At David Quarles' Memphis Home, Every Design Detail Is Personal

Before David Quarles redesigned his 1950s ranch, he worked long hours in corporate marketing — and it showed in his mostly gray house.

“One day I was in the kitchen cooking, I had music playing, and the aromas were going, but I couldn’t feel it,” he says. “The house was sad.” He realized he needed a big life change. So he quit his job in 2018, honed his interior design skills as a stylist at a local store, and now runs his own firm, Studio 417. When he set out to redo his home, he says, he was still finding himself as a designer. (See what the space looked like a few years ago.) But he knew he wanted to infuse the 1,144-square-foot space with color, texture and life.

He layered in lots of dramatic patterns and incorporated midcentury modern details throughout, then he put a houseplant in every room. “My mom always says you need something living in your house other than you,” David says, “and if you don’t have a pet, let it be a plant.”

Read on to take a look around.

A trip to France inspired everything in this room. “I imagined what a Parisian apartment would look like in the 1950s and ran with it,” says David.

He found the sofa at IKEA and added a Nuevo marble side table that’s just big enough for a few cups of coffee (or champagne!).

David calls this a jungle-meets-disco look: The botanical wallpaper, from his collection with Chasing Paper, is an ode to his grandma Ruth. (“She always wore florals,” he says.) The disco ball–like capiz shell pendant is from Bed Bath & Beyond; the black-and-white marble tiles look like a dance floor. The ceiling and trim are painted Basque Green by Sherwin-Williams.

He spends a lot of time here, so David wanted this room to have a colorful glow year-round. “Making food for others is my love language,” he says. He went for a midcentury vibe with pea green 2-by-6 subway tiles from Fireclay Tile, flat-front walnut cabinets and terrazzo counters from Countertops of Memphis. "Midcentury modern will always be my North Star," he says.

“I’ve grown to love red so much, but I used to be afraid to use it because it can come off too powerful sometimes,” says David. To temper it, he chose a softer limewash finish, plus cream linens from Quince. The rattan bed is from Arhaus and the mural behind it is by Belarte Studio. "I like every space in my home to feel like it belongs in a boutique hotel."

Shibori-style wallpaper from Chasing Paper, rusty red curtains and a plush rug make this guest bedroom ultra cozy. The velvet bed from AllModern adds a touch of glamour. The midcentury modern-inspired ceiling light is from Amazon.

This room originally functioned as a storage area, but as David grew his design business, he needed a place for his team to meet. He hung towel bars to hold fabric swatches; the office furniture is from IKEA. The color-blocked wall is painted with White Sand and Bourbon Street by Benjamin Moore.

A deep soaking tub from Lowe’s sits right under a skylight, “so I can bathe by moonlight whenever it’s a full moon,” says David. The black toilet plays off the honed terrazzo floor.

This little oasis was a DIY project David did with his dad. Built under a tree for privacy and shade, this deck functions like an outdoor lounge. The design choices, like the colorful rug and the midcentury-inspired outdoor furniture, make it feel like an extension of the interior.