By Katie Faulkner
Photos by Beacon Imagery
Nestled in the idyllic Dogwood Grove neighborhood on Signal Mountain, the Frost family home combines style with family functionality and heart-felt nostalgia to create a welcoming tone. Homeowners Lindsey and Jonathan Frost achieved a décor that effortlessly marries multiple styles in an eye-catchingly expressive panache.
With French country, Oriental, and modern influences, Lindsey set off to paint her mark after her family moved into the new Burns Construction home. She put her posh taste to the test, finding pragmatic ways to elevate the aesthetic with three young daughters at home. “You know, modern design companies are really doing a great job of coming up with versatile, durable materials that are still beautiful. Most of them are man-made rather than natural fibers, but they’re still great,” Lindsey says, looking at her reupholstered, teal ottoman in the living room.
Upon entering the home, the foyer presents a bold visual interest with hand-painted vertical stripes, complimented by both modern and antique furniture and a blend of light fixture styles that range from French tapered candle wall sconces to a modern-industrial cage pendant light. A chevron rug adds another layer of interest in an alternate pattern from the walls.
Just off the foyer is the formal dining room, inspired by Lindsey’s collection of Blue Willow dishes. The Karastan rug in a stark, blue gingham pattern plunges your eye into other brilliantly juxtaposed styles – touches of oriental flair can be picked up in the ceramic jars and figurines on the Queen Anne dining table. “I feel no one wants this style dining room set because it’s what was in our parents’ house. But I love it because of that,” Lindsey admits. The dining room suite and their daughters’ three, one-year-old portraits add nostalgic touches while contemporary acrylic chairs and floral water colors in blue and white round out this room’s cultivated composition.
That touch of nostalgia carries throughout the home. In almost every room, Lindsey lays a hand on a piece of furniture with some sentimental tie. The Jenny Lind spindle bed that their oldest daughter now sleeps in was Jonathan’s growing up, a coffee table from her grandparents’ house sits at the foot of their four-poster rice bed, and multiple accent tables came from her grandparents’ homes. Like every bona fide Southern woman, her furniture has its own story.
In the living room, Lindsey’s most triumphant find is a Bregère chair that she’s had covered in cream and leopard print with delicate gold leafing in the details of the carved frame. A wide-cased wood and stone mantle anchor this room as the raised ceiling and picture windows lend an open, airy feeling. The quatrefoil pattern of the shag rug is mirrored in the custom hearth screen, and the rattan footstools are often used as extra seating to roast marshmallows in the wood-burning fireplace.
Looking through to the open, eat-in kitchen, light colors and charming accents carry out a truely eclectic look where the selection and placement of every piece is intentional. With multiple styles blended in the breakfast nook, transitions are seamless. A farmhouse table and contemporary chairs merge with the rustic buffet. And mid-century modern accents, like starbursts and a deco bar cart, feel right at home. A striking statement wall is a major achievement of Lindsey’s 25 hours’ worth of hand-stenciling to achieve a wallpaper look with custom, coordinating colors.
Upstairs, the Frosts’ daughters have bedrooms with furniture that Lindsey refinished herself, and similar colors carry through a Jack and Jill style bathroom that tie the two pink and green bedrooms together. Thibaut wallpaper in a green ikat pattern adds a bold element to the shared upstairs bath.
From the Frosts’ playroom down the hall, you can clearly hear the school bells of Nolan Elementary School, where their daughters attend. “It’s like our own little ‘Mayberry.’ We walk the girls to school. I can hear the intercom when they do the morning announcements. We love this location and knowing that our kids are right there. It’s why we put in the fire pit, so hopefully after ballgames and events at school, we can be the hang-out house for them and their friends,” Lindsey says looking forward to all the great memories still to be made by her family in this home.