Twin Sisters, One Deadline: Inside Sorella Interiors’ Fairhope Bedroom Makeover

When a wallpaper manufacturer announced a design contest, twin sisters Elisabeth Hanes of Fairhope and Bradley Weatherly of Birmingham didn’t just enter — they tore into a full bedroom renovation in the middle of the busiest season of the year. The result is a layered, color-drenched little boy’s room in Fairhope that the sisters describe as their own nod to the films of Wes Anderson.

The challenge came from UK-based Milton & King, one of the wallcovering and fabric companies the designers favor, which launched a competition for the best before-and-after using a wallpaper from its new children’s collection. The reward was a professionally photographed social media reveal; the catch was a timeline of less than a month that began, of all times, just after Christmas.

From Cullman twins to design partners

The identical twins, originally from Cullman, had always wanted to own a business together. They even picked a name: Sorella, Italian for sister. Both inherited a love of fabrics and interior design from their maternal grandmother and an eye for beauty from their mother, but Elisabeth figured they might own a store or a textile company — an interior design firm was never on her radar.

It happened almost by accident. Both sisters curated beautiful homes for their families and were constantly asked by friends to help them achieve the same polished but comfortable, collected aesthetic. Finally, Bradley’s husband pointed out that babysitters were costing a fortune while she worked for free — perhaps her design skills could be put to professional use. Bradley pitched the idea to Elisabeth, but with her hands full at the Hanes family’s downtown Fairhope retail store and restaurant, Provision, the timing didn’t seem right.

“She told me she was going to do it without me and call it Sorella anyway in the hopes I might change my mind. And of course, I regretted saying no immediately,” Elisabeth laughs. Working with her twin sounded like too much fun to pass up. Sorella Interiors was born, and the sisters have been busy designing and styling homes in Birmingham and Fairhope — and in Montgomery, Nashville and beyond — ever since.

A blank slate, finally

Elisabeth offered up her youngest child’s room as the blank slate. “We knew we were going to have a third child but didn’t find out if it was going to be a boy or a girl, so it was white and had never been decorated. I hated walking in there but just didn’t have the time or mental space to do it.” Her son Wright is now 4, and it was past time.

The proposal promised to take the room from drab, with low ceilings, to a layered space using fabrics, prints and textures that, surprisingly, should make it feel larger. Mixing antiques, unique art and natural materials would give the room a collected-over-time feel, and new wainscoting would add the architectural interest missing in a home of that era.

Designing over FaceTime

The only problem was the timeline. As Elisabeth swept up the mess of the holidays, the sisters quickly ordered fabrics, matched paint swatches and scoured the attic for pieces to reuse. Milton & King didn’t even have samples of the chosen wallpaper ready — the company offered a different pattern with similar colors but a black background. “So that was how we did it, over FaceTime, from Birmingham to Fairhope,” Elisabeth says. “And for some elements, one of us would have to say, ‘You have the sample there, you’re gonna have to pick this one.'”

By the end of January, just in the nick of time, the room came together. The sisters had it professionally photographed and submitted the final result to Milton & King in time for a big social media reveal. “December and January are not easy months to be doing a crazy project,” Elisabeth laughs — but the room is something she now enjoys entering, and hopes will always feel just right for Wright, no matter his age.

The design details

The room’s entire design was built around Topsy-Turvey in Rainbow by Milton & King. Using the wallpaper’s colors as the jumping-off point, Elisabeth chose Eating Room Red by Farrow & Ball for the wainscoting, trim, doors and vintage wicker desk, while the ceiling got Parma Grey by Farrow & Ball to visually raise the height and bring the sky indoors.

A soft Roman shade in blue offers a break from the busy wallpaper and folds neatly above the desk, keeping the study space tidy. A canopy in a solid Kravet fabric anchors the bed and creates a clean backdrop for the artwork above it — “Who’s Dreaming Who” by Melissa Lakey of Austin, Texas-based Little Van Gogh’s.

Vintage furniture gives the room its lived-in, collected-not-purchased feel. The bed belonged to Elisabeth’s husband, William, when he was a child; the desk chair, bookshelf, chest, chalk heads and wooden art by the window were all vintage finds from local antique stores and estate sales, and the wicker desk came out of her mother’s attic for a fresh coat of paint. A quilt in a timeless Irish Chain pattern — Crimson Crossings by The Six Bells — adds old-fashioned craftsmanship, and tailored Bungalow Plug-in Sconces by Matt Alford Studio in a Bordeaux lacquered finish work just as well for reading storybooks now as they will when studying fills Wright’s evenings.

A Nod to Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson’s films are known for carefully composed color palettes, layered patterns and a sense of curated whimsy — exactly the qualities Elisabeth and Bradley set out to capture in the room. The Topsy-Turvey wallpaper provided the bold pattern, while the Farrow & Ball reds and greys gave the room a unified backdrop that lets the wallpaper shine without overwhelming it.

Mixing Old and New on the Alabama Gulf Coast

Designing a room like this along the Alabama Gulf Coast comes with its own rewards and constraints. Local antique shops and estate sales in Fairhope, Daphne and along the Eastern Shore turn up vintage pieces with patina that simply can’t be bought new, while the coastal humidity encourages designers to think about how wood, fabric and woven materials will hold up over time. The sisters addressed that by selecting natural materials — wicker, wood, cotton and linen — and by giving older pieces a fresh coat of paint to refresh their finish.

Why Fairhope Homes Inspire This Kind of Design

Fairhope’s historic downtown, shady oak streets and small-town character have made it a hub for designers and design-minded homeowners along the Gulf Coast. Many homes in the area date to the early twentieth century, and residents often favor a look that mixes vintage pieces, natural materials and comfortable, livable furnishings over more trend-driven styles.

Sorella Interiors has built a reputation on that kind of look — polished but approachable, layered but not over-designed — and the Wright bedroom project is a clear example of how the sisters translate those principles into a child’s space. Each piece was chosen with the idea that the room should grow along with Wright, supporting everything from afternoon play to school-aged homework.

More From the Sisters

More from Sorella Interiors is available at sorellainteriors.co, where Elisabeth and Bradley share updates on current projects, sources for the materials they love and a glimpse into the pieces they recommend most for clients along the Gulf Coast and beyond.

Designing for a Child Who Will Grow Up Here

One of the most thoughtful choices in the room is its durability. Pieces like the quilt, the solid fabric canopy and the wainscoting are designed to age gracefully, while the layered art and accessories can be swapped out as Wright grows older without changing the bones of the space. The sisters intentionally avoided cartoonish motifs or strictly “kid” colors so the room would not feel dated by the time Wright heads to elementary school.

Tips for Pulling Together a Layered, Personal Room

For homeowners inspired by the look, Elisabeth suggests starting with one piece that anchors the room — in this case, the wallpaper — and pulling a palette directly from it. Adding antiques, vintage finds and natural materials gives the space character that mass-produced furniture cannot. Layering patterns through rugs, pillows and window treatments adds depth, while consistent paint choices on trim, doors and ceilings create cohesion even in a room with bold colors.

Finally, she says, a room like this is meant to be lived in. Pieces that can take wear and tear — like a wicker desk, a solid wood bed and tailored sconces — keep the space functional as Wright grows, while soft Roman shades, layered art and a canopy make it feel like a special place to spend the afternoon. The sisters’ design is proof that a wallpaper contest can become something far more lasting than a contest entry.