How One Countertop Helped Shape a Beautiful Sea Pines Renovation

Products: Cambria Torquay and Curava Savaii

And it all started with a countertop. When Wendy and David Steed began making plans to redo their Sea Pines home, it was originally just supposed to be a matter of knocking down one wall. But you know how these things go. One wall led to new paint and trim, and now the home has been completely reborn. A full 80 percent of the property was renovated, but the results are astounding.

The wall coming down was a given. Separating the kitchen from the main living space, it cut off a large portion of the villa’s overall footprint and isolated the expansive kitchen from the scenery.

“From the kitchen you couldn’t look at these magnificent views,” said designer Susan Miller, who coordinated with Clear Cut Construction, Inc. on the Steed home. And the views are worth it. Captured through a wall of tall glass, the Steed home backs up to a blissfully tranquil lagoon, ringed by trees to lend a feeling of serenity. “It was a pretty dramatic thing to tear out the wall and pull it all together, but it looks like it was always that way.”

The wall had previously contained an overly large pantry, and removing it allowed for a signature countertop to anchor the kitchen and living space. When that counter arrived, it changed everything.

“This was really our initial foundation piece,” said Wendy. “You find what you love, and you build around it.”

Serving as a focal point of the room, it was important that the countertop reflect not only the contemporary coastal feel of the home, but Wendy’s predilection toward soothing natural tones. As an artist, she’s renowned for her portraits of Lowcountry scenery and wildlife. Capturing those colors was crucial.

“Wendy wanted the countertop to be simplistic, but have some color,” said Kim Thorn, design coordinator at StoneWorks. She found the perfect piece in a countertop sparkling with iridescence, and dotted with seashells and recycled glass imbuing it with soothing color. “It does a great job reflecting the colors of nature between the warmer tones and the seaglass.”

“(Kim) was such a great resource in guiding us and directing us to the right materials,” said Susan. “Once we saw this counter with our paint colors, we knew it was the right material.”

And from there, it was off to the races, with the colors of the countertops inspiring the Sherwin-Williams Silver Strand that adorns the main living space, the new paint informing new trim work, the new trim work adorning a lovely powder room built from the ground up, and the new powder room leading to a transformation of the master suite into a spa-like getaway.