Tampa Home is a Study in Refined Eclecticism

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Interior designers can work a lifetime and never come across a client as informed about her home as Karena Kilcoyne. The former criminal defense attorney turned self-help bestselling author is the utmost expert on the Tampa residence she and her husband, David, built 16 years ago—and as such, she knew exactly what she wanted when she hired Julianne Hendrickson to handle the interior design.

“Julianne never tried to pull the house toward sameness or trends,” says Kilcoyne. “She embraced the idea of creating something fearless, storied, and completely individual, and she appreciated very quickly that I make decisions instinctively. I know immediately whether I love something or not. There isn’t a lot of hesitation or overthinking, which makes the creative process move fast. Julianne not only understood the vision; she was genuinely excited by it.”       

As for that vision? “She wanted the house to feel elegant, expressive, curated, and deeply alive,” says Hendrickson, who worked with colleague Toni Jabaay on the project. “The directive was to make every room feel emotionally interesting and beautiful, as well as personal, daring, slightly unexpected, and impossible to replicate.”            

Fortunately, Hendrickson and her team had plenty to pull from to make this happen. Because travel has shaped so much of the Kilcoynes’ lives, they’ve amassed a significant number of antiques and meaningful mementos that they asked Hendrickson to incorporate into the design. “They weren’t interested in replacing everything simply for the sake of newness,” says Hendrickson. “Karena loves the tension that happens when traditional elements sit beside something irreverent or bold.”

Just as important was merging the art the homeowners had collected over the years. “We’re especially drawn to artists whose work creates an immediate connection when we discover them,” says Kilcoyne. “I never buy pieces I merely ‘like.’ If there’s even a flicker of hesitation, it doesn’t come home with me.”

For Hendrickson, the art was a way to differentiate the various spaces. “Art is such an important character in this story,” she says. “It dictates the emotional temperature of each room.” At times, that’s tongue-in-cheek and irreverent, while other times it’s soulful and celebratory of coastal life. “I love pieces that arouse curiosity, joy or surprise,” says Kilcoyne. “Nothing in this house blends quietly into the background.”

As expected, palette is everything is this residence. “I’ve never met a color I didn’t like,” says Kilcoyne without a trace of irony. “I wasn’t destined for a minimalist house.” And this one certainly isn’t one. From the bar’s deep sea-blue millwork to the home office’s lilac walls, bold hues are treated reverentially. “Our approach to all that color was repetition,” says Hendrickson. “For instance, the teal on the living room sofa was used again in the bar, and then again on the pendants in the kitchen. That duplication created a coherent thread, so the eye isn’t overwhelmed.”

A kaleidoscope of textures and patterns amp up the palette exponentially. “What I cherish most is contrast,” says Kilcoyne. “Sophisticated architecture paired with cheeky objects. Traditional elements interrupted by something playful or theatrical. Calm rooms with moments of visual surprise. I love walking into a space and suddenly seeing the unexpected dimensions of the people behind it, details that make you feel more intrigued by them, more curious about them, more connected to them. That’s what memorable design does. It makes you feel something. You rarely get that from a beige room.”

Hendrickson clearly understood that sentiment was the key to a successful outcome. “This home is  quite a mix of ideas, but it’s wholly reflective of who the homeowners are,” says the designer. “What I did was to help organize all those layers into something cohesive without stripping away the personality. The goal was never perfection. It was individuality.”

Story Credits:

Interior Design by Julianne Hendrickson & Toni Jabaay, Hendrickson Interiors, Tampa, FL

Architecture by Thomas Lamb & Alan Dobbs, Florida Design Studio, Tampa, FL, & Stephen Smith, Cooper Johnson Smith Peterson Architects, Tampa, FL

Construction by Karim Tahiri, Soleil Design Build, Tampa, FL

Text by Florian Jouin

Photography by Chris Restrepo, Sarasota, FL

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