"Andi Teggart is no stranger to creating beautiful spaces. As a mom of one and the owner of Lucky Collective, a digital marketing and event planning shop, she cultivated a thriving career and an equally beautiful home in San Francisco. Recently, she and her family relocated to Nashville and she’s taken on different decor challenges with their new home. We talked to Andi about her recent transition and how she’s successfully translated her California aesthetics to the Music City.
Name: Andi Teggart, Owner of Lucky Collective
Age: 30
Location: Nashville
Rent/Own: Own
Sq.Ft.: 2,000
Children: Lucy, 14 months
Andi, welcome back to The Everymom! We’re so excited to hear all about your new, beautiful home. But first, will you give a little background on your move from San Francisco to where you’re currently living, Nashville?
Thank you! It’s so fun to be on here again! We moved from our 650-square-foot apartment in San Francisco to our home in Nashville about six months ago (in October 2018.) We had the opportunity to move to Nashville with my husband’s job at Lyft and decided we were ready to try something new and different. We loved our life in SF — we were pretty content in our tiny apartment, and were never really bothered by SF rent life — but were always open to trying a new city out. Having more space and the opportunity to buy a house were added perks! We won’t necessarily be in Nashville forever, but it’s been a really good experience for our family and we don’t plan to leave anytime soon!
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Moving at any stage in life can be tough, but it takes a particular finesse with kids. What were some of the challenges you faced during this move?
It was a really chaotic, emotional, and logistically-challenging moving experience! One of the biggest challenges was saying goodbye to San Francisco — a city I had lived in since college and truly loved. It was a place where I started my career, cultivated some of my deepest and best friendships, met my husband, became a mother, and truly “grew up.”
Logistically, we had a planned a three-week trip to Europe in September, so we decided to work around that. We made the decision to move in late July, flew to Nashville to house hunt, put in an offer in August, and signed the papers to buy our house early September! That same week, our apartment was packed up, we said goodbye to San Francisco, and flew to Europe. We came back to Nashville in early October! A few more added challenges: we had to quickly stop in LA (where my in-laws live) to pick up our dog, several hundred ounces of breastmilk, and a large container of plants we wanted to bring with us to Nashville before *actually* moving. THAT was quite the adventure — traveling with a baby, dog, several bags and suitcases, a massive cooler of breastmilk, and large storage container of plants! The movers arrived a few days later with our car and the rest of our stuff.
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What are the biggest differences between living in Nashville and living in San Francisco?
Candidly, I was initially worried about going from a super liberal, culturally diverse city like San Francisco to the “Athens of the South,” but Nashville has exceeded all of my expectations. People have been welcoming, open, and accepting; our neighborhood is diverse, creative and quirky; and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by our new life here.
A few differences that are top-of-mind: Nashville has four seasons (unlike San Francisco’s temperate climate all year round). Nashville has humidity (something I forgot about). Food, drinks, groceries, and gas are all cheaper in Nashville. People drive more and there’s not a great public transit system in Nashville (I’m determined to walk as much as I did in SF, though!). The biggest difference that affects my day-to-day life is the lack of good Asian food in Nashville.
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You went from living in a very small apartment in San Francisco to a comparatively large, 100-year-old home in Nashville. What was it about this home that felt like the one?
We walked into our home and two areas jumped out to me immediately — the first being the master bedroom right off of the living room. It reminded me so much of our San Francisco apartment that I almost cried. In SF, our living room and bedroom were connected by French doors and here in Nashville, we have working pocket doors between the two rooms. I know some people would prefer a private master area, but I LOVE how open it feels and how much the two connected rooms remind me of our first home. The second part part of our house that sold me was our sunny kitchen nook. Right away, I envisioned sipping morning coffee, journaling, coloring with Lucy, helping with homework, and eating meals right there. It still feels surreal to me every time we do some of these things in that exact spot we looked at six months ago.
Looking at some of the before and after photos of the home, you can tell it has great bones. What were some of the elements of the home that captured your imagination?
Our house was built in 1919 and has great bones — a front porch, three old fireplaces, original wood floors, tall ceilings, great natural light, a nicely sized backyard, and of course, way more space than what we were used to! With an old house, there’s also unique challenges like a pretty small kitchen and little to no closets and storage. We’ve learned to be creative and strategic with storage.
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Can you tell us about some of the initial improvements you made to the home when you first moved in?
Right away, we painted all of the baseboards and walls in our dining room, entry room, living room, and bedroom white (Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore). I knew the wood trim had to go, and that we wanted a much brighter, crisper white on the walls. Soon after, we painted all of the door and window trim too. We also had to do some non-glamorous house stuff when we moved in — plumbing updates, getting the AC fixed, and stripping and refinishing the wood floor upstairs.
How would you say your approach to design changed since moving to Nashville?
Overall, I don’t think it’s changed all that much! I would often describe our San Francisco apartment as approachable, a little bohemian, colorful, and bright, and I would use the same words to describe our home in in Nashville. I’ve integrated more bold colors in our home in Nashville (like the statement wall in the dining room) and shifted away from being so matchy-matchy with my decor. The biggest adjustment design-wise has been figuring out how to strategically work in Lucy’s toys and “kid things” into our home without letting it take over!
I’m a firm believer that my home is not a magazine or museum. It’s a real life place where real people (including a messy toddler and a high-energy dog) live every day, so some parts of our home are not-so-cute and very functional — and that’s okay.
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You seamlessly incorporate bold colors and beautiful textures together in a space. What’s your secret to striking this perfect balance?
Thank you! I wish I had the right answer to this question. For me, I try to have things ‘go’ rather than match. I do a lot of pattern mixing, but try to keep it cohesive with a similar color palette.
How do you incorporate Lucy’s toys and furniture into your decor?
I get so many questions about this! Honestly, we don’t have a ton of toys and I try to be super mindful about what toys we accumulate. Even though we have a lot more space in this house, I don’t want to fill it with stuff we don’t need or don’t use. We don’t have a dedicated play room and Lucy likes to move around A LOT, so instead, we play in all rooms of our house! In our living room, I discreetly store Lucy’s toys in a large chest that doubles as a sitting nook and keep her blocks in a cute basket from Morocco. Her play kitchen (an IKEA hack from my parents — it matches our dining room wall!) is in our entry sitting area. Other toys in the house are in small baskets in each room, including the dining room and kitchen. In Lucy’s room, we keep her toys in a little window bench and in fringe baskets under her dresser. Some people prefer to have all the “kid stuff” in one area, but we opted to turn our entire house into a play space. I want Lucy to feel like she can play anywhere and have access to all parts of the house.
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Since moving in, what is your proudest DIY or renovation to date in your new home?
We haven’t done any major construction on the house (minus the greenhouse — more on that below!), but we’ve done several small, cosmetic updates that have really made a big impact. I think the room I’m most proud of is our dining room — by painting the fireplace, updating the chandelier, painting a bold statement wall, and brightening the walls and trim — we’ve been able to really transform that room.
Tells us about the greenhouse you built in the backyard!
I’m so excited about this! My husband turned a gross, falling apart garage in our backyard into a greenhouse made out of old doors and windows he found in our neighborhood — even the roof is made of windows! He’s done all of the work himself so it’s really his own labor of love project. Our next step is painting and adding a small deck on to the greenhouse and then, I’ll start adding plants and working on decorating and designing the inside of the greenhouse.
You can follow the transformation on my Instagram stories here and I’ll be sharing some pretty epic before and afters very soon!
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What are some of the objects you like to add to your space to make it home? Work from a special artist, a family photo, or maybe a special housewarming gift?
Plants! We had an indoor jungle vibe going on in our San Francisco apartment and that’s one of the first things we bought in Nashville too! A few other pieces in our house that make it feel ‘home’ are some special pillow covers and rugs from trips to Mexico, a custom art piece from local artist Laci Fowler, and photos of Lucy from each month of her first year.
How do you intend to incorporate San Francisco into your home in Nashville?
A lot of items in our house now are from our old apartment, including about 12 plants we brought with us during the move! In our living room, I went in a California surf direction and hung one of Eric’s old surfboards on the wall. We had a surfboard sitting out in our San Francisco apartment too! I also hung up California state park prints, a surf checklist, and a surfer beach photo in this room, all in black frames. We also have vintage San Francisco prints my mom found years ago — we have these hanging upstairs.
What is the next project you’re excited to tackle in your new home?
Finishing up the greenhouse and doing some cosmetic updates (new mirror, paint, new decor) for our second bathroom.
Andi Teggart is the Everymom…
Favorite self-care ritual? It’s a toss up between exercising, bubble baths, and uninterrupted time alone at Target.
Best way to end a long day? Catching up with my husband about our days, reading a good book, and drinking tea in bed.
Most recent book you’ve read? I just finished I Was Told There Would Be Cake by Sloane Crosley and I’m also reading How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber and Julie King.
Favorite family tradition? Since Eric and I have been married, we’ve been traveling on a big trip (usually to Europe) in September. We continued it last year with Lucy! A more “day-to-day” tradition I love is bedtime routine with Lucy. We read books, say prayers, and do “affirmation time” where we remind her how loved, special, silly, important, etc. she is.
Your dream vacation? Tokyo and Southeast Asia are on my list!
Most embarrassing mom moment so far? We travel with Lucy often and her screaming as an infant or having a toddler meltdown never gets easier or less embarrassing. I’m working on just brushing it off, but after a difficult flight, I try to not make eye contact with anyone on the plane with us!