Those who believe in destiny might say interior designer Jason Arnold was meant to have this Nashville house. He first marveled at its striking geometries back in 2004, when an acquaintance purchased it and invited him to tour its voluminous rooms. Then, more than 15 years later, the 1982 Green Hills abode caught his eye once again, this time from a real estate listing in his email inbox. Arnold could see that questionable renovations had been made over time as the property traded hands, but its strong contemporary bones remained. “I look at houses like this often and can see through to what can be done,” he says.
Appreciating the home’s potential was one thing. Swerving out of his classical comfort zone and buying the place was quite another. But Arnold sensed kismet, made an offer, packed up his 1870s shotgun cottage across town and moved in. And then, for one year, he did nothing at all.
“I said, ‘I’m just going to live in this 1980s lady for a while and feel it out,’ ” the designer recounts. That research led Arnold to several conclusions. The first was that the red brick exterior and glass front door befitting a bank would have to be softened with simple yet textural landscape architecture—a task he would ultimately defer to repeat collaborator Anne Daigh. The second was that the vast, two-story living room, which he had begun calling the hotel lobby, “eats everything” put into it and would require a careful consideration of scale. The third was that every room was going to need a lot of rich color, texture and detail to impart the inviting warmth that has become a hallmark of Arnold’s designs.
The second challenge was solved in part by using sound-dampening draperies that soften every corner of the living room while giving the eye a resting place well below the 18-foot-high ceiling. By replacing the original ceiling lights with a paper lantern hung low, Arnold emphasized the human scale. “Now, at night, everything above 10 feet high kind of goes away, and the room feels really intimate,” he explains.
To coax more coziness from the contemporary spaces, Arnold relied on his network of talented tradespeople. Local trim carpenter Francisco Jiménez installed chunky window and door trim inspired by details the designer spotted at The Dewberry hotel in Charleston, then spent weeks wrapping the primary bathroom in wide panels of white oak. Meanwhile, artisans from a favorite Middle Tennessee stone fabricator carved an inset channel along the edge of the kitchen’s new marble countertops and backsplash, “creating a detail that looks like it could be original to the house,” Arnold notes.
One guest bedroom’s headboard, upholstered in a Schumacher textile, pops against walls painted Sherwin-Williams’ Pewter Green. A vintage camp blanket from Times Past Antiques and custom pillow of Le Gracieux linen enhance the pattern play.
A collection of 17th-century copper engravings sets off the den’s vintage Pearson sofa upholstered in Dedar velvet. Flanking it are French armchairs from Robin Rains Interior Design + Antiques. The floor lamps are Robert Sonneman at left and Juniper at right.
Keystone Millworks crafted the kitchen’s bespoke cabinetry, which features brass Top Knobs pulls. Artisans from Indigo Granite & Tile carved an inset channel into the Danby marble countertops. An Urban Archeology pendant light hangs above Ironware International counter stools.
Dramatic angles fill the dining room, including seats by Søren Nissen and Ebbe Gehl via Amelia Tarbet and a vintage white oak dining table from Dinnerparty Antiques, where the abstract artwork was also sourced. The Mexican terra-cotta bowl is from Box Road.
Schumacher’s Morrison cotton adorns the primary bedroom’s walls, armchair and pediment-inspired bed by Grant Trick. Vintage additions—a Coromandel screen from Speer Collectibles and desk from Pascale Jones—lend glamour.
A console in François Catroux’s Paris apartment inspired the primary bathroom’s white oak vanity by Keystone Millworks. A Carvers’ Guild gold-leaf mirror, Kohler faucet and Visual Comfort & Co. sconces add shine. The green vase is by Pat Gavin.
White oak paneling by Francisco Jiménez frames the primary bathroom’s Art Deco table from Eneby Home and Miseno tub; they all rest atop honed Hudson White marble from Renaissance Tile & Bath. The plaster bust is from Sacred Heart Antiques.
Ceramic tiles from Renaissance Tile & Bath create a windowpane pattern in one guest bathroom, where Visual Comfort & Co. sconces flank a mirror from Bennett Galleries. Danby marble from OHM International tops the vanity base by Palmer Industries.
One guest bedroom’s headboard, upholstered in a Schumacher textile, pops against walls painted Sherwin-Williams’ Pewter Green. A vintage camp blanket from Times Past Antiques and custom pillow of Le Gracieux linen enhance the pattern play.
Graceful klismos chairs make an unexpected appearance in the contemporary-meets-classic abode.
In the primary bedroom, a single striped fabric applied uniformly to walls, bed and armchair combines with wall-to-wall carpeting to create the enveloping quality Arnold craved. “I joke that it’s my padded cell,” he says. “In all seriousness, it’s my refuge at the end of the day.”
Saturated shades inspired by Arnold’s own smartly tailored wardrobe enhance the abode’s warmth. “These colors and textures are what make me feel comfortable, so I opted not to fight that impulse,’” he shares. Instead, he leaned in on his favorite hues, painting the living room bar a deep mahogany shade, popping the den’s gold sofa against a putty-gray suede wallcovering and pairing one guest bedroom’s moody green walls with an upholstered headboard the color of claret. “That isn’t a color I use a lot,” Arnold says of the latter, “but I see my house as a laboratory where I can test things out—before I try them out on a client.”
Other experiments included placing unexpected, conversation-sparking furnishings ranging from the living room’s graceful klismos chairs to the dining room’s angular Swedish seats. “I love pieces that make a strong statement,” the designer comments. “I appreciate that juxtaposition between contemporary and traditional design,” he continues, citing the den’s mix of a camelback sofa, modern armchairs and classical artwork.
Out of the box as these design moves may seem, “I can be a creature of habit,” Arnold admits. “So, just as I tell my clients, ‘I’m going to push you,’ I have made an honest effort to do that with myself. I still gravitate toward traditional architecture, but I think this contemporary house is ‘me’ in a different way. It reflects the season I’m in. Who knows how long it will last, but I’m loving it right now.”
Dramatic angles fill the dining room, including seats by Søren Nissen and Ebbe Gehl via Amelia Tarbet and a vintage white oak dining table from Dinnerparty Antiques, where the abstract artwork was also sourced. The Mexican terra-cotta bowl is from Box Road.