Meet 3A: A Chat with Mallory

Today is the last and final installment of our Meet 3A Series.  Let's see what Mallory has to say...

When did you first discover your love of design?

I’ve loved design ever since I was a little girl.  I first redecorated my room when I was in the 2nd grade.  I asked for American Girl doll furniture in lieu of the actual dolls and “playing Barbies” at my neighbor’s house meant setting the dolls to the side and redecorating the Barbie Dream House.  I was constantly rearranging furniture and picking out new paint colors for the house.  When I got my first apartment in college, I was in heaven thinking I’d have a place of my own (with my roommate) to decorate.   When people say that a design eye is something you are born with and have a natural passion for, they are right!

How would you describe your design style?

I think a great influence on my style is the amazing antique pieces that have been passed down in my family.  I have a natural pull toward more classic, modern styles with a hint of Spanish Revival and antique pieces mixed in. I love the juxtaposition of something old with something new.   I also love a neutral room with layers of texture and pattern. 

Your home is your refuge from the world, and it should be a place in which you look around and are proud to call your own. 
 

What is one thing you think every good design needs?

Great lighting! You can have the most beautifully styled room with amazing furnishings and if it has bad lighting, it will ruin the whole thing.  I love a statement ceiling light and varying heights of eye-level lighting to set the mood any time of the day.  When my husband and I first got married he had one lamp in his entire house.  I was completely baffled at how someone could live like that.  Luckily, we’ve come a long way and now have 12 lamps throughout the house :)

What’s your favorite part of the job?

Transforming an incomplete space into a place the clients love.  Your home is your haven so it should make you feel comfortable, inspired and proud.  When I hear how much a client loves their new design, it makes my job so worthwhile.  Many people assume their home can’t look as good as they dream, so when we show them that it can, it’s incredibly rewarding.

When you find yourself uninspired and in a slump, how do you fix it?

I typically step away.  I'll get out of the house or tend to other tasks for a while. I also love scavenging through thrift stores and old design magazines for unexpected inspiration.  Sometimes you get so deep into a project that you lose the big picture and a little time away will bring you back to where you need to be.

 Why is design important to you?

Because it affects your every day life!  Where you wake up, where you spend time with your family and friends, where you make memories…these should all be places in which you ENJOY being.  Your home is your refuge from the world, and it should be a place in which you look around and are proud to call your own.  When you can accomplish that, you’ve enriched your life in one of the most impactful ways. 

That's a wrap.  We hope you've enjoyed getting to know a little more about each of us and our views on design.  Thanks for coming along with us this week!

Meet 3A: Interview with Jessica

If you have been following along, today we continue our Meet 3A series with an interview with Jessica. Let's jump in.

When did you first discover your love of design and how did you get into interior design?

As long as I can remember, I have had a love and appreciation for design. Living in Europe as a young child, I was surrounded by great art and design. I can remember going to a museum and being in awe at some of Van Gogh’s original works. Our next-door neighbor was an artist, who was very kind to me. She taught me how to oil paint and the importance of scale and how to work with color. When I was nine we moved back to the states and I kept to drawing.  I would fill my notebook with drawings of what I wanted my bedroom and living room to look like when I grew up. When it was time to go to college I wanted to major in interior design but there was not a program locally and moving away to school wasn’t an option for me.  So, I ended up going to business school and later becoming a realtor but design was always tugging at me. I ended up enrolling in a graphic design program to cure the desire to be in design. While I did enjoy graphic design, I was still more interested in interior design and was constantly enthralled in design books and magazines. I couldn’t get enough of it and knew I had to give it a shot. A position for a design assistant became available at a local design firm. I wrote the owner a heart felt letter explaining my love for design and my desire to learn everything there is to learn about the industry. She gave me a shot and the rest is history.

How would you describe your design style?

That’s a tough one, as I love so many styles. I would say one part mid-century glam, two parts contemporary and a splash of global chic.

What is one thing you think every good design needs?

It would have to be an item that has a personal story. Whether it is a piece of art bought on vacation or a cool chest that was handed down.

What’s your favorite part of the job?  

Seeing the transformation.

When you find yourself uninspired and in a slump, how do you fix it?

The internet is a great resource but sometimes a change of scenery is needed. It can be as simple as visiting the tile store and seeing a beautiful new line or going to the bookstore, grabbing a coffee and sitting down with a stack of design magazines from different parts of the world. Currently, really loving what is going on in Australia- lots of natural materials and vibrant colors.

Why is design important to you?

For me personally, design is equivalent to movement to a dancer. It is a form of expression. Not only that, it is problem solving and improving how you interact with your environment. It affects you physiologically. Not to mention, good design increases the value of your property!

Stay tuned to Mallory's interview Friday.

Meet 3A: A Little About Dana

If you follow us regularly, you’ve probably heard us express how much we value having three individual designers and with unique views towards design. We really do! When our design careers crossed paths a few years ago, who knew we would all meet up again one day to talk about starting a business that would combine all our talents and experiences into one as 3A Design Studio.

We each bring a balance of talent and style that makes each project work. There may be ones where one of us is more drawn to a project than the other two of us, but I think that’s what makes it work. We each have the opportunity to connect with a client in a different way.

We know it works, our clients know it works, and hopefully you do, too.

So you may be wondering how we are all unique. We came across a design questionnaire recently that had a great list of questions that we will each answer for you in our posts this week to give you a better feel for who we are individually as designers.

Which leads me to…

Hey! I’m Dana.

That’s my {growing} family this past Easter. Currently I’m about 4 weeks from popping out our second child (so if you stop seeing posts from me suddenly, it's because I'm in newborn land). Big sister is of course the distracted little curly-headed 2-year-old not looking at the camera. She keeps us moving, laughing, and up with the sun. My husband, Jeremy, practices architecture in our small town. Being married to an architect is actually just as ideal as everyone assumes it is—for us anyway! We love to dream and plan in notebooks, on the back of napkins, over the latest issue of Dwell or Southern Living—just about anywhere. It's probably one of our favorite past times! 

So who am I as a designer? Well, on with the questionnaire, I suppose!

When did you first discover your love of design?

Probably much earlier than I realized! I’ve been a visual artist my entire life—always drawing, creating, painting, etc. I actually came very close to attending an art college so that I could do nothing but live an artist’s life. But my high school art teacher recognized my eye for color, spatial arrangement (I always hung the art for our shows), and detail. So I ended up in a {more practical} interior design program, and here I am!

How would you describe your design style?

Ehh…that’s a hard one! My favorite design style era is mid-century modern, but I hardly ever design that way (unless we get a client who loves it as well, and in that case I would more than happily oblige). I tend to be more eclectic—cottage coziness mixed with iconic design pieces and rich colors. I love paying homage to the great design styles while blending in a lot of personal touches and a dash of the unexpected. It’s important that my rooms look not only livable, but lived IN. 

What is one thing you think every good design needs?

I can’t pick just one! For me, I think there are two and you’ve likely heard me harp on both of them: natural wood and live greenery.

By natural wood, I mean unpainted, not overly stained or lacquered, and not purposefully distressed (so basically, not shabby chic wood pieces). Whether brand new or a weathered heirloom, there’s a richness about wood that can’t be recreated.

And plants, well that’s just my personal favorite touch. I think they make a room look less sterile, and studies show that plants give us health benefits as well! Plus they’re a great inexpensive piece of décor.

What’s your favorite part of the job?

As cliché as it sounds, I have to say the end result. I started my career in commercial work and project timelines were years from start to finish. I saw very little of my work completed…and even that usually got changed around by the contractor by the end of it. Residential is so much more personal. Not only do I get to see something I put my hand in come to life, but the satisfaction of the client makes everything worth it! We still get giddy receiving positive feedback. It never gets old. 

When you find yourself uninspired and in a slump, how do you fix it?

I forget about it. Spend time outside. With my family. Tending to my garden. Catching bugs with my two year old. Design brains are so hard to shut off! It’s easy to get burnt out, and I don’t want to fall into the trap of repeating myself or relying on trends just for the sake of cranking out a project. I think rest is the most essential part of any job, and I think our culture values it way too little. Rest is seen as a time-waster, and not a re-charge. So not true!

Why is design important to you?

When done well, and for the right reasons, good design makes life easier. It creates space for more function--space for more living and less worrying about the walls around you. In college, my design program was part of the School of Human Sciences. At first it baffled me (not to mention everyone else), but now I totally get it. It’s so much more than creating a beautiful room—it’s understanding human habits, and creating spaces that make them easier.

So now you know a little more about me!

Stay tuned to hear Jessica’s and Mallory’s responses later this week!

Until next time…

Client Project - A Farmhouse E-Design

We wrapped up a huge great room design in a beautiful Alabama farmhouse last month and have been dying to share it with you guys.  Dana previewed a little tease of it here, but today we’re showing you the rest.

Our sweet clients had just moved into their new home a couple of weeks before we went for the consultation.  We had seen some photos of the house through email but we couldn’t really get a grasp of its openness and amazing views of their man-made lake and 3 acres below.

Look at that view.  (pardon the boxes and such...they had just moved in)

View standing in the living room and looking back into the kitchen.  Don't you just love all of the openness?

Our clients told us they liked cool, soothing colors and wanted a design that would work with the aesthetic of the farmhouse and also be comfortable and durable for their young family.

We got to work by first selecting new paint colors for the walls and built-ins and then sent over some sofa options.  Due to a long wait time on a custom sofa, the clients ultimately had to select one in town that fit their needs.  We still got to “go shopping” with them virtually and added their newly selected sofa and loveseat to the design foundation.  As you can see below, we also presented them with a couple of options for a coffee table as well.

The entry is right off of the living room so we brought some of the rustic elements and the same color palette to this side of the room.

n the dining room we suggested all new furniture to tie in with the rest of the space.  We chose more colorful window treatments and accessories to bring some life to this side of the room.

We love supplying our clients with not only mood boards and items suggestions but also elevations so they can actually visualize the scale and look of the new pieces in the space.

Directly across from the dining room was an unassigned space where we created a seating area.  The clients had some slipper chairs that they wanted to recover so we supplied fabric and pillow options to complete the look.

BEFORE

Aside from the large great room, we also supplied tile backsplash ideas for the kitchen to be used at a later date and included some suggestions for finishing off their master bedroom. They need bedding suggestions to match their existing duvet and a remedy for covering a mid-height wall outlet.

It was so great to work in a home where we could really tie each room together and supply the homeowners with a look they’ve been hoping to achieve.  We’ve already seen a couple of the progress pictures and can’t wait to see the finished product!

If we can help you finish off a troublesome space (or spaces), please let us know!  Whether it's a few styling suggestions and paint colors or a newly designed room, we can help.  Go here and fill out our design questionnaire at the bottom of the page to begin.

Eight Stylish Hammocks

There is something about laying in a hammock that feels so relaxing. Since my last backyard post, we are still waiting on plants to go in but we got our hammock up! We have enjoyed catching afternoon breezes while swaying in it. 

If you are on the hunt for the perfect hammock to lounge in this summer, we have you covered. Here are eight stylish hammocks that will make a statement in any yard.

This image is drool worthy. Doesn't it make you feel relaxed just looking at it? It is from Anthropologie. I swear, they have the best stylist.

Anthropolgie $148

Anthropologie $118

Hayneedle $160

Pottery Barn $259

Custom Hammocks $99

Design Your Hammock
Starting at $52.

Etsy $75

Hamanica $66

My hammock is from Etsy seller, Hamanica. They sell hand woven hammocks from Nicaragua in a variety of colors and at great prices. I am looking forward to finishing off the look with lush tropical plants and a cute side table.

If you have a great hammock you would recommend, share with us on our Facebook page.

Have a happy Hump Day!

A Bathroom Arrangement

Let's dream a little today, shall we??

sink // faucet // wallcovering // mirror // sconces // flooring