Adventures In Styleland!

I know I know, you just can’t handle the beauty in this photo!!! That is Denise Maurer, she’s a gorgeous redhead, but this lady is a force to be reckoned with! I’ve worked with this women for 4 years and she has shaped me into the woman I am today.

This extraordinary talented women could design circles around Bunny Williams and do before she even had a chance to move one piece of furniture or select a fabric in a space!

Jan Showers wishes she was half the lady Denise Maurer is!

This past Monday I had a Design Day at DMI.  For all you new readers, this usually occurs on Design Team Wednesdays, when Betsy Mattice joins the Adventure team. Lately Denise has been including me on daily client appointments, this means you settle in for a 5  or 8 hour, non-stop Design yenta-fest! Which includes a quick-lunch and if your lucky a glass of wine at the end of the day to discuss notes and design choices for clients.

We began this day at the DMI office, (photo enhanced space may appear larger in photo)

DMI Green

Memos for our project:

Valance,pillows fabric

Window seat Sofa pillows

Making sure all of the fabric memo’s had arrived for the clients Kitchen and Family Room. Then looking for color choices for shutters in the Bedroom along with shade colors for windows and the Patio door .

Denise gave me a crash course (Learning this program to be continued at a later date) on Minutes Matter, a Program that lets you incorporate fabric choices, and actual photos of your clients space and design the window treatment so you can give them a visual of the actual design!  Oh, I’m sorry, did you think that was it? Ha! That was just the before we left the office at 12:30!

And we’re off, first stop, drop off Dakota (Denise’s grandson who helps with IT work at the office for a summer job).

On to our next stop to drop off a dual flush toilet that was delivered to The DMI office instead of the client location by mistake. Denise is lifting these boxes like they were air. (Take that Martha Stewart, and you thought jail was tough!) As we dropped off the correct toilet, we picked up the incorrect product and loaded it into the vehicle. This is where you have to say “If it can happen, it will” when dealing with construction projects, somehow mistakes get made, but this was one big flush!

Incorrect Toilet

New Kohler Toilet

We are finally ready to head to the client appointment (Denise in beautiful white pants not a mark them from our previous stops).

Our mission today was a success,  4 rooms in this family home on their way to being embellished in bold new colors and prints, all it takes are a few simple changes to breathe life into familiar space.

Always thinking outside the style box Denise has a confidence to try bold trends and mix finishes bringing a broader interpretation of design styles. There is no longer a need to place styles in fixed categories like “traditional”, “rustic”, “industrial” or “country.”  I think Homes in 2014 will represent an eclectic array of stylistic influences. Picking items that speak to you individually will keep you from conforming to a rigid or overdone look.

Well that’s it for today, Stay tuned for another Adventure in Styleland! Stay Tuned…

Ending on that note!

XOXO

M

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