Interior designers often act as design counselors, blending a husband and wife’s preferences into one cohesive look. For this custom home in Nashville, the merger was a big success, perhaps because of the mix of styles. “This was one of the hardest homes to put together,” says designer Connie Vernich. “The challenge was trying to make both homeowners, Caroline and Brandon, happy. Brandon loves clean, symmetrical lines and wanted a modern house, whereas Caroline wanted a soft, livable home for the kids, with light blues, soft pastel colors and a beach-traditional feel.”
It helped that Brandon Jenkins is a builder himself, owner of Grove Park Construction, and is used to adding custom touches. Connie and the Jenkins’ have worked together on two previous houses, so their good relationship made the collaboration process go faster and smoother.
This new house makes a strong first impression with a crisp black and white exterior — painted brick with metal accents to distinguish it. “The architect, Champ W. Webb, created a home that’s a modern contemporary update on a Cape Cod Colonial,” says Connie. “It has beautiful steel front doors — also called store-front windows — and modern steel windows in the front of the home.”
Connie continued the black and white motif on the inside but didn’t want the interiors to be cold. Light oak floors and wood beams brought in the character of aged wood to the mix throughout the first floor. “Other ways we warmed up the client’s existing neutral furniture was through the soft-colored leather in the study sofa and leather-bound books,” says the designer. “We also incorporated brass hardware and lighting, which adds such a pretty glow and warmth throughout the space.” Caroline got her beachy look through blue velvet chairs and pillows and a sisal rug in the living room, as well as the blue and white master bedroom with wood-plank ceilings and plenty of feminine touches.
“My favorite room in the house is the study,” Connie shares. “We painted the walls a dark charcoal gray instead of black, and I absolutely love the contrasts in this room.” The tufted leather sofa is flanked by two off-white swivel chairs, a striped metered ottoman and pops of brass.
In the end, Connie feels like she deftly combined bold and subtle, light and dark, edgy and feminine, plus showed how to warm up the ever-popular industrial look. “The result is a traditional yet tailored home featuring warm wood tones, vivid metals and inviting textures,” she says. “It was definitely a balancing act of opposing aesthetics.”
Thanks to Paige Rumore Photography for today’s beautiful photos!
RESOURCES
Interior design: Connie Vernich Interiors
Builder: Grove Park Construction
Architect:Â Champ W. Webb
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