NATIVE ATLANTAN COURTNEY WALKER WAS BORN AND BRED TO BE an interior designer. Formally trained in design at the University of Georgia, she grew up in the industry watching her aunt, a now-retired designer. She has held positions at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC), where she learned how the design business works on the backend, and worked for other designers and an antiques dealer before launching her own design studio, C. Walker Designs, 23 years ago. “I’ve known since I was 15 and a freshman in high school that I was going to be a designer,” Walker says.
Her goal is to embody each client’s personality as she becomes their design partner, listening to what they want to accomplish in their interior spaces. She sifts through hundreds of design choices so they don’t have to, helping them determine what truly reflects their unique style in a way that will outlast trends. “I most love seeing designs come to life,” Walker says. “At the end of the process, I get to have a visual of what the work looks like. I realize that I am seeing a very personal side of each client as they invite me into their private homes. Letting me in is special, and I work with them to implement their individual ideas; it’s not about my style, but theirs.”
The designer likes to keep her studio’s services well-rounded. She designs both single rooms and whole homes for residential clients, as well as multifamily housing; over the years, she has completed apartment conversions in North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Alabama. “Like I taught my daughter about learning multiple positions on her soccer team, it’s important to be versatile, and I apply that to my design business,” Walker says. “I have even designed the interior of a private plane and the restroom facilities in a hangar.” She designs many homes in Atlanta, of course, but also works in other states, often designing vacation homes for her existing clientele.
She recently designed a home for a blended family who was moving into a newly built residence. “Since the home was already designed by the architect, I was tasked with helping the family to create private spaces for each of the seven family members,” Walker explains. “Since the home was originally designed with empty nesters in mind, it took a lot of work to make it functional for a larger family.” She reworked spaces so that each child had individual bedroom and bathroom spaces while outfitting a carriage house with guest quarters and its own kitchenette. She brought shades of blue throughout the home, in recognition of the husband’s favorite color. “The biggest challenge was getting seven people around the dining table, but we achieved it with bench seating on a covered porch. That allowed me to honor the wife’s request for a place for the children to linger in conversation,” she adds.
Her design of multifunctional spaces, such as the paneled study, is friendly for different family members and various ages at different times of the day. It’s a place for mom and dad to pay bills in the morning, and a spot for the tutor to help a child with homework in the afternoon. “I also designed an upper-level playroom that could transform with the children as they got older,” Walker says.
Beautiful details, like the chunky mitered island countertop in the kitchen, customize the home for this particular family. “Other small details, such as helping the family find a replacement for discontinued tile they wanted to replicate from their former home, upped the level of customization,” Walker says. “I took care of color matching—even when there was no electricity in the midst of construction—so the family could get the feel they wanted without having to worry about the details of how to get there.”
Another recent whole-home design project won a kitchen award for the room’s striking features—a bespoke blue island overseen by a trifecta of chandeliers in a unique shade of gold from Visual Comfort. “The owner is an artist, but she wanted me as a sounding board to help her make good design decisions that fit the budget,” Walker explains. “I remembering steering her away from the high-gloss island she initially envisioned, which she later was happy about. As an artist and former gallery owner, she understands color; I was there to help but made sure I did not get in the way of her own experience. I assisted with other challenging details, such as ensuring the faucet matched the chandeliers since it was in the same eyeline.” Walker also designed cabinetry that keeps the refrigerator, freezer and two dishwashers out of sight. She properly planned the remainder of the kitchen with spacious pedestrian space, a built-in desk and bar, and plenty of storage for the family of four. “It was a collaborative project with the owner-artist,” she adds, and it is just the way she likes to work with her clients.
Walker also recently designed a hallway in a show house. “It’s important not to leave a hallway blank, only thinking of it as a utilitarian space,” she says. “I tied the hall’s wallcovering together with adjacent painted walls for a blended aesthetic and introduced a cool chandelier. Sourced art really pops against wallpaper.” A console, a fun mirror and a bench covered in fabric that matched the wallcovering completes the transition space.
Walker doesn’t mind going the extra mile for her clients, once sourcing fabric from Thailand to custom make window treatments that perfectly matched the homeowner’s aesthetic. Perennially practical, she helps homeowners decide what budget will work for their particular project and sets expectations so there are no surprises.
You may not find her social media bursting at the seams with posts because Walker says she is not focused on popularity. “Sometimes I think people want a particular designer just because they are famous on the web,” she says. “I don’t worry about those things. I am instead focused on designing bespoke spaces for my particular homeowners that work for them and make them happy. They share their ideas with me, and the end game is that I bring their visions to life.” *
Dana W. Todd is a professional writer specializing in interior design, real estate, luxury homebuilding, landscape design, architecture and fine art.
PHOTO BY LAUREN CHAMBERS PHOTOGRAPHY
