The Comfort Factor
Blue and gray is a classic combination that won’t go out of style. Using easy-to-change throw pillows is a simple, impermanent way to incorporate on-trend colors.
A country club that feels like home.
“It doesn’t happen very often that you walk into a space and you love it instantly—that everything about it is appealing,” says Kerry Sheridan. But that’s exactly how she felt when she first stepped into the Bald Peak Colony Club in Moultonborough.
Now retired and living in Florida, Sheridan (who can’t quite suppress the itch to design, as she’s worked on a few country clubs in the Sunshine State) recalls that the atmosphere at Bald Peak was relaxed and charming, and inspiration struck quickly.
“It’s a darling club. It isn’t imposing at all,” she says. “When you walk in the front door, and look over the terrace to the beautiful golf course, it was just love at first sight. When that happens, everything becomes easier—you can’t wait to get started—you love the whole thing.”
Her task, which sounds deceptively easy, was to update the décor in a way that would last, but without being dull. Not to mention that, unlike at a residence, this time there were far more people than homeowners to please— she needed to create a comfortable, yet functional space for not just the committee that hired her, but for all of the club’s members.
The club needed plenty of places for people to sit and gather, and the space seemed perfect for that purpose, says Sheridan. This, she says, led her to think about “the comfort factor, that feeling of home—it’s a cozy space. It felt like home.”
Even though the main sitting room is large, Sheridan’s design makes it feel like you’ve walked into someone’s living room. She chose to incorporate blue because, she says, no matter what tone, it’s “a universally loved color.” As the club was once a hunting lodge, she thought a more masculine navy was fitting. Pairing that with gray was a logical choice, as Sheridan notes this classic combination is unlikely to fall out of style.
“I didn’t want to do anything too ‘faddy,’” she says. “I wanted it to be viable five, six years from now. I’ve used that combination at other clubs, and it just works. It gives me a neutral canvas to put anything I want on it.”
Perfect against that neutral backdrop are the pops of orange. At the time, says Sheridan, “Orange was huge. We were using it all over the place.” But that didn’t mean hanging orange drapes or buying an orange sofa were the right choices. Pillows, she explains, can be easily swapped out as tastes and trends change.
To add architectural interest and contrast, Kerry Sheridan applied white mouldings to the walls.
Style with function was Sheridan’s goal in areas like the dining room, which can be rearranged for large parties.
Change, though, isn’t always easy, and it took some work to convince a few members that painting the sitting room’s large, dark wood table was the right idea. Sheridan believes in using existing pieces when she can, but the table looked too heavy and needed new life. She had it lacquered in gray, and now it serves to divide the two sitting areas. She also chose gray paint for a large, formerly red buffet table in the ladies’ card room.
New to the room are the custom trophy cases on either side of the French doors that lead to the terrace. Some clubs, says Sheridan with a laugh, have “horrible, horrible trophies” that, nevertheless, have to be incorporated. At Bald Peak, though, Sheridan was taken with the silver-plated versions, some dating back to the 1940s. These “absolutely gorgeous” trophies deserved a place of honor, says Sheridan, so she hired a woodworker to create the cases.
There were no structural changes during the redesign, but to create contrast on the gray walls, Sheridan applied white moldings that “fill up the space beautifully and add an architectural interest that wasn’t there before,” she explains.
A long hallway leads to a conference room and bar, which Sheridan felt seemed more masculine, so she added browns to her navy and gray palette. This space can be easily turned into a venue for larger gatherings, like a wedding, which was Sheridan’s goal.
“I really like to incorporate versatility into these places, so you can turn things from lounge areas to eating areas. That room lent itself very nicely to that kind of atmosphere,” she says.
Top: A formerly dark wood table was painted gray to give it new life. To the right are the custom trophy cabinets.
Above: Sheridan chose neutral yet stylish tones for all of the rooms and seating areas.
Why spend the time and effort to make something like a country club look more like a home? For Sheridan, all of the places we spend our time— a house, an office, a commercial space—should make us feel good. “It’s very satisfying and very fulfilling to be around things that are beautiful, that are put together thoughtfully, that make you feel good when you walk into a space,” she says. “People sometimes don’t get that.”
It seems she’s won over the Bald Peak members to this way of thinking. When working in places like country clubs, says Sheridan, she hopes for something “around a 50 to 60% approval rating,” as she calls it. “Then you know you’ve made half the people happy—you’ve done your job,” she adds. But the new cozy, homelike interior, the board told her, garnered more like a 90% approval rating. That, she says, made it “a very satisfying job.” NHH
