Interior Designer
Roots of an Interior Designer
I have been an interior designer my whole life. Want to hear a story of my first designs? Coloring books, Play-Doh and buttons were my humble beginnings. I found myself being creative even with the coloring books. The dress could not be just a solid color, perhaps I could make it striped or plaid. AND how many colors can you make mixing Play-Doh? Well, now let’s make a bed from the Play-Doh… Also, my grandmother had a collection of buttons in a colorful tin box. I remember stringing them again and again with different color combinations. Remember that parenting books which told you to note the things of interest to your children? What a grand idea!
Stage 2, junior high school: I was just a bit angry when they would not allow me to take Home-Ec classes. They thought I should be taking college prep courses and of course I did, but design was in my blood. So, because of my frustration, mom agreed to take me to a fabric store where I selected patterns and fabric. I read the instructions and began to work. I still remember some of my creations from those days even now. Actually, I wish I still had a couple of them!
An Interior Designer Begins to Take Shape
And thus began my design interests. As an adult, I designed stationery and invitation albums for an engraving firm in Charlotte, Buening Engraving, for a number of years. While doing so, we used gift wrap and fabric as colorful linings in the envelopes. This afforded the opportunities to go to national stationery shows in New York and California. In order to keep ahead of things, I always kept up with home and clothing trends. I was already an interior designer, I just didn’t know it yet.
If design can be inherited, then I think my design genes came from my maternal grandmother who made for me new clothes almost weekly as a child as well as making her own bed coverings, shower curtains, drapes, and pillows. I must say that her style was not mine, but the love of fabric and color were true loves for us both.
The Interior Designer, Vickie McDaniel
I worked in wallpaper, carpet, furniture and lighting in the early years before starting my own business in the design arena. I have been creating beauty in homes in this area since 1989. As an interior designer I designed a doctor’s office, a hospital wing, a jewelry store and a few other small commercial properties. The size of the work is not that important to me since I love stepping into assist with design needs that are as simple as determining the colors for a home or even the space plan for the furnishings. I’ve often worked in homes in Fearrington Village and sundry locations in Chapel Hill, Durham, Mebane, Hillsborough and Raleigh as well. Many times I have worked with clients from the ground up when they are building a home. It helps so much to get all the basics right (flooring, lighting, cabinetry, counters, color, ceramic…) before ever beginning to do the furnishings.
Magazines, books, art shows, fabrics, auctions and even flea markets are great resources for me as well as the High Point Furniture Market and the Atlanta Market. My visions most often include the old and the new in design combinations because who among us does not have some things that we just MUST keep for memory’s sake even though it is not exactly our current style. Let me help you make that work.
I love the challenge that interior design brings! Every home and every homeowner is different and so the end results should be as well. It is sad to view the work of an interior designer and find the same looks in each one. It is my hope and desire to make each room be its own unique creation that “reflects the personality of its owner.” Design is an emotion! Interior design should be comforting and revealing.
What do you really pay for when hiring someone to assist you in the design of your home? You receive the designer’s eye to determine color values and the wisdom and resources that are already sitting in their brain so you don’t have to search the internet for years. It makes life simpler and easier and you’ll be living the dream much more quickly than if you try to do it all on your own. As Mary Kay says, “do what you do best and hire out the rest.”
It is my joy to present you with options that excite you. I keep you abreast of colors and trends. We find ways to mesh all of these with your ideas, desires and budget.
I often holds classes in public forums, but am available to hold private classes in your home for you and your friends.
Let me be your interior designer. Call me today at 919-644-1933!
Call Vickie at 919-644-1933