Passionate about the old house they were renovating, homeowners Adam Ford and Rachel Modahl approached every style decision with an eagerness to create a comfortable haven for themselves and their two young children, ages 3 and 5. They also knew they wanted to unquestionably make the home their own.
“I would call our style classic but playful. We try not to take ourselves too seriously!” says Rachel. Adds Adam: “I think it’s safe to say that when we needed to choose between what we wanted and what was traditionally expected, we went with what we wanted. Damn the torpedoes, so to speak.”
That’s what inspired them to combine elements like the vintage vibe of original red oak flooring next to the boldness of black kitchen cabinets and a black floral wallpaper backsplash—not to mention the fluffy white area rug that invites even an adult to roll around on the floor of the kids’ upstairs play area.
“I think of their look as ‘moody-modern-eclectic,’” says design-build pro Kathryn Fulton, of Fulton Design Construction, who worked on the Nashville project house when she was an associate producer for This Old House. “Adam and Rachel had this great confidence in their gut choices, and they were fearless when it came to the dark colors that felt a little moody in the kitchen, the modern materials like the fluted wood tile in their shower, and the eclectic feeling throughout the entire house with traditional and unexpected choices.”
Tips to Try from TOH’s Nashville Project House
Think big picture with paint colors
A whole-house palette gives a home a cohesive look and creates an essential backdrop. Using Sherwin-Williams paint exclusively, Adam and Rachel devised a first-floor color scheme that transitions from pale gray in the living room to two tones of blue in the music room, gray and black in the kitchen-dining area, and a subtle green in the powder room. They chose simple white for the office and most of the new second floor. They opted for the same shade of white for all the trim throughout the house, as well as a flat finish for every paint they used, a modern choice.
Go bold when your gut says so
The open-plan kitchen is the main hangout and that’s where Adam and Rachel had their ‘damn-the-torpedoes’ moment. Says Adam: “A dark gray room with black cabinets, black countertops, and black wallpaper might not be recommended, but whatever, we wanted it, so we went with it.” The wallpaper backsplash is one of their boldest decisions: A floral pattern in dark gray and black, it lines the perimeter wall above cabinets and the oven. Because a soapstone slab acts as the cooktop backsplash and the sink is in the center island, the wallpaper is not actually as impractical as it may seem. The homeowners requested oak doors for the custom maple kitchen cabinets to make sure the grain showed through the black paint finish.
Preserve vintage elements
Adam and Rachel had dreamed of owning and renovating an old house for years, so they went to great lengths to keep and celebrate as many original elements of the 1929 house as possible. They exposed brick walls in the first-floor former porch that will serve as a home office, and didn’t worry about making them perfect. “We’re fine with imperfection,” says Rachel. “It is part of the house’s story.”
They stripped paint from the living room fireplace to show the original stone, and they exposed the brick above the fireplace, which had been covered with a decorative panel. They kept the first floor’s red oak floors. Adam restored much of the original door hardware himself. And in a dream moment for lifelong TOH fan Adam, he worked with TOH general contractor Tom Silva to salvage the house’s original cedar structural posts and fashion them into legs for the kitchen island.
Add edginess with modern materials
For functionality and style in the baths, Adam and Rachel gravitated to sleek and minimalist materials. In their primary bath, they wanted to evoke nature through the use of of ceramic wall tiles with the look of fluted wood and floor tiles that resemble slate. The kids’ bath has unexpected black floor tiles. And in the open-plan kitchen dining area, patio doors have black frames; the view out the doors includes a stainless cable rail along the back deck.
Layer in comfort and meaning
Above all, Adam and Rachel made sure they were creating a home meant to be lived in. “We considered comfort, sentiment, functionality, and boldness in everything,” says Rachel. “When we started to run out of time and energy to think about the renovation, we defaulted to comfort and functionality—knowing that we could make these spaces (mostly the upstairs) cooler in the future.” The white shag rug in the new play area upstairs is cozy enough for reading sessions on the floor, while sentiment won the day with the two quilts in the kids’ rooms: They were made by Adam and his mom. A woodworker, Adam also made a set of tables in the living room, and they still cherish a large painting they’ve taken to every place they’ve lived as a couple.
