Adora knew instantly this was the home for her when she bought this house in 2017. It was the home’s historic details that caught her eye in the first place, and Adora has spent the last five years complementing the architectural character with her own signature design style, which she describes as a blend of “Hollywood regency mystique” meets “1970s opulence,” with plenty of vintage thrown into the mix. “I’ve always loved and lived in old homes so buying an old home with character was a must for me in my house search. It’s in my favorite part of Nashville, on my favorite street,” she writes. “Everyday I’m thankful to live here. It’s my favorite place to be and I enjoy documenting the decorating process and sharing my vintage finds on social media!”

My Style: Hollywood regency mystique meets 1970s opulence, with some kitsch and borderline gaudiness depending on which room! But always glamorous, luxurious, and comfortable!

Inspiration: The biggest inspirations for my home design are mostly a mixture of a few of my favorite 1960s and ’70s Palm Springs time capsule homes, Jayne Mansfield’s former Pink Palace, and the kitschy Madonna Inn in San Louis Obispo, California.

Favorite Element: My favorite element has to be my 1970s round red bed. I bought it from a woman who had purchased it directly from a furniture store in the ’70s. I’m only its second owner and it’s in great condition. It’s just a dream piece of furniture and it’s comfortable too!

Biggest Challenge: My home was already beautiful to begin with, which is why I fell in love with it. It’s an old home with character that I just had to make my own. I’ve had to make some repairs of course and chose to do some renovating to the bathroom and kitchen, but the house has good bones!

Proudest DIY: Painting my kitchen appliances and countertops, and installing and painting my kitchen shelves. I had no idea how anything was going to turn out, but since I already didn’t like how everything looked before, I figured why not try! Then painting my kitchen cabinets really pulled everything together and I am so happy with the way it all looks now!

Biggest Indulgence: Having the exterior of my house professionally painted pink. And it was absolutely worth it! I love coming home to it. I love just stepping onto my pink porch to get the mail. It feels so ‘me’ and I love everything about it.

Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? Well, the moment you walk in the door, you’re greeted by a giant gold cage, so the tone is already set to expect to see a lot of uniqueness haha! Since most everything in my house is selectively curated vintage, there’s so much unique about my home. As far as the way I use it, I did opt to have two living areas as opposed to a living area and dining area. Mostly because I much prefer lounging as opposed to anything formal! Also I come across so many amazing vintage sofas, one living room is not enough when I have the space for two!

What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? One of my favorites is a simple fillable touch-up paint pen. It comes in so handy to touch up minor paint imperfections without having to break out the whole gallon of paint and dirty up a brush. I’m also loving my new NuTone bathroom fan with multi-color LED lights and speaker with Bluetooth. My previous bathroom fan didn’t work at all so this is a real treat to go along with my recently installed clawfoot tub in my newly remodeled bathroom! Also I can’t leave out spray paint. Particularly the Rust-oleum metallic gold. It has gotten a lot of use around here, including the door handles on my refrigerator!

Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: For space maximizing, I look for credenzas, end tables, and nightstands that have storage. My house is old, which I love, but only has one small closet. So I keep clothes stored everywhere I can! For example, some of my clothes are in the mirrored credenza in my living room haha.

What most people get wrong about using color in their home? Being afraid of it haha! Unless you prefer whites and neutrals and that’s okay and can also look beautiful! One thing that always gets me is when people talk about not using bold paint color because what if the next potential buyer of the home doesn’t like it. I’m not living in my home for the next person, and it’s just paint! It can always be repainted!

What are the biggest tricks/secrets to using color in decor? I feel like decorating a home is so personal that it’s hard for me to give advice on this! Because I realize my home is probably a lot for some people to take in so who am I to say! I will say that no matter what color(s) you decide to use for a room, remember that *texture* goes a long way in pulling a room together! Even if you’re going for a monochromatic look (which I love), different textures in upholstery, curtains, bedding, rugs, really break up the room in a good way. Also — don’t be afraid of patterns!

What’s your favorite wall paint color of all time? Well I didn’t use it on my walls, but my favorite paint color of all time has to be Eaton House Studio’s “Ken.” It’s the paint I used on my kitchen appliances, countertops, and cabinet accents. I just can’t seem to choose another paint color to answer this because I love this one so much!

Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? I’ve lived in my house five years and I’m not done decorating. And that’s okay! My advice would be to enjoy the process if you can. If I had moved in and finished decorating in a couple months, I wouldn’t have had time to find all the cool vintage pieces that I love. You can’t just scroll through a magazine and find all this stuff. Sometimes you can’t force it. You’ll be searching and waiting and more searching and then the most perfect vintage sofa will appear on Marketplace that you can now design a whole room around. It may take longer but to me it’s worth it! And in the meantime, there’s a decent amount of relatively inexpensive secondhand pieces to tide you over. Also, importantly, don’t sacrifice comfort for style. You can have both!

• Living Room — Sherwin-Williams ‘Cascades’
• Entry (with gold cage) — Sherwin-Williams ‘Bohemian Black’
• Front Den (with orange sofa) — Benjamin Moore ‘Wrought Iron’
• Bedroom — Sherwin-Williams ‘Tricorn Black’
• Trim Throughout House — Sherwin-Williams ‘Tricorn Black’
• Kitchen Walls, Trim and Shelves — Sherwin-Williams ‘In the Pink’
• Kitchen Appliances and Countertop — Eaton House Studio ‘Ken’
• Trim in Red Bedroom — Sherwin-Williams ‘Real Red’
• Bathroom Wall — Farrell-Calhoun custom color
• Bathroom Trim and Wainscoting — Farrell-Calhoun ‘Bunny Fluff’

• Gold Cage — Vintage from Starland Emporium
• Gold Floor Lamp — FB Marketplace
• Gold Cherub Lamp — Vintage from Estate Sale
• Leopard Chair — Midland Arts & Antiques Market

• Sofa and Loveseat — Vintage from Possums House of Rattan
• Credenza — Vintage from FB Marketplace
• Coffee Table — Vintage from FB Marketplace
• Shag Rug — Vintage from eBay
• Plants — Dashwood Vintage & Flora

• Sofa — Vintage from FB Marketplace
• Coffee Table — Vintage from Dashwood Vintage & Flora
• Shag Rug — Vintage from Starland Emporium
• Wallpaper — Printsburgh
• Curtains — Amazon
• Round Velvet Pillows — Amazon  

• Ceiling Light Fixture — Wayfair
• Black Velvet Chairs — Wayfair
• Kitchen Shelving Brackets — Amazon
• Pink Rug — Rugs
• Everything else is vintage with the exception of my appliances (large and small) that I painted, down to the Shark vacuum!

• Curtains — Lushes Curtains
• Comforter — Target
• Hanging Swag Lamps — Starland Emporium
• All Other Lamps — FB Marketplace
• Black and Gold Furnishings — FB Marketplace
• Everything else is thrifted, FB Marketplace, eBay, and estate sales
• Wallpaper — Unknown: it’s beautiful and was there when I moved in

• Everything is vintage except for the faux fur on the walls from Amazon

• Sink and Tub — Vintage, refinished Pale Pink by Absolute Refinishing
• Over-the-Toilet Storage — Vintage from FB Marketplace
• Mirror Over Sink — Vintage from FB Marketplace
• Brass Clawfoot Tub Shower Enclosure Set — Vintage Tub
• Tile — Zazzle
• Swan Faucet — Amazon

This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

This piece is part of Color Month, where we’re showing you the best ways to inject more color into your home and life. From paint color combos to vibrant house tours, head over here to see it all.