Before working in interior design, Carly Ripp spent over a decade in the music industry. “A lot of my clients are from that world,” she tells us. “This family is one that travels a lot, and so their home is definitely a space that allows them to relax with their young son and new puppy and reconnect as a family.”
The Nashville, Tennessee property had undergone recent renovations when they moved in, but they tapped Carly’s firm Life of Plenty to update the powder room. “It is right off the main living space, so they wanted the powder room to reflect the rest of the house while being a moment to add some major personality,” Carly tells us.
The majority of the home is bright and airy, so the designer opted to take a “dark and moody” route in the small space. “My client doesn’t love a lot of color and pattern but when they do, it’s always green,” she says. “I find we all have a color we are drawn to that makes us feel good. Since there is plaster elsewhere in the home, we chose a dark green Roman Clay from Portola Paints [Lone Park] to keep that storyline, but using a darker color helped keep the space cozy since it doesn’t have any natural light.”
For a major style moment, they brought in a custom marble sink from Turkey. “It pops against the dark walls while still offering texture with its ribbed apron, while the white sconces balance it out,” Carly explains. To tie the powder into the rest of the home, she brought in a mirror crafted from natural fibers. “This client loves Tulum and has a lot of textured accents throughout the home, so this show stopping mirror was a no brainer as the focal point.”
Finally, an aged brass faucet helps to give the space a little bit of an old-world feel, and John Derian artwork offers a little bit of humor. “It’s a reminder to not take ourselves (or our homes) too seriously,” Carly says with a laugh.
This was a quick renovation—just two months—and Carly saved time with a few savvy design tricks. “Though we replaced the faucet and sink, we kept them in their original location and didn’t change the bathroom’s layout at all,” she explains. “We did remove the tile floor and extend the hardwoods from the living room into the powder room, so it felt less like a bathroom and more like an extension of the living space.” The results speak for themselves, and the clients couldn’t be happier with their updated space.
