Minimal interior love

23 Jul Minimal interior love

Abbe Quarles is used to moving.  As a renovationist, house flipper, and project enthusiast, it’s in her blood. And this time around, she and her family made a vertical leap to the Edgehill neighborhood of Nashville where newer modern homes are springing up between older, traditional ones. She and her husband made the move from a much more traditional home in Forest Hills to this urban setting.

Abbe is a Nashville native, a former contractor, and co-owner of a residential construction company, AQ Collective. She knows what it takes whether buying, selling or renovating a home, and how to guide someone through each phase. In fact, her blog, Little Pink Houses, is full of tips about scouting for a home, sprucing up the one you’ve got, or selling a home.  But she’ll tell you, it’s all about planning from the start. So seeing her own home was  a delight since she’s worked on many different style homes in her career.           

  It’s truly a zen like retreat.  Whether it’s the light, the lack of clutter or the design, there is definitely a calm vibe in the home. White umber is the paint color Abbe uses throughout the house, along with white oak floors.  Aside from a few antiques scattered about, her furniture is mostly white with some accent tables, textured rugs, plants and tribal art. This is the second floor where you’ll find the living room, kitchen and her daughter’s bedroom and bath. 

 

There are many interesting touches that include a modern chair and footstool that really caught my eye.  Design within Reach is the store where you’ll find mid century modern pieces like this.

 

 And there was a piece of art I thought was really interesting.  It was done by Nashville graffiti artist Troy Duff. You call it calligraffiti. You can see more of his work on Instagram; @duffomatic.

 

There are warm gold touches throughout the home.  You’ll find them in Abbe’s teenage daughter’s room that is a dreamy retreat for a young lady.  It would suit me just fine too! The bedding, side tables, large mirror and accent chairs are scrumptious.

 

On the third floor is where Abbe and Steve have their space with a fantastic large light filled den complete with a couch from Restoration Hardware that’s known as “the cloud!” It had to be lifted by a cherry picker over the terrace wall to get into the space!

  One of my questions to Abby was how she shows such restraint and not hang a lot of art on the walls.  Her answer was interesting to me.  She says to do all white minimal rooms is harder than it looks. She explains that it takes the right textures, shapes and colors to make it work. Abbe also says continuity is key for her when designing her spaces and you feel that as you go from room to room.  There are similar features and pieces, whether it’s bedding, pillows or floating shelves. 

 

 The wonderful terrace has a television and lots of seating off the upstairs den where they hang out when all the kids are here. They added the awning recently which helps block the sun or rain when needed. It comes from Total Home Solutions. And there are great views of the city from this spot.

But if you want to be enveloped in color, especially darker hues, there’s a study or bourbon room as they refer to it on the lower level.  It’s quiet, dark, and very cozy with several antique pieces. Even though it’s a different color than the other rooms in the house, there’s a continuity in the vibe with the accessories and floating shelves.  It’s a very peaceful space.

This was supposed to be another bedroom but they didn’t need it so it makes for a great extra space to chill, and there’s a bathroom in the same rich color.

   A perfect spot to drop off the mail as you walk in the front door is another cool area with floating shelves and another example of how Abbe styles her hip vertical home.

You can learn more about Abbe’s philosophy and get valuable tips from someone who knows what kind of building blocks it takes to build a strong foundation by following her blog, Little Pink Houses that’s linked to her Instagram account or go to aqcollective.com.

Abbe will tell you proper planning is essential to avoid a chain of events that you don’t want to find yourself in while trying to improve your nest or find a new one.  

My thanks to Abbe for opening her home to Stylish Retreats.  It’s always fantastic to collaborate with another blogger with great information to share. Hope you’ll follow her! @abbequarles  And as always, thank you so much for following me on this journey of beautiful spaces!