1 of 2
2 of 2
The first thing you notice in this Pembrooke & Ives-decorated Music City penthouse isn't the view. Though with the expansive windows, the view is spectacular. It's the exposed spiral staircase that first commands attention.
The staircase curves through the living room like a ribbon, drawing the eye upward to a double-height wall of windows and an assertively colorful, unframed painting. Below it, the room is more familiar. A pale sofa softened with blush-toned pillows backs up to the window. There's a brass-and-glass coffee table adorned with a carefully placed book and a small collection of vases and bowls. Two deep wine-colored chairs face the couch and the view.
It's a space that's highly designed, with purpose.
Blaine Davis
That balance between statement and familiar defines this Nashville penthouse from Pembrooke & Ives, an award-winning interior design firm comprised of experts in interior architecture, space planning, lighting, and furnishings.
Designed for a music label executive who splits his time between New York and Tennessee, the home needed to function on multiple levels.
"Our client has a music label and brought us on to create a home that blends spaces for living, working, and entertaining," says Megan St. Denis, design director at Pembrooke & Ives. "The goal was to create an environment that felt comfortable and elevated, familiar and special."
So instead of designing a series of rooms, the team tried to create a vibrant, inspiring space meant to spark ideas, cocktails, and long, successful business relationships.
Drawing on Nashville's Art Deco heritage while remaining contemporary, the design began with restraint. The bones of the home were intentionally kept neutral to place focus on the client's art collection.
In the main living area, however, the architecture is the star.
"The architecture is bold by design. We wanted to create a strong visual impact upon entering the space," St. Denis says. "The sweeping curve of the stair is balanced by the softness in the furnishings, and pops of color in the art and decor."
That balance is apparent. The large-scale painting above the fireplace, expressive and chaotic, brings excitement to the calm palette. The work anchors the living room and reinforces the home's art-forward perspective. The rug grounds the space in a warm gold, while the mix of materials including glass, upholstery, and metal keeps the room from feeling too stuffy.
Designers hoped it would be an area where people naturally gathered. As often happens after Music Row events, you can imagine the night continuing to unfold in the space. Someone is perched on the arm of a chair, someone else is refilling a glass, and new music is playing that at least half the people in the room hope is the genre's next defining trend.
If neutral is the connecting bridge, deep colors set the tone.
The den is wrapped in a commanding rich blue. A long velvet sofa stretches beneath a textured fiber artwork with woven strands shifting from neutrals into deeper tones. That piece, a custom Sheila Hicks textile, helped inform the color palette of the entire home, reinforcing the connection between the client's collection and the interior design.
"We like greens and blues that have a touch of gray in them. They have more depth and feel timeless," St. Denis says. "We offset the moodiness by infusing bright jewel tones, orange, green, fuchsia, and violet, drawn from the client's art to create cohesion."
Whitewashed oak floors run throughout, and aged bronze is a favorite for cabinetry, hardware, balusters, and baseboards. The firm intended it to introduce warmth and patina while offering a nod to the metal tip of a cowboy boot.
The kitchen and dining area carry that same sense of intention, but with a graphic edge. Like the staircase, the island commands attention.
"The island is a prominent architectural feature visible from four rooms, so we wanted it to feel sculptural and intentional from all angles," St. Denis says.
At the center of the home, the kitchen and dining area make a bold graphic statement with matte black cabinetry, aged bronze hardware, and concealed storage. Behind it, deep blue cabinetry stretches across the wall, paired with warm metal hardware. Chevron wood floors add movement and a subtle nod to craftsmanship.
The dining table sits under a modern cluster of soft, cloud-like glass lighting. The pantry is lined in walnut, as are all cabinetry interiors throughout the home. Pembrooke & Ives intended the dark wood to be an upgrade that elevates everyday moments.
A hidden bar is tucked behind pocket doors and finished in high-gloss peacock blue cabinetry, with an antique mirror, brass-and-glass shelving, and a bronze countertop designed to develop character over time.
If the living room is where the night begins, the listening room is where guests settle in.
Upstairs, designers reimagined bedrooms to reflect the client's lifestyle, transforming them into an acoustically tuned listening room and office outfitted with a high-performance sound system. The room is wrapped in walnut paneling and filled with equipment, records, and instruments.
"In the office, walnut paneling lends visual warmth and depth," St. Denis says. "Since this is also a listening room, we sheathed the walls and ceiling in acoustic fabric to provide sound absorption."
The primary bedroom is intentionally calm, with soft neutrals, layered textures, and light that moves through the space. A curved sofa sits near the window, positioned for morning light or a slow end to the day.
"In stark contrast to the main living spaces, the primary bedroom is a serene oasis," St. Denis says. "It's designed in soft neutrals to inspire the feeling of sleeping in a cloud."
That same scheme carries into the bathroom, where designers conjured subtle drama through Calacatta marble, honed stone, mixed metals, and a sculptural freestanding tub.
There's a sense here that luxury isn't about perfection. It's about comfort.
Throughout the home, there are subtle nods to place and to the life lived inside it. The penthouse provides a refined backdrop for art, music, and conversation. It's a space for the owner and artists to host, write, entertain, and unwind.
And maybe that mix of business and pleasure is what makes it so uniquely Nashville.