Story by Lee Rennick and Hanna Allen
Photos by Erin Kosko and Lee Rennick
Walking into the home of Laura Gossett and her husband, Tim, the open kitchen and dining area stand out. What else would you expect from the owner of Tasty Table Catering? On the kitchen island, a vintage cake-stand is laden with lemon bars and other luscious desserts from the baker Laura uses for her catering and at Tasty Table at the Soda Shop in Reeves-Sain Pharmacy.
The couple moved into their home in October of 2020, during the pandemic, right before the home-buying market got really, really crazy.
“We’d been trying to move downtown for several years,” said Laura. “We didn’t need a big house because it was just the two of us, and we couldn’t afford a million-dollar home. A friend of ours on Lytle reached out to us and asked if we were interested [in their home], but we sat on it too long and someone else made them an offer. That same week this house went on the market. Johnathan Harmon had it listed, and we called him. We actually knew the owners. They took our offer.”
The home was renovated in 2017 by Eric Lynch and his wife, Michele. According to Laura, they had completely gutted it and updated the interior. The only thing the Gossetts added are cosmetics and a laundry room off the back of the home.
“The laundry room was very small and had a bathroom attached to it,” noted Laura. “We gutted that part and put in a full laundry room, and then we have done work on the exterior, like having the porch redone.”
Interior Design Inspired by Laura’s Mother
Laura’s mother was an interior designer in Chicago, Illinois, where she grew up. A nurse by trade, her mother did interior design as a side-gig, which she eventually turned into a career. And she was very successful at it.
“I think I got that gene,” said Laura. “The design in this house is all me. Everyone has their talents, I can cook, and I can design. Those are my two.”
Laura likes different patterns and textures and putting together colors many people wouldn’t think of putting together.
“I like things that are a little different,” added Laura. “I don’t want it to look like everyone else’s house…And I like what I like. I love French antiques. I love that Mid-Mod look. I want things that are going to last. I typically don’t follow trends.”
Very good at blending furniture from different eras to create an eclectic look with old world charm, Laura follows a piece of advice she received from her mother, buy good furniture and make it somewhat versatile. But when you buy chairs or side tables or lamps – anything that isn’t super expensive – you can be trendy. They can easily be moved out and replaced as trends change.
“It is important when you are designing to follow more traditional lines, even in cabinetry,” said Laura. “People are putting in some really cool cabinetry right now, but it is going to date their home. In 10 years, you are going to say, ‘that house was built in ….’”
The Gossetts did change out most of the lighting to fit their style. Much of the lighting comes from Wayfair, as she prefers to buy less expensive lighting and put her budget into items like a $2,000 antique chest.
She has bought pieces locally, like from The Marketplace in downtown Murfreesboro, owned by Judy Goldie and Melanie Davenport. She had a table custom built by Reed and Embry, located on the square for a very short time, which she has blended with some English antiques in the family room at the back of the house. And, she has a favorite shop in Columbia, Tennessee, called Loblolly, which carries antiques exclusively imported from Europe.
“I am going to put my budget where it is going to last forever,” said Laura.
Blending Vintage Finds with Family Heirlooms
Throughout the home, Laura has scattered pieces that have been passed down through both her family and her husbands. In the kitchen, one of her favorite pieces is an antique ice box that comes from Tim’s family, it is a little over 100 years old. Above it hangs a watercolor painted by a cousin who lives in Colorado.
All of the dishware was her grandmothers’, including all of the wine glasses and dessert glasses. Like the blue ones from Austria, which have never been used by anyone. The stickers are still on them.
“I am so thankful that I got them,” said Laura, “and I got both sets of china from my grandmothers.”
One set of these dishes are on display over an antique English table she found at Gaslight Antiques in Nashville. The rest are stored in a massive light wood corner cabinet.
“We went to an auction in Woodbury,” explained Laura. “It was in the old Dr. Adams home. That is where we found the corner cabinet. It was handmade. I use it for a coffee center. I don’t like appliances on countertops.”
The downstairs bedroom is also filled with family antiques. The single bed was from her husband’s parent’s house. However, the Turkish window that hangs over the bed came from an antique show. The lamp next to the bed comes from her family.
“My parents are divorced now,” explained Laura, “but when I was growing up we had this beautiful French desk. And that lamp sat on top of that French desk. Everywhere we moved -- because I was one of those kids that moved a lot -- that lamp sat on that desk. When my parents divorced, Dad got the desk, Mom got the lamp. Mom’s still living, but she went ahead and gave me the lamp. Dad still uses the desk. But he did ask, ‘what do you want when I die,’ and I said the desk. Eventually, the lamp and desk will be back together.”
Dreaming of a Grand Hotel Bedroom
“As a young adult I was super poor,” noted Laura. “My kids and I struggled. I married Tim 10 years ago. I told him that one day I wanted to have a house with a primary bedroom that looks like a fancy hotel. And now I am like, ‘We did it!’ I don’t want to leave home anymore because it’s nicer than some of the places I could travel to.”
When the Lynchs remodeled the home, they turned the attic into a primary suite with a bedroom, sitting area and spa-like bathroom with a large walk-in shower. The only change the Gossetts made was changing out the white vanity for a blue one, as blue is one of Laura’s favorite colors.
“[It is also] both of my grandmother’s favorite colors,” said Laura. “The turquoise-colored glass decanters in the bedroom sitting areas belonged to my grandmothers.”
The trunk at the top of the stairs once belonged to her great grandmother. The so-chic woven chairs in the seating area have traveled with her from other homes. She bought them at PD’s in Franklin about seven years ago, long before they became a hot design item seen in just about every current home magazine.
“I tend to start liking things before they become popular,” added Laura, “and by the time they become popular, I‘m done with them. However, I love those chairs.”
Having a great sense of history, Laura enjoys seeing the back of the Collier-Crichlow-Smythe house from the window in her shower. She especially loves it when the large pine tree between the two homes is dusted in snow.
“The home next door to ours was once the carriage house for the Crichlow house,” explained Laura. “There is a photo Bill Jakes posted online of the house when it was first completed in the late 19th century with the carriage house behind and nothing else in the area. I think it was the first house built on Main Street.”
Expanding Her Dreams Beyond Home
While this home was a long-time dream for Laura, so is having the opportunity to help others in the culinary world grow their own. The Gossetts built a 1,400 square foot commercial kitchen off of Almaville Road in January 2024 from which they run Tasty Table Catering. And they are renting the space to other people in the culinary world.
“One thing that COVID taught me is that the key to success or to move through anything, be it a recession or some other event that can hurt financially, is to be able to have partners in the same business and it is not a competition,” said Laura. “That is one of the things that kept us alive, having allies in the business. We all supported each other. And so, I want to give that back to people who are trying to start their culinary business. That is the premise [of the commercial kitchen], I want to help other people live their dream.”
Laura has been in the culinary world since she was 18, working as a server at Demos’ Steak and Spaghetti as a single mom. Then she worked her way from kitchen staff up into management. It wasn’t easy being a female in the food industry in management. She worked for several different companies in Murfreesboro learning how to run a food business. While a manager at Newk’s, she started her catering business.
“The only reason I started Tasty Table is because my youngest was getting ready to go to college and I was still a single mom,” said Laura. “My daughter killed it academically and received scholarships to a private college, but it was going to cost a lot for her to live. So, I started cooking for people. Then we got our first wedding. We would cook out of our kitchen. That’s how it started.”
Six years after starting Tasty Table, she left the corporate world. Her first kitchen was on Medical Center Parkway, a space she shared with Olive Branch Bakery. A year later, Barbara Thomas offered the building on North Church that had been B. McNeel’s.
“We were there for five years. Our lease was up in December 2023. I was really not loving being in the restaurant industry, so we decided to stop and go back to what we really loved and that was catering. And then we have the Soda Shop at Reeve’s Sain to keep a toe in.”
Now she is reaching beyond the kitchen. She just completed a pilot show with the help of Paul Chilsen, an Associate Professor in the Department of Media Arts at Middle Tennessee State University, called “Eat to Live.” Because she was so poor as a young adult, it is important to Laura to help people learn to eat healthy. She sees people living on government funding, some by choice some not, pumping processed foods into their bodies because it is perceived to be affordable. But too much processed food leads to health issues like diabetes and heart disease, then the government has to pay for their health care.
“It is a cycle,” said Laura. “And I thought, ‘what can I do to help break that cycle?’ The first ‘Eat to Live’ we did was turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes. We were able to do the whole meal for $36. Twenty dollars fed four people one dinner, and then I was able to make two more meals out of what was left over. So, for that $36 we were able to feed four people three meals. It is dear to my heart.”
She is also opening her new kitchen to Charity Chopped this year because proceeds go to the four components that help people get out of poverty – clothing, shelter, food and literacy.
“It’s cool to be down here and have this cute little house, but the point of putting my house out there in this story is to do something better,” added Laura. “And that is the important part.”