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CommentsThe Perfect Mix
The Barbos’ eclectic taste blends southern style with modern touches for a home rife with imagination.
By Jen Murvin Edwards
(page 1 of 4)
 Photo Edward Biamonte The dining room's neutral china cabinet is a contrast to the intricately painted table. |
Sitting in front of a roaring fire in the cozy, living room on a rainy Friday afternoon, the Barbos laugh as they remember the house before it underwent several loving renovation projects. “Everything was really white,” Dana says. “The kitchen was white and black, a very modern, contemporary style.” Gino looks at his wife and replies, “I like it modern.” “See? This is why our house is so unique,” Dana says. “Our tastes come together to create something entirely different!”
Blending difference is hardly anything new to this couple. Dana, a Missouri native and graduate from Drury University, met Australian-born Gino while he was exploring the United States. Now married for 20 years and owners of distribution company Salon Services Group, the Barbos are happy to work, play and live alongside each other—with or without white tile.
The marriage of Dana’s Southern Living style with Gino’s appetite for modern, clean touches has resulted in what Dana calls an “eclectic” variety of architecture, furnishings, colors and other embellishments which make this house special to its many inhabitants, both human and animal. The Barbos’ three children, 14-year-old McKenzie, 13-year-old Garrison and 11-year-old Remington, have their own rooms in the northern and southern areas of the house. But the children aren’t the loudest members of the household. The sunroom, placed strategically to bridge the two wings of the house alongside the spacious living room, is home to several elevated, arched cages from which the family’s two parrots and a cockatoo named Oliver enthusiastically greet visitors. (Add lovebirds to the mix, and the family has seven birds total.) Four dogs complete the picture, gazing longingly into the sunroom from the wide, open-air patio accessible from the sunroom and the kitchen.
Dana says the noise and activity complements the family—friendly atmosphere she and Gino have strived to create. In the living room, the couple gestures to the wide, comfortable couches flanking the large coffee table, which seems to invite steaming cups of hot cocoa. On the ceiling above the chocolate brown walls, special lights (hung proudly by Gino himself) strategically highlight pieces of artwork—two of the many displayed throughout the house—one of which was given to Dana by Gino for her birthday. “Art is important to us,” says Dana. “We put up what we like, whether we get in on a trip to Europe or a trip to Sam’s Club.” Along the wall of the living room sits another display of Dana Barbo’s passion for the eclectic: an antique dresser. “Dana’s a collector,” says Gino. “I get a lot of my furniture from antique stores and flea markets,” Dana says. “I like something that tells a story.” She laughs as she points to the brand—new Steinway piano sitting directly in front of the antique: “Something shiny next to something old. What’s wrong with that?”
On the northern side of the living room, the space flows effortlessly into a formal dining area where a floor-to-ceiling Wheeler’s china cabinet majestically overlooks the colorfully painted Habersham dining table and hutch. The china cabinet, with its distressed finish, is a focal point of the room and a nod to Dana’s taste for southern-style décor, which boasts soft reds, pinks, greens and off-whites.
