14 Jul Colorful like its owner
Color is embraced in the house I’m featuring this week. But sometimes it takes a few times to get just the right shade of the color you want. Try three times in this living room in Nashville.
Paula Bennett knew what she wanted, but her longtime friend and designer, Michael Meloy kept trying to, as he calls it, “tone it down.” Finally they got just the right shade of aqua and their collaboration ended up pleasing both of them.
Full disclosure here; Paula is my sister-in-law and I’ve spent many evenings and holidays in this lovely home surrounded by family so it’s more than just a beautiful home to me. I see so many pictures and other sentimental pieces that reflect what Paula, Tom and their daughter Honey love.
The Lee Jofa asian themed chintz window treatments and pillows inspired the wall color. But Meloy didn’t want the walls to be a perfect match to the fabric’s background color.
As he explained to me, the goal is to “muddy it up a bit” so that you’re really showcasing the rich fabrics in the room and not drawing all the attention to the walls. Meloy says the starting point in a room is always working with something the homeowner loves. With Paula, there’s so much she’s collected over the years, from paintings, to her Herend collection…
To a special doll.
That is “Baby Laura,” a doll that Paula and Tom’s daughter Honey adored for years. She sits on a chair that was in the Ingersoll Rand estate in Palm Beach, but the real star here is the doll.
You see, she, along with some other treasures managed to survive a devestating house fire that leveled the family home in the fall of 2004. Meloy had just finished doing that house when the fire wiped it all out. So this collaboration certainly came at a time neither of them could have anticipated. Baby Laura got a new wardrobe since her clothes also burned in the house fire.
Another example of Paula’s colorful palette is in the dining room which is a raspberry color, also a custom mix. I love it and think it compliments the art, which also survived the fire.
A real sentimental favorite is this painting of Paula’s father, Otto, done from a picture taken at her wedding. Paula’s cousin Missy was the artist who captured Otto at a great family celebration.
But because of these bright colors in the first two rooms you see when you walk in their front door, Meloy used a neutral paint color in the entrance hall for what he calls “some relief” from the intense hues.
He also says it was a big stretch to go with the color he chose for their den which Paula thought was boring.
The color is a rich chocolate that really makes the art pop! Like the beautiful painting of their daughter on the beach done by Sherri Parrish.
You’ll also notice lots of mirrored accessories, like the lamps and the round matching mirrors over the couch, which provide some extra light in the darker room that only has a pair of glass doors out to the screened in porch.
This is such a comfortable space with views of the charming courtyard and of an interesting room between the porch and the kitchen and den.
It’s a casual place for the family to eat with a library that can only be accessed by a ladder! The previous homeowners were both authors who collected many books, thus the shelves.
I’ve always loved her wall of family and friend photos. By now you see that Paula is quite the collector, of beautiful, colorful things that each have a story that only she can tell with such exuberance and detail.
If only these little creatures could speak, they could also tell great stories of the fun that’s been had in this special home. But I shall leave you with one last picture of her treasured Herend collection that I’m only guessing is one of her favorites since she’s a diehard Alabama football fan.
The Bennett house truly exudes Paula’s personality and passions. And isn’t that what makes a house a home? I think so.
Michael Meloy Designs, LLC; 813-832-3000
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