Even though I live here and even though I’m a huge fan of this city I’m somehow always surprised at all the talent in Memphis when I am exposed to an “overdose of talent” at local events and attending Art by Design was no exception.
I’m going to be perfectly honest here – I’ve been wanting to share my own living room design on here for a while and buying a ticket gave me the final push I needed to get my post finalized. I spent the morning shampooing my carpet and putting away all the odds and ends lying around, took my photos to go with the content I had already written and planned on sharing my post that afternoon and talk about how the event inspired me to share me home design. And then I went . . . and I came home and cried on my living room couch no longer proud of my own home and seeing it as plain, generic, low budget and nothing special. Not my best moment y’all. Why am I telling you this you wonder, well I want to give you some context before I show the pretty things so here’s the pep talk I had to give myself.
1. These rooms are designed by professional designers
2. These rooms are also not lived in so of course they’re beautiful and perfect
3. These are show rooms meant to give an idea of the designers work – if you were promoting your
work you’re not going to show your average work you’ll show your best work and these designers no doubt have done the same
4. These rooms were designed for an ideal, fictional client and don’t represent the budget or space constraints of a real person
It took me a week to settle down and remember that this exhibit was just supposed to be something beautiful to look at, give some ideas for decor inspiration, and allow the designer to show off their creativity. And they really are beautiful spaces. My home will probably never look like any of these rooms but I did see elements of things I have in my own home or could have in my own home. And in case you missed it I did share that living room post after all.
HS Carpentry and Spruce
John Mark Sharpe Enterprises
Allyson James Designs
Caroline V. Smith Interiors
Ray Booth Interior Design
M.Steffens Interiors
Rhea Crenshaw Interior Design
RKA Construction
Greg Baudoin Interior Design
Elizabeth Malmo Interior Design
Stock & Belle
Tara Felice Interiors
Murphy Maude Interiors
B.Gaines Interior Design
White Door Events
Arts Memphis with pieces by Worlds Away
Betsy Mosby Interior Design
Lisa Mallory Interior Designs
Light Fixtures by Ferguson
I think some of the rooms are beautiful but completely unpractical or don’t have a homey feel and there were some rooms that I liked very much or found elements of inspiration. The beige door living room space especially inspired me because I’ve always felt like our coffee table was too small because you can’t really reach it from the couches so I love the idea of flipping it around and getting a second table so that was an ah moment for me.
If I had to pick one favorite it would be the blue dining room – our dining room is actually a very similar if not the same wall color – but our dining room also only has one wall so the layout and design of the room literally would not be possible – but it’s a nice space to look at and it did inspire me to maybe stop using my table as my purse swapping out zone and nicely set the table. If the inspiration sticks around long enough that will probably be the next room I share in a post so stay tuned.
