Corners of Coppell: Tattered Style taking trips through time with decor, furniture

Dana and Nate Pugh, owners of Tattered Style in Old Town Coppell, are more than designers and curators; they’re decorative detectives and experts. From a natural oak butcher board countertop to a dated black and white photograph of students at Baylor University, the Pughs look for clues to trace back the hidden origins of their found, vintage goods. 

Perusing the two buildings comprising their shop, it is clear Tattered Style sequesters varied stories and histories in the trinkets and furnishings that line the store, floor to ceiling. Their pieces come from various locations such as South Texas and London, which attract sums of customers by appointment or chance to the repurposed gas station and home that now serve as a brick-and-mortar store. And in speaking with Nate, it is evident there is hidden away in the store’s pieces. 

What was the inspiration for starting the business and locating it here in Old Town Coppell?

My wife, Dana, was doing the [interior] design of George Coffee + Provisions, and one night we were driving by and noticed that this was an old dress shop that was going out of business. She had always had in her mind a hope that she would open a brick-and-mortar place to meet clients and maybe have a few things for sale, so that’s what the initial intent was, to be more of a studio for her. But as we got into the sort of remodel, she became more intrigued with the idea of making it a retail hub, causing the business mode to switch from a lot of design appointments and work with a little bit of retail to pretty much all retail.

How do you go about curating and locating decorative pieces and furnishings for the store?

[Dana] has been in the business for a long time: 30 years. She has a wide variety of contacts that she will source and go to when she knows that she’s needing more inventory. At times, people will come to us and say, “Hey, I’ve got this, and it looks like it might fit in your shop. Would you be interested in buying it from me?” Other times we go on buying trips, seeking pieces. We’ve gone to Brimfield, Mass. and California. Of course, we go down to South Texas, East Texas, all the way around. In the summer we go to Europe, so just all over all the time. 

What is your favorite piece in the store?

Our silver eagles punch bowl piece. It is truly one of a kind. It was commissioned by Anheuser-Busch corporation to an international silver company to make a bowl. It features the Budweiser eagles on it, and it’s truly never been sold or been up for sale. Doing the research and finding out what it was was a lot of fun and then realizing the significance and how unusual it is was [fun] as well. 

What was the process of expanding the store?

When we first leased [the original building], we asked to buy from the owners, and they said they weren’t interested in selling. But in the contract, Dana outlined the first right of refusal if they decided to sell. Two years later, they came back and said, “OK, we’d like to sell, but you have to buy this little house behind this whole corner too.” It was really just, “buy it, no agent, here’s the price, no haggling, we need to close in 60 days.” So we said, “Great, let’s do it.” There was a State Farm office in [the gas station], and when their lease expired, we were staying here one night, and Dana just had the idea: to buy it and make it a different concept (housing larger furniture).

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