My Houzz: Black Adds Drama to This 1930 Nashville Home
Eclectic textiles and a gallery wall of mirrors bring loads of style to an updated Victorian in Tennessee
“This house is absolutely incredible for having guests. Because it’s an old Victorian, it has a bit of an odd layout, but because of that, all of the bedrooms feel private from one another,” says Doubleday, pictured in the living room with Lucien and their dachshund mix, Ricky.
“Since I’m so in love with this city, I’ve convinced all of my friends and family to visit, so I’ve had people staying here almost every weekend. Everyone is sad to leave.… The energy of the house and city is really special.”
“Since I’m so in love with this city, I’ve convinced all of my friends and family to visit, so I’ve had people staying here almost every weekend. Everyone is sad to leave.… The energy of the house and city is really special.”
The decorating challenge in the living room, with its 16-foot-high ceiling, was to make it feel cozy and pulled together while working with the couple’s blended, eclectic style.
“For instance, the chesterfield sofa in the living room may not necessarily work with the Southwestern pillows, but they tie into the colors of the rug,” Doubleday says. “Also, throwing a few onto the chairs makes the room feel more cohesive. There’s a modern feel with the coffee tables, yet the gallery wall feels super antique.”
With the gallery wall, Doubleday started by deciding to limit it to portraits. “It was fun to give yourself a parameter and see what you can find,” she says.
“For instance, the chesterfield sofa in the living room may not necessarily work with the Southwestern pillows, but they tie into the colors of the rug,” Doubleday says. “Also, throwing a few onto the chairs makes the room feel more cohesive. There’s a modern feel with the coffee tables, yet the gallery wall feels super antique.”
With the gallery wall, Doubleday started by deciding to limit it to portraits. “It was fun to give yourself a parameter and see what you can find,” she says.
The large dining room includes an original fireplace. “I love the feel of the dining room. The plants and vintage curtains give it a very Southern feel, and it’s perfect for hosting dinner parties, which we’ve had a lot of,” Doubleday says. The previous homeowners gave the dining table and chairs to the couple.
The new Sputnik chandelier in the dining room is one of Doubleday’s favorite features. It creates a stunning focal point directly over the table.
Swedenborg painted the interior walls white, then highlighted the window trim, door trim, baseboards and original architectural details like the ceiling medallion in a dramatic contrasting black.
Paint: Tricorn Black, Sherwin-Williams
Find a Sputnik chandelier
The new Sputnik chandelier in the dining room is one of Doubleday’s favorite features. It creates a stunning focal point directly over the table.
Swedenborg painted the interior walls white, then highlighted the window trim, door trim, baseboards and original architectural details like the ceiling medallion in a dramatic contrasting black.
Paint: Tricorn Black, Sherwin-Williams
Find a Sputnik chandelier
Before. Pictured here is the kitchen before the remodel. Doubleday kept the floor, backsplash and island, but she wanted to breathe new life into this space while on a budget by swapping out a few things. These seemingly minor transformations made a huge difference in modernizing the space.
Doubleday had the existing lower cabinets painted black, bought new drawer pulls and replaced the upper cabinets with open shelving. She also swapped in a new sink, faucet and light fixture. New butcher block countertops replaced the existing granite, and the island top was restained.
“Lauren assured me that we could do small budget changes that would make the place look totally new, so I gave up on retiling the kitchen floors,” Doubleday says. “We decided we could somehow make these dated tiles look OK, and she was right!”
Along with the changes in the rest of the space, adding colorful, textured rugs also helped make the existing kitchen floors not as noticeable. “I’m in love with the space now!” she says.
Basket-weave pendant shade: Cost Plus World Market
The Pros and Cons of Upper Kitchen Cabinets and Open Shelves
“Lauren assured me that we could do small budget changes that would make the place look totally new, so I gave up on retiling the kitchen floors,” Doubleday says. “We decided we could somehow make these dated tiles look OK, and she was right!”
Along with the changes in the rest of the space, adding colorful, textured rugs also helped make the existing kitchen floors not as noticeable. “I’m in love with the space now!” she says.
Basket-weave pendant shade: Cost Plus World Market
The Pros and Cons of Upper Kitchen Cabinets and Open Shelves
When decorating the master bedroom, Doubleday started with her Danish modern–style bed frame, which she found on Craigslist. The nightstand was a $5 yard sale find. It was originally intended to be temporary, but Doubleday ended up liking its small size. She kept her eye out for something similar, so when she found the second nightstand, she painted them both black to match the trim in the room.
The room ended up with a primarily beige, gold and black palette. “It sort of happened organically as I added art to the room,” Doubleday says.
The room ended up with a primarily beige, gold and black palette. “It sort of happened organically as I added art to the room,” Doubleday says.
The dresser is a $40 Craigslist find. The wood tones match the bed frame, and the brass hardware ties in with the other beige and gold tones in the room.
In the master bathroom, Doubleday wanted to stick to a budget and therefore tried to repurpose some of the existing pieces. She painted the existing vanity black and added brass hardware, put in a butcher block countertop, added new sinks with brass faucets, and installed black-and-brass globe lights above the mirrors.
She also kept the existing mirrors but created new frames for them out of trim pieces that were painted black to match the vanity. The vintage rug adds a pop of color while covering up the existing tile.
Swing-arm lamps: Bautista collection, AllModern
She also kept the existing mirrors but created new frames for them out of trim pieces that were painted black to match the vanity. The vintage rug adds a pop of color while covering up the existing tile.
Swing-arm lamps: Bautista collection, AllModern
Doubleday added a dark floral-patterned wallpaper in the half bath. “That was the easiest.… Wallpaper can make any room look so rich, so I just needed a simple vanity and light fixture, and I was done,” she says.
Wallpaper: Tall Grass, Anthropologie
Wallpaper: Tall Grass, Anthropologie
The other three bedrooms in the home, such as the one seen here, are set up as guest bedrooms for visiting friends and family.
Macramé pendant shade: Cost Plus World Market
Macramé pendant shade: Cost Plus World Market
One of the standout features in this guest bedroom is the wall of mirrors. “I knew I needed to fill up the space with a statement because I didn’t have a huge budget to spend on furniture and it’s a huge room,” she says. “I thought if I drew your eye to the back wall, it would be the focal point of the room.”
Doubleday started looking for mirrors of any size, shape and color, making sure that they had a vintage feel. Once she had about 10, she started on the wall.
Doubleday started looking for mirrors of any size, shape and color, making sure that they had a vintage feel. Once she had about 10, she started on the wall.
“I definitely stayed within my budget, and even now there are tons of things that I can imagine changing, but they don’t really bother me now that the house is put together,” Doubleday says. “It feels super open and cozy at the same time, which I love. I lived in this house through most of the renovation, so seeing it like this, I still pinch myself.”
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More
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More guides and inspiration for decorating with black
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More
11 Reasons to Paint Your Interior Doors Black
More guides and inspiration for decorating with black
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
Who lives here: Kaitlin Doubleday, Devin Lucien and their two dogs, a dachshund mix, Ricky, and a Boston terrier rescue, Pony
Location: East Nashville, Tennessee
Size: 2,400 square feet (223 square meters); four bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Kaitlin Doubleday and Devin Lucien moved to Nashville, Tennessee, from Los Angeles in September 2017. Doubleday, who plays the character Jessie Caine on CMT’s Nashville, fell in love with Music City while filming season five of the show. Together they bought a 1930 Victorian in the East Nashville neighborhood. It had tired finishes in need of some love.
The couple had a remodeling budget of $25,000 and worked closely with local home stager and interior decorator Lauren Swedenborg to add smart, modern choices to the interior. At the top of their wish list were updating the kitchen and bathrooms, painting the interior walls, and replacing the floors and light fixtures.