After seven years of living in their Franklin home, Bernadette Boggess got a leak in her shower. But this wasn’t just any leak. They discovered they had basically been dumping water into the floor of the primary bathroom the entirety of living there. So Boggess enlisted her neighbor, designer Bradie Fisher, and together with her husband, Michael, decided to just renovate the whole bathroom.
After the bathroom was done, Boggess decided the bedroom could use new paint (hunter green) and flooring (wood herringbone), and then things snowballed. Although it wasn’t a full renovation, it did become a total design overhaul. So what started as a builder-grade home with no personality was completely reimagined into a vibrant, dynamic space that felt like a true reflection of the homeowner.
“Bernadette is an empty nester with a passion for color, pattern, and drama that was a true and wanted her main living areas to feel more aligned with her bold personality. My goal was to create a space that would make her fall in love with her home again,” says Fisher. “As the designer, I took a hands-on approach to transform every detail.”
BUT FIRST, PAPER
Fisher anchored the design around a variety of stunning William Morris wallpapers, which set the stage for the entire project. Their intricate, timeless prints and whimsical patterns gave each room its own personality while tying everything together. “She has a ‘more is more’ style, and I would lovingly tease her that she would’ve wallpapered the doorknobs if she could,” says Fisher.
“I’m a total maximalist,” says Boggess. “Print on print, layers of texture. That’s just my personality. I want my home to be warm and comfortable, and everything I pick I want to love.”
Each room has a different wallpaper pattern, but somehow they all flow together in a cohesive way. But once they decided which paper would be in each room, the rest of the design really came together, informing where they would go next with upholstery and window treatments, and rugs, especially in terms of scale.
Fisher says taking the maximalist approach was a stretch for her as a designer, adding layers of texture and pattern while also making sure Bernadette’s non-maximalist husband was comfortable. Ultimately, it was exciting to have a client for a change she had to rein in instead of pushing.
“It was fun leaning into all the patterns and the colors and the textures,” Fisher says. “And I never had to convince her when I got a wild idea. She would always go for it.”
Fisher carefully curated the rest of the space along with Boggess: fresh paint, new lighting, custom window treatments, updated finishes and a mix of new and reimagined furniture. “I worked to ensure that every element had a purpose, and that it all came together to create a cohesive, dramatic vibe,” Fisher says.
Boggess says her favorite part of this process was being creative with Fisher, working off each other to make something amazing.
“My vibe is not her vibe,” Boggess says. “But it was so fun picking the rugs and picking the paper and the fabric and the prints. Just the whole evolution of blending together, putting all the pieces together and seeing all the fabrics until we created this unique vision from what we had in our mind’s eye.”
MIXING TRADITION WITH DRAMA
Look up to take in the light fixtures, which are all dramatic statements — each one more striking than the last. Many were sourced from Julie Neill’s ornate collection for Visual Comfort, many with a tulip shape, from sconces to lamps to pendants.
“My mother’s from the Netherlands, and so tulips have a lot of meaning to me, and it just made sense to put them in my house,” Boggess says. Fisher worked with her to make sure the lighting made a memorable statement in a scale that worked for each space.
“One of the things I loved about this project was blending traditional elements with modern touches,” Fisher says. “There’s a great mix of classic and edgy throughout the home — each room feels unique, but there’s an underlying cohesion that ties everything together. In the open spaces or the intimate corners, I made sure each area reflected the client’s vision while maintaining a sense of flow.”
Boggess says one thing that is paramount to remember when taking on a project of this magnitude is the importance of pivoting.
“It was an evolutionary process for us,” she says. “For example, the paper I picked out for the bathroom was not going to look good once the new vanity came in, so we put that paper somewhere else. It’s a process, and I think that in order to really create your dream, it has to take time. You don’t want to make any rash decisions, and make sure you truly love something before you implement it.”
The end result is a home that’s dramatic, elegant and completely reflective of the client’s personality.
“It’s a space that’s as bold and beautiful as she is, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out,” says Fisher.
