For more than three decades, Joni Vanderslice has led J Banks design, her Hilton Head Island, South Carolina based firm, to national and international renown in hospitality and residential design. In Southern Coastal Living, she tells her story by touring readers through southern coastal homes that showcase her design philosophy of luxury without pretense.
With inspiring interior and exterior vistas that establish a sense of plate, the homes she designs embrase families and guests alike. Welcoming, stylish and comfortable, each residence expresses the distinctive personality of its owners while radiating the relaxed elegance of the region’s indoor/outdoor lifestyle.
Her stylistic range includes ever-fresh blue-and-white palettes that mirror the coastal waters an sky; vibrant hues that complement the region’s light; and equestrian motifs and themes from nature that are true to the locale. In inviting living rooms, gracious dining areas and kitchens that are the heart of the house, casual family rooms, and elgeantly relaxed outdoor settings from veranda to poolside and dock, she layers the elements of design to tell her clients’ stories.
She explains her approach to artwork and collectibles, texture, lighting and colour, among other essential design considerations, she shares her gracious hospitality and invites readers into her life and home.
‘I wrote this book for many reasons,’ said Joni. ‘Mostly, I wanted to share my philosophy of luxury without pretense. For me, it’s all about how we use space vs. how we seet it. Of course I want the homes and resorts i design to look beautiful, but they won’t actually be or feel beautiful if I haven’t understood and then planned for how people will live in and use each space. That’s what creates comfort in my view.’
‘Where will people sit and read? What and where will the conversation areas be? How is the view incorporated into the room? How do the indoor and outdoor spaces relate to one another? These, to me, are the basics of comfort.'
‘Then I look for luxury products that are user friendly because I want to create a relaxed, easy atmosphere. Now that there are luxury fabrics that actually wear well, I look for beautiful fabrics, especially upholstery fabrics, that allow us to put our feet up on the furniture. Fabrics need to be able to stand up to the daily wear of wet bathing suits and sandy feet of children, their friends and pets, so performance fabrics come in very handy. Furnishings, and seating especially, should be comfortable for lounging, for flopping and for
those naps that you can only take when you’re on holiday.'
