Updated Oct 25, 2018 8:59 PM EDT
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There are roughly a million ways to tackle the renovation of a mid-century modern home. The most obvious (and wallet-draining) route? Fully restoring the place to its original glory, filling it only with period-specific furnishings and authentic decor. Then there are those who nod politely at the home’s architectural bones before going full throttle with their own contemporary style. And finally, there’s the happy medium — a choose-your-own-adventure that spans decades. Interior designer Hannah Crowell is firmly on Team Balanced Approach.
Putting her vision to the test, the Nashville-based creative was recently handed the keys to a 2,200-square-foot home in the West Meade neighborhood of Nashville — a place that hadn’t gotten a proper makeover since it was built in 1955. The house was one of many undiscovered treasures hiding out in the area, just waiting for someone with good taste to show up.
“I actually live in the same neighborhood and love it! The lots are at least an acre, and it’s really green and lush. All the homes were built in the ’50s and ’60s, so you can find some true mid-century gems in this neighborhood!” shares Crowell.ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
The designer’s main objective? Take a home once haunted by tight corners and low ceilings and transform it into a bright, open space that reflected her client’s eclectic sensibility. Crowell wanted to stay true to its mid-century bones, but she also wasn’t about to compromise the couple’s wish list — a pool for her, a cigar deck for him.ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
“When I first met Judy I thought, ‘This is who I want to be when I grow up!’ She’s in her 60s but looks not a day over 50. She’s a firecracker and just about the coolest woman I know. She paints and sews all her own clothes — she’s a force of nature. Her husband is an absolute sweetheart too,” she explains.
The homeowners’ energy is everywhere you look, woven subtly through punchy colors, experimental materials, and — naturally — a cheerful art collection that refuses to play it safe.ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
From the moment Crowell first sketched out the design plans to the day of the final walk-through, the renovation took about a year and a half — start to finish. The designer and her team managed to keep the shell of two of the bedrooms and maintain the existing footprint (though they did add to it), but the home is practically unrecognizable. After raising the roof, swapping in all new windows, doors, and exterior siding, and plopping a second story above the living room, the pair was left with a totally different house.ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
Sprinkling contemporary shapes, updated finishes, and trending fixtures into a primarily mid-century scene isn’t as easy as you’d think. Crowell’s secret to mixing and matching styles without a single flinch? Dodge the obvious decor traps.
“I find it’s pretty easy and seamless when you keep the original footprint. The spirit of the home seems to translate with barely any effort. The trick is to keep things fresh and contemporary without becoming a mid-century modern cliché. Instead, I let the architecture do that work, sparingly,” says Crowell.ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
Intense color and concrete might not have a place in your run-of-the-mill mid-century home, but here, those elements are the recipe for a dining room that refuses to blend in. Fun lighting and fuchsia (I mean, how dreamy is that perfectly pink area rug?) were just the warm-up act. To lend a semi-industrial edge to the dining space, Crowell hauled in a custom concrete table. We’d be lying if we said it wasn’t probably the sturdiest surface we’ve ever laid eyes on.
“I think the places where we truly create something unique usually stand out the most. In this case, we designed the dining room table with a local Nashville company, and I love how it turned out. That table is never, ever going anywhere — the concrete base weighs roughly a million pounds,” she laughs.ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
In the sitting room off the kitchen, a slatted wood door cleverly conceals the hallway leading to the secondary bedrooms and powder room. “I think it’s one of my favorite parts of this house,” notes Crowell. “It was added in an effort to close off that hallway in an artful way.”ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
With the exception of the master bedroom, almost all the walls in the home are blindingly bright white. When color and pattern did get invited to the party, Crowell found herself gravitating toward options that would ultimately play nice with her client’s ever-changing art collection.ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
“I absolutely love color! I hardly ever use it on walls, but I love sneaking it in through art and textiles. I really fell for this fuchsia overdyed rug for the dining room, but wasn’t 100% sure my client would go for it. She loved it, and I think it totally makes the space. She’s a painter, so she speaks fluent color. Her work is stunning, and she rotates it through the house pretty regularly, so there’s always something unexpected and bold happening.”ScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleScheduleSchedule
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Everything We Love About Mid-Century Design, Stuffed Into One Dining RoomInside Our Social Media Editor’s Primary-Colored, 650-Square-Foot ApartmentInside a 600-Square-Foot Coastal Maine Hideaway
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Lydia Geisel has been on the editorial team at Domino since 2017. These days she writes and edits home and renovation stories — house tours, before-and-afters, DIYs — and leads our design news coverage. She lives in New York City, where apartments are tiny and design dreams are big.
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