Text by Katie Ellis
When Cami Stoddard and her family moved into their home in Nashville, Tennessee, they called on their dear friend, interior designer Wesley Stanley, to help breathe fresh life into the 2007 build. Though the home is still relatively new, it was built to look timeless. Thanks to its classic bones, Wesley set out on a partial restoration to update the space with contemporary, colorful accents that met the needs of the Stoddards’ style aesthetic and lifestyle.
“Cami is a huge clean-living advocate,” Wesley says. With this in mind, she set out to find stylish accents and furnishings that were eco-friendly and chemical free. “There was a special diligence in those selections in terms of choosing things that fit her criteria of what she wanted her kids to be lounging on,” Wesley says. From cooking and cleaning to restful relaxing, the family’s kitchen is the epicenter for attention to clean living.
As the renovation began, they opted to keep the beautiful wood-topped island that commands the room and serves as an ideal place for both meal prep and entertaining family and friends. “Cami is an incredible cook and is so generous with her skill and love of cooking,” Wesley shares.
The original kitchen cabinets enjoyed a modern face-lift via the replacement of their traditional hardware with more contemporary brass pulls and knobs. And for a unique yet subtle visual interest, Cami opted for a new backsplash using a slender subway tile in a herringbone pattern. “We pared down everything,” Wesley says, including updating the black baseboards throughout the house. “We bathed everything in Benjamin Moore’s White Dove. The walls are matte, which really added a level of sophistication to the sheen and the finish on the walls. And we made it feel a little more modern by having that single color all throughout.”
The crisp white backdrop was the blank slate Cami needed to put her love for color on display. “Cami is huge on color,” Wesley says. “If you were to look at her wardrobe, it looks like a quilt of a million different colors and textures. She is not afraid of color!” The color enthusiast selected a vibrant turquoise for the island’s barstools in a wipeable faux leather fabric. “Then we started mixing and matching,” Wesley says of the Southern kitchen’s assortment of playful patterns. The secret to pattern mixing, she shares, is to make sure the scales are not competing.
The adjacent breakfast nook is encased with large windows and boasts an enchanting view of the lush, landscaped backyard. Beyond the island, the kitchen opens up to a cozy den that echoes a familiar blue motif and draws the eye through the room with a bold pop of yellow on the buffalo check window treatments.
In addition to being thoughtfully refreshed for the family’s needs, the kitchen and its adjoining spaces are also highly functional. “It’s not just one of those beautiful kitchens—it’s constantly being put to good use,” Wesley says.
