For an interior designer who appreciates historic touches, there’s nothing better than taking on a home project still dripping with the original charm. Maggie Clarke wasn’t so lucky. When the lead designer of Maggie Clarke Interiors walked into her clients’ 1914 Italianate home in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee, she found just a handful of original details remained: cracked Moroccan tiles in the entryway, a chandelier in the dining room, a brass dog door knocker, and a few rooms that were just slightly too long according to today’s standards. However, those few features were all she needed to adequately honor the home’s history while still hitting everything on her clients’ wishlist. “My biggest design goal was to add updates that provide more function for how we live today, but still withhold the home’s integrity and honor its history and architecture,” Clarke tells House Beautiful. Rather than downsize the 40-foot by 20-foot living room, she divided it into three separate sections to maintain the old floor plan. Clarke convinced her clients to keep the original Moroccan tile in the entryway, even with its imperfections. “I couldn’t bear to see it go,” she says. And in the primary bathroom, she encouraged the homeowners to splurge on a marble tile. “I felt because of the home’s history, it deserved a beautiful, marble tile to withhold its integrity,” she adds. Of course, there were some things that just had to be updated to accommodate the clients’ modern desires. The primary bathroom, for instance, was fully gutted to fit the clients’ style. While the team plans to fully renovate the kitchen in the near future, it was given some minor updates to prep it for that planned reno, and so that it wouldn’t be completely out of step without the rest of the renovated home. Clarke brought in MTC Painting to apply a fresh coat of paint throughout the home, and updated almost every light fixture. There were some old-but-not-original details her team had to remove too—including a lot of early 2000s technology because Apple co-founder Steve Jobs owned the house at one point. In this home’s version 2.0, modern touches juxtapose the traditional spaces—but Clarke excels at cultivating that welcome contrast. “I love to create interest by using funky, contemporary art in otherwise traditional spaces,” she says. And for this family, that’s exactly what was needed.FAST FACTS Maggie Clarke of Maggie Clarke InteriorsDesigner:Location: Memphis, TennesseeThe Space: A 6,500-square-foot Italianate home with five bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths.Anytime I renovate a home, I always try to choose elements that may have been originally installed during the era it was built.LIVING ROOMThis extra long space is broken up into three sections. Ross Creative GroupPaint: Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. Rug: Custom by Kiser’s Floor Fashions. Couch: Gabby in a JAB Anstoetz velvet and Fringe Market fringe. Coffee table: Woodbridge. Stools: Gabby in a Jasper fabric. Light fixture: Visual Comfort.Ross Creative GroupPaint: Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. Chandelier: Visual Comfort. Couches: Gabby. Coffee table: Gabby in a Jasper fabric. Side tables: Four Hands. Rug: Custom from Kiser’s Floor Fashions. Glass table lamps: Visual Comfort. Console table behind couch: Rowe Furniture.The extra-long living room was broken into three sections: An area to watch TV (on the left), a conversation zone (on the right), and a dining area that doubles as a gaming section. However, Clarke really wanted to draw the eye to the stunning windows that take up the majority of the wall, so she created symmetry using furniture and decor and installed floor-to-ceiling drapery.“We placed two consoles together to appear as one in front of the window to fill otherwise dead space,” she says. Clarke also added in custom ottomans on casters to provide extra seating when her clients entertain.Ross Creative GroupPaint: Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. Dining table: Antique. Dining chairs, wooden: Antique. Dining chairs, upholstered: Coley Home. Artwork: Nate Renner. Rug: Kiser's Floor Fashions. Light fixture: Visual Comfort.“When our clients hired us, they had a lot of inherited furniture from their family they wanted to incorporate,” Clarke says. The dining tables and side chairs were her client’s grandmother’s, which the designer had refinished with a new, less-red wood tone. “I love incorporating meaningful pieces into designs,” she says. ”It gives the space soul.”To truly bring her clients’ personalities into the space, Clarke displayed this duck grid by artist Nate Renner above the table, as one of the homeowners is a big duck hunter. “Each duck is slightly different and I think they add the perfect amount of quirk to the space.” DINING ROOMArched window details led the design of this room.Ross Creative GroupPaint: Green Blue by Farrow & Ball. Ceiling paint: Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. Wallpaper: Kravet. Chandelier: Antique. Rug: Schumacher. Table: Modern History. Chairs: Ballard Designs in a Perennials Fabrics velvet. Artwork: Rachel Payne.In this room, you can see some of the home’s most beautiful original features: the chandelier and the wall sconces. Clarke played into the traditional decor at first, bringing in a round dining table (a specific client ask) and emphasizing the arched window details via the Kravet wallpaper. Then she softened the traditional edges with a little funk, opting for mismatched dining chairs and a zebra print rug to create a little juxtaposition. BREAKFAST NOOKWhere most family meals take place.Ross Creative GroupPaint: Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. Light fixture: Visual Comfort. Table top: Custom by Countertops of Memphis. Table base: Villa & House. Chairs: Woodbridge. Chair fabrics: Schumacher. Banquette fabric: Materialworks.No large-scale renovation can be completed without one or two hiccups, which came in the form of this new breakfast nook with a custom built-in bench and quartz table. “It turns out there are a lot of numbers to consider when designing a breakfast nook: Bench seat height, bench seat depth, thickness of custom bench seat cushion, thickness of quartz, the weight of the custom quartz table top for the pedestal,” Clarke says.After months of waiting on the custom bench to be finished, her team finally got everything in and was faced with only one centimeter of leg room between the seat cushion and table. “We had to shave the bench seat down by a few inches and then have it repainted. I always learn my best lessons when they cost me a lot of hard-earned cash,” she says. It was all worth it though. Now, the family gets to enjoy most meals with a beautiful view of magnolia trees growing outside the window.NURSERYStriped wallpaper and round overhead lighting lend a circus-y feel. Ross Creative GroupCrib: Bratt Decor. Crib bedding fabric: Schumacher. Baskets: Serena & Lily.Ross Creative GroupCeiling paint: Parma Grey by Farrow & Ball. Wallpaper: Schumacher. Chair: Gabby in a Jasper fabric. Table: Four Hands. Carpet: Kiser’s Floor Fashion. Dresser: Villa & House. Light fixture: Gabby. Artwork: Wendover. Lamp: Worlds Away with a Fermoie shade.Clarke was working on phase one of the renovation when her clients welcomed their first child, so she got to design the baby boy’s room. Keeping with the clients’ preferred traditional style, Clarke put up striped wallpaper and a round overhead light to give the room an elevated circus feel. “My favorite aspects of the room are the custom cornices over the windows—they give it such a polished feel, fit for the little king he is.”The client specifically requested hot air balloons be incorporated into the decor somehow, so the designer hung up these four darling hot air balloon prints that she stumbled upon at High Point Furniture Market. “They leaned feminine with pinks and yellows so I had the vendor alter them by adding some blue watercolor,” she says. BATHROOMBrightness was the main goal for this remodel.Ross Creative GroupPaint: Pale Powder by Farrow & Ball. Light fixtures: Visual Comfort. Flooring: Shaw Floors. Stool: Antique. Faucets: Kingston Brass. Countertop: Quartzite from Countertops of Memphis.When the clients moved into the house, the floor tiles were a dark brown, as were the countertops, and the ceiling featured a recessed soffit. To put it simply, the space felt very dark and dated, according to Clarke, who knew immediately that she wanted to brighten everything up. “We demoed the recessed ceiling soffit and replaced the mirror glass, took it all the way up to the ceiling, and had our trim carpenter frame out the mirrors to give it more of a custom feel,” she says. Then, they mounted pretty sconces from Visual Comfort on top of the mirror and kept the existing cabinetry but painted over them with a bright tone and refreshed the hardware. “The room feels 10 times larger and significantly brighter!” Clarke says. Ross Creative GroupWallpaper: Thibaut Design.“My pink-loving client adored this wallpaper when we presented it to her,” Clarke says. “I brought the baby blues out in the wallpaper by pairing it with Farrow & Ball’s Pale Powder on the trim, ceiling, and cabinets.” However, one of Clarke’s favorite things about this space isn’t even in the room itself—it’s the carpet peeking out from the closet. The antelope print adds “a little funkiness to the otherwise feminine, traditional space,” she says.OUTDOOR PATIOA black-and-white color scheme lets the garden really shine.Ross Creative GroupRug: Kiser’s Floor Fashions. Chairs: Ballard Designs. Coffee table: Summer Classics. Flooring: Bluestone. Dining table: Antique. Dining chairs: Antique.Clarke wanted to create an outdoor living space that felt just as comfortable as being inside, so she fashioned the perfect spot under the covered patio, right next to the pool. “Our clients host a lot of pool parties, so this is the perfect spot to sit and chat out of the sun,” Clarke explains. “Like the living room, the shape of this covered patio was long and thin, so we divided it into three sections: an intimate dining spot, a living room area, and a longer dining table area.”Ross Creative GroupUmbrellas: Safavieh. Loungers: Summer Classics. Pillows: Ballard Designs.“I wanted the outdoor space to feel like an extension of the home, so we went with an old Hollywood Glam feel,” she says. “The home’s columns and the vibe of the outdoor furniture and umbrellas make you feel like you’re at a resort.” FOYERContemporary artwork adds interest to this otherwise traditional space.Ross Creative GroupPaint: Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. Table: Chelsea House. Bench: Charles Stewart in Lee Jofa velvet. Light fixture: Visual Comfort. Art print: Frances Berry. Stair runner: Kiser's Floor Fashions. Wall sculpture: AC Ceramic Atelier. Wall pedestals: Vintage from Chairish.Right as guests enter the home, they’re greeted by the intricate Moroccan tiles original to the property. Clarke used these as the starting point for the design of the entire space. She brought out the orange tones with the vivid velvet-covered bench and pulled out the yellow ones by adding a yellow binding on the edges of the stair runner. “The Elvis piece was commissioned by a local artist, Frances Berry, and is an homage to Memphis in this iconic Memphis home,” she says. “On the right side, you will see the 3D sculptural porcelain art that was installed to draw your eye into the beautiful living room.”About the DesignerMaggie Clarke is the CEO and lead designer of her eponymous design firm based out of Memphis, Tennessee. Though her passion for design led her to earning a Master of Arts degree from the University of Memphis, her firm came about almost accidentally after she and her husband began flipping historic homes to turn them into boutique AirBNBs. From there, her visibility grew—as did her team, her number of completed projects, and her unique Rolodex of professionals, artists, and vintage curators. Now, her passions lead her towards forever-home projects where her clients specifically desire her traditional yet personality-driven aesthetic. SHOP THE SPACE AERIN Morton Table Lamp$699 at visualcomfort.comFarrow & Ball Green Blue$52 at Farrow & BallSignature Collection Hampton Medium Chandelier$1,499 at visualcomfort.comBallard Designs Parks Dining Chair - Set of 2Now 25% Off$999 $749 at ballarddesigns.comSerena & Lily Scallop Rattan BasketNow 20% Off$498 $398 at Serena and LilyFollow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.