Passionate for the 'Not So Perfect'

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On a long, raw wooden coffee table, visitors fi nd the eclectic inspiration for scores of beautiful home accessories sold at Revival in downtown Chattanooga: Early 20th century fencing masks, an old clock weight in the shape of a heart, a rusted equestrian chain, large wooden combs carved in Sweden to tame the unruly wool of a sheep.

As Revival’s owner and creative director, Rodney Simmons, describes the table’s organic mix of antique items amid the luxurious upholstery of the store, one can feel his passion for history, culture, and finding beauty in the not-so-perfect.

One of the items on the table, a tattered wooden doll with a missing head and fingers, might confuse clients who flock to Revival from all over the South for one of-a-kind home accessories, admits Simmons. Why, after all, would anyone want such a thing to adorn a room? To hear Simmons make his case for the little doll is to understand Revival’s mission of reimagining the ordinary and challenge the intellect through design.

“There’s a vestigial spirit in this doll,” Simmons says, contemplating its journey from owner to owner. “You know that a little child somewhere has loved it and played with it. I just think there’s something so provocative about that, and provocation is a good thing both intellectually and emotionally. It’s not always about beauty, it’s about the haunting remnants of beauty.”

Simmons is a preacher’s son from Blount County, Tennessee, who started working as a teen for Proffitt’s department store in Nashville, and later as a buyer for the now-defunct Parisian store in Birmingham, Alabama. Not formally trained as an interior designer, he would eventually become entrenched in the fashion world of New York City as the director of presentation for menswear labels of Ralph Lauren.

Simmons was responsible for designing the spaces for clothing presented to buyers at the wholesale level, as well as to retail customers in legendary stores like Bergdorf Goodman. The Ralph Lauren Company had amassed warehouses literally filled with spectacular furnishings and accessories from all over the world, and he says the environment strongly influenced his love of antiques and “beautiful things.”

When he and his partner decided to relocate to Chattanooga in 1999, Simmons says it was an easy decision to leave New York behind in order to again get lost in the whimsy of his favorite place on earth—the American South.

The business began in 2002 as a way for Simmons to keep his creative energy alive. Revival was originally conceived as a small “by appointment only” store, he says, to be stocked with cherry-picked antiques from his frequent travels to Europe, North America and Mexico.

Nearly a decade later, Revival is now an anchor store reflecting the renaissance at Warehouse Row on Market Street, and continuing to help people reinvent their homes in unique ways.

Simmons’ inventory of furniture designed and built in America, swathed in muted tones of linen and velvet and reminiscent of antique silhouettes, for example, doesn’t have to be utilized in a traditional sense, says Simmons. In one display Simmons presents a large circular table in front of a tall sofa, creating an unexpected seating option for dinner guests. “It’s a really great way to make a dining room different, especially if you’re short on space and want a more casual feel,” he says.

Simmons also is passionate about candles. Diners who have enjoyed the dripping display of wax at Chattanooga’s Italian restaurant, Alleia, have seen a result of Simmons’ creative mind at work. As its interior designer, Simmons says he advised owners to resist the urge to clean up the piles of wax created by several burning candles on a tall console.

“Again, this is the theme of taking something familiar and using it in a way you’re not supposed to,” Simmons says. “There’s something so decadent about letting those candles drip onto the floor. And if you let the wax pile up, you’ve created the illusion of something that’s been there for generations.”

Revival’s collection of candles, made by Cire Trudon, a French company that began in 1663, embodies Simmons’ belief in the power of scent. Revival is one of only a handful of retailers nationally to carry the candle line, which is known for its unusual fragrances.

“These fragrances transport your home to a different place” says Simmons, enjoying the scent of a candle called “Ernesto.” A label describes the scent as the “stubborn smell of Cuba”: think a musky mixture of masculinity and gunpowder. Another is called “Ro Soleil,” and meant to conjure the prestigious smells of wood floors at the Palace of Versailles in France.

Not all of Simmons’ treasures are so neatly packaged. On one of Simmons’ trips to Venice, Italy, he discovered several early 20th century terracotta facial molds with various expressions that were used to make disposable masks for Carnival. Because Simmons sees the molds themselves as pieces of art, he decided to mount each on a museum base.

“Displaying just one of these in an entrance hall would be amazing,” he says.

Simmons recently took perhaps the ultimate classic lighting element—a crystal chandelier—and coated it with white plaster for his friend, Amanda Pinson, who sells high-end jewelry next door. “We let the plaster drip off the chandelier for a week and kept scooping it up and adding more chunks of plaster,” Simmons recalls.

The result is a wonderful piece that embodies Simmons’ passion for provoking interest and intrigue. “It’s something you know is man-made, but has such an organic feel,” he says. “People stare at it. It beckons them to ask questions.”

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