A Perfect Blend

Interior Design by Cindy McCord Design | Story by Terri Glazer | Photography by Ross Group Creative

When they built their family’s dream home in East Memphis 19 years ago, this couple loved everything in the house. Fast forward to early 2020, and the same family, a married couple with three now-grown children, still lived in the home and still loved a lot about the brick Tudor. However, they were ready to refresh the decor. 

Enter designer Cindy McCord, owner of Cindy McCord Design in Collierville, who gave the home a look that is fresh and new—but not entirely new. McCord’s vision resulted in a design plan that kept many of the homeowners’ most loved pieces, some left as is and some rethought, mixed with new finishes and pieces.

Thanks to the original architecture conceived by Charles Shipp, the renovation was almost entirely cosmetic. “It was just a facelift, because the bones were so good,” says McCord.

Ditto with the design elements. Rather than reimagining the decor from floor to ceiling, McCord’s work highlighted many of the original features.

Color was the main focus for the homeowner. She says, “The whole house was kind of a creamy yellow, and I’d had yellow in my previous home too, so it had been around much longer than 19 years. I was tired of yellow! I wanted to lighten things up a lot and I told Cindy I like blues.” McCord brought the new palette to life by bathing the walls in a coat of white that is fresh yet not stark, the perfect counterpart to the home’s original dark khaki painted trim, which she opted to leave intact in many rooms.

Once the lighter backdrop was established, the designer turned to the business of making everything else feel new—without necessarily having to be new. The family room is a perfect example. New drapes, sofa, chairs and tables blend seamlessly with the original fireplace and hardwood floors, as well as the homeowner’s treasured pieces, including an antique armoire. A favorite chair from her former office as a buyer for Helen of Memphis, now restuffed and reupholstered, holds place of pride.

The living room is decidedly newer, but still anchored by the family’s much-loved grand piano. McCord added a new sofa and easy chair plus accent tables in metal, glass and marble, to bring an “of-the-moment” touch to beautiful Martha Washington chairs and dark wood pieces from the previous decor. A portrait of the couple’s three children gives the room the most personal feel.

Shipp’s traditional plan still shines in the kitchen. The natural brown tones of original stone floors that the homeowner has always loved blend perfectly with the stained wood exposed beams and trim around the eye-catching plaster vent hood. The existing layout, appliances, tile backsplash, even the cabinet hardware, are still in place, proving that a kitchen refresh doesn’t always have to involve a to-the-studs gutting. Newly painted white cabinets, topped with gracefully patterned quartz countertops, give the space an all-new feel.

The adjacent breakfast room is still home to the family’s original table, chairs and plate rack. Also remaining in place is the light fixture sourced from the now-closed Frankum Antiques in Germantown. When the home was under construction the couple purchased the piece, along with the dining room chandelier, from Linda Frankum, who imported antiques from Europe. A watercolor and graphite pencil work by local artist Hailey Roaten reflects both the black of the iron chandelier and the blue tones of the home’s new color palette. Bold wallpaper gives the adjacent butler’s pantry a punch of excitement, the perfect marriage of the existing khaki trim color, newly painted cabinets and countertops in the same stone as in the kitchen.     

In the formal dining room, McCord’s work retained the timeless elegance while continuing the keep/replace/repurpose theme she carried throughout the home. Gone are the dark, heavy drapes with elaborate valances. The designer instead opted for lighter panels that are still functional, but allow more light in through the full-length windows. The furniture is the same, perked up with new upholstery on the dining chairs. The salmon-toned oriental rug remains, as well, and looks as though it were always meant to be in the newly imagined room. The same can be said for a painting formerly hung elsewhere in the home. It now sets off the dining room decor thanks to its new placement and a new frame made by Chris Garner of Garner Framing Co.

A pair of lamps once in the dining room now provide light in the primary bedroom. Reshading them created a new look style for the freshened space. “It’s amazing how different they look with new shades,” says the homeowner. “We reshaded several lamps and it was fun to use them again.” Those renewed lamps sit atop new nightstands that flank the owners’ bed, a holdover from the previous decor. New bedding, drapes and rug give the room a fresh feel. McCord continued the spruce up into the attached bath, where botanical wallpaper, light fixtures and goldtone hardware lend a warm, modern touch to the original cabinets, counters and flooring.

The project, originally conceived as a single bedroom renovation, extended into a downstairs guest bedroom and bath in addition to the home’s office, powder room and cheerful laundry room, where McCord painted the pine cabinets and added wallpaper and a cute cafe curtain. “I love coming in here,” the homeowner says, adding that the room is also a favorite for the family’s cats. “That’s where their food is,” she admits with a laugh. 

From dark wood, yellow walls, rust tones and elaborate drapes to lightened paints, cool-toned accents and cleaner lines, McCord has blended a family’s cherished treasures with the perfect amount of today’s best looks to create a design that will serve the home and family well through the next 19 years and beyond.

Staying Power

Interior Design by Robin Selberg | Written by Terri Glazer | Photography by Ross Group Creative

Interior designer Robin Selberg reinvents her Germantown home to keep pace with her family’s needs.

Robin and David Selberg have lived at the same Germantown address for almost 20 years, but the space they call home now is quite different from the one they moved into back in 2001. Over the course of three renovations the couple has transformed the house into the perfect home base for them and their three young adult children.

The house flows so perfectly, though, that you’d never guess it has had three facelifts; and that’s the real beauty of it. Michael Murphy, Jr., of Mike Murphy Builders, who was at the helm of the latest project, says that’s a feat not easily accomplished. “Part of the challenge is when you walk in, not to be able to tell what happened when. Anybody can knock down a wall or add an island, but to have it not be obvious that it was three separate remodels is a different story.”

The Selbergs’ love affair with the house started shortly after they attended an open house there. The two older children had just started school at St. George’s and a few friends had moved into the neighborhood, but Robin and David weren’t necessarily looking for a new home. That status changed quickly when they toured the house and were wowed by the acre-sized lot on which it sits. They bought the place and right away replaced carpet with hardwood floors, installed new front doors and made a few other changes.

Four years later, their family had grown to include three children and it was time to remodel to accommodate their new set of needs. This second project included a sunroom, a new laundry room, a master suite and a friends’ entry. 

By 2018, Robin was ready to embark on yet another renovation, this time focusing on the kitchen. “It still had the original cabinets and tile floors from when it was built in 1978,” she recalls, “and we just knew it could be better.”

Robin had big dreams, but wasn’t sure they were achievable until Murphy came into the picture. She wanted to open up the kitchen area and convert a small, seldom-used dining room into a pantry, but she didn’t know if a redo on that scale was possible. “Once Michael drew it all out, I saw it and I knew we had to do it. That was a big turning point for us,” Robin says.

“I love a new house, but there really is something about remodeling and how the house feels afterwards. There’s always something surprising.” —Robin Selberg

After a structural engineer confirmed that a large wooden beam entirely in the attic space would support the new open floor plan, it was full speed ahead. “The house has eight-foot ceilings so you don’t want beams sticking down,” explains Murphy. “We knew we weren’t changing the ceiling height, so the challenge was how to make it as big and open as possible without anything showing.”  

Soon the beam went up, the walls came down, the space originally meant to be a formal living room became a larger, more useful dining room, and a deluxe walk-in pantry took the place of the old dining room. 

As a professional designer, Robin had definite ideas about what she wanted. “We knew we wanted to have an island in the kitchen and once we found out we could open it up I kept asking Michael how big he thought we could go with it. Once Michael laid it out and I saw how it maximized our space I knew it was perfect,” she says.

She also knew she wanted it to have an open and airy feel, and what it would take to create that feel in a space with relatively low ceilings. “There couldn’t be a lot of upper cabinets. We went back and forth with Burton Crawford of Crawford’s Fine Cabinetry. Even though you see a lot of kitchens without wall cabinets in magazines, you don’t see that done around here very much. My husband even doubted, but I was adamant.”

The kitchen plan included floating shelves in place of cabinets on one wall, but even those were vetoed at the last minute. “We had them made and the workmen were about to drill the holes to install them when I said, ‘No, don’t put them up.’ I’m so glad I stopped them because I really like the clean look,” says Robin.

Her list of kitchen must-haves also included wide shiplap walls. David, however, was in favor of tile for the backsplash behind the range, for ease of cleaning. Robin searched and searched for the perfect tile, but never found one she loved. A photo of shiplap in a chevron pattern did catch her eye, though, and now the unique treatment makes a striking statement. 

Decked out in blue with fancy black marble countertops, the cabinets make the biggest visual impact in the kitchen. Robin admits that she is bucking current trends, but she’s confident in her choices. “My style is eclectic; I like what I like. The trend right now isn’t a lot of color, but I’ve always liked color. I had red cabinets before.”

Since her new cabinets were custom made, the color options were limitless. “I had about three different colors that I was going between for the cabinets; one was a little more green and one was more blue. I ended up going to Memphis Paints to look at the Farrow & Ball paints. I walked in and they had a new display, and there was Hague Blue. I knew it as soon as I saw it!” On the one wall that has upper cabinets, the cabinets, the trim, the walls and the ceilings are all painted the same crisp white. The continuity of color is a trick of the design trade that makes the room feel larger.

While she likes her vibrant kitchen, it may be the new pantry that Robin loves the most. It features plenty of storage, along with counter space and electrical outlets—the perfect spot to keep the coffee maker, blender and other small appliances handy yet out of plain view. “I tell all my clients who are remodeling a pantry to be sure they have power available and a countertop in it. Without a countertop it’s not as user friendly.”

The most recent renovation didn’t stop with the kitchen. A downstairs bathroom received a dramatic redo from top to bottom. The original tub area is now a spa-like oversized shower with black and white marble subway tile. Black hex tiles on the floor give the room timeless appeal. A custom vanity designed by Robin and topped with the same dark marble used in the kitchen completes the look. While the final product is a stunner, Murphy admits he wasn’t certain about Robin’s countertop choice at first. Undeterred, Robin knew it would be perfect; she loved the matte finish and knew the dark color would be the most practical option for the way her family lives. 

The project also included a few tweaks of earlier remodels. As part of the 2005 renovation Robin had a built-in desk installed near the home’s rear entrance, but she never used it as she thought she might. Now, in its place there is a handy bench with storage underneath and coat hooks above. 

Murphy describes the powder room as “night-and-day different” from the way it used to look, despite the fact that the floor plan for the space remained the same. The half bath is a knockout with bold floral wallpaper and a unique vanity. Says Robin, “It was a table that I had bought for $50 on an online marketplace.” After a few modifications and a coat of paint in her favorite shade of green, the piece has a new purpose adding flair to the design.

The Selbergs have put their personal stamp on each part of the house over the years, truly making it their home, and they intend to stay put and enjoy it for the long haul. “Michael’s sister is a realtor, and when we finished this project she said, ‘You know, I could sell this house in a minute.’ I’m not planning on going anywhere!” Robin laughs. 

“Germantown is getting built out. There’s not a lot of spots for new houses to go up,” says Robin. “We love living in Germantown; it’s convenient. We didn’t want to move from Germantown, but we needed our space to be different. I think that’s the way of the future in Germantown. I’m all for remodeling to get what you want.”

And Murphy is in full agreement. “You’ve adjusted the house with your family’s needs. You keep making the space you have so much more usable and efficient.” 

After two decades and three major projects, it would seem that the Selbergs might be done with home remodeling. When asked if that’s the case, Robin says without hesitation that a new separate garage is next up on the agenda. Life changes, floor plans and designs change, but it’s a safe bet that the Selberg family’s address will remain the same for years to come.