Nearly a decade ago, I produced a Homeplace story for Garden & Gun about the Nashville residence of Louisa Pierce, a Birmingham, Alabama, native and half of the then Music City–based design duo Pierce & Ward. 

The house—which Pierce collaborated on with her close friend and design partner, Emily Ward—delighted myself and readers because it was inviting, layered, modern, and full of quirk and personality, hallmarks that felt markedly different from what other Southern firms were doing at the time. Naturally, they had a devoted celebrity clientele from the get-go, including the supermodel Karen Elson. 

Not long after we published our story, Architectural Digest ran Elson’s house—followed by many other Pierce & Ward projects. Along the way, the duo moved their headquarters from Tennessee to Los Angeles and opened a retail shop, too. This week, they’re adding yet another milestone to their list of accomplishments: Their first collaboration with West Elm on more than a hundred pieces, from upholstery to case goods to accessories and lighting. 

As Ward told me yesterday, “We love vintage pieces, and always incorporate them into our projects, but obviously everything can’t always be all vintage—especially since we are so maximal and need so many items to fill a space in our style. West Elm was our go-to in Nashville for adding in that additional furniture we needed to finish a home. We’ve always leaned on them, so this collaboration felt like a natural step, and a really full circle moment.” The design process, which took well over a year, involved Ward and Pierce sketching tons of ideas and items for the West Elm team to riff on. “We wanted it to be a collection where someone could buy everything needed to complete their home in one place,” Ward says. “Then we went back and forth until we had a full collection that we were super proud of.”

Out of the huge range of products, their favorite pieces are the burl-wood vanity, the step stool, and the slipper chair. “We’re always on the hunt for the perfect vintage vanity, but with vintage, it’s often hard to find the perfect one in terms of height and functionality,” Ward explains. “So it was really amazing to get to create our own ideal, vintage-inspired vanity.” As for the step stool, “It’s so cute and versatile. It can be used in a pantry, in your kids’ bathroom for teeth brushing, or next to your bed for pets to use. And the striped slipper chair is also special, as it’s the perfect size, so comfortable, really looks great anywhere, and is very us.”

The step stool.

The slipper chair.

But the piece that is a true signature and most emblematic of their work is the channeled sofa. “This goes back to when Garden & Gun first covered Louisa’s house, as many clients have asked us for that pink couch she had again and again,” Ward says. “It’s a piece of Pierce & Ward and our history.”

The channeled sofa.

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