M Designs

It’s getting to be that time of year.  Time to start thinking about the holidays, decorating, shopping, baking, and just plain having too many things to do.

Envision this…..it’s Thanksgiving…..late in the evening.  You’ve cooked the fabulous meal, washed all the dishes and put the leftovers in the fridge.  You’re exhausted and all you can think of is getting out the holiday decorations and decorating your home and or office for the upcoming holiday.  That’s what you are thinking that you’ll have to do tomorrow.  Climb into the attic, drag out the dusty boxes, dig through all your holiday treasures and spend the weekend decking the halls!  Does that sound like fun?

Or, envision this!  It’s Thanksgiving evening….you’re done with the turkey and trimmings,  done with the dishes and in-laws, you’re exhausted, but YOU have a team of elves coming tomorrow to decorate your home and or office for the holidays!  YOU are going to spend time enjoying the holiday festivities and your friends, because YOU have given yourself the gift of time!  That’s right, you have hired M Designs to come do the decorating for you.

Ladies, this is the way to go!  We will come to your home  or office and create a holiday theme that will incorporate your current decorations with fresh greenery and perhaps freshen up your look with some new decorations as well.  We’ll set up the tree, hang the wreath, put out the candle holders, the whole  nine yards!  You get to sit back, relax, drink your favorite beverage and enjoy the creation!

Gentlemen, give your wife the gift of time and sanity.  We have several clients that book us to decorate their homes for the holidays and give this as a gift to their wives.  They LOVE it!

So, don’t stress over the holiday decorating.  Contact us today and let us deliver the perfect gift for you – a beautifully decorated home or office for the holidays!

I just wanted to let you all know about a great on-line magazine that I really love!  It’s Lonny Magazine.  Lonny is celebrating their one year anniversary this month.  Happy anniversary!

It seems that I am always on the run between client meetings, kids activities and traveling.  I recently received an iPad, and I love having the ability to flip through this magazine on my iPad, while I’ve got a few minutes of “down time”.

Lonny covers everything from design ideas and tips, how to choose paint and colors for your home, how to select the perfect accessories….everything!  And the photography is just beautiful!

If you’re looking for great information, inspiration and eye candy, take a look at Lonny!  Below are just a few images from their October/November issue.

I saw these fabrics and fell in love! Call me if you are interested!

Love this mix! How fun is this!

See what I mean about great ideas?

By Eddie Ross and Jaithan. When I saw them at High Point I told them this is my favorite table EVER!

Another addition to my travel "must stay" list....beautiful!

As you know, I went to the Round Top Antiques Fair last week. My friend Linda Burnside, with LGB Interiors came all the way from Columbia, SC and was my partner in crime. I don’t even know where to begin. We saw it ALL! There were so many vendors, and fabulous treasures – I’m almost speechless!

We were on a mission to find the perfect accessories and furniture for several clients, and our mission was accomplished!

We purchased a beautiful oriental rug; some wonderful antique leather bound books, and an antique Spanish bowl, just to name a few things.

And of course, I had to make a personal purchase, which was a beautiful hand embroidered denim shirt. I couldn’t leave without it!

I’ve attached several pictures of interesting products that we saw while we were there. The last picture is of my car – yes, we managed to fit everything in!

I’m already planning my next trip. If you love antiques, you should plan a trip and go sometime as well!

M Designs recently worked with Regenesis Design Build on a home renovation.  I have to tell you that one of my favorite rooms was this tiny powder bath, located just off the utility room.  Sometimes homeowners feel that small spaces are hard to decorate or don’t really consider jazzing them up.  However, we took the opportunity to add some pizzazz and make the most of this space.

We used an open style pedestal sink without a storage cabinet underneath to open up the room and give the illusion of more space.  For storage, we installed one cabinet above the commode.  Then we gave the room a splash of pizzazz with the shimmery wallpaper and the beautiful beveled mirror.   The canned, recessed lighting provides great light, without adding “clutter” to the small space.

The result….well, see for yourself!  I think it says WOW!

Today I will load up my car and head south to the smallest incorporated town in Texas….Round Top, population 81!  Salute!  Round Top is home to one of my favorite places to shop for antiques; the Round Top Antiques Fair.  This fair began 43 years ago, and is going stronger every year with more exhibitors and certainly higher attendance.

At Round Top, you can find everything from furniture, to dishes, quilts to light fixtures, and everything in between.  Many vendors are known for their ability to find eclectic, one of a kind items that you wouldn’t normally be able to find on your own.  The exhibitors search all over the world for the highest quality antiques to display to their repeat and new clientele.  Rest assured, even if you are a faithful Round Top attendee, you will always find something new at the fair.  (What is that saying….everything old is new again?)

The exhibitors are set up in four different venues, creating a quaint “fair like” atmosphere, but the quality of their products is anything but “fair like”.

The Carmine Dance Hall is heaven on earth if you adore gorgeous antique glass, crystal, silver, linens, and my favorite….china.

I especially love the display in the Continental Tent.  Exhibitors in this location offer high quality products from England, France, Spain, Italy, and other European countries.  You can find items ranging in style from country to formal, small or large, inexpensive or pricey.

I have been to Round Top many times, and wouldn’t dream of missing it this year.  If you love antiques like I do, this is a must attend event!  If you are just an antique “browser” or an aficionado, there is something at Round Top for you.

I haven’t posted this week because I am in the midst of a whirlwind…literally. We have changed our accounting system and are slogging through the details of learning an entirely new system. We have also been working with an out of town client on an exciting new project and have been focused deeply on getting the first phase complete before the client leaves town this week. WHEW..

Remember how everyone tells you to stop and smell the roses? Yeah right. Not in my world. But tonight I had a “moment” and now I have a much better understanding of what that means. I asked my son to take out the trash and recycling when we got home this evening and while I was preparing dinner, I looked out the window to see him dawdling in the front yard. I was distracted at that moment and didn’t knock loudly on the glass like I normally would, urging him along in his least favorite task.
About 5 minutes later he came inside and handed me this…..no words, just a sweet grin and a look of pride in his eyes.

My sweet boy took a moment to smell the roses and use the talent he was born with…imagination and an artist’s eye. This is his sculpture, created from a holly leaf from the neighbor’s yard and yaupon berries from a tree in our yard. Notice how the larger berries are on the larger projections on the leaf and they get smaller as you get to the bottom of the leaf.

I loved my gift, and more importantly I stopped and took the time to talk to him about his creation, how special it made me feel and how amazing his “eye” is in creating art.

Stop and smell the roses!! I hope you all find time to experience the beauty I did today.

When clients consider redecorating or working on an entirely new home design, they seldom consider lighting at the beginning of the project.  It is however, something that should be considered early on.

An effective lighting plan will have a dramatic effect on the space, but the lighting also needs to serve different purposes, depending on the room.

There are three basic types of lighting.  A well lit space should include elements of all three types of lighting:

• Task Lighting – used for things such as reading, sewing, or working on the computer
• Ambient or General Lighting – used to illuminate the room.  This can be accomplished with various table and floor lamps, strategically placed to give you adequate light to see and move safely throughout your home.
• Accent Lighting – used to add drama and create interest in a room.  Recessed lighting, wall sconces or track lights are perfect to spot light items such as furniture, paintings or various artwork, and fireplaces.

Gone are the drab, utilitarian lights of old.  Light fixtures themselves have become beautiful pieces of art as well, and can be found in any decorating style whether your taste is traditional, transitional, or contemporary.

Below are a few lighting tips:

• A desk lamp should be about 15” tall, shed light on the work surface and be adjustable.
• A properly hung chandelier should hang about 30” above the tabletop, and be 6” narrower than your table on each side.
• A standard lamp typically illuminates 40 – 50 square feet, so be sure to use several lamps in each room to avoid darks spaces.
• Be sure your fixtures are proportionate in size to your space and furniture.
• A reading lamp should be placed along your shoulder with the bottom of the shade even with our head.

*Photos from Currey & Co.

One of my favorite fabric sources is The Robert Allen Group.  We specify fabrics from all four brands of their fabric collections:  Beacon Hill, Robert Allen, Robert Allen Contract, and Robert Allen@Home.

Robert Allen designs are always fresh, innovative, stylish and original.  I love how the inspiration for their designs comes from art, history, and nature, to name a few.  Robert Allen products and are of the finest materials and construction found in the industry today.

M Designs has turned to Beacon Hill many times over when asked to create window treatments for our clients.  Beacon Hill’s use of refined materials and opulent color palette enables us, as designers, to provide a luxurious, one-of-a-kind product.

Fabric being woven on the loom

I have kept a library of tear sheets in our studio offices for over 10 years now.  Many of these notebooks have images from now defunct publications.  From Met Home to Southern Accents, to Domino, this library is a treasure trove for all the designers in my design studio.  My ritual every summer of compiling tear sheets and filing them gives me inspiration for months.  As we embark on a new round of projects, I need fresh inspiration from the past and I hope to get it this week.  What does your tear sheet library look like?

As I prepare for a photo shoot for one of our recent installations, I am left to ponder how to best style the deep teal library we designed for the Mrs. of the house. 

While this room faces south, it receives bright light most of the day.  This created a requirement for a cool, sophisticated color palette and we turned to our favorite teal palette.  This was over a year ago, before turquoise became so very HOT…so are we abandoning teal now for the younger, fresher turquoise? 

Below are my favorite teal inspirations…just don’t forget that popularity often fades and we are left to depend on our tried and true friends…don’t forget teal…it gets along so well with turquoise.

Photos from Lonny Magazine

Fabrics by Trina Turk for Schumacher Fabrics