Date:  July 31, 2024  |   Story: Tiffany Adams  |   Photography: Rett Peek  |   Styling: Angela Alexander  |  

A Little Rock family home embraces antiques, heirlooms, and chic fabrics—deeming nothing too precious for use

Fate seems to have played a role in this young family’s central Arkansas house hunt. Having met while living and working in New York City, marrying, and then moving to Dallas, the couple welcomed the possibility of being closer to family—with his in Little Rock and hers in Memphis—and were able to do so at the start of the pandemic. After settling into a rental house in the capital city, they began searching for a place where they could raise their son and daughter and make lasting memories. “We were driving around with sleeping kids in the car when my husband remembered he had a friend who grew up in this neighborhood,” the owner recalls. They decided to check it out, and immediately fell for a red brick Colonial home with charming curb appeal. After writing a letter to the then-owners, the process for it to become theirs began to unfold.

While no major structural updates were needed for the family to move into the home, they did want to personalize the space. In the beginning, the owner worked with a family friend on small updates before turning to a dear college friend, Katie Wolf of Atlanta-based Wolf Interiors. Katie notes it was a very collaborative project, with the two friends working side by side and enjoying the process. “There are a lot of pieces that are meaningful to her and to her family, and she had great ideas but wanted help implementing them,” the designer says. “I love home stuff—and I probably have a lot more opinions than the average client—but I believe a house benefits with more eyes on it,” the owner says. “It makes a home feel richer and more layered.”

These sets of eyes included not only the aforementioned pair but also members of her family. “My dad has a big, big love of design,” the owner says, adding that he taught her to ask questions such as Why do I love this? to get to the root of her style. His influence played into the house in specific ways, like the mural in the living room and gallery wall on the landing, as well as in pieces that were collected with his help through the years. “Both of my parents love history, and I grew up surrounded by antiques. My dad has such a great eye, and my parents always took me antiquing with them,” she says, noting that the experience trained her own eye.

Just as these experiences shaped her, she hopes to instill this appreciation in her children while also creating a comfortable family home. “She is so welcoming and gracious. She loves nice, beautiful things but also wants to be able to really live in her home,” Katie explains. “She is okay with a scratch, a stained fabric, or a bit of patina because those are signs of life.”

Above: Along the landing, a grouping of family photos hangs over a table passed down from the owner’s grandmother while stuffed animals—a sign of a well-loved family home—peek out from a woven bin.

The “storybook” exterior was one of the first features that attracted the owner to the classic, Colonial-style home.

Comfortably Chic
While the couple originally planned to use this space as the dining room, they discovered it was well-suited to become the living room. “My sister was visiting and suggested swapping the furniture in the two rooms; I immediately agreed, and we moved half of it that night,” the owner says. The Iksel mural on the walls was already in place when the change was made. “It’s like a dark cocktail lounge—so cozy and happy,” the owner says of the effect. Schumacher’s “Pyne Hollyhock” fabric covers the chairs while a brown velvet sofa is an equally practical and comfortable addition for the young family. “We usually have a puzzle on the coffee table, and I love to always have a fire going and music playing,” the owner adds.

Collected Tradition
Upon moving in, they were told the couple who built the home had one request of future owners: Don’t dare paint the wood paneling. Luckily, they felt the same and embraced the warm walls with the addition of a hunt scene fabric and accessories reflective of the husband’s time spent hunting in Altheimer while growing up. Window treatments in a youthful Lee Jofa fabric lighten the feel. “When you have a traditional house, you have to watch that it doesn’t become stuffy. Pieces like this make it feel younger,” the owner notes. Designer Jen Bienvenu, who is also a close friend of the owner, found the antique chest that tucks underneath the stairs and had the pleated shade made for the lamp from a sari.

Gracious Mix
A green grasscloth wallpaper and contemporary abstract art pair with a dining table and chandelier that once belonged to the owners’ parents. Underfoot, a rug handed down from her grandmother is a sentimental addition that she notes also hides stains. Chairs found on 1stDibs and a Pierre Frey fabric on the hostess chairs complete the look.

Use What You Love
With the kitchen having been recently renovated by the previous owners, personalization was achieved with new lighting, barstools, and sentimental pieces. These include the couple’s wedding china (Herend’s Rothschild Bird), which is seen in the shelves, and art that hangs over the range. The photograph is of Eudora Welty and William Faulkner. It was purchased for the owner by her parents shortly before she went to college, while the mushroom-themed work was painted by her grandmother. “I hung these in a prime spot so I can see them everyday,” she notes.

A comfortable slipcovered sofa makes for an excellent reading nook in the children’s playroom. Katie helped the owner collect the works seen on the gallery wall from a school art show she chaired in her native Atlanta.

Practical Meets Pretty
“When we lived in Dallas, we had a tiny, tiny laundry space, and I dreamed about this room,” the owner says. Family friend Julie Jones helped the couple build out the laundry and bring style to the room that includes a desk area opposite the washer and dryer. “Any time you have to do laundry, you should try to make it more pleasant,” the owner adds with a laugh.

“My motto is that everything can be cleaned. It’s nice to have a pretty house but it’s also meant to be lived in.”
—homeowner

Sweetest Dreams
As a girl, the owner’s parents had a designer decorate her childhood room with a skirted table and coordinating accessories, including the bunny-shaped lamp. She also collected Majolica’s “Lily of the Valley” pieces while antiquing with her parents. Through the years, she held onto these pieces in hopes of using them in her own daughter’s room, a notion that became a reality here. These elements were mixed with an antique bed she used in her college room and a vintage hand-painted mirror that originally hung in her childhood bathroom. A Lulie Wallace drapery fabric and small abstract paintings keep the look current. “It brought me so much joy to do this for her,” the owner says.

Generous storage, marble countertops, and Lulie Wallace wallpaper are hallmarks of a renovation to the children’s shared bath. “My hope is that the space will grow with them,” the owner says.

Boy in Blue
A pair of twin beds that belonged to the owner’s father when he was a boy found new life in his grandson’s room. Whimsical Caitlin Wilson sheets and classic Julia B. Casa bedding dress them while a pine chest and historical battle-scene prints lend a boyish flair.

Restful Retreat
A longtime fan of Sister Parish Design, the owner fell in love with this wallcovering by the famed firm. The print was paired with her existing bed, while the linens were purchased on a trip to New Orleans with Katie. “We went to Leontine Linens and customized the bedding and thread colors and even had their wedding date embroidered on the back of one of the shams as a nice sentimental touch,” the designer says.

Design Resources
Contractor Mark Caruthers, Willmark Homes Interior design Julie Jones, J. Jones Interiors and Katie Wolf, Wolf Interiors (Atlanta) Accessories Cobblestone & Vine, Fabulous Finds, Jenifer’s Antiques, and The Shade Above Appliances Metro Appliances & More Brick Antique Brick & Block Cabinetry (Children’s bathroom) Duke Custom Cabinets Countertops Countertop World Fabric Protection Freeze Specialty Cleaners Fixtures The Plumbing Warehouse Framing BA Framer and Cantrell Gallery Furniture Cobblestone & Vine and Providence Design Hardware PC Hardware Tile The Tile Shop Wallpaper (Installation) Lorita Herring and Jeffrey Forrester Window Treatments Simply Charming Window Works & Design