interior design & decorating

as most of you know my profession is interior design. i usually prefer doing commercial design work as opposed to residential decorating. i love kitchen design though, as well as selecting paint colors, fixtures, finishes and space planning. basically anything attached to the space is what i like to design. a lot of what i do is look at the whole project (house or commercial-space) and tie it all together through every design choice we make. does this light fixture complement the style of the house? is this moulding profile consistent with the architecture of the building? is this tile choice durable and not trendy? etc. i also do commercial furniture specifications and space planning.

a lot of people think that interior design and decorating are the same thing but they aren't! (see my website for an explanation) i do get asked every-so-often to do bookshelves, accessorizing or furniture rearrangement. while i can do these thing they are not my favorite and i love to forward those requests on to my mother-in-law who does this so well. i think some of my hang-up about doing such decorating tasks is that i have a "minimalist" attitude when it comes to decorating. i like special, well-placed items sparsely around the space. and for those hard-to-decorate bookshelves i prefer just books and an occasional frame or vase here and there.

i think one of the most important tasks i strive to achieve with each client is to make the space reflect their personality, cause and/or style. i really don't want anyone to walk into a space i have designed and say "meredith williams did this...this is her style" i think a great designer is able to capture the client's heart while doing good design....long-lasting, functional, appropriate, beautiful design. i also love to push the envelope with my clients....i love, love when we select a bold wall color or a funky but classic light fixture and they get excited when it's installed. it's a wonderful feeling to make someone's office, clinic or house not only beautiful but better than before we began.

ok so i got carried away....i am passionate about my work. even though it's hard to balance work and my mommy work sometimes. i am blessed to love my "paid" work so much!

well i have been doing some decorating at my house so i thought i would share:

we recently purchased a new sofa....it only took 3 months and 12 furniture stores between 2 cities to figure out what we wanted....we LOVE our sofa. we chose a dark grey in a durable, child/pet-friendly fabric. and since it was an "investment" for us we needed to go less expensive on the other items in the room. two of my favorite things in the room are the rug for $159 and the coffee table for $39 that i found at ikea. the dark brown leather recliner peaking out is kyle's favorite and chosen purchase...he jokes that it only took 9 years of marriage to convince me to get one. i finally gave in...it's what he wanted and why not make him happy :)

i found two black and white pillows at ikea for $15 each to tie in the rug; the flower lamp on the left is one i bought at ikea 4 1/2 years ago; i found the pedestal end table at a resale or estate sale years ago; i potted a little $4.99 plant in an urn my mom gave me from anthropogie; stacked some fun books and other treasures i found around the house.

i already had the black chairs and colorful pillows- i found the pillows at target a couple years ago. they really tie in the black, white, grey, pink and orange that are other places in the room; don't you love the shelf under the coffee table?

these framed silhouettes are probably my most favorite "decorations" in the room. i had these done at christmas of my boys...i bought the frames and mattes at walmart for $15 total each. eventually i would love to have them framed a little nicer but you can't really tell from a distance. i love how they make a statement and also add that fun punch of black & white. (have i mentioned that i LOVE black & white!? i have always loved black & white...almost every project in college had a little black & white included...it's so crisp, fun, classic, versatile...i could go on a on!)

my little samuel has become quite the artist. he loves to paint and what a better, inexpensive way to decorate but to use his precious scribblings. i had some grey cardstock already cut and gave him some paint- he painted our family...can you tell who is who? his sugie things it looks like matisse. :) on the mantle, i just layered some of his artwork on top of one of my beautiful darrah dean gooden paintings...it was a temporary solution but it has grown on me.

this is our entry...i framed these last year when i was tired of the artwork i already had and the colors worked well in our house. samuel just painted these with no coaxing or choice on color and they worked! again i think i got these frames at walmart. (the color on the walls in the entry is the color i am going to paint the living room....just haven't gotten around to it yet)

one tip: i rearrange and move things in my house every few months. i try to buy things i love and then they can work in any of the rooms. this is very helpful when i don't want to spend any money but am sick of the same ole thing.

and one last thing....my magazines! i LOVE them...i LOVE getting them in the mail! i read them cover to cover and fold the pages of items, looks and rooms i admire! i get inspired by my magazines...my professor in college told us to always subscribe to a "decorating" magazine. it really does help me with current ideas or trends, keep me updated on what is "in" and i just like to look at pretty things.