All around her, the chaos of Christmas was still apparent: new toys underfoot in the kids’ rooms, the Christmas tree not yet put away, stockings still hanging empty by the fireplace where, just a week ago, the Hanes family had been celebrating the birth of Christ. In the midst of the busiest time of year, Elisabeth Hanes got a phone call from her twin sister, Bradley Weatherly, in Birmingham telling her the pair had been chosen for an interior design contest, and they had less than a month to finish it.
The identical twins from Cullman had always wanted to own a business together. They even picked a name: Sorella, which is Italian for sister. But they didn’t know what that business would be until just two summers ago. Both inherited a love of fabrics and interior design from their maternal grandmother, and an eye for beauty from their mom, but Elisabeth always thought they might own a store or textile company together. An interior design firm was never on her radar.
She says it happened by accident. Bradley and Elisabeth both curated beautiful homes for their respective families, and were always asked by friends to help them achieve the same polished but comfortable, collected aesthetic at their houses. Finally, Bradley’s husband pointed out that the babysitters were costing a fortune while she worked for free, and perhaps her interior design skills could be put to use in a more professional manner. Bradley pitched the idea to Elisabeth, but with her hands full at the Hanes’ downtown Fairhope retail store and restaurant, Provision, the time didn’t seem right. “She told me she was going to do it without me and call it Sorella anyway in the hopes I might change my mind. And of course, I regretted saying no immediately,” Elisabeth laughs, remembering. Working with her twin sounded like too much fun, and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Sorella was born, and the sisters have been busy designing and styling homes in both Birmingham and Fairhope — but also Montgomery, Nashville and beyond — ever since.
So when one of their favorite wallcovering and fabric companies, UK-based Milton & King, announced a design contest for the best before-and-after using a wallpaper from their new children’s collection, they decided to submit a proposal. Elisabeth offered up her youngest child’s room as the blank slate. “We knew we were going to have a third child but didn’t find out if it was going to be a boy or a girl, so it was white and had never been decorated. I hated walking in there but just didn’t have the time or mental space to do it.” Her son, Wright, is now 4 years old, and it was past time.
The duo submitted a proposal for a before-and-after that would take Wright’s room from drab rancher with low ceilings to a layered space using fabrics, prints and textures that, surprisingly, should make the room feel larger. Mixing antiques, unique art and natural materials made the look feel collected over time, and new wainscoting would add the architectural interest missing in a home of that era. The proposal promised the perfect space for a curious young boy to stretch his imagination and grow.
The only problem was the timeline. As Elisabeth swept up the mess of the holidays, the sisters quickly ordered fabrics, matched paint swatches and scoured the attic for pieces to reuse. “Milton & King didn’t even have the wallpaper samples ready for us. They had a different wallpaper with similar colors, but with a black background. So that was how we did it, over FaceTime, from Birmingham to Fairhope. And for some elements, one of us would have to say, ‘You have the sample there, you’re gonna have to pick this one.’”
By the end of January, and just in the nick of time, the room came together. The result, Elisabeth says, is her own little nod to Wes Anderson films, citing his use of his visual storytelling, rich color palettes and retro imagery. The pair had it professionally photographed and submitted the final result to Milton & King in time for a big social media reveal. “December and January are not easy months to be doing a crazy project,” she laughs, but the room is something she now enjoys entering, and hopefully something that will always feel just right for Wright, no matter his age.
Design Details
The designers behind Sorella Interiors share the elements that make this little boy’s room so captivating.
1. Wallpaper
The pattern the room’s entire design was built around is Topsy-Turvey in Rainbow by Milton & King, a design house based in the United Kingdom.
2. Paint
Using the colors of the wallpaper as the jumping-off point, Elisabeth chose Eating Room Red by Farrow & Ball for the wainscoting, trim, doors and vintage wicker desk. The ceiling was painted Parma Grey by Farrow & Ball to visually raise the height and bring the sky indoors.
3. Roman Shades
A soft Roman shade in blue offers a break from the busy wallpaper and neatly folds above the desk, keeping the study space tidy. The designers chose Get to the Point fabric in Red & Blue by Milton & King to perfectly complement the wallpaper color scheme.
4. Bed Canopy
Elisabeth admits a canopy might not be what her future teenage son would choose, but for now it is cozy and adds visual height to the room. The solid color was chosen to break up the busy pattern of the wallpaper and anchor the bed. She loves how it creates a clean backdrop for the art layered on top. The canopy fabric is by Kravet and the artwork is “Who’s Dreaming Who” by Melissa Lakey from Austin, Texas-based Little Van Gogh’s.
5. Vintage Furniture
The team incorporated vintage furniture throughout the room for a lived-in aesthetic that feels collected, not purchased. The bed belonged to Elisabeth’s husband, William, when he was a child. The desk chair, bookshelf, chest, chalk heads and wooden art by the window were all vintage finds from local antique stores and estate sales. Elisabeth found the wicker desk in her mom’s attic and gave it a fresh coat of paint to match the wainscoting.
6. Bedding
The quilt (Crimson Crossings by The Six Bells) adds a touch of old fashioned craftsmanship, sewn in a timeless Irish Chain pattern, a beautiful interlocking grid symbolizing connection. The lumbar pillow is Menerbes Stripe in Thyme Ecru by Carolina Irving.
7. Sconces
The lights over the bed are a tailored and grown-up addition to the room that work just as well reading storybooks now as they will later when studying fills Wright’s evenings. The lights are The Bungalow Plug-in Sconce by Matt Alford Studio in a Bordeaux lacquered finish.
Sorella Interiors • sorellainteriors.co
