There is a quiet thrill to stepping inside a house that radiates the essence of the person who lives there. Spaces like these are always much more than just a sum total of great vintage furniture, art, and potted plants arranged just so. For designer Whitney Parshall, founder of Opera House, creating a space that has an authentic, lived-in feel is all about telling a great story. “I’m always trying to understand the world my clients want to live in,” she says. “What do you want your day to be like? What do you want to wake up in the morning and feel?”
Before she opened her Athens design studio and became known for her curated collections of wallpaper, wall coverings, and one-of-a-kind home furnishings, Parshall was worldbuilding in many different mediums. “Storytelling is the world I came from,” she says.
With a background in theater, she worked as a TV producer for Food Network and the History Channel for over a decade. She then went on to work as an interior stylist for Anthropologie, a brand known for the captivating curation of its retail spaces.
Her design work today pulls on her keen sense of narrative and emotional resonance—skills that anchor her expanding portfolio of residential and commercial design projects. She often names her projects, attaching a tone, tagline, or narrative frame that guides the design direction.
Early conversations with clients center on what a space should feel like: the morning mood in the kitchen, a restorative corner in a busy home, or a commercial interior that shifts a client’s mindset the moment they step inside. Functionality for real life is at the heart of every vision, including thoughtful accommodations for pets woven into the plan. “I’m such an animal lover,” she says. “And our pets are so often forgotten in interior design.”
Alongside her strong sense of narrative, Parshall brings fluency in the construction side of design. Having grown up around contractors and completed several of her own home renovations, she moves easily between drafting concepts and discussing structural realities. She also adjusts her involvement to match each client’s needs, designing floor plans, ordering finishes, and collaborating with contractors as needed. “I can gut a house, or I can style a living room,” she says. “It’s totally up to my clients to tell me where they need me.”
Her Hudson River Cottage renovation, for instance, needed full-system upgrades and a clearer spatial identity. Parshall transformed its compact bathroom into a Nanocrete-finished wet room, vaulted the ceiling to expose beams, and ingeniously channeled plumbing through one of those beams so the rain shower could emerge from the historic wood. Throughout, she modernized the interiors without losing the house’s charming essential character.
With a deep love of history, restoration is a favorite project area for Parshall, and her modern spaces are often infused with historically-informed design elements that make the overall vision feel complete.
In Midtown Manhattan between 5th Ave and Madison, a 340-square-foot raw commercial shell became a bespoke men’s salon, with a contemporary design with Rat Pack-inspired vibes. Parshall created the floor plan, reworked plumbing and walls, sourced every finish (including custom leather salon chairs and a cocktail bar for the waiting area), and stayed onsite through construction. The result is a compact, retro-inflected space that feels unexpectedly transporting. “I wanted it to feel like a little vacation,” she says. “A respite from the day.”
Whether simply enhancing existing interiors with textiles or art, or gutting a building down to the studs to reenvision anew, Parshall enjoys the process of creating spaces that feel distinctive and fresh. “People come to me when they know they want something that feels different,” she says.
Design consultations at Opera House in Athens are offered by appointment. To start a design conversation, email info@operahousecompany.com or call (917) 829-1319.
