August 2014 - McKenzie Interior Design

Get to Know the Neighbors – Verde Home

Published on August 28, 2014 by steve mckenzie's1 Comment

As you know now, we’re finally in our new space and loving it! While we’ll miss the space where steve mckenzie’s first set up shop, our new showroom offers so much more opportunity for our brand to continue to expand!

Not only are we growing the business, we’re so happy to share that we’ve gained some wonderful new neighbors along the way. Included in this group are our friends at Verde Home. They’ve truly opened their arms in welcome to us and we couldn’t be more excited to have them right next door!

Verde Home not only offers a fabulous showroom, which is truly a feast for the eyes – but, their custom rug process is absolutely extraordinary! We’ve asked our friends at Verde Home to share a little about themselves and what they do, and thought you’d like to get the inside scoop too:

What is Verde Home?

Verde Home is a boutique home furnishings studio specializing in an exclusive assortment of custom handmade rugs, upholstery, hardwood furniture, and antique finds.

Who is it that makes Verde Home so special?

Verde Home was created by a partnership between interior designer Laura Walker Baird, Paul Baird (her husband), and Kent Schneider. Both Paul and Kent previously worked as wholesale importers and distributors of fine rugs. Laura has been an interior designer for over 20 years and has practiced the craft both domestically and while living abroad in Italy and England.

What are Verde Home’s specialties?

As Paul and Kent were experienced in the wholesale rug trade, where they produced and imported rugs from Iran, India, Turkey, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Portugal, and China, they acquired a tremendous in depth knowledge of the capabilities and strengths of each weaving region and well as the economic realities of each. Currently, their focus is on productions in both India and Nepal. Verde Home can create complete custom rugs, starting from initial sketch concept all the way through to final installation.

At Verde Home, the custom rug creation process usually goes like this:

Initial idea – a client needs something custom. Sometimes it is just a custom color, other times it is a special size or unique shape.

Render – the team takes the concept and begins rendering ideas. This process always ends up digital but Verde Home employs pencil and paper, as required.

Sample – Once they have the design and colors selected they go to sampling. Most samples are about 2×2 and will show the exact colors and texture that will be featured in the final piece.

Production – Once the sample is approved they’re set to go to loom. All of Verde Home’s rugs are handmade. They do both hand knotting and hand tufting, which each have their own strengths. Most pieces are completed in 10-16 weeks.

Delivery – 95% of the completed rugs are shipped to Atlanta where they’re inspected and and required stain treatments may be applied. After this is done, the custom rug is ready to go to the client.

“We started Verde in 2006. We spent our first 5.5 years at the Brickworks. We relocated to our current showroom about 2 years ago and just completed an expansion to make more room for rugs.

This neighborhood has seen great progress over the last few years and I believe is becoming the new design district for Atlanta. We are excited about our current location and plan to be here for some time.” – Kent Schneider

We agree with Kent and are excited to be a part of Atlanta’s new design district. Many thanks to Kent and the Verde Home team for allowing us to feature them on the blog for steve mckenzie’s and for being such wonderful neighbors!

Making it Official… The NEW steve mckenzie’s!

Published on August 26, 2014 by steve mckenzie's2 Comments

Many of you have probably heard the news, but we want to make it blog-official… steve mckenzie’s has MOVED to a new, larger space at:

999 Brady Avenue NW

And we’re in fabulous company with our new neighbors, Fabrefaction Theatre Conservatory, Verde Home and Miller Union restaurant, whom we’ll be sharing with you in more detail in an upcoming “Getting to Know the Neighbors” blog series!

In addition to the bigger showroom, our space will also house the NEW McKenzie Interior Design Center and Steve’s art studio on the second floor.

Here’s a little peek behind the scenes while we were moving in…

We invite you to come check out the new space for yourself, you may even get to see shop dogs Bisi and Duke if you’re lucky!

The pups lounging on their fabulous new beds (thanks Laurie Bell!) at the store. — The pups lounging on their new beds at the store.

A BIG thank you to Laurie Bell for the fabulous pet beds, mentioned above – her outdoor fabrics are perfection!

And mark your calendars for our Grand Re-Opening and 2nd Anniversary Party on September 25th!

steve mckenzie’s regular store hours:

Monday – Friday – 10am-5pm

Saturday – 10am – 4pm

Guest Blog Post: Ann Wisniewski & Dwell With Dignity Atlanta

Published on August 22, 2014August 21, 2014 by steve mckenzie'sLeave a comment

Good morning friends! Today, we’re excited to turn the reins over to our great friend, and fabulous designer, Ann Wisniewski! Not only is Ann THE mind behind AJW Designs, she’s also involved with one of our favorite organizations Dwell With Dignity. You may have seen our previous posts sharing a bit out DWD, and it’s a cause that’s become close to our own hearts. We are absolutely thrilled to team up with Ann, and the other DWD volunteers for the next install coming up this fall.

But, back to Ann… She’s so sweetly offered to share a little about herself and AJW Designs’ involvement with DWD and we think you’ll appreciate all she has to say:

Hi everyone.

My name is Ann Wisniewski and I am an Interior Designer and Principal of AJW Designs, Inc. located in greater Atlanta. I am so grateful to my good friends Jill and Steve McKenzie for giving me the opportunity to be a guest on their blog. I am also very excited about their fabulous new showroom and invite everyone to come, visit, and be surrounded by beautiful things especially Steve’s art and fabrics.

I feel so lucky to be able to pursue my passion. Design is a second career for me after several years as a pediatric nurse at Egleston. My goal for every project is to create beautiful yet safe and healthy spaces for my clients. Because of this, I wanted to tell you about a design opportunity that I am a part of that is coming up this September. The project is called Dwell with Dignity. I first became involved last February when I assisted my good friend and designer Kerry Howard with their first Atlanta project. What a wonderful experience.

This non-profit organization was founded in Dallas Texas by Lisa Robison, a fellow Interior Designer, who’s strong belief is that good design improves ones quality of life. That really registered with me and I was hooked.

This organization is made up of designers and volunteers dedicated to creating soothing, inspiring homes for families struggling with homelessness and poverty. They provide and install home interiors for families that include furnishings and art, bedding and kitchen supplies, and food in the pantry.

The living room in Dwell With Dignity’s inaugural Atlanta project.

For this project, we are providing a complete apartment make-over for a single Mom and her two children. I would like to invite everyone to visit the Dwell With Dignity website and click on donate now and designate to the Atlanta Chapter.

I am responsible for the Kitchen and Bath areas and all donations for food items, cleaning supplies,dishes, glasses, bath towels etc. would be greatly appreciated. There are also 2 Bedrooms and a Living Room to be completed.

The kitchen in the first DWD Atlanta project.

Dwell with Dignity’s mission is to help families escape poverty and homelessness through design, one household at a time.” If we can change a person’s surroundings, we can change their outlook on life.”

This is just the start of the Dwell with Dignity Atlanta Chapter with future projects to be scheduled soon. Steve and Jill have already given their support to this effort. Please join us creating spaces that improve the quality of someone’s life.

Thank you Ann! Your passion for this organization is evident and we cannot wait to see what you come up with for the kitchen and bath areas for this deserving family.

We feel so fortunate that we’re able to help, and if this cause strikes a chord with you as well, we encourage you to get involved too!

Here’s to helping others and to supporting Dwell With Dignity!

steve mckenzie’s Sample Sale!

Published on August 18, 2014 by steve mckenzie'sLeave a comment

Starting NOW through Setpember 13th. Save up to 60% on fine furnishings from steve mckenzie’s!

Stop in soon for the best selection from our exclusive lines…

All items are “as is” and all sales are final.

Here are some teasers of what’s included in our SAMPLE SALE:

grange sale — Select pieces of Grange Furniture offered at substantial savings.

sale chairs — Chairs, chairs and more chairs!

Awesome savings on American Chestnut round table!

Remember we’re at our new location – 999 Brady Ave NW, Suite #1, Atlanta – next door to Verde Home and Miller Union restaurant.

Parlore Perfection

Published on August 14, 2014August 13, 2014 by steve mckenzie'sLeave a comment

Ever heard of Parlore? Chances are, you haven’t yet… And that’s okay, because as Founding Adviser Designers, the team here at steve mckenzie’s is thrilled to have the first opportunity to share a bit about this awesome new project management app, specifically geared toward interior designers!

Now, it won’t launch until this fall, but we’re already chomping at the bit, waiting for this app to take off!

We originally heard about this fantastic project from designer Amy Flurry, who’s also Parlore’s Creative Director. We’ve been such big fans of Amy for so long, we knew that whatever she’s involved in would be awesome. And from what we’ve seen so far, Parlore is no exception.

This app is all about streamlining the interior design process for professionals – bringing designers and manufacturers together in one place that will act as a resource for anything from inspiration to specific items, which designers can access right there from the Parlore marketplace.

As Founding Adviser Designers we’re in fabulous company with some of our favorite interior design industry friends, including…