When it comes to what makes a down-south home complete, you have to start from the soul. For David Quarles, IV, home has never been just a place to sleep, but more of a memory, music and meticulous intention layered into every surface. As we get into July’s House to Home, the interior designer’s Memphis home is a leafy, light-soaked refuge that represents the culmination of an upbringing steeped in plants, vinyl, and reinvention. Growing up, home meant comfort. His parents filled their spaces with greenery and sound—weekend routines of watering plants to the soundtrack of Sade and Carlos Santana became the blueprint for how a house should feel.
His paternal grandmother added another layer: fearless experimentation. She mixed her own paint colors, constantly changed pillows and flowers, and treated walls like a canvas. “Seeing that, I started wanting to curate my room,” he told EBONY. Teen years turned into late-night DIY sessions; he learned to install crown molding and baseboards himself, and repainted so often that his parents finally drew the line: the next wall he painted would have to be in his own home.
As an adult, David longed for Midtown Memphis—historic homes, walkability, trees, character. When it came to his home, he fell in love with the potential, and no, not in the sense of having rose colored lenses, but seeing what his space could become. The French doors in the dining room, the creak of hardwood floors, the smell reminiscent of his childhood home, and generous green space all signaled he’d found the place where he could recreate that sense of protection and rootedness.
“It was basically a blank canvas where I knew that I was going to be able to do something,” he said. “There were two yards, and I never planned on having a dog, but just to have space, have greenery and a place where I could ground, I just knew that I was going to be able to do so much with it. So I was like, ‘This is it.’”
Curating the space was quite a journey. Initially, financial limitations confined him to local retail aisles and $5 racks, resulting in interiors that reflected local Memphis trends, which favored gray, white, and neutral colors. After graduating, he had a disappointing experience while trying to pursue his interior design dreams.
“I thought I would land a permanent position, but the owner at that time had significant influence in Memphis and said, ‘Oh my goodness, you did such an amazing job. Unfortunately, my clients aren’t used to people like you,’” he told EBONY. Taking a break at home was just what he needed to regain his creative spark. He credits the pandemic as a turning point that helped him abandon the trends and “get the stagnancy out.”
“It was a process of me allowing myself to really display who I was without letting, like, the old wounds and the stereotype of interior design and what was supposed to guide me,” he said. “It took hold of my personality a little bit. I thought that I had to be more austere, and like I couldn’t be [host] who made cocktails for everyone, but [instead] this serious person because everything is about being well appointed.”
Still, as he decorated his own space, it showed him he could add that vibrancy into his work. He started with his own kitchen—painting cabinets, swapping knobs and fixtures, bringing in plants and sewn-by-hand curtains and letting his upbringing and education pour into his home.
From there, his philosophy came to fruition: mid-century modern as a clean-lined base layered with color, texture, artwork and plants to add soul. As a Dominican and Creole designer, he’s determined to present African and diasporic design as fine, not secondary—on par with Italy or France. “It’s very much rooted in my upbringing and my culture,” he said. “I’ve always wanted my home to feel again well appointed, but showing things that we can all get.”
Through this process, he aimed to evoke feelings of joy and comfort, guiding his space toward a vision that transcended aesthetics and truly embodied his essence.
His current favorite space, you ask? The sunroom epitomizes that vision: a lush green rug replacing old astroturf, curtains finally hung, a record player and bar, stormy nights with friends drinking champagne, and an energy he likens to Marvin Gaye’s “Come Live with Me Angel.” It’s his indoor oasis and bistro‑social club. “To have a space that feels comfortable enough to where you can be yourself, take your shoes off and even grab a blanket [means] I created an environment that makes you feel comfortable enough to do that,” he said.
In the end, what he’s built is far more than a beautifully appointed Memphis home. Instead, he’s proven that his Dominican and Creole roots, his synesthetic way of hearing color and his devotion to detail are not detours from “serious” design but the very heart of it. His philosophy is simple but exacting: if a room doesn’t make your heart leap a little, it isn’t finished. In Quarles’ world, a well-designed oasis isn’t about perfection; it’s about creating a sanctuary where you can finally exhale, feel seen, and know you are, without question, home.
All photos courtesy of Marco Leon
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