A HOUSE THAT WHISPERS BACK

Inside Designer Lisa Sherry’s Charlotte Home

Images by Stacey Van Berkel

“I wasn’t really looking,” admits interior designer Lisa Sherry. “Scrolling real estate listings in Charlotte is just sport for me—my partner Jonathan is a willing accomplice.” Then one day, a house appeared that did more than catch her eye. It spoke. The bones, by Grandfather Homes, were strong and soulful, and Lisa knew she had found a space worthy of both a move and a creative leap. Within weeks, the couple closed, settled in, and began what has become an ongoing love story between house and homeowner.

As a designer, Lisa has always had a natural aversion to rules. “Design isn’t about do’s and don’ts—it’s about curiosity, invention, and finding what feels true,” she explains. Her Charlotte home became the ultimate playground for that philosophy, a place to experiment and layer, to subtract but also to add. This is maximalism her way: graceful, intentional, deeply personal, and always curated.

Known professionally for her neutral palettes, organic shapes, and light-filled restraint, Lisa turned up the dial at home. The spaces are warmer, more layered, more collected. A vintage French farm table became her evolving "Table of Curiosities," set with artifacts old and new, each chosen with intention—even if only to make her and Jonathan smile. Outdoors, the design story continues. Once-neglected gardens now blossom, furniture blurs the line between indoors and out, and an all-season room with a fireplace creates a seamless flow between gathering spaces.

Beauty, for Lisa, has to serve life. “This house makes room for morning tête-à-têtes over coffee, Jonathan’s marathon calls, communal cooking, big games, and small moments,” she says. It’s evident in details like the custom twelve-foot dining bench that extends seating for lively dinner parties, or the moody grey-blue of the bedroom, a retreat designed for quiet reflection.

“Texture is the new color."

Texture plays the starring role throughout—smooth set against rough, matte against sheen. The effect is rooms that feel alive in every season, shifting from daylight to lamplight with ease. Balance is everything.

Her advice to readers is simple: “Trust your instincts. And consider partnering with a designer who can help you see beyond your own sightlines.” As for her own next chapter, she smiles at the uncertainty. “My style is modern and timeless, not timestamped, so the house will stay fresh year after year. At least until the urge to move taps us on the shoulder.”

Until then, the Charlotte home remains a testament to her philosophy: design not as a set of rules, but as a way of life—alive, radiant, and beautifully lived.