KRISTIN KEYES INTERIORS
Our story
In the summer of 2021, I stepped away from my career as a teacher and school leader to spend a year with my third baby girl, Rosemary. I had spent my pregnancy running virtual school during the pandemic, and I was *really* tired. Rosemary’s nursery reflected my mental state. The room had become a storage unit full of bins and misfit furniture with a sad little path from the door to the crib to the changing table and back again.
I HAD to do something about it.
I wasn't a fan of excess consumption and waste, and didn’t have a lot of money, but I had some time and a bunch of interior design ideas. I sold every piece of furniture in the house that wasn’t serving us. Whenever I got a little bit of money, I was right back on Facebook Marketplace looking for high-end preloved pieces for the nursery - and I found them - the color blocked vintage rug, the gold crib, the blue chair, and even that little orange velvet pillow.
Rosemary's room made us smile every time we walked in. I was hooked on designing with second hand furnishings.
And an idea was starting to take root.
I was tapping into my lifelong love of art and inherent ability to create. And I was feeling the familiar pull of my high-achieving side.
I was ready to go into business on my own.
I founded Kristin Keyes Interiors to encourage Nashvillians to design their homes the way I've designed mine - with high-end, preloved furnishings that will continue to stand the test of time.
I work with people like many of y’all - people who are into great design but aren’t into excess consumption or waste.
We start with what you have, sell what's not working and layer in preloved pieces until we have a beautiful, functional space.
Focusing on preloved furnishings allows us to build interesting, artful spaces while keeping our carbon footprint and budget to a minimum.
But it's about more than just my home or our clients' homes. The shift to designing our homes with preloved furniture is a change we WANT to make, and, it’s a change we’re going to HAVE to make. As a society, we can’t afford the carbon footprint that comes with buying new, and as individuals, we can't afford to keep handing over our cash to major retailers.
So let's get started.
Whether you’re a hardworking professional, a busy parent, an artist, an activist, let’s get this right, and let’s get it right now. The cycle of fast furniture can end with us. We’re smart enough to know better, and we’re creative enough to do better.
Let’s design our homes with preloved pieces - and let’s make them look cool as hell.
My bio
Kristin Wiens Keyes (she/her/hers) founded Kristin Keyes Interiors to change the way Nashvillians think about designing their homes. Her low-waste approach to interior design has found resonance with an audience of clients, fans, and followers who appreciate great design but work to avoid excess consumption and waste. The result: artful spaces that are both sustainable and affordable.
Prior to launching her interior design studio, Kristin worked as a teacher, school leader, and relentless advocate for education reform. From those years, Kristin brings a strong sense of responsibility for community and environment to both design projects and business practices.
Kristin lives and works in a perfectly imperfect historial home in East Nashville that she shares with her husband, three young daughters, and very furry cat. She holds a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University and an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University.