Lifestyle by Design

A Brand Tastemaker Leads the Way

By Katie Ogletree | Photography courtesy of Summer House Lifestyle

When you know, you know. And that’s precisely how owner and principal designer Melissa Skowlund felt when deciding to open a new location for Summer House Lifestyle and further implement her interior design studio into the heart of the 30-A community along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Within a week of her first store opening in Grayton Beach twelve years ago, Melissa met Summer House’s first client, Sue Lavin, who has since completed over five projects with Summer House and become a dear friend. That first project opened the floodgates for Melissa’s inspiration and momentum, and she never looked back.

Her brand’s philosophy: Live simply and surround yourself with beautiful objects you love. That is exactly what Skowlund and her team have fostered so deeply into the company. There is not only a great passion for the art of interior design, but also for the clients they assist and for bringing their visions to life.

VIE was excited to speak with Skowlund on the opening of her new showroom and Design Bar at Watersound Town Center and what’s coming up for Summer House Lifestyle!

VIE: Besides incredible weather and architectural design, what brought you to 30-A?

Melissa Skowlund: My husband and his family had been vacationing along the Emerald Coast since he was a child, so when our youngest daughter was born, we decided to revisit the area for a vacation. I fell completely in love with the natural beauty of 30-A and the seemingly endless potential it held. After living in Wisconsin our whole lives, when my husband completed his fellowship at the University of Florida, we took a leap of faith and moved up to the Panhandle. I opened my business upon moving there and haven’t looked back!

VIE: How did you decide, after having a showroom for twelve years in Uptown Grayton Beach, that it was time to expand and move?

MS: Though we loved our Uptown Grayton location, I had always dreamed of expanding and having a location where I could have my Design Bar offices and the retail store in the same space. Watersound Origins presented itself as a great growth opportunity, offering us the freedom to customize the storefront in an area that was more accessible to customers, with better parking and town center activities. The plan for the development is also incredibly exciting and something that I saw as a unique venture to be a part of.

The expansive new space measures 4,100 square feet and offers a significantly larger retail area than before. The new location also has more parking for customers and an attached design bar where clients can choose samples, finishes, and furnishings one-on-one with their team of designers. The idea was to create a retail space that mimics the look of many of our clients’ homes and gives inspiration to guests and future design clients.

VIE: With this new location in Watersound, what can people expect from this store?

MS: With this new location, we had the opportunity to personalize the space and create vignettes of various rooms, fostering an experience that feels like walking through scenes of a home. Our inventory is high-end and intentionally curated to reflect the Summer House Lifestyle design brand, encompassing our interior items, clothing, tabletop items, and more. Every item works together to create the effortlessly chic, elevated, classy, and elegant feel we aspire toward. We aim to make every visit to our store feel like an experience that leaves our customers feeling better than they did when they walked in.

VIE: How does The Design Bar fit into the Summer House Lifestyle brand?

MS: Design Bar is our headquarters for interior design services. The way the store is set up, with scenes that feel like a home, is a representation of what we do at Design Bar in our clients’ homes. The Design Bar is home to all our design resources, designer offices, samples, meeting spaces, and more—we like to say that it is really where the magic of Summer House happens.

Her brand’s philosophy: Live simply and surround yourself with beautiful objects you love.

VIE: How do you keep your design style and ideas fresh?

MS: One of the best ways to keep your mind open to fresh ideas and styles is through travel. This summer, I am in France with my daughter, who participates in equestrian competitions and recently competed at the Chantilly Racecourse. I love all things equestrian, including the classic, timeless design inspiration that can be found in that world. I have been using this time to explore the area and draw ideas from everything I see, from the natural beauty and colors of the region to its historic buildings and antiques. Working on projects nationwide has also been instrumental in keeping our team’s designs fresh and facilitating flexibility in different environments.

VIE: Tell us about some of the people who helped bring this new store to life.

MS: I always say I have the best team on 30-A, and I truly believe that. Bringing the new store to life has been a massive team effort that I could never have done alone. Each and every member of our team, from designers to our warehouse and retail team members, has given their all to facilitate this project. I feel immensely blessed to have them. I also have to give credit to my husband, Chris, who has supported me and my business aspirations from the beginning of Summer House—no matter how lofty they may be (and they usually are).

VIE: You have projects all over the US. Can you tell us about a couple you are working on now? Do you plan to expand Summer House Lifestyle with more showroom locations?

MS: Getting to work on projects across the country has been such an essential part of Summer House Lifestyle and our design journey. Projects outside of 30-A beach homes keep our designs fresh and bring a wealth of inspiration back to us, allowing us to elevate the local homes we work on to the next level. We currently have some incredibly exciting projects—an ocean-front Palm Beach, Florida, estate and a lake home in Lake Keowee, South Carolina, to name a couple. If the right opportunity presented itself, we would definitely expand to have another location for the Design Bar!

VIE: Thank you, Melissa!

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Visit SummerHouseLifestyle.com and follow @summerhouselifestyle and @designbar30a on Instagram to learn more or book an appointment.