For the 2019 Palm Beach Kips Bay Decorator Show Home, Nashville interior designer Jason Arnold of Jason Arnold Interiors created a remarkable upstairs lounge with contrasting elements and tons of texture.

A designer’s first inclination may be to take such an “inherently dark room” and add some light. However, Arnold had other plans for Kips Bay room.

“We embraced [the dark], added dark velvet walls, and painted the trim the same color to unify the space and make it feel larger,” he explained.

For the room’s window wall, Arnold added floor-to-ceiling Venetian blinds and coordinating wool drapes designed to add texture and hide the room’s television. A fun yet sophisticated geometric rug and stunning marble coffee table round out the masculine-leaning space.

Standout room features include the Phillips Jeffries brushed velvet wallcovering, the custom beige Lee Industries sofa, window treatments from the Shade Store, and trendy vintage art deco Turkish rug from the Nashville Rug Gallery. The eclectic, thought-provoking artwork spanning the walls are mixed and matched from Arnold’s personal collection and Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta.

This Kips Bay room infuses many of Arnold’s signature design elements. “I use a lot of textures, styles, and vintage pieces,” he explained. Layering found antiques with new custom pieces is just one of the ways Arnold’s work stands out.

He credits his interesting, artistic take on typical interior design to the vibe in Nashville, Tennessee. “Nashville is a southern city and a very continental city. There are a lot of styles coming into Nashville, so I feel like my style [has evolved] to be some southern with a mix of contemporary.”

Clean lines with curves, new pieces and old ones, high-end and low-end pricing; for Arnold, it’s all about balancing the room’s texture and styles. After all, opposites attract when it comes to design.