At 33, Biggs Powell, owner of Biggs Powell Interior Design & Antiques, also in midtown, is already one of the city's most exciting designers. After graduating from college, Powell worked for Memphis designer Roland Gerhardt while working toward his degree in interior design. Gradually, he built a clientele of his own and in 2002 opened his store, a restored '20s Victorian clapboard house in which he showcases a collection of one-of-a-kind antique furniture. The effect is an inviting and comfortable shop surrounded by bold bursts of color, which Powell says is a function of the space. "I initially planned on painting every surface white as you so often see in galleries in Paris and New York," he says. "But given the fact that my shop is in a house, I decided to treat it accordingly."

    Whether it's a pair of Napolean III octagonal wall mirrors or a '40s French mother-of-pearl marquetry dining table, French pieces—both period and modern—are interspersed effortlessly with their eclectic finds, including artwork by Carroll Cloar, Josef Abers and Victor Vasarely. "I enjoy mixing and layering," says Powell. "I appreciate each extreme and that has allowed me to find a balance when crossing periods."