Interviewing a Designing Woman

Finding her passion.

A Welcoming Entry

Family

entryway includes french doors that lead to the dining room

 “We made the decision that I would be home for

them which I loved and enjoyed every moment”

Maria Rodriguez placed a high priority on family long ago when she made the decision to be a stay-at-home mother to her two sons Billy and Mark becoming quite involved in the day-to-day activities of her very active boys. While investing herself in creating a warm and comfortable home for her husband Bill and her boys, Maria also found time to craft and gather socially with her family and friends.

click on any picture to enlarge.
Maria's dining room

Maria's talent for displaying accessories is evident in her dining room

Maria’s focus on family, friends as well as the comfort and the blessing of home can be felt as one enters through the door to her thoughtfully decorated home. Maria shared that while living in Florida, she took Home Design courses in a local college to learn how best to decorate her home.

“I knew this was my new found passion”

Maria found this buffet at a local antique store and added her special touch

Entrepreneur

Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom, Maria began her entrepreneurial career as owner of a beauty salon. When Maria’s sons headed to college she was fortunate to find a job at Black Welders, a furniture store in Florida, that she had taken note of over the years and had become a favorite of hers. Maintaining her cosmetology license, Maria has followed her passion making Home Decorating her life’s occupation and passion.

“I always love to visit, because of the

Classical and Cottage style of furniture

 and accessories they carried”.

Home Decor

While working for Black Welders Maria discovered her gift and her passion for home decorating beginning to blossom. The store’s owners would give Maria the task of ‘staging’ newly acquired furniture – Maria delved with passion into each room’s setting arranging the furniture with accessories to give the prospective buyer a glimpse of how the furniture could look in their home.

Oftentimes the buyer would purchase the whole ‘room’ accessories and all. When customers expressed their wish for the furniture and accessory placement to be duplicated in their home, Maria was encouraged by  the store owners to branch out as an Interior Decorator Consultant.

“That’s when my creative juices started

 to stir up and I went full force. I decorated

many businesses and homes in Florida.

I created a following from working at

 the store and by word of mouth”.

Maria began to collect and to fill her own home with the quality furniture she found at Black Welders. The classical and cottage lines of Hickory Hill’s Jaclyn Smith Collection can be found in a number of the rooms in Maria’s home.

Maria's French Country Family Room

Former Actress Jaclyn Smith also found her passion in home decorating some years back developing lines of furniture, accessories and bedding that remain timeless.

Maria's sitting room - Jaclyn Smith's "Grandma's Attic"

In an interview in Guidepost Magazine Jaclyn shared,

  “Someone once asked me what my favorite place in the world was.

  I had to say that with all the traveling I’ve done, with all the incredible spots I’ve seen, the place I treasure most is home. Home. The word itself comforts me.”

Home is where my loved ones are, where I can kick back and be my­self, where the kitchen is full of good smells, where the living room has my favorite books, where my dogs are welcome in every room and where at night I can fall asleep in my own bed on my own pillow, my head full of prayers.”

Jaclyn Smith’s philosophy of home being a ‘sanctuary…a place of rest and regeneration’ is reflected in Maria’s passion for creating a welcoming, comfortable home for her family.

creating

Just like so many other home decorators, Maria has several stories behind some of the pieces that decorate the rooms in her home.

In the sunroom, Maria found a worn side table and saw it as a ‘diamond in the rough’. Finding the top of the table to be beyond repair, Maria asked her husband to remove it and had a piece of glass cut to fill in the spot.

She chose glass so that the accessories placed beneath could be seen. Fond of painted furniture, Maria painted the side table a soft white  distressing the edges.

Maria shared that one of her favorite things to do is to give new life to interesting pieces of furniture by painting them. Her creativity is shown in the painted chairs in the attic bedroom for her grandchildren.
Maria counts herself to be blessed with nine
grandchildren and has dedicated a wall in
her Master bedroom suite displaying photos
 of her grandchildren with the word
‘Blessings’ painted above.

Restoring

Maria and Bill purchased an old historic house in the rural town of Sparta, Georgia. They spent a number of years carefully restoring the home from finding heart-pine wood to repair sections of the flooring to gutting the attic to provide whimsical bedrooms for her grandchildren when they come to visit.

Maria's handmade Christening dresses made from vintage pillow cases (pictured left) became  popular
decorative items

Maria’s favorite design styles, “Classical Cottage – French Country, Shabby Chic and Primative” are reflected throughout her home. When asked which are her favorite rooms –

Maria quickly shares the bedroom downstairs with the Jaclyn Smith wicker bed

and the bedroom upstairs in the pink and green, the “Petra” bedding.

Maria is also skilled in sewing, creating all of the curtains and window treatments throughout her home.

Décor tips

Maria shared that two important considerations when decorating a room are “functionality and comfort level” Maria shared the importance of scale in the size of the furniture and not being ‘too matchy-matchy’ .

Maria took small frames and filled them with silk flowers to decorate the wall above the bed in the girl's room

“Don’t hesitate to give a piece of furniture

 a second chance,” Maria advises,

“ recycle- reuse”.

Maria also noted that oftentime when attempting to decorate a room, “people would leave out their personality” She shared the importance of putting what one loves into each room – this reflection of their love and their passions would create an inviting – personal atmosphere for themselves and their families.

When asked what one thing someone could do to best enhance their room décor, Maria replied,

“Paint, paint treatment, placement of furniture

and displaying of your favorite accessories”

These happen to be the most frequently asked questions Maria helps home owners solve – placement of furniture and display of accessories so that their rooms don’t look cluttered.

Entrepreneur/blogger

Maria has taken her love of home décor and helping others through her Home Interiors consultations to another level. Maria opened a store in her new hometown, Sparta called

Rooms U Love. Maria has skillfully recreated rooms and vignettes of objects to spur the imagination of her customers with accessories and furniture. Maria shared that she wanted to recreate a small version of the store she once worked in to help homeowners create “relaxed, cozy rooms”

In addition, Maria has joined the blogging community to share her skills and knowledge with others and to connect with others with similar interests.

I have found Maria to be a Kindred Spirit. We have spent hours talking about our families, faith, our love of home and decorating. Her warm and giving spirit is shown through her home, her store and her involvement in our little town.  I hope you take opportunity to visit Maria at her blog RoomsULove and explore the wonderful things she has to offer as a Home Decorator, business owner and now blogging friend.

I am sharing this post with these Delightsome Blog Parties:

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Fridays Unfold @ Stuff and Nonsense

Inspiration Friday @ The Picket Fence

Tickled Pink @ 504 Main

Show Off Your Cottage Monday

At

The House in the Roses 

Thank you for your visit,

 

Wishing you a very Delightsome day,

Jaclyn Smith quote.

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My interview with Apartment Therapy's Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan

I was so honored to have a chance to chat with Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. He's the founder of Apartment Therapy, which was the first design blog I ever discovered and what ultimately inspired me to start blogging. We talk about "techorating," - successful decorating with technology that merges function and design. Below is the video of our interview, some still images, and even more tips from Maxwell on techorating.






Maxwell in his chic office at the Apartment Therapy headquarters.

The latest book from Apartment Therapy - "Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces," is packed with ideas for integrating technology into your decor beautifully


Apartment Therapy headquarters.

Techorating in action at Apartment Therapy. Cord management has become more attractive over the years with nifty helpers like these CableDrop cable clips.



One of my favorite ideas. I didn't even know these existed - a charging station that can charge up to four phones and only one cord. It's called the Duracell myGrid.


Instead of the outdated speakers you see above...Maxwell suggests looking into products like this ceramic Phoneofone III by Science and Sons. Your iPhone sits in the cradle at the opening and the sound is amplified. Read/see more info at Science and Sons. You'd expect this beauty to be almost $1,000, but it's actually $195 +SH.



He also mentions this Jambox from Jawbone. Completely wireless and small - but 120 DB. Cost is $199 and it comes in several colors.


Here are a few more resources from Maxwell.

An article on merging color and technology on Apartment Therapy. Click here to read.

A wiremold article for when you have to run cables/wires without drilling holes.


Click here to read.

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Interview with great designer Ashley Krogman

Do I have a great treat for you! Ever wonder how new decorators and stylists get their foot in the door? Where they get their inspiration? Where they find the great decor and furniture that grace the rooms and homes of their portfolios?

Well you're getting those answers straight from the source; up and coming interior decorator/stylist Ashley Krogman. I interviewed Ashley, asking some of the questions I've always wondered about, and she was gracious enough to answer them for us. She also gave me pictures and details from her latest styling assignment, which I think you'll really like. See it below the interview.

Interview with Ashley

1. How did you get started in the interior design and stylist field? Would you say you got a lucky break or “made” your luck by lots of reaching out, networking, doing some free jobs, etc?

I always knew that I was supposed to do interior design. It has been my passion basically my whole life. Growing up, I would go over to my grandmother’s house and re-arrange her whole basement, build little homes with sheets and chairs, and decorate the inside of each “area”.

I would say that I “made” my lucky break in the design field (I am still very new, but have been fortunate enough to have had little breaks along the way in a short time, I am looking forward to making more happen!). It is amazing how much you HAVE to put yourself and your work out there when you are first starting! You have to reach out almost anywhere (even if you don’t really feel like it!). You really have to push yourself! You also have to be willing to do some jobs for free, or for extremely low cost in the beginning, in order to build up your portfolio, and clientele. Another HUGE thing in getting that big break is being extremely creative and different; Offering a unique, signature style of your own.

2. What’s your favorite aspect of being an interior designer/stylist? What is your least favorite?

My favorite aspect of design is coming up with new ideas, and “looks”; creating a beautiful little world that takes your breath away, and being able to stand back and see the entire finished product.

My least favorite aspect of design are those jobs where you aren’t able to use as much creativity as you would like, for various reasons, but they pay the bills, and help develop you and your business in the design field.

3. What inspires you the most? Certain natural scenery? A certain store? A book?

A book that has been inspiring me for about a year and half now since I purchased it is, “Flea Market Style” by Emily Chalmers. There is so much beauty and creativity in those pages; I can never get enough no matter how many times I read it! I am also inspired by old movies, and old photographs.

4. When creating a set for a shoot, besides client’s products, where do you go or what resource do you use for the other props you use?

I go to a lot of thrift stores for props in a set. Thrift stores have the most unique, affordable accessories. If I cannot find what I am looking for at a thrift store, than I will go to stores like TJ Max, Marshalls, and Tuesday Morning. There are times when I need certain, very unique, items so then I will hit up Urban outfitters and Anthropologie (my two favorite stores for as long as I can remember)

5. I know I’ve often flirted with the idea of training to become an interior designer or stylist, as I’m sure a lot of my readers have. What tips and advice do you have for someone trying to break into the industry?

My tips and advice (based on what I have learned) would be to educate and inform yourself with the industry. For me, getting my A.A.S. in Interior Design was a huge thing! It gave me knowledge, credibility, confidence, and I was actually able to call myself a “designer”, rather than a “decorator”, and that felt great (especially after all that hard work!). Another big recommendation I would give to someone trying to break into the field would be to research!! One of the best ways to do that, is by following creative decorating blogs (such as decorology ;), and just filling yourself up with as much knowledge on trends, looks, what other designers are doing, etc as much as you can. My last piece of advice would be to develop your own signature style. Certain projects will be very different from each other, but there should be certain elements that stand out as your “style”, or projects that have your “touch”—the “golden” touch is how you should start thinking of it ;)

6. When getting started on a new project or assignment, what’s the first thing you do to get started? Sketch? Research for inspiration?

I research like crazy! My process is as follows: I see the client, find out what they like (style, interests, etc), then usually I will have some ideas pop into my head and a direction that I want to take the project, and then I follow up with lots of research to fully develop it!

7.What’s your favorite purchase for your home that you just couldn’t live without?

I would have to say my new sofa! It cost me $50 from a thrift store, and I totally love it. It is 7’ long, tufted, and a pale gold color with a faint damask/leafy pattern to it. It is definitely vintage, and Anthropolgie looking!

Thanks Ashley for taking the time to answer those questions - some great tips!

Now for some of her work! Here's a little background about her latest project:

Since Fall has approached, I had a lovely client ask me to come up with a set design for a shoot. I decided to do a Fall shoot, but with a twist! And that twist included touches of modern, a little bit of 'funky retro', and of course accents of feminine vintage! I enjoyed using touches of Fall jewel tones in the set, such as the deep red of the goblet and matching perfume bottle, the emerald green of the vintage glass bottle, and accents of black throughout. I usually find myself sticking to a more neutral palate of sparkly silvers, pale golds, creams and whites, but I was ready for a bit of a change, and Fall is the perfect time! It was so refreshing to add some rich colors and patterns, such as the pattern in the rug, and the rich tone of the roses, and the bright turquoise of the hand fan. It was also great to add a little funkiness to the set with items such as the white owl accessory. I was able to use elements that I love in design right now: my 1970's black leather desk chair, a fur throw for texture, lots of vintage bottles, tea cups, and a cute little tea pot I got for one dollar at a garage sale! It was great to still be able to incorporate vintage and retro elements, but it was so fun to pair those with a brick background, and feminine eyelet white lanterns, for a slightly different version. It was so fun to come up with this Fall set with a twist!









Gold and burgundy is big this fall/winter!



This one's possibly my favorite - the teacup with the pearls.


Thanks again Ashley - great work!

Follow Ashley's doings on her fab blog Ashley Krogman Designs

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