Dallas Blog | Material Girls | Dallas Interior Design

For the past month, we’ve been hard at work on a vignette for Dwell with Dignity’s new Thrift Studio store which just opened up in the design district here in Dallas.  Five local designers were asked to plan out a room vignette using Dwell’s vintage furniture and accessories from their warehouse, as well as other donations from the design community.  We had so much fun on this project because it was different from any other project we had done before. We really had to stretch our creativity on this one! We had a really short time to complete it in, limited resources, and virtually no budget, but we were definitely up for the challenge!

Taking this lackluster space from this-

{Before}

To this- in just a couple of weeks was a little bit of a stretch for EJ Interiors but somehow we managed to pull it off!

{After- EJ Interiors’ dining room vignette for Dwell with Dignity’s Thrift Studio opening}

Our room centered around bold orange and turquoise. The inspiration? A pair of these adorable chairs that we managed to dig up in Dwell’s warehouse…

The process was so unique that I had to take some photos along the way to document our Dwell journey!

Phase 1- All of the designers meet at Dwell’s warehouse to grab the pieces they want to use for their vignette.  I put everything in my little pile that could be a possibility for the space.  Now the question is- what in the world am I going to do with it all?

Phase 2- There was a lot to do in a little amount of time.  Since most of the things in the warehouse were older items, I knew that re-upholstering and re-painting furniture had to happen..and quick!

I couldn’t believe my luck in finding these four matching chairs in the warehouse…

And  then I was even more shocked to find the perfect turquoise fabrics hidden in a corner…

It was meant to be!

M&M Upholstery donated the upholstery labor and Nicole Horne of Modern Relics donated the painting labor for the chairs…what a fantastic team they made!

Phase 3- Time to get the room painted!  Twenty five Neiman Marcus volunteers came out to help us get our rooms ready and I must say that I couldn’t have done it without them!  They quickly helped my vision come to life and did such a great job painting the walls and trim.

I loved our little team! If any of you are reading this, thank you again so much!

The Thrift Studio starts coming together…

Loved the entrance!

Ok we are making some progress..drapes are almost up!

Phase Four- Completion! Everything is in place for the sneak preview party and so now we just wait for people to shop, shop, shop!

For those of you that weren’t able to make it for the great deals at the preview party last Friday, not to worry because the Thrift Studio pop up shop is open from now until October 29th- Monday through Saturday 10-5:30 pm at 1616 Hi Line Drive in Dallas.

So many great deals to be had and such an amazing way to help out a good cause!

So many volunteers helped make the Dwell with Dignity event such a success.  Thank you again!  Some of the sources below..

{Royal Old Fashioned Tumblers- Wisteria Outlet}

{Mirror- taken off from an old dresser and re purposed for the buffet.  Christian at Think Twice kindly helped us hang the mirror by decorative gold chain}

{Bust- Pettigrew Associates}

{Pedestal- Dwell with Dignity}

{Custom white drapes with turquoise band on leading edge- Stitches by Carmen; wood drapery rods- Williamson Supply}

{Crystal Sconce- Dwell with Dignity}

{Vintage Gucci bag- Dwell with Dignity}

{Painted brackets from Hobby Lobby, vintage New Orleans prints, wall sunbursts, antler horns- EJ Interiors}

{Chandelier- Visual Comfort, Taylors on Ten}

{Wall Color- Benjamin Moore paint}

{Flatware, dishes, wine glasses, decorative bowls- Dwell with Dignity}

{Dining table- Dwell with Dignity- base painted orange}

{Mercury glass vase- EJ Interiors}

{Sticks in vase- found in a pile of bulk trash-no kidding EJ Interiors}

{Chaise lounge- Dwell with Dignity- repainted creamy white}

{Custom 18″ pillow- Trina Turk fabric; chaise upholstery- Childress leopard print fabric- EJ Interiors}

{6×9 Sisal rug- Dwell with Dignity}

Photos by: Fort Worth Real Estate Photography

Camila over at Effortless Style has been doing her “In her Shoes” series for some time now.  Since the beginning, I’ve been following her blog feature and have loved hearing about how fellow  bloggers Tobi Fairley, Brooke of Velvet and Linen, and Kristen from Simply Grove spend their days. If you haven’t gotten a chance to catch in her shoes, here’s your chance- Camila has a list of all past features!

Recently, Camila asked me to document my day (which I was so pumped about).  Click here to read about what went on behind the scenes of EJ Interiors and MG, one crazy Friday!

Thank so much Camila for including me in this!!

Yesterday marked the three month anniversary of being in the new office space.  It’s hard to believe that ninety days have gone by and I still have a  mishmash of furniture in there.  As a designer, this normally is something that would drive me completely bonkers, but we’ve been running around so much these past few months that we’ve barely had time to notice.

{the big blank space}

Last night I finally got serious about purchasing some new office furniture.  I did some extensive research and discovered that a lot of people were giving the CB2 Bubble White Office Chair really good reviews so I took the plunge and ordered one for Taylor’s desk.  Of course, then I stumbled upon the CB2 Vapor Counter Stool and its acrylic good looks (and the fact that I had been borrowing my sister’s stool for my craft desk) had me at first glance.  Before you knew it, the darned thing was in my shopping cart too!

A few Crate and Barrel gift cards later, my order was processed.  Mission accomplished!

But wait- blank walls, a counter stool that practically disappears into thin air and a white desk chair didn’t scream “interior design office’” to me.  It was more along the lines of “chic sterile hospital”.

Luckily, visions of kelly green and shiny metallics started to pop into my head and soon after, this inspiration board was born-

Now for the reality of it all- (what I have and what I still need to make this happen)

HAVE:

• My own desk chair is currently upholstered in the blue Duralee geometric printed fabric and sits in front of a glass and chrome sawhorse desk.
• The artwork above that used to be in my home, is a perfect way to incorporate the color from my desk chair fabric as well as bring in the jolt of kelly green.   I also love how the black and cream in the art provides a nice graphic punch.
• I had the EJ Interiors logo bags made for client projects (off Vista Print) and staggered about twenty of them on Container Store brushed nickel hooks down a long, unused and really boring hallway when you first walk in the door.  You’d be surprised how interesting this looks with the repeated logo coming down the hallway.

NEED

• Touches of metallic in mirrors and furniture hardware
• A smidgen of animal print- like Jan Shower’s favorite Snow Leopard fabric
• Would like to paint Taylor’s desk a funky Kelly green color with brass hardware
• Would love to eventually have more comfy seating- four lounge chairs sitting around a round coffee table
• A very large sisal rug

We desperately need a little more color and pattern in this place.  All in due time I suppose!

But for now I’ll just have to settle with this black and white printed fabric that our EJ Interiors mascot brought in-

When my uncle called me in April and told me that he was closing on a house within the next few weeks and it needed my design assistance ASAP, I couldn’t help but panic a little at the quick lead-time.  I was balancing a full schedule of projects already and I knew that the house needed a lot of stuff, and a lot of stuff fast! The main room that I was supposed to be focusing on was his daughter’s bedroom, and as a single man, my uncle had no clue what an eight year old girl’s room should look like and what it needed (but who could blame him)?  I knew this was nothing short of a design emergency, so I scheduled a consultation with his daughter Annie right away to get to the bottom of her design style.

I always find it helpful when a client can give me photos of rooms they like as inspiration.

Annie presented me with this photo from Rooms To Go as something that she really liked…

While I liked the idea of purple, black and white, I thought it needed to be toned down just a tad.  I felt like we should take these same colors but give the room a more sophisticated spin- something she could grow into.

When we met, I gathered all my initial info (photos and measurements) and got to planning.

Here it is as the BEFORE:

Two weeks later, here’s the AFTER:

The project was as quick as Khloe and Lamar’s engagement! I couldn’t believe we pulled it off that fast.  I always tell clients that the time-frame on the project a lot of the time depends on how quickly we can make decisions.  I must say that my uncle was very good about letting me take the design and run with it (and didn’t feel like he had to approve any of the design/purchases in advance) which helped the project move a lot quicker.

The process actually ended up being a lot of fun. I felt like I was on a design competition show, and was just waiting for India Hicks to walk in during the install and tell me that my time was up and the challenge was over. Luckily for my intern Brennan and I, the mad chaos that went on the day of the install, wasn’t filmed and the ultimate judge, Annie, gave it a thumbs up.

We never could have done this bedroom in time if we had gone with custom bedding and custom drapes.  I knew we had to play it safe (time-wise) with PB Teen bedding and drapes.  The bold floral printed duvet was the start of our scheme.  From the bedding, the wall color fell into place, Sherwin William’s Wisteria.  Luckily, the room had wainscoting on the bottom half of the walls, otherwise the purple might have been screaming bright if it went floor to ceiling.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I’m not kidding when I say that Annie barely had anything to start with.  Her old room had taken her from her toddler years until now, so most of her old stuff was too babyish and not fit for a tween!  I literally had to purchase everything new (down to the box spring and pillow inserts) and/or had the existing pieces refinished.  I gave her my own pewter iron headboard from Weir’s (good excuse for me to finally get that upholstered headboard) and we had the painter paint it white.  I must say that I loved it SO much more this way! We then purchased two mirrored nightstands from Pier 1 and accessories/art/mirror/lamps from Home Goods.

I spray painted her old cream colored wicker dresser and bed bench out in their backyard one day (what a difference a $5 can of bright white spray paint can make!).  I then had my workroom make a black/white houndstooth cushion and some colorful neckroll pillows for her bench  We then had her chaise lounge recovered in an inexpensive cotton tone on tone diamond mini print. By the time we were done, even her electric piano matched!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I still think she could use a few more accessories (especially in the bookcase) and a fun piece of wall decor above her bed (which I’m sure my uncle would just love to hear right now…  but the perfectionist in me has got to stop somewhere…until next time!

The two W’s have been taking over my life lately (Work and Wedding planning).  I have been having a hard time finding time and energy to do anything else these days (including cleaning my house and blogging!), as there always seems to be another decision to make or another email to send out.  Whoever said there weren’t enough hours in the day, definitely knows what he/she is talking about!

The two W’s are constantly on my mind.  I go to bed at night dreaming of marble slabs and fluttering peonies and wake up with a to-do list as long as Veruca Salt’s Christmas list.

It’s funny how many similarities there have been between planning a wedding and planning out a client’s project.  Both require lots of attention to detail and decision-making. Color, texture, materials, furniture, accessories, and a deadline (!) have all come into play mimicking a lot of my own projects for EJ Interiors.

If I could sum up my dream wedding design in one virtual color board, it would go something like this….

We’ve gathered all our “junk” (and unique finds) for a one of a kind garage sale in Dallas TOMORROW!

Sam Sano of style/SWOON, Kristen Dowd of Gypsy Soul Interiors, Megan Masoner of ReFINEstyle, and myself have put in our stuff and are ready to sell!

Sale will be tomorrow, May 21st, starting at 8 am, for you early birds!

Here’s a preview-

Address-

7406 Hillwood Lane

Dallas, TX 75248

See you there!

What to design for a creative and energetic eight year old who wants her bedroom a little bit more funky and mod?

{Accent pillow inspiration}

{Chandelier- incorporate new white shades}

{Desk Lamp}

{Roman Shades}

{Table Lamp}

{Desk Chair with new seat cushion fabric- blue and white geometric}

{Existing rug}

Here’s how-

Duvet cover and shams- Multi colored Duralee printed fabric

Custom bed pillow- 20″ square; turquoise monogram centered on Pindler and Pindler white solid fabric with Schumacher black and white greek key tape trim on face of pillow (surrounded by small Pindler and Pindler black cording and small white solid flange)

Bedskirt- Pindler and Pindler pink mini stripe with solid black banding at bottom edge

Walls- Sherwin Williams 6710 Melange Green (50% lighter)

Rug- existing

Window Treatments- flat roman shade; Overall: white Pindler and Pindler solid fabric with 2″ black Pindler and Pindler solid fabric as tape trim accent

Desk chair- White “tulip” chair;  Seat cushion- blue and white Pindler and Pindler geometric print

Chandelier- PB Teen Delite Chandelier with new white shades

Desk Lamp- Worlds Away- Venus Pink Lamp

Nightstand Lamp- Arteriors- Elise Beaded Polished Nickel Lamp

The winner of our Material Girls/Home Goods “Tweet Your Find” contest is….

Meghan from Dallas!  Check out what she found-

“Found the perfect girly but beachy vase at Park Lane Place!”

Looking forward to posting Meghan’s shopping experience with her $100 HG gift card in the upcoming weeks! Stay tuned!

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the opening of the Park Lane Home Goods in Dallas.  Well, in celebration of the store opening, MG has teamed up with Home Goods for a contest called “Tweet Your Find!”

Here’s the low down…all you have to do is take a trip to the Home Goods store at The Shops at Park Lane in Dallas (8188 Park Lane, Suite 160, Dallas, 75231) and SHOP!  Select your favorite find from the store and tweet us a photo of it via Twitter!  In the tweet, make sure you call out @materialgirls and @homegoods so we can mark you down as a contest entrant.  A winner will be chosen at random and will receive a $100 gift card to Home Goods!  Also, the winner will get to guest blog on our site, after shopping with the gift card, and show us what he/she found for $100 at Home Goods!

Contest starts NOW and runs until Home Goods at Park Lane closes on Sunday, April 17th at 8 pm.  Winner will be announced Monday night on The Material Girls blog!

I actually went to Home Goods for their “soft opening” last Friday afternoon and I purchased an amazing lamp. It’s too bad I can’t enter the contest , but if I could, here would be my tweet-

@materialgirls, @homegoods- Loving the acrylic lamp I found for $150 at Home Goods! Will look perfect on the chest in my entryway.

(insert pic of fab find here…)

Entering the contest is as easy as that.

Happy shopping! Can’t wait to see what you find!

Over a year ago, I received this email from an MG reader-

I really enjoy reading the blog.  It is a daily “must read” for me!  I was hoping you, as well as the other girls, might consider doing posts on how you got started with your businesses and what some of the goods and bads have been of being your own boss.  I would really like to read about your paths to success.

Thanks so much!

Rachel

It wasn’t the first time MG had gotten an email like this.  The emails are usually from design students wanting to know how we broke into the design world after we graduated or from young professionals who are looking to start their own business.  If the person is local, I’ll often go out to lunch with them or invite them over to my office to chat about the biz.  But to tell you the truth, I always feel a little strange giving people advice or guidance at my age (and often wonder if they know that I’ve only had my own business for four years), but either-or, I figure that all I can do is share my story in the hopes that they can take something useful from it! And if not, well, hey, we had a nice lunch and I made a new friend

I’ve had Rachel’s email saved from last March, and had always thought that it would be so great if each MG blogger could share her own “professional journey” (especially for those gals who aren’t local to take out to lunch ).  So today is the start of this ten week series, dubbed “This is the Story…”.

This week, “This is the Story of EJ Interiors“- includes how my design business came about, what it’s like to be my own boss, and the pros and cons of owning a business.  The rest of the gals- Rebecca of Rebecca Soskin Interiors, Julia of Buckingham Interiors + Design, Jill of Jill Seidner Interior Design and Lauren Haskett of Lauren Haskett Fine Design will chit chat with you about the stories behind their businesses in the weeks to follow!

Enjoy!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

The story of EJ Interiors….

CHAPTER ONE: “The year of Craig’s List”

A lil background for you- I went to college at OU in Norman, OK (Go Sooners!).  I graduated with an interior design degree, moved back to Dallas and started looking for my first “real” job. I ended up working for a home theatre design firm and about a year later, decided that it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, so….. I quit.  I can’t say that this was the smartest move I’ve ever made, but I wouldn’t be where I was today, if I was still there organizing leather samples.  I went on to work part-time for a few local residential designers and then with a commercial movie theater designer, for the next couple of years, while I started to launch EJ Interiors.  How in the world I ever got the guts to start my own business at twenty-four years old, is still a mystery to me. I came from a family of lawyers who all worked for big firms and had steady jobs, so the idea of little ole me starting a business in my apartment, with no startup money, business plan, or clients, scared my parents just a tad.  It was my fiancee-to-be that encouraged me to set up my business, start a blog, and begin taking on clients in 2007.

In April ’07, I posted an ad on Craig’s List which I’m embarassed to say, was entitled “Design on a Dime…or Dollar”.  The ad listed my services, rate, etc.  I even went door to door in Uptown apartment complexes and stuck my EJ Interiors’ flier on every apartment door (is that even legal, dad?) I apologize if your apartment was the victim of this solicitation!  About a week later, I got my first call from a client who wanted to meet to discuss his project.  We set up our first meeting at Starbucks and needless to say, I was terrified.  Luckily, this client didn’t know he was my first client so I played it cool, just like any other designer off Craig’s List.  And the rest they say is history….

{The totally embarrassing flier that I put on every apartment door…}

{For my first project, my apartment complex let me “design” their model home…what a sad sight this was! My mom was my “workroom” on this project and made the drapes (don’t ask me how I got her to do this).  The budget ran out quickly, so accessories were sparse. This is another “what was I thinking photo?” but was good project experience at the time}

CHAPTER TWO: “The Year of Organization”

Eventually, I got to the point where I didn’t need Craig’s List anymore.  I created a website via Network Solutions (goodbye My Space website!), started a blog (which at the time was called Dear Designer), registered for a tax ID number, set up a business name and even hired my first professional photographer who took photos of my apartment for the website.  He charged me a whopping $25 for the entire shoot- can you imagine?

I realized pretty quickly, that my business would not survive on hand-written Invoices, so I purchased Quickbooks and hired someone off Craig’s List to train me in it. I also realized how much easier my life would be if I had AutoCAD (a pricey purchase, but essential).  I honestly didn’t have very many start-up costs for EJ Interiors aside from these computer programs, portfolio pictures, a domain name, business cards via Vistaprint, and website hosting.

I knew I also had to get fabric books, paint fans and catalogs to start building my sample library.  I contacted local reps who helped me accomplish this (at no cost).  I also set up trade accounts at local showrooms in the design district and at the World Trade Center. I started amassing my vendors and building relationships with tradesmen such as an upholsterer, sewing workroom, painter, window treatment installer, etc and purchased a big Rolodex that have since been filled with their business cards.

For the client side, I knew I needed a Letter Agreement for projects, so I begged my brother in law to draft up one.  I then created a questionnaire that I give to clients to fill out before we meet (which I still use to this day)  Things were moving along nicely but I was still taking on contract projects for other interior designers on the side as I built my business.

{My old Network Solutions web header…}

{My Residential Design Questionnaire…}

CHAPTER THREE: “The Year of Clients”

The best resource for my business has been my fiancee, Ben.  He was in Public Relations when I first started, so he helped tremendously with the set-up of EJ Interiors.  I couldn’t have done it without him.  He suggested setting up Google Sponsored Links which is a pay-per-click type of advertising via google searches.  That, I have to say was my number one way for acquiring new clients.  Everyone seemed to find me through Google, so those links were well worth what I was paying.

Along with this web addition, I ended up ditching my Network Solutions website and upgraded to a custom designed site by a local Dallas web designer.  This was around the time that I started doing more commercial projects- specifically dentist offices.

I also decided it was time to start using a real accountant, so I contacted Joanne of Balanced Act and she has been a dream to work with ever since!

I next realized that along with getting professional room photos taken, I also needed professional headshots for my site (no more of those grainy “Facebook profile” type photos!)

{My old EJ logo…}

{Our constant edits and updates to the website copy…}

CHAPTER FOUR: “The Year of Expansion”

I’m sure you can guess what was next- it was time for another new website!  I discovered that so many of my designer peers were using BluDomain and I can honestly say that this website was one of the best things that I ever did for my business to date.  I love how I can update it on my own in the middle of the night and the cost of the website, is beyond affordable.  With the new website, I also got a new logo, designed by Emily Ley Paper (who created Lauren’s logo).   As the blog grew and referrals happened, I saw my business grow. My family had an intervention with me and said that I needed to hire on some extra help for my business, so I started with summer interns, and then in the Fall, hired on my first employee.

{The new logo…}

{EJ Interiors first photo in the paper…}

To finish off this post, and at Rachel’s request, here are pros and cons I’ve discovered in owning my own business-

PROS-

• Flexible Schedule- you can make your own work schedule and have unlimited vacation days (but in my case, I unfortunately rarely take a vacation)
• The people- I meet new people every day.  Whether it’s a rep, a showroom manager, a new client, or intern- meeting fresh faces is always enjoyable.  Also, getting to know your vendors and building friendships with them, can make the work day a lot more interesting.
• The office- I do love working from home!
• Projects- I’m trying to get better about handing off work (I can be a little bit of a control freak), but I must say that getting to participate in a project from initial stages to completion (and make all the decisions yourself) can be pure bliss, in my opinion.
• Products- In essence, designers have a pretty fun job- who wouldn’t want to be around beautiful fabrics and amazing furniture all day? You also get to see the newest products as they come out and have access to all the sample sales, trade discounts, etc.

CONS-

• Hours- I pretty much work around the clock.  My day starts once at 9 am and then again at 6 pm, when I come home to blog, do paperwork, etc.  There is always something to be done!
• Health insurance- If you were a single gal like me, getting your own insurance (with an incredibly high deductible) is a complete drag!
• “Miss Everything”- When you own your own business (at least until you hire on employees), you are “Miss (or Mister) Everything”. Not only was I the interior designer/owner, I was also the marketing department, accounting department, PR department (OK Ben did have a part in that one), and my own secretary. You find yourself having to learn about every aspect of the business (and quickly!)
• Problem Solver- There are so many “fires” to put out in interior design, it’s not even funny.  My old boss used to tell me that’s the reason why she doesn’t do residential design, and now I’m starting to understand what she meant by those “fires”.  Fabric mills will suddenly have problems with their yarn colors, goods come in damaged from shipping, dye lots will end up varying tremendously, and a tradesmen could suddenly make a mistake on a job (the possibilities are endless).  Most of these problems are out of your control, and it becomes your job to fix them in any way possible.