Nashville At Home: A Hollywood Creative Returns to Her Southern Roots

Kelli in her kitchen (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

If you’ve ever watched The Martha Stewart Show, The Nate Berkus Show, Steve Harvey, Pickler & Ben, or The Kelly Clarkson Show, you’ve seen the brilliant work of two-time Emmy winner Kelli Bishop. She’s one of, if not, the most in-demand Creative Director in daytime television. Kelli’s work decorating and designing sets has taken her to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and here in Nashville where I last worked with her. But now, Kelli’s setting up house, and let me say it’s a beautiful house, with her new husband, Jeremy, and his son, Aidan, in Huntsville, Alabama, not far from where she grew up. Now, the title of this series is “Nashville at Home” but I’m making a special exception for Kelli since Huntsville’s just a stone’s throw from Music City. I met up with Kelli and the family dogs, Kona (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever) and Simp (Newfiedoodle) who were both ONLY too happy to pose for my camera.

Main Living Room (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

Kona relaxing in the outdoor lounge (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

Kelli and Jeremy’s Wedding Day, Charleston, SC (photo by Jenna Marie. Insta: @jennamarieweddings)

YOU JUST GOT MARRIED IN OCTOBER. CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you. It was wonderful. We had a small ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina, one of my favorite cities. I was so happy. From the moment I met Jeremy, I knew he was my person. I just knew it.

Kelli’s Living Room. (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

Kona in Kelli’s Living Room (photo by Kelli Bishop)

Kelli entwined the ribbon from her wedding bouquet with the garland on her mantel (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

YOU MOVED INTO JEREMY & AIDAN’S HOUSE. HOW ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR TOUCH ON THINGS?

Jeremy built this house about 3 years ago. His first house had burned down so when he decided to rebuild, he knew he wanted it to be in the mountains. It was still kind of a bachelor pad when I moved in. I’ve been adding soft goods, textiles, and window treatments to soften it up a bit. We have a four seasons porch and I’ve turned that into my living room. There used to be two recliners in this space and when I moved in, I said “What is this space?” Now it’s a super comfy, cozy living area. We’ve also been adding things that are meaningful to the two of us. Before the pandemic, we went on a big road trip in our RV and I found this Navajo rug either in Utah or Arizona. I’m going to turn it into throw pillows. I would love to find more of it so I could reupholster a large side chair but pillows will do for now.

The Navajo rug from Kelli and Jeremy’s travels (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

Kelli’s collection of throws. (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

DID YOU EVER THINK YOU’D END UP BACK IN YOUR HOME STATe, alabama?

No. No way. Even when I was a kid I dreamt of living in New York. When I was 13 I told my mom I was going to move to NYC when I was old enough. After college, I moved to Boston. I was working at Williams-Sonoma which I adore to this day and I was taking graduate classes at night at Harvard studying neuropsychology. A professor said one night in class, "I'm as normal as they get in this profession" and although I was far from normal, I knew right then I couldn't do that for the rest of my life. There are a lot of artists in my family so creativity is in my blood. I finished out the semester and that was that. My boyfriend at the time said I needed to find a niche in life so I made a portfolio and applied to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. I was accepted! The Dean of the program I applied to called and told me my portfolio was one of the best she had ever seen and offered me a spot in the program right there on the phone. I moved to New York City, without the boyfriend, and not knowing a single soul. I was 23 and remember feeling super overwhelmed. The apartments were so small and dingy. I ended up on the upper West Side and of course made my studio super cute and adorable. The last year of FIT, it was a requirement to do an internship. I had student loans to pay off so I wanted an internship that could turn into an actual full time position. Mama needed a job! I got an internship on Martha Stewart’s TV show and I wasn't going to mess this up! This was right after she got out of prison and her show was a big deal and I couldn't believe I scored an internship on it. I worked as often as they would let me and there was no way they weren't going to hire me afterwards. I worked whenever they needed me and said yes to whatever projects they needed help with. I wanted to absorb as much knowledge from anyone who would give it to me!! Seriously, everyone that worked there was stellar and top notch at whatever it was they were doing and I wanted to learn!! I was a sponge! I started as an intern for that last semester at school and after that, I was hired! I freelanced there for a year afterwards then got promoted to Set Decorator where I worked for another five years.

A hat stand in the entryway Kelli made out of a walking stick (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

Hello Sunshine! (photo. by Julie Lee Simpson)

WORKING FOR MARTHA STEWART WAS A KIND OF DREAM COME TRUE, RIGHT?

My first cookbook was by Martha Stewart. When I was growing up, it was my mom, me and my sister. My mom worked to keep a roof over our heads so I did the cooking to help out. Long before I started working for Martha, I knew from the time I was a young, I would one day work for her. That might sound silly but I did! The hustle is real!!

Kitchen (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

What ARE YOUR MUST-HAVES AT HOME?

Pillows and throws. I want my home to be beautiful but I also want it to feel like a big, old comfy sweatshirt. I have a ton of blankets so when friends come over, they can plop on the sofa and grab a throw. I have throws that cost $9 to hundreds of dollars. I love them all! My kitchen must-haves are boards, butcher blocks and chopping boards. I can’t get enough of them.

Kelli with Kona and Simp (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

Dining Room (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

YOU’RE AN EXPERT AT MIXING HIGH AND LOW. HOW DO YOU DO IT?

If you look on Craigslist, and you're patient, you can find some great deals. I found these gross, horrible chairs with scalloped backs and I knew they could be beautiful with some elbow grease, plus they were free to a good home. You don’t see good quality scalloped backs anymore. We got them for the Pickler & Ben set and held onto them for a year. I had a Scottish wool tartan which I bought in Chicago (not cheap-it’s a White Royal Stewart to be precise) that I was holding on to and I decided to recover the scalloped chairs in the tartan and they became part of our holiday set. Where I do splurge is on bedding and sofas.

The holiday set of Pickler & Ben, 2018. (photo by Kelli Bishop)

Tartan Chair from Pickler & Ben set (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

I saw a beautiful Louis-style chair at Jayson Home in Chicago but it was way out of my budget. Way. But I needed that chair in my life. My dear friend, Rachel Bartlett found a similar chair on Craigslist for $35. I bought a yard of Kelly Wearstler fabric (@kellywearstler) and Voila! I had a stunning version of that Jayson Home chair but for a fraction of the price. I Love love love this chair!

Left: Chair at Jayson Home in Chicago. Right: $35 Chair from Craigslist covered in Kelly Wearstler fabric. (photos by Kelli Bishop)

Entryway. (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

FAVORITE STORES IN NASHVILLE?

One of the very best places to shop is G&G Interiors. It’s a great place to go for inspiration. The price point is high but the merchandise is gorgeous. I also like Garden Variety. It’s my style. It’s phenomenal. It’s all foraged, curated finds. You won’t find anything there that’s in 20 other stores. These women travel the country for one-of-a-kind pieces.

FAVORITE DESIGNER?

Jonathan Adler. He’s so tongue-in-cheek which is odd for me because I’m very classic. His pieces make me smile. I have a ceramic banana in my living room which is just silly to me.

Jonathan Adler ceramic banana in Kelli’s Living Room (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

You’ve made beautiful sets for so many celebrities, how does it feel to now be making your own beautiful space?

In my career I never had the time to do a lot of domestic things. Now, I’m cooking all the time, gardening, decorating, doing all the things I learned over the years throughout my profession while working with amazingly talented people and doing incredible work for other people, and I'm taking all of that knowledge and I'm making a home...my home.

Great idea: Instead of a guest book, guests at Kelli and Jeremy’s wedding inscribed messages in the book, The Bucket List: 1000 Adventures Big & Small by Kath Stathers (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

Great Idea: Using neatly stacked books as an end table (photo by Julie Lee Simpson)

Favorite thing to do on the weekend?

Jeremy and I travel a lot in our RV. That’s been really good for self-quarantining. We pack up the dogs and just go. We’re lucky to have it. We’re headed to New Orleans next weekend. We also have the Monte Sano State Park literally in our backyard so we love hiking and walking the dogs on the trails.

Simp and Kona ready to hit the road. (photo by Kelli Bishop)

you’ve had the kind of success people dream of. what’s next for you?

I don’t know. I just say, "say yes!" I read a RuPaul quote once and he said “You enjoy life a lot more by saying yes than by saying no” so that’s my motto. I’m open. I just did this awesome backyard makeover for Drew Barrymore’s show in Houston the week of my wedding. I wanted to do it, so I said yes although it was mere days before my wedding. It was fun. However, now that I’ve been out of TV for a bit, I realize how stressful and all-consuming it is when you’re in it.

Kelli and Jeremy (photo by Kelli Bishop)

IF YOU COULD HAVE A SECOND HOME, WHERE WOULD IT BE?

I always wanted to live in the mountains so I have that but I’d love a mountain house near a lake.

Charleston would be great, too! Also, while I'm dreaming...Paris!! Mais oui! 🏡