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Photo by Paige Messina.
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Photo by Paige Messina.
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Photo by Paige Messina.
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Photo by Paige Messina.
Casual, functional and beautiful.
That’s what interior designer April Tomlin’s clients wanted when they tapped her to update the design of their family home on the outskirts of Franklin.“They came to us because we design in this very relaxed way,” Tomlin says. “It’s what our design firm is actually known for—a very texturized, casual, easy living type of experience.” When describing the aesthetic of the home, Tomlin says that while there’s a bit of a cottage feel, it doesn’t quite fit into one box. Tomlin collaborated with local architect Ron Farris to give the exterior a “mini” facelift, and they swapped out a red clay roof for a shake roof.
Still, she notes that the porches are reminiscent of a farmhouse, while elements like the exterior stone and pitch roofs convey a traditional style. She concluded that the best overall description is a “classic southern look.” Inside the home, Tomlin incorporated an assortment of neutral colors accentuated by a mix of textures and materials. Natural light permeates through the vast number of windows that surround the home’s center, which stands two stories tall. The original architect of the home kept the space above the kitchen, living room, and dining area open so there is a lot of vertical space in the center of the house.
“The ceiling heights are key in this house. You experience these high ceilings throughout the entire central locations of the home. You very seldom experience this tall a ceiling,” she says. “It has beautiful architecture [and] beautiful lines.”
To accent the high ceiling in the kitchen, Tomlin added a five-foot-tall light fixture that is wrapped in white rope and was made by New York-based lighting company Bone Simple. “Lighting is one of the most important things. If you can draw it in naturally, that’s amazing, but in a lot of instances, you can’t,” Tomlin says. “In this kitchen, you get natural light during the day, but it is literally a dungeon at night, so that is the reason for the lighting choices that we made.”The spacious, mercantile-style kitchen is airy and anchored inside clean, white walls. Light-colored wood kitchen cabinets plus open shelving provide storage, and in the center of the kitchen is an island surrounded by seven leather barstools. Just off the kitchen is a laundry room that now doubles as an overflow working pantry. The old cabinets were ripped out and replaced by eleven-foot-tall custom green cabinets. A rolling library ladder provides access up top to those kitchen items used only occasionally. The room also has an oven, microwave, wine fridge, and coffee machine, as well as a serving area that can be used as additional prep space when entertaining guests. Tomlin says the room is a perfect example of how to reimagine an underutilized space without knocking out any walls.
“If you are feeling like, ‘Man, this room is ugly and underutilized’ and it’s close to a kitchen, it can become an overflow pantry. If it’s close to a bathroom, it can become an overflow closet,” she says. “There are so many different things you can do with these underutilized spaces.”
Another space that Tomlin designed to be fully utilized was the dining room, which is right behind the kitchen. It has enough seating to accommodate around a dozen people and was created with a peaceful and organic vibe in mind. An off-white upholstered bench along with natural fiber chairs surround a dark wood dining table. The dining room table sits in front of the back side of the living room fireplace, which was previously stone but which Tomlin redesigned to soften the space. That light and airy ambiance continues on the opposite side of the fireplace where a cozy living room is furnished with more ample seating and illuminated by an abundance of windows. A rust-colored sofa is flanked by a beige sofa and a pair of upholstered armchairs. A faint pinstripe-patterned ottoman along with two round ottoman stools are situated in the center.When the family wants to convene to watch movies or play games, they can escape to their lounge. Tomlin painted the room in Sherwin Williams’ Iron Ore. She accented the monochromatic space with dramatic curtains and kept the original brick floor.
Tomlin says she approaches design as a perpetual student and always looks for opportunities to learn. Since this house was renovated in the midst of the pandemic, she says she gained a greater appreciation for living comfortably.
“I’m constantly learning, constantly paying attention to how I live, and what I wish for that would make my life easier, and what would make it easier for my kids, and I incorporate some of that into design,” she said. “I think if 2020 taught us anything, it is that literally the most important thing in the world, when you’re approaching a house, is just to live well.”