Tour an Equestrian’s Eclectic Nashville Pied-à-Terre

In a leafy and historic neighborhood of Nashville, one young equestrian—who splits her time between Florida and Tennessee—has found her perfect pied-à-terre. That’s in large part thanks to Jason Arnold, the Nashville-based interior designer known for creating a sense of balance in his consistently refined interiors. “Young, fresh, timeless, and classic was what she wanted,” Arnold recalls of his client. “She has a dog, and she comes home [right] after riding, so making sure everything was durable was also important.”

What made the whole thing work, the designer adds, is that the client trusted him to do what he does best—mix up old and new, inherited and purchased, elegant and fun. Though his client didn’t have the exact words to describe what she wanted, Arnold intuited she was drawn to a layered look. And he delivered. In the living room, the Hickory Chair reupholstered by Rubelli fabric is new, while the Mini Skirt drinks table by Bunny Williams Home is a classic. The Lucite tables are vintage, and the Visual Comfort brass-and-leather-wrapped floor lamp, with a triangle shade, is an antique.

The furnishings give that room and all the others a fresh feeling of having been collected over time. “I threw in several items throughout the home that were handed down from her grandmother, who had amazing taste and style,” Arnold adds. In the guest bedroom, geometric and almost floral Zak + Fox wallcoverings offset the owner’s grandmother’s dresser and a vibrant blue bedspread. There’s a quirky Pierre Paulin tongue chair in the den and a very grown-up Phillip Jeffries wallcovering to temper the small space. In the dining room, Arnold took a Broad Beach pendant wrapped in rope and placed it above a custom—if Lilliputian—dining table that seats just six.

“She’s not a huge entertainer, but friends come and hang out, and she does work at the dining room table sometimes,” Arnold says. “The chandelier provides this honey glow that makes everyone look gorgeous.” For the primary bedroom, he had a Birmingham manufacturer create a custom four-poster iron bed, placed it atop an Antrim geometric rug, then filled out the space with Lee Industries armchairs reupholstered in royal blue Weitzner fabric. They finished the room with a custom dresser that looks like something the equestrian’s grandmother passed down, as does the Bhawana nightstand which Arnold sourced from Global Views.

Framed prints, urns, curious lamps, and unexpected curios sit on nearly every surface in the bedroom and throughout the two-bedroom apartment. These one of a kind objets give the owner something new to marvel at every time she walks in the door, Arnold notes, especially since she’s only there part-time.

“I love smaller spaces, and when you have a great base, then layering all these pieces can really tell the story,” Arnold says. “I think this home tells the story of a well-traveled, eclectic, interesting young woman with sophisticated taste, but who is also playful and enjoys being surrounded by beautiful things. The strong architectural bones allow for that, and I love the way it turned out.” It’s eclectic and unbridled, just like its owner.