Charlie

Ruth Campbell: Bringing in the Beach

When Charleston’s tough job market took a turn for the worse last year, one local recession baby hit the beach – literally.

Interior designer Ruth Campbell began gathering inspiration, and objects, from the beach around her Sullivan’s Island home to create incredibly unique home furnishings and decor.

The self-professed “home-decorating magazine freak” draws ideas from the world around her – everything from vintage advertisements to bold wallpaper prints inspire her. By blending prints and fabrics with natural beach finds (think colorful fan coral, driftwood and preserved sand dollars), Campbell is able to capture the vibrant essence of Sullivan’s Island in tidy pieces that mix well with any room’s motif.

Her line of home accessories, Libbie Home, was developed by chance during a lull between jobs in May 2009. In an effort to prove to her husband that her recent creations were more than “arts and crafts projects,” the ex-Domino Magazine editor began selling her pieces on the website Etsy. All it took was one sale for a hobby to become a business, and as each piece is one of a kind and handmade, Campbell has to work hard to keep items in stock.

Libbie Home is currently being sold at the month-long shop Novel, located at 438 King Street, which will run until March 31st. The temporary store features several local names and offers a range of items from jewelry and fashion to art and home furnishings. Campbell’s first piece of furniture, a driftwood table, will also be available.

With the weather still borderlining on unseasonably chilly (and rainy), perhaps bringing the beach inside will remind Mother Nature that Charleston is, indeed, a beach town.

Novel Blog

Story by: Carter Worrell Dandridge
Photos by: Jason Zwiker