MELANIE SPENCER: INTERIOR DIALOGUE

Designer showrooms
Area designers cut out the middleman
In the year that I’ve been covering the Austin

design scene, I’ve seen how local designers are asserting their growing sophistication with interiors that express Austin’s sense of style.
Though it’s difficult to pick a favorite from our monthly Home Tour, the images of the serene Fern Santini-designed Tarrytown home of Yvonne Tocquigny have stayed with me (and also impressed the editors of Renovation Style magazine, which featured it on the cover). On the bar and restaurant scene, I was charmed by the kitschy retro-glamour of the Belmont restaurant and bar on West Sixth Street.
We’ve also experienced a flood of new home furnishings stores and a barrage of reporters and producers from the likes of Cottage Living, Elle Decor, “This Old House” and “Trading Spaces,” to name a few. The more time I spend delving into design in Austin, the more I realize we are just getting started. Now the style professionals are adding more items to our design menu in the way of designer-owned home furnishings showrooms.
The latest to join the retail sector is Julie Evans of JEI Design in the Westlake area. In September, she opened the doors to JEI Design Collection (1009 W. Sixth St.), a 1,750 square-foot store that offers a mix of contemporary, antique, vintage, traditional and European furniture, accessories, linens and window treatments. Evans has more than 25 years of experience as an interior designer, but says until this year she hadn’t given much thought to the idea of opening a retail location.
“We did a penthouse at the Nokona,” Evans says. “The client said, ‘Julie, you should do a store like this.’ ” So she did. In the months that followed, Evans secured a location and spent time finding vendors in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, among other cities.
At Evans’ Westlake design offices, half the space is dedicated to furnishings and accessories that are available for her clients to purchase. It seemed like a natural progression to expand those offerings to the general public.
What I like most about a designer-owned showroom is that it gives you a truer sense of that designer’s signature style — sort of a glimpse into their creative mind. Sure, the merchandise in the store is affected by industry trends and what the designer thinks their target customers might want to buy. But the store is mostly a reflection of one individual’s tastes.
On the other hand, in a space designed for a specific client, the overall look reflects someone else’s wants, needs and preferences. It’s like the difference between a glass of wine and a wine spritzer — the spritzer is a diluted version of the original.
As appealing as having your own home furnishings store might sound, many designers aren’t interested because it takes them away from their design business. After all, someone has to mind the store. So, Evans decided to hire designer Sue Wright, formerly of John Williams Interiors. (Note to the drapery-impaired: Evans says Wright’s specialty is window treatments.) Evans says she will spend about one day a week in the store waiting on and visiting with customers, but will still focus primarily on her design clients.
For some designers however, it’s designing or the showroom — not both. Last year, Kelly Judd Schwartz left California, and the design firm she co-owned, to move back to Austin. Instead of restarting an Austin version of her design business, she decided to open the home furnishings showroom Loft (416 W. Cesar Chavez St.).
“It’s not just rebuilding your clientele,” Schwartz says. “A lot of it is finding contractors and other resources. I didn’t want to do that again. The store allows me to showcase my style. And Austin is such a growing market. The time is right for it.”
As for the process of custom designing for a client, Schwartz doesn’t miss it.
“The store fulfills my creative side because this is a giant canvas. And, you are still trying to educate the customer,” she says. She found the hardest part of her new business was adjusting to the regular hours of a retailer.
“Designers get to run around town and do what they want, when they want — it’s totally flexible. In the beginning, I thought, “Why doesn’t everyone do this?”
Another designer career path is starting one’s own line, as celebrity designers Nate Berkus (one of Oprah Winfrey’s favorites) and Jonathan Adler have done. Designers often create custom pieces for their clients. Why not turn that great lamp you designed into a collection of great lamps?
Evans says a line of home accessories that she will sell online is next on her list, but we will have to wait at least another year to see it. For her part, Schwartz is thinking about expanding Loft to include additional locations.
I hope this trend continues, and we see more home furnishing stores and collections from our local designers. And it isn’t just about having another place to shop. It’s also about supporting the local businesses. It’s another stage for creativity, new ideas and fresh and unique perspectives.
Oh, and the best part — when a designer owns the store, you get lots of free design advice with every pillow, sofa and lamp you buy.
And the awards are nice too . . .
On Oct. 17, I attended the American Society of Interior Designers Austin chapter’s Design Excellence Awards luncheon. The thing about an event hosted by designers for designers is the attention to detail. It was held at Architerra Studio’s light-filled atrium at the Design Center of Austin and little touches included bright orange umbrellas and fresh flowers on each linen-covered table.
With more than 16 award categories, I can’t list all of the winners here, but I would like to mention a few. First place winners included Roy Materanek along with Jill Zamen and Leslie Wolfenden, Julie Evans along with Sally Gibson and Linda Davis, Patty Riley-Brown, Tracey Overbeck-Stead, Laura Britt, Susie Johnson, Laura Burton, Laurie Smith, Katheryne Stephens and Marla Bommarito-Crouch.
With so many A-list, award winning designers in our town, it’s no wonder all eyes are on Austin. Now if only all of them would open home furnishing showrooms.
mspencer@statesman.com; 912-2519