What is “Southern Style?” with Tori Mellott

Seasoned design editor, Tori Mellott, has teamed up with Mario Lopez-Cordero for the highly anticipated release of Southern Interiors: A Celebration of Personal Style. Their stunning new book offers an intimate glimpse into the vibrant world of Southern design, showcasing the timeless charm and subversive creativity of modern Southern homes. Weaving together interior photography with compelling narratives, Mellott and Lopez-Cordero explore how designers and homeowners are challenging what we think of as traditional southern style.

In this exclusive interview, Mellott delves into the making of Southern Interiors, reflecting on the collaborative process and how her and her co-author’s outsider perspectives—as neither are from the South—allowed them to approach the subject with fresh eyes. This book is a must-read for designers and design enthusiasts looking to explore the rich diversity and character of southern living.

DNN: How did you and Mario Lopez-Cordero approach the collaboration for Southern Interiors, and what distinct perspectives did each of you bring to the project? How did your backgrounds influence the narrative and visual direction of the book?  

TM: Neither Mario nor I are from the South; I’m from Pennsylvania and Mario is from Arizona so each of us approached the process of making this book with a very open mind and a healthy curiosity. I think that’s why we chose design journalism as our lifelong profession – we both have an inquisitiveness and an insatiable thirst to understand how people live, decorate, and entertain. I don’t think we shaped the narrative – really, it was the designers’ answers that sculpted the structure of the book; their personal stories and anecdotes breathed even more life into the already captivating images of their houses.

In the living room, a ping-pong table topper ushers a Louis XV–style table into a more casual incarnation; a Volta mobile hanging above catches the vibe. Fanny, a dachshund, hogs the ball. Photo Credit: Paul Costello

The challenge of defining “southern style”

DNN: How do you define the quintessential Southern style? What elements or principles do you believe are essential in capturing the spirit of Southern design? And then how do you carve out your own unmistakable personal style within that context? 

TM: Quintessential Southern style is tricky to articulate – it’s one of those things wherein you just know it when you see it. However, if I had to boil it down to a sentence or two, I would say that Southern style is about telling a personal story through objects and materials – whether it’s a fine antique mixed with a humble rug or found objects sprinkled throughout a room or grandmother’s china at the ready – the houses and material possessions are reflections of the homeowners and what they love. 

In a corner of Handegan’s bedroom, a mosaic- covered table she found in Paris 20 years ago holds a 19th-century Italian curio cabinet filled with beach finds and topped with an African coil basket. | Photo Credit: Max Kim-Bee

But even more than objet, it’s a way of living – there is an ease, a grace, a joy, and an effortlessness that people in the South have in spades. I’m not saying that other people from around the country don’t have those qualities  – it just seems to be abundant in the South. Those admirable qualities seem to be deeply woven into the fabric of everyday life. Finally, the spirit of and common thread woven throughout the core of the book is the concept of sharing. 

The designers I interviewed referenced sharing everything – their homes, their possessions, their food, and their lifestyle with family, friends, pets, and sometimes even strangers.  Even being brave enough to share their houses with me for this book is proof of their willingness to be vulnerable and their extreme generosity.  I think personal style comes from knowing oneself – which is actually a much more difficult task than it sounds.  

Fire-engine-red lacquered walls in the library flicker with candlelight when the Johnson’s host dinner parties in the intimate–and charmingly surprising—venue.
Photo Credit: Paul Costello

DNN: Also regarding personal style: Can you give examples from the book where homeowners’ personal styles have redefined or subverted traditional Southern aesthetics?

TM: To answer this I guess we will have to agree on the definition of “Traditional Southern!” For ease, I’ll assume it’s the stereotype – brown antique furniture, chintz upholstery, heavy passementerie, gilded Chippendale mirrors, and opulent Persian rugs. 

If that’s our starting point, every creative featured in the book redefines and subverts these notions of traditional Southern design and decorating. Certainly, there are some designers that include more antiques and nods to traditional decorating than most (Hunt Slonem, Kristen Ellen Hockman, Thomas Jayne, James Carter, Chelsea Handegan to name a few) but their edit of these items and the mix of styles in their houses aren’t executed in the prescribed or predictable manner. 

In the living room, Dove manages to derive a sense of lushness from just a few integral details: slipcovers with the slightest swish of ruffles, an Asian-inspired cocktail table stripped of its finish, and a sofa in Schumacher’s Verdure Tapestry.
Photo Credit: Paul Costello

Almost everyone featured in the book challenges outdated concepts of traditional Southern decorating.  That’s one of the reasons I set out to make this book – the South – the creatives, designers, and artists who live there – are so much more than the facsimile we’re fed by movies and television shows.  Southerners are interesting, diverse, surprising, and unapologetically authentic. 

DNN: From your perspective, how has Southern interior design evolved over the years? What modern trends or shifts are you seeing that still respect traditional Southern roots, and what new directions are emerging?

The design trend throughline

TM: I think Southern interior design is evolving the same way all interior design is evolving – it’s more personal, it’s more democratic, it’s more thoughtful, it’s more informed, and it’s more global.  It’s certainly less formulaic. 

The one detail that sets Southern decorating and Southern living apart from anywhere else in the country is the mentality and persistence of preserving time-honored traditions like entertaining, using the “good” china, carting out the silver no matter what the occasion, Sunday suppers, genuinely welcoming unannounced guests, passing down heirlooms, incorporating antiques into a house, laughing off wonky architecture, and collecting everything and anything. It seems to me, Southerners do everything gracefully and effortlessly and put you at ease in their space.  

A collection of 18th-century Italian portraits adds a flourish to the stair hall, with walls a subtle peach (Academy from Portola Paints). | Photo Credit: Max Kim-Bee

Culture down south

DNN: Southern design is steeped in history and culture—how does the book explore and handle these influences, and how do they continue to shape modern southern interiors? 

TM: There are a lot of opinions in the book about why Southern culture and hospitality is so famous and I think Bobby McAlpine and Keith G. Robinson sum it up best. McAlpine explained, “Small towns and rural locations don’t provide us with restaurants and venues to help us entertain.

Our homes become a way of sharing everything and everyone, and all the refinements that trail that reality show up here in the South.” and Robinson observed, “Regardless of one’s means, Southerners always want to present the absolute best of what they have…I think that here in the South, we understand and appreciate the magnitude of creating lasting memories and incorporating all of the senses into a crescendo that will forever be stamped in the minds of our guests.”

A fragment of a Zuber scenic wallpaper is framed in the foyer; the antique iron chair once graced the halls of the Soniat House Hotel in New Orleans.
Photo Credit: William Waldron

DNN: Can you share a story or anecdote from the book that particularly resonated with or surprised you, perhaps one that exemplifies the unique blend of tradition and innovation found in southern homes? 

I don’t know if this is innovation or sheer capitulation, but a lot of the designers talked about accepting and embracing the wonkiness of a house and it’s architecture – Mimi McMakin quipped “Quirky houses create wonderfully quirky people – and all my favorite people are rife with quirks.”  I think the South has always been chock full of characters with big personalities and I’ll be referencing that quote for a long time to come!

See Also

A gate made of sculptural branches leads the way to the swimming pool. Photo Credit: Paul Whicheloe

Tori Mellot on writing a design book

DNN: What criteria did you use to select the homes and designers featured in the book? Because the South is vast, and not just one aesthetic, what particular qualities or characteristics did you seek out to represent the diversity of Southern style?

TM: When I was thinking about the general framework of the book, I knew I wanted each subject to be in a creative field and I knew I wanted it to be extremely personal – I wanted it to be their home – not a project they worked on for a friend or a client but their home that they personally designed, decorated, and arranged. 

There is one exception – Chandra Johnson did collaborate with designer Barrie Benson on her home, but I let it slide because those two women are so close they own a business together and practically finish each other’s sentences! When I started to drill down into the guts of the book, I knew I wanted to have a visceral reaction to the houses I selected.  

Fortuny fabric pillows pick up the leitmotif of glittering metal accents in the living room, which is otherwise dominated by a subtle palette of beiges. A mirror by Mark Evans hangs atop a framed series of maps showing the streets of Paris.
Photo Credit: Melanie Acevedo

Even if the style and the aesthetic didn’t necessarily dovetail with my own personal taste, I wanted to include houses that made me think, that stopped me in my tracks, that begged me consider new ideas and new concepts, and, of course, I wanted to include houses that were full of life and personality – I wanted to see the personality of the person jumping off the page!

DNN: I am curious about how the process of writing the book was for you. How did the process of writing and compiling the book compare to the process of editing a design magazine? Did you find any parallels or differences in how you approached both creative processes?

TM: There are lots of similarities between magazine editing and book making. The number one detail that unites the two processes is ruthless editing. I had to cut projects I didn’t want to cut, I had to put images on the chopping block that I didn’t want to chop; a captivating end product comes down to lots of small decisions but those tough edits pave the way for the story of the house and individual to unfold and shine. 

And we all know the narrative is the most critical aspect of any book – otherwise you’re just looking at a smattering of random photos. Editing makes a book or magazine come alive!

DNN: Five Pieces of Inspiration: A Person, Place, Thing, Furniture or Fabric Vendor and Piece of Media:

TM:

  • A person – I’m very inspired by anyone who has the courage to reinvent themselves – Martha Stewart, Jenna Lyons, Madonna. I am naming these women because they are extremely public facing and using them as a reference point, but anyone who reinvents themselves is a hero to me.  It takes a lot of courage, fortitude, tenacity, and hard work to go through that process.
  • A place – I’m always inspired by Italy.  It’s the most interesting country I’ve ever visited  – the layers of inspiration and culture abound – the architecture, the food, the landscape, the clothing, the cars, the traditions, the people – I am always surprised and delighted to discover something new.
  • A thing – I’m inspired by interior designers – I’m addicted to their creativity, the diversity in their designs, and their innovative spirit.  It’s thrilling to see what they’ll cook up next!
  • A furniture or fabric vendor –  I feel like this category needs a shake up!  I am ready for the next big thing in fabric and furniture design  – maybe I’ll be the one to do it!
  • A piece of media – could be a book, movie, piece of music, etc.  I’m inspired by anything old – old books, old paintings, old music – I’ve always had a penchant for the past. 

Southern Interiors: A Celebration of Personal Style, a Schumacher Interior Design book is available now on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Interiors-Celebration-Personal-Schumacher/dp/1580936741

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