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Designing The Dunlin: Q&A with Amanda Lindroth

Coming next year to the Kiawah River community is The Dunlin, Auberge Resorts Collection, a charming, family-friendly retreat along the breathtaking Kiawah River waterfront. Each of the resort’s 72 cottage-style guest rooms and villas radiates classic Southern style as a product of the talent and vision of Amanda Lindroth, owner of Amanda Lindroth Design and The Dunlin’s interior designer.

Amanda’s stunning and extensive portfolio artfully blends vibrant colors, bold prints and layered textures to create sophisticated yet relaxed coastal-inspired spaces. To create the interior aesthetic of The Dunlin, Amanda applied her signature style while carefully curating designs highlighting the natural beauty of Kiawah River. The result is a familiar and warm atmosphere that evokes a vision of life on the water and feels like a home away from home.

We sat down with Amanda to discuss her inspiration and vision for The Dunlin, Auberge Resorts Collection.

Please describe your design aesthetic for The Dunlin’s interiors.
Our team worked closely with Auberge Resorts’ team to carefully create the DNA of the property. Our goal, from beginning to end, was for guests to experience the feeling of a barefoot 1920’s Lowcountry summer house. Kiawah River is a place of extreme natural beauty, layered with simple yet refined white wooden buildings. The layout, natural beauty and built areas are spare and authentic. The interiors are fresh, matching the exterior in simplicity and refinement.

What serves as your inspiration for designing The Dunlin’s interiors?
The main source of our inspiration for The Dunlin came from older houses of the Lowcountry. Oddly enough, we studied abandoned and neglected Grande Dame buildings and farmhouses—taking note of the high baseboards, transoms and other idioms of long ago. This history lesson allowed us to incorporate timeless, classic elements into The Dunlin’s interiors.

What makes The Dunlin’s interiors unique and why?
The interiors are an intentional combination of comfort and simplicity, mixed with charm and originality. The scale of the rooms is gracious but not over-sized, furniture is comfortable with lots of overstuffed upholstery. Wood finishes are both stained and painted, and vintage lighting adds a deliberately whimsical touch. We wanted to give the guests and visitors a feeling of arriving somewhere special and being welcomed with delight and care. 

How did designing The Dunlin’s interiors differ from the interiors of Kiawah River’s Bungalows (private residences), which you also designed?
Since we wanted to bring a very residential feeling to the interiors of The Dunlin, our process was not essentially very different from designing the Bungalows. We wanted The Dunlin’s interiors to not feel commercial. We kept the scale, comfort and general feeling very homey and comfortable, while respecting the purpose of a hotel and all the programming and demands required for it to function smoothly. It is quite a balancing act!

What types of materials/colors will be incorporated into The Dunlin, Auberge Resorts Collection and why?
Color-wise, whites and greens feature prominently at The Dunlin. We wanted to maintain the breezy, summery atmosphere of Kiawah River’s surroundings, and these colors reflect the outside in. A lot of wicker and rattan is used throughout the property to further reference the natural environment. Curtains are a crisp, white linen and upholstered sofas are covered in beautiful, hand-printed floral linen.