l o c a l s t y l e
Eye for Design b y L i e s e l S c h m i d t
W hether you know it or not, there’s a distinct dif- ference between furnishing a home and styling it. Furnishing requires little to no vision, no eye for detail and anyone can do it, simply by selecting the
tions, custom fabric selection, and home staging. And having a team of equally passionate people at hand has kept the company—and the store—at the top of its game, drawing in new clients and mak- ing repeat customers out of those who have a chance to work with them. “We’ve become known for custom high-quality design and furnishings that are unique, and I think that our customers really love that we have items that are not seen everywhere,” says Skowlund. “We realize the impor- tance of satisfying our clients, so we will go out of our way to find something special for them.” Looking at the scope of the work bearing the name Melissa Skowlund Interiors, it’s easy to see what attracts her clientele: people who appreciate fine living. There’s an understanding of how colors play and interact with one anoth- er, how different textures add
basics; places to sit, tables to put things on, lamps for lighting. Styl- ing, however, is what makes a home stand out, what gives it panache and character. It’s what makes one’s eye stop dead on a page while glancing through an inte- rior design magazine, what makes someone feel truly captivated when they enter a room. And for Melissa Skowlund, styling is the axis on which her world spins. An interior designer
with more than 14 years of expe- rience, in 2011 Skowlund decided to take her expertise and passion and channel it into her own store, opening Melissa Skowlund Interiors and creating her boutique furniture store, Summerhouse Lifestyle. Nearly ten years later, Skowlund has cre- ated a reputation along 30-A as someone with an undeniable eye and clear understanding of how to create beautiful spaces that
Melissa Skowland, Bess Pooler and Stephanie Wiesel
dimension and visual interest, how spatial planning and the use of scale make a room work. And while one could easily lose themselves in the beauty of the pieces she offers in the store—best-sellers like a comfy sectional sofa from Cisco Brothers, John Richard home accessories, and Lucite and brass hardware—the staff
We’ve become known for custom high-quality design and furnishings that are unique, and I think that our customers really love that we have items that are not seen everywhere.
offer luxury as well as function. This reputation came from working with clients all along the seascape, whose homes now bear the fingerprint of her creativity; from the pieces offered in her store to uniquely customized furnishings created specifically for a room, and ever more hands-on projects like full-room renovations and home staging. “We specialize in customizing pieces for our clients. We love to take on a challenge and find just the right piece, from dining tables to custom Sunbrella chairs… we work with how our customers live and what needs they have,” Skowlund explains. “This is also what sets us apart from our competition. In addition to the store and the interior design aspect of the company, we have a recently completed Design Bar, where customers can look at our selection of Farrow and Ball paints and our lovely Thibaut fabrics and wall coverings. We encourage clients to make an appointment so that we
can give them our full attention and guide them through each aspect of the Design Bar, making the experience even more hands-on and personalized to them.” The Design Bar to which Skowlund refers is just that—a bar, a veritable buffet, if you will, of customiz- able details pertaining to a client’s needs from which they can pick and choose. Offering such services as room lay- outs, consultations for window treatments and pillows as well as individual room or whole-home interiors design services, the purview of Melissa Skowlund Interiors is indeed wide, containing a great range of details that all come together in the creation of a beautifully styled home. They also provide wallpaper design consultations, color consultations, project management for remodeling or home renovations, kitchen and bath design consulta-
is on hand to make getting lost a pleasant part of the journey, helping you find the absolute perfect pieces to make your perfect space. After all, there is far more to creating a home than just furnishing it. To love and feel pride in it requires attention to the small details, selecting the pieces of the puzzle that make it all fit like a wonderful picture from which one can’t look away… and like a place that one never wants to leave. Melissa Skowlund Interiors is located at 57 Uptown Grayton Circle, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459. For more information, call (850) 231-0133 or visit www. melissaskowlundinteriors.com.
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