A White Christmas with Shelley Johnstone

Shelley Johnstone is not only one of my favorite designers, but she is also one of my favorite people whom I admire greatly. We met over the summer in Newport and became fast friends. She is incredibly talented and just as beautiful on the inside as she is out! Shelley lives in an elegant and classical mid-20th-century home in Lake Forest, Illinois with her husband Brett and their blended family of five. While family always comes first for this busy mom, Shelley manages to seamlessly integrate beauty within her everyday life and within the homes of her lucky clients.

Simplicity, elegance, and attention to details are the hallmarks of Shelley’s style, and that doesn’t change when she’s decorating for the holidays. “I like to keep it clean and fresh, with beautiful pinecones and greens, apricots and oranges, gold accents,” she said. Let’s step inside Shelley’s picture-perfect home, decked for the holidays with Christmas playlist cued up, candles flickering, and with fresh tulips, roses, and aromatic greens laced throughout! Photography by Werner Straube for Traditional Home with captions by Elaine Markoutsas.

Shelley’s home was built in the 1950s, designed to resemble a David Adler coach house with paneled library, plaster, stucco, and urns.

In the foyer, swags of greenery and holiday flowers dress up the staircase and an antique console table. “Fresh flowers and candles are very important to me. That feels like home,” Shelley says. Just no poinsettias, please. Her mom owned a floral shop, and she saw plenty of those when she and her sister were growing up in Madison, Wisconsin.

A chandelier from Niermann Weeks sparkles above the antique mahogany table. The walls are upholstered in a Fortuny-style damask and antique chairs are upholstered in chocolate-colored Edelman leather.

Vintage opaline lamps sit on an antique mahogany-and-satinwood sideboard. “There are no rules,” Shelley says—and that applies to decorating too. “Go with what’s comfortable.” Fancy details sprinkled through rooms feel casually elegant. Rich embellishments are informed by Shelley’s stint in London, where she studied at the Inchbald School of Design and was exposed to dressmaker details such as Turkish corners, knife pleats, and application of trims on pillows and lampshades, as well as lacquering, gold leafing, and the creation of soft tinted ceilings and cashmere walls.

An embroidered linen placemat from ShellKare is topped with antique green-and-gold Staffordshire china and a Lenox soup bowl.

With her global experiences, she happily embraced the idea of layering. In fine European interiors, “nothing is from the same place,” she says. Shelley adds to that collected look with antiques and finds from travels, rounding out with custom-designed pieces. An elegant George Smith sofa from London mingles with lacquer, faux tortoise, and brass tables. Orange and gold accents dress the living room mantel.

For the living room, Shelley designed a banquette to blend with upholstered pieces and antiques she purchased in London. Those are teamed with mid-20th-century modern glass and brass tables, with notes of faux tortoise and chocolate lacquer. Classical motifs like Greek keys are consistent throughout, and animal prints are repeated fun choices. “I love the juxtaposition of traditional and modern,” she says. “That keeps it timeless and fresh. The brass is a little ’70s vibe.”

Interior designer Shelley Johnstone Paschke enjoys hot cocoa with Lauren and Hunter in the understated kitchen with black lacquered cabinets.

Neutral tones in a mix of patterns and textures play happily in family room. Mirrored panels on a set of doors enhance the space.

To dress a room that was enclosed during remodeling, Shelley had a trellis applied to the walls and painted the ceiling the vivid hue of an Hermès box. “I love bursts of color in fairly neutral spaces,” she says. A starburst mirror from Mecox hangs above a banquette covered in an Old World Weavers velvet and trimmed with Samuel & Sons Greek key-motif tape.

She couldn’t imagine living in any other home. “It’s comfortable and pretty and also functional for our busy, modern lifestyle,” Shelley says—particularly at Christmas. “It was important to make the house a place we all love. And everyone loves being here.” Inspired by a vintage tortoiseshell box, Shelley had decorative painters replicate the look on the ceiling of the library. An antelope-pattern carpet from Stark anchors vintage rattan chairs with chevron linen cushions.

Shelley converted the top of a Brunschwig & Fils tea table into a backgammon board. A Salvador Dali lithograph hangs among vintage boxes.

A delicate palette of cream and light blue dominates the bedroom. Swaths of cream fabric crape the windows and headboard. Pink monogrammed throw pillows inject a small pop of color.

Meet Adler, a West Highland terrier named for the famous architect David Adler. He’s counting how many presents are for him! Simple metallic ball ornaments adorn the tree, while an angel tree topper brings the touch of orange.

For additional information, please visit Shelley Johnstone Design. For further inspiration, you will want to follow Shelley via Instagram and visit her new Showroom and Studio in Lake Forest. To read today’s feature in entirety, please visit Traditional Home.