A Design Lover’s Guide to Atlanta

Culture + LifestyleA Design Lover’s Guide to Atlanta, GeorgiaTake a bite out of The Big Peach

By Lia Picard

November 26, 2021

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A sculpture on the grounds of the High Museum of Art.Photo: Jonathan Hillyer for High Museum of Art

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Atlanta’s skyline is dominated by John Portman’s iconic neo-futuristic buildings, but zoom in and you’ll find a city striking the balance between preserving history and embracing exciting design. “The beauty of Atlanta is change and progress. We’re not stuck in the past, and God forbid that we would be,” says Vivian Bencich, an interior designer and founding principal of Square Feet Studio, a firm that has designed some of Atlanta’s most beloved restaurants like The General Muir and Kimball House.

The city has gained recent notoriety for its role in national politics and has a well-earned moniker as the Hollywood of the South. But it has long been a city of design interest as the home to such institutions as the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC) and counts powerhouses like Suzanne Kasler and Michele Smith Boyd among its roster of interior designers.

Atlanta is made up of vibrant neighborhoods lined with craftsman bungalows juxtaposed with mixed-use developments, and there is no shortage of independent coffee shops and seasonally-driven restaurants. Atlanta also happens to have the Hartsfield-Jackson airport, one of the busiest in the world, making it easily accessible to travelers. The next time you find yourself in Atlanta, these are the best places to stay, eat, drink, and visit.

The lobby at The Bellyard.

Photo: Mark O'TysonWhere to stay

The heart of the city is arguably Old Fourth Ward. It’s where historic treasures like the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. and modern attractions such as the BeltLine trail are located—and the recently opened Wylie Hotel gives you a chance to immerse yourself in Old Fourth Ward. The boutique hotel is situated on the main drag of Ponce de Leon avenue, and has been many things in its lifetime since the 1920s: A hotel that housed Atlanta’s first gay bar, the dance club MJQ’s first location, and student housing. Today, the interior has been reimagined by designers Kendal Rogers and Maria Garza Gossett of Pixel Design Collaborative who gave it a residential feel with Art Deco flair. Just down the street is the Hotel Clermont which came roaring back to life with eclectic guest rooms and a rooftop bar in 2018 after sitting vacant for years (though the famed lounge downstairs has never quit).

The Bellyard opened its doors in May and brings luxe hotel rooms to the ever-evolving neighborhood of West Midtown. Part of the Interlock, a work-meets-play property, the hotel’s design subtly pays tribute to the stockyards and railroads that once made up the landscape of the neighborhood (look up at the ceiling in the lobby restaurant Drawbar and see lighting in beams reminiscent of railroad tracks).

In Buckhead, the Kimpton Sylvan is a one-stop-shop for those seeking an oasis with a courtyard bar in Willow, a well-appointed pool, and St. Julep on the roof for drinks with a view. Or head downtown where the Candler Hotel—built by Asa Griggs Candler of Coca-Cola in 1906—offers glamour in spades in its marble and crystal-accented lobby. For a more traditional hotel offering, the Four Seasons Atlanta in Midtown has all the trappings of a cosmopolitan hotel complete with a spa and a tranquil indoor pool.

Pull up a chair at the bar in Lucian Books and Wine.

Photo: Lucian BarWhere to eat and drink

Start your day in one of the city’s locally-owned coffee shops. The Victorian + Bellwood Coffee brings together a greenhouse aesthetic and coffee shop in an old house in East Atlanta Village, while Perc, a Savannah-based roastery, serves up creative coffee drinks and house-made Pop Tarts in a minimalist yet cheerful space with pink and blue accents.

Lucian Books and Wine in Buckhead offers sophistication at the intersection of Peachtree and Pharr Roads. Designed by Seiber, the bookshelves are stocked with design and food-centric books chosen by co-owner Katie Barringer, while a bistro table is an ideal spot to flip through the wine menu overseen by co-owner and sommelier Jordan Smelt. If you just ordered a glass of champagne and an order of french fries it would still be perfect. Up the street in the St. Regis Hotel is Atlas—with art on display from the Lewis Collection—and its counterpart The Garden Room, a glass-enclosed patio with a glitzy and over-the-top (in the best way) garden party aesthetic.

Other can’t miss spots to feast visually and literally include Himitsu, the not-so-secret bar adjacent to Umi—it was Tom Dixon’s first stateside hospitality restaurant and features his signature statement lighting and a moody atmosphere. You can also visit Little Bear in Summerhill for an atmosphere reflective of its chef-owner Jarrett Stieber’s vivaciousness and Aziza in West Midtown for modern Israeli dishes. One can’t talk about design-centric restaurants in Atlanta without mentioning Bacchanalia, Anne Quatrano’s celebrated institution which serves elegantly plated dishes that highlight locally-grown produce in a dining room that’s a play on an upscale barn.

The front of the High Museum of Art.

Photo: Cat MaxWhat to see and do

To really get a sense of the city’s architecture, take a tour with the Atlanta Preservation Center which offers guided walks through neighborhoods like historic Downtown, Inman Park, and Druid Hills. In Midtown, the High Museum of Art has a collection of historical and contemporary art as well as special exhibits. The sculptural atrium designed by Richard Meier, which allows light to shift beautifully throughout the day, is worth the ticket alone. Across the street is the Museum of Design and Art which tackles the future of design through its exhibits like the forthcoming Survival Architecture which addresses climate change.

Inspiration can be found at Atlanta Contemporary in West Midtown which has exhibition and project spaces as well as a gift shop curated with goods from mainly women artists and makers in the southeast.

Downtown, the National Center for Human and Civil Rights is visually stunning with curving walls that hearken to sites of other Civil Rights events like Washington D.C. The contents inside are even more stunning with artifacts from Martin Luther King Jr. on display as well as exhibits dedicated to ongoing human rights struggles around the world.

Street art lovers should head to the Wylie Street corridor in Cabbagetown where artists line up along the wall during the weeklong event Forward Warrior in September. Living Walls, a nonprofit that works with muralists to inspire social change, has murals throughout the city like the recently completed “Keep Moving, Stay Focused” by Linda McNeil on the Jane in Grant Park.

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