This is the second installment of a three part series spotlighting the McAlpine office interiors – next week: McAlpine Booth and Ferrier‘s Atlanta office.

Originally germinated in Montgomery, Alabama, MBF Interiors has grown into a partnership of offices in Nashville, Atlanta and New York and works with McAlpine Tankersley clients as well as others nationwide.  One constant of the firm is affection for change.  In many ways this “band of gypsies” is happiest searching the U.S. and Europe for extraordinary antiques and furnishings.  But it is in their clients they find the greatest opportunity for discovery:  they come with wide ranging desires for their homes and set them off on new paths, challenging the designers to create unique and truly bespoke interiors.

The Nashville studio is located in the Old Braid Electrical warehouse in downtown Nashville.  It remains a great store and working laboratory for the firm.  Upon entry, you find a thirteen foot long steel factory table absconded from a Paris buying trip.  This table is the stage where a variety of art, objects and curios dance daily.  The studio “adopts” these precious objects before moving them on to permanent residence in one of their interiors.



Past the entrance there is a beautiful assemblage of furnishings and books which serve as both library and small meeting space.  Then, just past the library is the studio proper which is an open plan, allowing the designers to interact in a collaborative environment.   The workspace provides custom designed drafting tables and shelving for crafted interior study models, favored and featured hardware and client materials.  The office space terminates in a large resource room, a treasury stocked with the best fabrics, trim and materials the world has to offer.  This trove is the real heart of the office.  Crafting beauty is a messy endeavor, and just before a client presentation, the expansive center worktable is strewn with samples, binders and even furniture staged for its debut to clients.

All photos by Kris Kendrick

2 comments

  1. Anne Darken says:

    Wow my friends used to own Braid. Quite a change. What a beautiful working environment.

  2. Henriette says:

    Amazing! Wish I worked there! Impossible not to create beautiful things from such a visually stimulating work place!

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