My Visit to the HGTV Dream Home {St. Simons Island, Georgia}

Check out the recap from My Visit to the HGTV Dream Home on St. Simons Island, Georgia!

It feels as though the annual HGTV® Dream Home sweepstakes has been a part of my life forever. With the first home designed in 1997, that’s 20 years of my lifetime that I’ve poured over photos of all the beautiful homes and their amazing locations across the United States. Wishing, hoping, and praying each year that I’ll win with every entry I submit.

Well we’re still living here in Minnesota, in the same home we bought more than 13 years ago. And that’s just fine. But I did have the most wonderful experience last week, a real live elbow-to-elbow brush with the HGTV Dream Home 2017. I was there. I was really there!

My Visit to the HGTV Dream Home on St. Simons Island, Georgia felt like a dream. I am still pinching myself. I am so very honored and excited to share this stunning home and property with you!

* This is a sponsored post, created in partnership with HGTV®.

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

Enter here for your chance to win the HGTV Dream Home!

Driving up to the HGTV Dream Home for the first time, I was immediately met by a feeling of comfort. Under an umbrella of established live oak and palm trees, this lovely coastal home was obviously not a ridiculously sized mega home with wasted, unused spaces. This was a home that appealed to my desire to live efficiently, surrounded by beauty and comfort. And quiet. I was instantly drawn to the peaceful neighborhood that this house called home.

Did you know that the HGTV Dream Home prize package includes a new Honda Pilot and $250,000?! 

Meet Brian Patrick Flynn, the designer for the HGTV Dream Home.

Looking up, Brian is explaining his design inspiration for the home…

“Those live oaks and all the greenery around them is what inspired all of the color for the main spaces of the house.”

It’s not difficult to understand why Brian was struck by the range of natural colors nestled under that big blue Georgia sky.

The back yard of this home was incredibly serene. If I lived there, this little spot down by the water is where you’d find me with a cup of coffee each morning and a glass of wine each evening (exactly what I did the two days I was here!).

The HGTV Dream Home 2017 is built for entertaining, with the outdoors sectioned into “little rooms”. There’s a grilling space with a large table for dining, a place to lounge beside the pool, a dining area shaded by an overhead trellis and live oaks, and a fire pit patio for chilly evenings. And there’s even a home for Fido. The HGTV Dream Home team has thought of everything!

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

The back yard patios offer plenty of elbow room for entertaining a larger group, yet still feel comfortable for the smaller, more regular gatherings of a family home.

Let’s step inside.

The open-concept kitchen, the heart of the home, shows off in greens and grays and browns. It’s easy to see the color inspiration from the live oaks outside, hanging in silvery moss.

The countertops were inspired by the enduring tabby material used for local buildings in coastal Georgia. They are made from a combination of concrete, earth, and crushed oyster shells.

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

The living room is layered in neutral colors and wonderful textures, begging you to sit down and get comfy. Right next to the kitchen, both of these rooms have the best views in the house out to the pool and back yard.

Did you know that the HGTV Dream Home prize package includes not only the house, but ALL of its furnishings?! Every pillow, plate, towel, rug, and picture on the wall. EVERYTHING.

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

The dining room is Brian Patrick Flynn’s favorite room in the house. I especially love that ceiling!

(Photo on left © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

I fell in love with the crisp blue and white coastal theme throughout the home. And I left enamored with wallpaper. These blue feathers in the laundry/mud room were my favorite.

After stripping wallpaper from nearly every single room in the house we currently live in after moving in (think big mauve flowers, little orange and brown daisies), I swore off wallpaper forever. But really…what does “forever” mean? Isn’t there some wiggle room in there, especially when we’re talking about wallpaper?!

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

More of that pretty blue and white, mixed in with different shades of warm browns and grays. This master bedroom suite, which includes a separate walk-in closet and luxury bath, is located on one end of the house, a bit separated from the activity of the rest of the house. The bedroom looks out to the back yard and includes a patio door to the pool deck.

I like this room alot.

I’d love to paint a room, floor to ceiling, in that wonderful navy blue. And that rug…want!!

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

The master bedroom closet…

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

And the master bath, so light and bright. Not shown is the large rectangular shower with marble mosaic tiles.

(Photos on L and R © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

This bedroom suite is decorated in white painted shiplap with lively pops of color. Aren’t those rainbow book towers fun?! The bright colors make this a happy space, for sure.

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

I’m told that this guest bedroom has been somewhat controversial with people. But I’ve always been a plaid-loving person. And a stripes-loving person. And a red-loving person. So I think this room is quite inviting with its bold patterns and rich hues.

(Photo on left © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

The guest bathroom was one of my favorite spaces. It’s full of texture in natural colors, and light and bright.

Another wallpaper favorite, this time with elephants and palm trees. This is the bathroom off of the pool lounge.

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

And this is the bright and airy pool lounge, the perfect space to show off that blue and white again. Besides comfortable seating, this room has a fireplace, big screen television, and a small wet bar, which all adds up to a super casual hangout space. Especially considering that most of the room is made up of large sliding glass doors that open up directly onto the pool deck. All of this would be our kids’ idea of heaven at home.

(Photo © 2016 Scripps Networks, LLC. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)

Heck, I would call this heaven, too. Wouldn’t you?!

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Enter DAILY for your chance to win the HGTV Dream Home 2017 prize package!

This prize package includes the home and all of its furnishing, plus a brand new Honda Pilot and $250,000. Total prize package is valued at over $1.7 million.

Enter here!

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I traveled with such a great group of people in my visit to the HGTV Dream Home. Please visit the others who were on this trip:

• Anita from Dessert First
• Chelsea from Someday I’ll Learn
• Dorothy from Crazy for Crust
• Janice from 5 Minutes for Mom
• Jeana from Surf and Sunshine
• Jessica from Womanist
• Kristin from Dine and Dish
• Miryam from Eat Good 4 Life
• Sandy from Reluctant Entertainer

Plus the HGTV Dream Home’s designer:

• Brian Patrick Flynn

And Design Love Fest founder:

• Bri Emery

Sweepstakes Details:

– The HGTV Dream Home 2017 grand prize package is valued at more than $1.7 million. In addition to the residence and all its furnishings, the grand prize package includes a new Honda Pilot and $250,000 cash prize provided by national mortgage lender Quicken Loans®.
– The HGTV Dream Home Giveaway 2017 opened for entries Wednesday, December 28, 2016 and runs through Friday, February 17, 2017. Eligible individuals can enter twice per day — once via HGTV.com and once via DIYNetwork.com.
-No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the U.S., age 21 or older. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes ends at 5 p.m. ET on 2/17/17. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. For full official rules, visit HGTV.comHGTVDreamHome or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: “HGTV Dream Home Giveaway”- RR, P.O. Box 52915, Knoxville, TN 37950. Main Sponsor: Scripps Networks, LLC d/b/a Home and Garden Television.

For more travel from a farmgirl’s dabbles, be sure to follow along on Pinterest!

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This post is sponsored by Scripps Networks, LLC. Travel and accommodations to visit the HGTV Dream Home were paid for by Scripps Networks, LLC. All text and opinions are 100% my own.