homeowner’s vintage wing chairs a modern makeover with a green geometric fabric by Kravet’s Gaston Y Daniela collection. She also remade the client’s armchairs with a Colefax and Fowler tweed fabric and added a pop of color with Clay McLaurin Studio Oxford berry pillows.

An attention-grabbing brass star lantern by Vaughan carries the polish of the living room into the sunroom. The diamond-patterned sisal rug from Kashian Brothers acts as the backdrop for this cheerful space, while an antique console is adorned with several varieties of plants to bring the outdoors in. Leveraging the room’s natural vibe, Liddle finished the four lounge chairs with Christopher Farr Cloth’s Tangle fabric in olive.

The last room Liddle completed in this phase of the redesign was the first-floor powder room.

“This little jewel box is an inviting medley of color, pattern, and texture,” she says of the playful use of marbled paper from Madeaux on the walls and Phillip Jeffries’ Empire paper in vintage pearl on the ceiling. The room is masterfully trimmed in Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal.

But the star of the space is a striking custom vanity designed by Liddle, featuring tambour detailing with a marble top and classic brass hardware in a polished nickel finish. “I try to design vanities to look as much as possible like pieces of furniture,” Liddle observes.

Liddle’s attention to detail is seen in the custom colors of the sconces. “The Visual Comfort gold lights we installed were too bright for the space, so to get the tone exactly right I had Studio Lunaris tone down the gold to make it feel more burnished,” Liddle adds. She also had the deAurora Linus mirror made in a custom size so it would fit perfectly above the sink.

As Liddle, a married mother of two, continues to draw inspiration from her past travels—including a recent anniversary trip to Tennessee’s famed Blackberry Farm—she looks forward to finishing the home’s family room this summer.

“After all of these years, it’s a joy and privilege to work with lovely clients who value my design. Their words of affirmation matter the most to me,” Liddle says. “When a client tells me how much they are enjoying a space I designed, that’s all I need to hear.”

For more information, visit annieliddle.com.