Smith and her husband created paneled walls from herringbone-patterned alder wood in the living room. The pendant light fixture, an Ikea find, was one of the couple’s first purchases for their home. Atop the fireplace mantel are items from a few of Smith’s collections—quirky pieces like clock gears, architectural moldings, and a sample of her collection of photos of bearded men.
The home Lindsey Shiflett Smith shares with her husband and young son is a jewel box of unique treasures
Knickknacks are a no-no at the south Baton Rouge home of Makers Workshop blogger Lindsey Shiflett Smith, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t interesting objects to be found here. Smith, a self-professed lifelong collector, gathers and displays only those items that have personal meaning to her family, which includes husband Greg and 4-year-old son Oliver.
“I wanted to create a space rich in story,” Smith says. “It wasn’t about filling my home with things to decorate or fill space. It was about having a home full of reminders of the people and places I love.”
Smith’s home caught the attention of the style blog Design*Sponge last year. She welcomed the site’s 1 million daily readers into her rooms in a feature in October 2014. On the blog, Smith revealed bits of the stories behind the renovations she and her husband tackled, the items they made or collected, and the value they place on the personal over the perfect. Here, Smith shares those stories and images once more, along with a few new details.
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Smith and her husband created paneled walls from herringbone-patterned alder wood in the living room. The pendant light fixture, an Ikea find, was one of the couple’s first purchases for their home. Atop the fireplace mantel are items from a few of Smith’s collections—quirky pieces like clock gears, architectural moldings, and a sample of her collection of photos of bearded men.
A grouping of botanical prints from Anthropologie, where Smith once worked, is displayed on the living room wall using simple metal clips and high-tensile wire. The bright woven rug, a gift from Smith’s friend and frequent travel companion Sharime Jobe, provides an appealing counterpoint to dark furniture and floors.
In the dining area, antique tufted-velvet chairs that were gifts from Greg are paired with a table Smith’s mother gave her after they spotted it at an estate sale. “This is a very special spot to me and full of love and history,” Smith says.
A wood-topped coffee table features metal drawers that make ideal storage spots for Smith’s son Oliver’s drawings. Fresh flowers like the ones on top are a constant fixture in the Smith home.
This slotted cabinet once held mail in a schoolhouse. Smith discovered the weathered flag at an antiques festival in Texas, and it was “probably the best $10 I’ve ever spent,” she told Design*Sponge.
Oliver can tap into his artistic side at a chalkboard wall at one hallway’s end. The wool flag was a vintage find made in Philadelphia.
Greg and his father made the headboard in the master bedroom using wood from a tree that fell during Hurricane Katrina. “What was born out of necessity is now kept for beauty,” Smith says.
The master bathroom, renovated by Greg, now featured beadboard walls, an ornate mirror and an old armoire that Smith found at the Round Top antiques fair in Texas.
The walls of the entryway are covered with wrinkled canvas attached with black nails for a texturally unique look. A typewriter Smith found at an estate sale is displayed atop the console table. On the lower shelf are two Louisiana land grant books she unearthed while digging at the Old Schoolhouse Antique Mall in the central Louisiana town of Washington. “I go there every spring for the Antique Fair and get lost in the halls for hours,” she says.
