2013 Southern Living Idea House in Nashville

Last Wednesday, I had the distinct pleasure of touring the new Southern Living Idea House during a special blogger preview.

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Located on the Fontanel property in Nashville (formerly owned by Barbara Mandrell), the 2013 Idea House was designed by Historical Concepts, built by Castle Homes and decorated by Phoebe Howard. The beautiful landscaping was designed by Page | Duke Landscape Architects. We were hosted by the very warm and engaging Southern Living Editor Lindsay Bierman and the equally lovely Phoebe Howard who gave us a great insider tour of the property. 

Opening comments by Lindsey and Phoebe.

Since the home is being featured in the August issue of Southern Living, we were only allowed to take photos of the exterior of the home, the dining room and a guest house area. None of my photos were very good (shocking), so I've borrowed some much better shots taken by photographer Wiff Harmer during Style Blueprint's preview. 

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The chevron door was probably one of my favorite features of the home (there is a matching door directly opposite this one across the main room on the front facade). It conveyed the rustic yet modern farmhouse aesthetic that Howard displayed in her interior design. Howard described how she liked to imagine who would be living in a space. For this scenario, she envisioned a somewhat rough-edged bachelor farmer who married a petite, blonde lady who softened the interiors with plenty of blue and green upholstered pieces and draperies (the blues and greens also echoing the blue skies and rolling green hills of Tennessee). 

The beautiful marble top of the dining room table sourced from the Paris flea market added some interest to an otherwise very neutral space.

Conceived not as a residential home but instead as a bed and breakfast/event venue, the property has some great features that can be adapted for any home. Although I can't show it here, the kitchen sink (of all things) was just one example - it's a stainless steel 3-bowl sink bead-blasted to have a matte finish (great effect, by the way). While 3-bowl sinks are necessary to meet codes for a B&B, Howard also pointed out how extremely useful, functional and practical they can be for residential applications as well (think of all those big meals and dinner parties where you could really use extra clean-up space).

The 2013 Southern Living Idea House opened to the public for tours on June 29th and runs through December . . . great for an afternoon excursion or even a day trip. Tickets are $12, and a portion of the proceeds benefit St. Jude Chidren's Research Hospital. For more information, go to southernliving.com.