Anyone who knows David Quarles, whether in person or through his brilliantly bohemian Instagram account, will tell you that the Memphis-based interior designer loves living his life in technicolor. “I’m a synesthete,” David says of his preternatural talent. “I see sound and hear color.” Which is why, when he meets clients for the very first time, the first thing he does is ask them their favorite songs. “It comes in especially handy when they can’t express how they want their space to feel or look. When I hear their playlist, the colors come swimming to me like I’ve known them all along,” he adds—even if the songs in said playlist are in French. Exhibit A: his latest project, a charming apartment in Central Gardens, Memphis, where his brain bested Google Translate to turn a patriotic ballad by French singer Édith Piaf into the perfect color-happy aesthetic.
For owner Brooke Ward Mills, an operations manager in the nonprofit sector and a self-admitted Francophile, the home marked a new beginning in more ways than one. Having experienced some difficult life chapters, she saw this as her chance to write her next one—or as David puts it, “a chance to create a place where she could put all of her personality out there.” Although the designer asserts that his client has “a divine sense of style,” it turned out she had no idea where to start.
