by Cathy Martin
Kirsten and Reese Pittman knew they’d need a designer who embraced a traditional style when they set out to remodel their 1951 Myers Park home.
“We inherited a lot of family heirlooms and antique furniture, mostly from Reese’s side of the family, and we knew we wanted to incorporate that into our home,” Kirsten says. A mutual friend referred them to Becky Nielsen, a Nashville, Tennessee-based interior designer.
“We were looking for a designer who really understood the traditional aesthetic, who could incorporate antiques and ‘brown’ furniture while also making it young and fresh. I thought Becky had a beautiful sense of style and does that really well.”
Modernizing the kitchen was a top priority for the homeowners. The custom metal hood is one of Kirsten’s favorite details. Designer Becky Nielsen converted a small closet just off the kitchen into a wine room.
The couple also wanted to create a home that fit their lifestyle as active parents of two young boys. Fortunately, the existing footprint of the two-story, brick home with a wraparound front porch worked well for the family.
“The house always had really good bones, that’s why we bought it — it’s why we liked it,” Kirsten says.
“We didn’t really do anything with the layout,” adds Nielsen, who grew up in North Carolina and relocated to Nashville four years ago after working in New York and Los Angeles for AD100 designer Mark D. Sikes.
In the kitchen, the designer swapped ’90s-era beige cabinets with a classic white Shaker style. Though the footprint didn’t change much, Nielsen suggested replacing three separate, small windows to open up the view. “I wanted to give them a big span of windows over the sink so they could look out.”
Double islands provide separate spaces for meal prep and for dining or doing homework. Soapstone and walnut countertops, beadboard, and a striped Roman shade add subtle texture. A breezy blue-and-white color scheme, rattan counter stools and white wicker dining chairs evoke feelings of a welcoming Southern porch or sunroom.
In the sunken family room, Nielsen kept the coffered stained-wood ceiling beams but painted them a bright white to match the rest of the trim. New sofas, chairs, draperies and a sisal rug bring a crisp, clean aesthetic to the space.
With a houseful of boys, Nielsen wanted to add a feminine flair in the dining room, via pink silk draperies and a blue-and-white botanical wallpaper.
“We really loved the original wallpaper,” Kirsten says. Nielsen had planned to keep it and build the design around it. Then a minor construction mishap damaged it beyond repair, so Nielsen found a surprisingly similar pattern to replace it.
The primary bath was designed as a serene retreat with a timeless feel, lots of storage and a vanity area — a priority for Kirsten. Nielsen opted for a bolder look in the adjacent bedroom with a Schumacher wallpaper in a trellis design. She reupholstered the headboard of the antique bed in a dark green to pop against the aqua of the wallpaper. An antique cane-backed bench was refreshed with a new striped fabric seat.
Left: In the primary bath, Nielsen originally planned to use wallpaper but pivoted to pale blue walls for a bright-and-easy neutral look.
While Nielsen acknowledges the challenge of working with so much existing furniture, she says it’s those time-honored pieces and accessories that give the home a cozy factor. The family room, in particular, turned out better than expected, the designer says. “I really need to give credit to a lot of their things that make it cozy.”
The entire project took about a year, but because the homeowners and designer were aligned from the start, it was a smooth process, Kirsten says.
“We were just super in sync from the beginning on the vision.” SP
