HEAD TO TOE, WALL TO WALL

As a child, Becky Smith grew up in Brentwood where her father was a general contractor. He kept the family moving around quite a bit, but Smith’s mother always thought they had just built their forever home. Each time they moved her mother would decorate the new home from top to bottom. Smith attributes her passion for renovations and interiors to this foundation growing up.

After getting married, Smith and her husband, Tye, who had just started working for a national builder, bought a historic home in Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee. That beautiful old home had so much character and became their first fixer upper. The two of them had a blast reconfiguring and designing it, however, after 18 months Tye was transferred to Charleston, South Carolina, where shortly after moving, he started his own construction company focusing on custom homes.

The Smith’s new home in Charleston was one of Tye’s first and was used occasionally as a model home to show clients selection options. Smith’s first design jobs came from her husband’s clients needing help from the ground up and she quickly established a working relationship with GDC, her favorite home interior/ furniture store, where she would start every project in their designer fabric section. For the next 10 years she had a steady stream of clients working mostly in new construction, but also commercial and many renovation projects.

After moving back to Franklin in 2010, Smith decided to homeschool her two boys and not take on new clients for a few years. She focused her creative side into redesigning and flipping homes with her husband. In 2016-17, she had a unique opportunity to help a local business in Franklin renovate and reinvent their retail space. It was a great success, and soon after family members, who were from Columbia, suggested she open a store in the growing downtown district and offer her interior design services. When the retail space located at 109 East 6th Street fell into her lap, she jumped in with both feet and The Linen Duck opened in Columbia.

Smith’s vision was to create a boutique experience for shopping home furnishings with so much more. She wanted to go beyond the furniture store atmosphere and create an inspiring shopping experience where customers enjoy the process of discovering their personal style and home interior needs, without any pressure. “Decorating a home should be fun and exciting, not stressful and overwhelming. I wanted to offer a purchasing experience that was refreshingly enjoyable,” Smith said. Rounding out The Linen Duck brand shopping experience, the ladies’ boutique offers casual to professional apparel, jewelry, and shoes. Smith stated, “It just seemed right to offer a head-to-toe and wall-to-wall shopping opportunity.”

In order to help clients envision whole room concepts, Smith likes to design vignettes throughout the store and reworks the showroom floor once or twice a month to keep the store feeling fresh and inspiring. Smith said, “It’s always fun to see the new merchandise come together with current inventory to reinvent the flow of the showroom. I still hand pick every item that comes in the store and specify all the custom upholstery options available to purchase off the floor.”

Owning The Linen Duck opened the door for a new type of project for Smith, a design house to highlight not only on trend home selections such as tile, paint colors, hardware, and lighting, but also to showcase home furnishings and distinct styles of interior design. “I love the challenge of recreating a new floorplan from an older home, while preserving the best parts of the original architecture,” Smith explained. “I love finding a home that most people would overlook and bring it back to life by adding updated functional spaces and creating a new personality that will stand the test of time.” Each design home takes a different path and has a unique process of its own, but nine times out of ten, Smith likes to take down all the walls that are impediments and start from scratch. She especially adores these types of renovation projects because they allow her the opportunity to work side by side with her husband. Smith said, “He has a natural talent for redesigning a home’s footprint and the experience to move through renovation ideas quickly and with ease.”

In 2021, Smith had an opportunity to renovate a ranch style home in Columbia for her design house. “I was really excited how the whole project turned out. This style of home has been a very popular style in the South for decades. I was thrilled to showcase creative ideas for people who were ready to make some changes but didn’t know where to start,” she described. “Finding new square footage in a ranch floorplan is not always easy, and lower ceilings can sometimes create a less spacious atmosphere, but this home turned out so special.” By using the right lighting and reconfiguring the home, Smith was able to bring the 1960s home into the new millennium, without losing its Southern traditional style. Open house attendees were able to get ideas for kitchen and bath renovations, custom window coverings, paint and wallpaper ideas, unique lighting for lower ceilings, as well as how to style a one level open concept with the right furnishings and design accents.

What makes The Linen Duck special and different is they offer practical services with a personal touch. Hiring an interior designer is a luxury, but at The Linen Duck clients can come in and, as a complimentary service, have an experienced designer help design their entire space. Also available are more detailed interior design services, which can be tailored to specific projects. Interior design is much more than the paint matching the sofa or rug. “After more than 20 years in this business, I have learned that when clients trust their homes to me, it is a leap of faith. I want everyone who shops here to feel confident in their investment. My favorite part of this job is, and always has been, experiencing clients falling in love with their homes,” said Smith.

This year marks the 5th anniversary of The Linen Duck. In that time, the store has expanded to two floors of showroom, grown the ladies boutique, and launched the website thelinenduckshop.com. Smith also renovated two design houses in Columbia and completed the interiors of a third design house in Thompson’s Station, worked on full home projects, and helped countless clients select home furnishings.

Thanks to their loyal customer and wonderful community in Columbia, The Linen Duck continues to grow. For additional information on the design services offered, or to shop online visit thelinenduck.com. Follow them on social media at @thelinenduck.

BECKY SMITH is the owner of The Linen Duck and has created unique and innovative interiors for homeowners, residential home builders and commercial clients for more than 20 years. Smith’s husband, Tye, is a master builder and together they provide a fullservice team for home renovations and new home builds.