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CHAIRS $5 chairs from an estate sale recovered by Savannah with Nate Berkus fabric   SOFA vintage Krohler from Wallpaper and Designer Home  PAINT Benjamin Moore Blanched Coral  COFFEE TABLE Craiglist   CURTAINS Ikea

text by  SHANI SILVER
photography by  AMBER ULMER

ART  Savannah’s DIY, Savannah’s hand lettered piece that we framedLIGHT  Urban Outfitters

RECORD PLAYER The Groove

LIGHT  Be Vintage GEOMETRIC WALL HANGERS  Urban Outfitters

So, two things. First, if you’re planning for festival season, and you’re a fan of ethically produced clothing, Hey Wanderer is going to be your best friend this summer. Flowing fabrics and delicate palettes will be keeping us comfortable cool all season. And second, the brand’s live/work space in Nashville is everything. Casey Freeman and Savannah McNeill are

hey wanderer

and their free spirit style comes forth in far more than their clothing. We love the beautifully curated space they’ve been kind enough to share with us, and we hope you’ll find it as inspiring as we did.

TELL US HOW YOU USE THIS SPACE.

This is our actual home. My (Casey’s) parents bought this house and Savannah and I rent it from them. We rent out the upstairs on AirBnband we have a studio in the house for our clothing brand, Hey Wanderer.

HOW DID YOU FIND/SELECT THIS SPACE?

It was a fluke that we even looked at this space. We almost didn’t look at it because it was out of our budget. Our realtor’s wife (who is also our best friend) talked us into looking at it because it had everything that we wanted: studio space and extra space to rent out on AirBnb. In East Nashville houses are under contract the day they go on the market. It’s nuts! You have to be a very motivated buyer to get a house around here. However, this house had been on the market for months. It was certainly a diamond in the rough, but my parents, specifically my stepdad, saw the potential.

SHELF  DIY

PRINT  Pony Show Nashville LIGHT  lamps.com

PAINT Behr Cracked Pepper  WALLPAPER Eijffinger   POSTER Engineer print from Staples and frame from Amazon   TABLE Precedent collection by Drexel from Music City Treasure Chest   FABRIC (chairs) Tommy Bahama LIGHT Schoolhouse Electric   

WHAT WAS YOUR OVERALL GOAL FOR THE SPACE?

To have a space so unique and beautiful that people wanted to photograph it. We wanted it to be a “wow” house. We knew it needed to stand out in order to be able to rent out the extra rooms on Airbnb. There are tons of Airbnbs in this area so we knew we had to stand out.

CABINET KNOBS Anthropologie KETTLE Bella COPPER COFFEE PRESS Crate & Barrel RECIPE BOX

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HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE OVERALL AESTHETIC?

Eclectic. I feel like that word is overused, but when you have a house that has palm tree prints, a mountain mural, cowboy pictures, over 50 plants, and multiple colors in every room- there’s really nothing else to call it!

PAINT Benjamin Moore, Smoky Slate

THERE ARE SO MANY WONDERFUL VINTAGE FINDS AROUND YOUR HOME, ANY FAVORITES?

The dining room table. It’s from the Drexel Precedent collection which was made around the 1950s. We got the table and chairs for $150! They sell in good condition for thousands of dollars. We had no idea what we had bought but we loved the table’s lines and shape. It definitely needed a lot of work and it wasn’t until we got it home and started working on that we realized what a special piece it was.

PAINT Benjamin Moore Bavarian Forest DUVET COVER Bar III CHAIR Gaslamp Antiques

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY OF THIS DESIGN PROCESS?

The day before we moved in the house was trashed. There was construction stuff every where–saw dust, paint on the floors, unfinished walls, tools everywhere, etc. and our friends came over to help us get ready. It seemed like it would be impossible for the house to be ready by the next day, but we pulled it off somehow!

AND THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE?

This whole house was full of big challenges. While a lot of things went wrong in the renovation process, the biggest unfixable challenge is the layout of the living room. We changed the layout several times before settling with the layout we have now. We really wanted to have two couches and we did when we first moved in, but the room was off centered. We have two doors, a fireplace, two large windows, and and two doorways to deal with. We had to block the view of the fireplace in order to have some symmetry. That was a tough decision to make, but symmetry won in the end.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR READERS WHO ARE HOPING TO ACHIEVE A SIMILAR ECLECTIC MIX IN THEIR HOMES?

Design slowly. Don’t go out to Ikea and load up on a bunch of decor just to have your house finished quickly. In the beginning, before you have a real vision for your house, go out to your favorite thrift stores, flea markets, antique stores, etc and buy a few pieces that you love. You can get away with that for a few trips, then once you’ve picked a piece or two for a certain room, you can start to design around that. Also, always keep your eyes open. We never stop looking, and we live with the theory that a room is never really finished. Also, anytime you are out of town, find time to stop at vintage stores or even a Goodwill. We’ve found many of our favorite pieces while we were out of town.

PAINT Benjamin Moore Ballerina Pink VINTAGE MEXICAN BLANKET Be Vintage Nashville 

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE VINTAGE DECOR SOURCING SPOTS (THAT YOU’RE WILLING TO SHARE!)

  • GasLamp Antiques
  • Miss Lucille’s in Clarksville, TN
  • Old Made Good
  • Be Vintage
  • Music City Treasure Chest
  • Tennessee Antique Mall
  • Our favorite is Southern KY Flea Market — it’s in tiny town outside of Clarksville, TN which is 45 mins north of Nashville.
WHERE DO YOU FIND YOURSELF SPENDING THE MOST TIME IN YOUR SPACE?Savannah probably spends the most time in the studio. I probably spend the most time in the living room. When our friends come over, most of our time is spent at the dining room table.

WHAT IS THE BEST REACTION YOU’VE HEARD TO YOUR HOME?

“This looks like it should be in a magazine.”

PAINT Super white by Benjamin Moore BLANKET HANGING Be Vintage Nashville

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DESIGN ELEMENT THAT YOU USED HERE? DID YOU EXPECT TO LOVE IT SO MUCH?

The wallpaper in the dining room and the Stevie print. You see them first thing when you walk into the house and they’re so striking. We were a little terrified when we bought the wallpaper and even immediately after it was hung up because it was almost psychedelic. The Stevie print really breaks up the pattern.