Publisher Amy Lemley Bailey of the eponymous magazine group, Amy Bailey Media, showcases style in every aspect of her life from the magazines she publishes to her home. Bailey loves rooms to be inviting, to feel livable and alive, and to have personality. She wants her home to exude a life well lived in a perfectly imperfect way. “Your home should not be perfect, it should be you, imperfect by design. Perfection is unwelcoming. You want your home to have its own patina - its own character, beauty, and authenticity. It’s like musician Leonard Cohen says, There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in. She adds, "When you walk into a room and it looks like no one has ever sat on the sofa, you won't be comfortable to sit on it either. I want people to sit, linger and stay awhile, as us Southerners say." In addition to running her own business, writing, and being a mom to a senior in high school, Bailey finds solace in her home and garden.
Decorated with handsome antiques and contemporary furniture, the formal living room has a lushness and elegance, but is also comfortable and cozy with its beveled edge ceiling that creates a cave-like feel. Collections of favorite things old and new are playfully displayed - stacks of books and Cabana magazines on the coffee table, antique lamps purchased from a market in France, artwork over the fireplace by Alabama artist Vicki Denanburg, another large abstract by artist Catie Radney seems to capture all the colors in the room, and her daughter’s pottery can be found throughout.
Plush furniture, jewel toned colors, and sparkling gold accents meet the eyes as soon as you enter the room. Green leather chairs from Birmingham Wholesale Furniture adorned with velvet Scalamandre pillows, a sumptuous oversized salmon colored sofa in velvet, separate seating areas with a lizard-embossed leather console and bench and two club chairs with an ottoman upholstered in Scalamandre’s La Perouse, and a hand-carved, folding hexagonal table found at an antique mall for a whopping $40 bring the room to life. Alabama designer Beth McMillan created a vision of multiple seating areas for the long, rectangular shaped room, scouting the sofa, console and bench, and chairs. Two antique pedestals topped with porcelain planters from Rivenbark Antiques flank the limestone fireplace adding height. McMillan found the large pendant lights from Circa and chose the paint colors, a deep blue for the walls and light blue for the ceiling that bring in colors from the adjacent dining room wallpaper.
Bailey remarks, “People often say to me, You must love color. And the answer is yes I do. I think bold colors and vibrant patterns ignite the imagination and soul, and I want to be surrounded by them in the place I spend the most time.”
Walking into the dining room there is a feeling of opulence and at the same time calmness. It was in the dining room when Bailey first felt connected to the home, “I remember walking into the dining room for the first time, and even though it wasn’t decorated like I would want it, I had a feeling that this is home.” She adds, “I had a vision from that first moment of what I wanted it to look like - I saw the Cole&Sons Florencecourt wallpaper, the light blues, the chair railing. And so it was the first room we redecorated. It was amazing to see the progression, every day seeing this vision I had in my mind come to fruition.” The sideboard came with the home while the Baileys brought in their previous dining table and purchased 10 soft blue velvet upholstered chairs. Locust Lane Rugs created a large custom area rug in colors from the wallpaper. The large antique mirror hanging over the sideboard Bailey found years ago at Henhouse Antiques in Mountain Brook. “It’s magical to me how pieces old and new come together. How you can have something for decades and then move into a new home and all of a sudden a secondary piece you’ve had for years seems to take center stage bringing the whole room together. It’s like giving something old a whole new life.”
After living in the house several months, one day Bailey was looking out the dining room when she found herself staring at the shrubbery outside - yew shrubbery is planted all around the house. “As I stared at the pattern of the yew I thought, That looks familiar. I turned my head and looked at the Cole&Sons Florencecourt wallpaper and immediately googled the pattern asking what type botanical was in the paper. Of course…yew.” A kismet moment in decorating.
With a love for hosting, her dining room has been the stage for meals, holidays, and parties. “I love entertaining. I love being at home, I love good food, I love cooking, I love setting the table - I love it all, so having a home that feels good, that invites people in, that has the space and movement to host small or large groups of people is important to me.”
“People are overwhelmed by entertaining, but it’s like anything: The more you do it the easier it gets. You don’t have to spend 10 hours in the kitchen and go ‘Julia Child’ on everyone,” she remarks. You can whip up a one pot meal of bolognese or chili or even order take out, plate it on some fun serving ware, and open a bottle or wine or serve a batch cocktail and voila! I think people enjoy the intimacy of someone’s home.” Entertaining has historically been a very lively part of Southern culture and Bailey wants to embrace this tradition, “I believe in making things special and the creativity that is ignited in the planning. The memories are an immense payoff, and the labor load diminishes the more you do it.”
The color story continues to unfold in the Provencal style kitchen with a large island, solid wood beams, Schumacher’s Citrus Garden wallpaper, and green cabinetry. First renovated in 1990 by a previous homeowner, its French Country style, immense storage, and openness drew Bailey to the home. “In 2018 I made my first trip to Provence and then in 2019 returned I loved it so much. When I heard the story of this home and how the previous homeowner’s renovation was French inspired, I felt an instant affinity to the house.”
Bailey had the wood cabinetry in the kitchen painted Sherwin Williams green and the walls an oyster white, then added matching white painted trim with Schumacher’s Citrus Garden covering the walls below. “I didn’t want the wallpaper to interfere with the beams and it dawned on me, Why not add trim railing.“ She adds, “Our wallpaper guy, Keith Womack, who has installed wallpaper for me at two houses, practically lived with us for several months. We added wallpaper in four rooms and a hallway.”
“When people step into the kitchen they say, Your house makes me so happy!“ Bailey smiles, “That is goal! I really wanted each room to have its own personality, to be filled with color and things that are just fun to look at it. I want each room to make people smile.”
She adds, “I don’t want everything white or everything beige. So many people are scared or hesitant of color. They just aren’t sure if something is too much or if it will work, then they divert to 50 shades of beige. My advice is go for it. Ask a professional for advice and if you love color - try it, you just might create the most beautiful, fun room you could ever imagine. You want your home to feel alive, not dead.”
Deep blue walls and a wide range of textures and materials - green velvet, black marble, woven area rug, stone tiled floors, contemporary black and gold coffee table, linen upholstered chairs, and a limestone carved fireplace that steals the show - give the family room its personality and depth. Bailey remarks, “This is by far the most used room of the house. It’s where everyone gathers including the pups.” Their two Pomeranians, Tuck and Coconut, rule the roost making beds on top of chairs or cozying up and hiding in the pillows on the couch. “Our home is their home. I’ve never been one to not allow our dogs on furniture. They are only on this earth a short time, I want them to feel like they are a well loved part of the family.”
All around the house are pieces of art, pottery, and collectables from different decades and parts of the world, and in all different styles - paintings by local artists next to antique oils, pottery collected from trips to North Carolina, a Rose Medallion Chinoiserie vase, blue and white porcelain jars, a large candle holder adorned with flowers Mae by her daughter.
A leopard-print runner up the spiral staircase from the family room blends seamlessly with Scalamandre’s zebras flanking the stairwell, creating another focal point of the home. The runner was actually there before the Baileys moved in as were the arrow light fixtures, similar to the arrows in the zebra wallpaper. A silk upholstered pink chair adds contrast to the black wallpaper with an Audubon pink flamingo print hanging above.
Walking into the Master Bedroom is in one word - serene. The pale blue walls were inspired by a bedroom photo in Suzanne Kasler's Rizzoli book Edited Style. "Waking up in this room is euphoric." With the paint covering the walls, shadow boxes, and ceiling one feels immersed in the hue. Two large arms upholstered in Lee Jofa's Chinese Peony flank the media armoire. From the fabric lampshades by Alabama made House of Hallmark to the gold mirror above the dresser each piece seems carefully curated. The Master Bath continues a subdued yet opulent feel with imported 18th century antique French mirrors.
Stepping into Bailey's home office cocooned in pink coral walls feels like stepping inside a jewel box. The setting for the birth of her first magazine and many writing projects, the thoughtful artwork, gold accents, and unique treasures housed in the large bookcase, invite you to linger and tap into your creative side. French doors open to the hidden courtyard, New Orleans style pool, and gardens.
Bailey has a deep love for nature. Her mother is a gardener and her father had a vegetable garden every year until he got older. "I get more pleasure from my garden than almost anything,” she admits. She had dabbled in gardening for years, from growing herbs at her first home to growing a raised vegetable garden as well as cultivating a rose garden in her previous home. She had a neighbor at her former house who loved gardening too. Bailey learned a lot from her neighbor and they enjoyed exchanging plants and watching each other's garden grow. Her neighbor's best advice, "If you've got a problem, go dig in the dirt. There's no better therapy."
Bailey enjoys the beauty of her gardens, but she’s also passionate about the work that goes into them. “I love digging in the dirt. There is nothing better than to go outside on a beautiful day with your scissors or your clippers, cutting herbs for dinner or flowers for an arrangement." She continues, "It’s good for your health and your soul. I'm not sure there is anything more confirming of God than working in the garden. Just looking at a flower bloom in all its color and symmetry makes you beam, How does nature do this? "
You want your home to have its own patina - its own character, its own beauty, its own authenticity.
It’s good for your health, your heart and your soul. I'm not sure there is anything more confirming of God than working in the garden.