Page 138 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2016

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ABOVE: A VINTAGE AIRSTREAM camper is just one of several projects Lemoine-Raymond completed recently. RIGHT: THE COLORS OF black, gray and off white manifest the industrial look Lemoine-Raymond is wanting to achieve.
were washed, ironed and hung on black rods for perfect curtains. The colors of black, gray and off white manifest the industrial look she likes, but teamed with a variety of textures make a warm, inviting room. A vintage railroad cart serving as a coffee table, a gray nubby-textured sofa purchased at Goodwill, framed maps and some green plants complete the appealing scene.
Thinking outside the box, Lemoine-Raymond hung a full-length mirror horizontally over the bathroom sink and used the remnants from two burn barrels as wall art.
There’s a sleeping loft that’s reached via a metal ladder. The Airstream camper is parked in the former garage area of the gas station, thus providing enough sleeping space when the family stays overnight or on weekends in their Bay St. Louis getaway. Their main residence is
a 43-acre farm in Hancock County. The camper benefitted from Lemoine-Raymond’s creative touch too. The chic black, gray and off white color scheme is continued along with some cafe curtains made from the recycled drop cloths.
“I bought this old station to help the community, hoping it will inspire others to renovate old properties,” she said. “I’m not afraid to be a trend setter and take a chance.”
She says people often think it takes a lot of money to restore rundown structures, but it
doesn’t. “I try to do a lot of the work myself,” she said, “and I sometimes pick up discarded things on the side of the road. The beauty is that nothing has to be perfect; it’s organic.”
The outside of the gas-station-turned-cottage was sheathed in stucco and painted in the dominant gray and off white. A low board fence around the property perimeter encloses the space while still allowing openness. True to her do-it-yourself philosophy, Lemoine-Raymond fashioned a porch swing from pallet wood and a baby crib mattress. “Word got around I bought a crib mattress and people thought I was pregnant,” she joked.
Pallet wood was also used to enclose the air-conditioning/heating unit. A picnic table dressed with dishes, linens, hurricane lamps and wheat grass are ready for outdoor entertaining. A raffia rug and large black planters complete the look.
Another outside space boasts a raised garden that’s the pride of Lemoine- Raymond and her 15-year-old son Landry Lemoine. “He loves this place and helps me with the garden,” she says of her son. She built the wooden boxes that hold herbs, strawberries and flowers.
The former owner of the Cypress Cafe, Lemoine-Raymond sold that business after becoming a real estate professional. The past year was her first as a realtor and she made Top Producer. “My mom was a realtor in Destin. She gave me a book in which I listed the things I wanted to do in life,” she said. “Owning a restaurant was one and becoming a realtor was one. I’m checking things off the list.”
138 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • May 2016
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