FLORIDA MOM MAGAZINE - August '08 - Lynne Roskein - Atlantic Beach BeautyBy: Michele Gillis Photos: Michele Gillis
 Lynne Roskein built her dream home two years ago on a corner lot in Atlantic Beach.
“I designed it and picked everything out,” said Roskein. “We had the land and it had a small 1950’s style ranch house on it that we tore down.”
The interior of the house is very open and modern. When you enter the house, you enter one big room which includes the kitchen, dining room and living room area.
“I want people to feel openness and comfort,” said Roskein. “I wanted one big space where people could gather for entertaining and for when family comes. I didn’t want delineated spaces and separated rooms.”
The colors on the interior of the house are mainly black and white.
“I like splashes of color,” said Roskein. “I like to change my accessories and add accents without painting the walls.”
Though she did a lot herself, she did enlist the help of both a house and an interior designer.
“I did a lot of it myself, but I did have some help with an interior designer, Danielle Hazlett,” she said. “She helped me decide what scale light fixtures would work and things like that.”
Roskein said she went through magazine after magazine and was always pulling out the same thing, so she went with it.
“I was picking out white walls and dark wood floors,” she said. “That’s what I liked.”
Her living room is open with a couch in the middle facing a fireplace and a cabinet which holds and hides her television.
“When you walk in the house I didn’t want you to see a television,” she said. “It makes it more formal if I need it to be formal.”
In the corner, there is a cushioned seating area where her children can relax and read.
“It also has extra storage underneath for books and things,” she said. “I don’t like clutter and stuff out. I like to put it away.”
She designed her kitchen with mahogany cabinets and marble countertops while her flooring throughout the house is American walnut.
As a mom, Roskein does realize the need for children to make their mess, so she designed a playroom on the first floor for her two children, Hannah, 7 and Laura, 5 to have at it.
How does she keep the house in order with two small children?
“I keep after them and they put things away,” she said. “It gets messy during the day, but at night before they get their bath, we clean up.”
Also, on the first floor is Roskein’s studio. She is a mosaic artist. That is where she can let loose and make her mess. In her studio, she breaks plates, uses scrabble pieces and other glass materials to create artwork which she sells at various art shows and at First Street Gallery.
“This makes up for all the clutter I don’t have,” she joked when showing her studio.
Roskein used her mosaic skills to add design throughout the house. She designed the girl’s tile mirrors in their bathroom and helped with the design of the tile floor which matches the mirrors, designed a bookshelf in Laura’s room and created a mosaic sun piece for the guest bedroom.
The second floor includes the master bedroom which houses Art Decco 1920’s furniture that Roskein found in an antique shop 20 years ago.
The master bath is done completely is white and has a large spa tub, walk-in shower and double sinks.
Outside of their bedroom is a lovely balcony with lounge chairs overlooking the pool area.
She said she and her husband Jeff who is a chiropractor in San Marco enjoy the patio and get a lot of use out of it in the evenings.
“Sometimes we sit out here after dinner and read while watching the girls swim,” said Roskein. “The kids get a lot of use out of the pool.”
The girl’s rooms are painted in pinks and purples. Hannah’s room is done in a princess theme, while Laura’s room is more of a purple with fairies theme.
Their bathroom has the same clean put together theme as the downstairs, complete with an appliance cabinet where all of their “stuff” is kept off of the counters and out of sight.
Down the hall from the girl’s rooms is another larger balcony area with lounge chairs.
Roskein had a few money saving tips to share.
“I bought a lot of stuff online,” she said. “I bought all of the bathroom fixtures online and saved a lot of money. I got free shipping and no tax. Every fixture in all of the bathrooms is different. I don’t have the same faucet anywhere.”
If you are thinking of building your own house, Roskein said to take your time, enjoy it and don’t let it stress you out.
“I lived the plans for such a long that I knew what the house would feel like before it even went up,” she said. “I made sure we didn’t rush the plans. It was well thought out. There isn’t anything that I thought we should have done different.”
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