Flourish Spaces & Collective Owner, Stevie McFadden, shares her inspirations, motivations and intentions for the year ahead.
Everything you need to Flourish!
With the chaos of the holidays comfortably in the distance of the rearview mirror, I am zooming in on 2023, trying to focus on what I hope to accomplish and who I hope to continue to become in the year ahead.
At the top of that list is a desire for more space. I don’t mean an upgrade in the size of my accommodations; I’m talking about spaciousness in my days and in my mind, that is typically a pipe dream by 10:00 am on Monday. The number of obligations and to-dos grossly outweighs the time available for doing.
As someone whose craft is making beautiful and functional spaces, I am not unfamiliar with maximizing within an established and often constrained footprint of a room or home. More often than not, the challenge set before us is to design a room that serves multiple purposes while looking ready for a magazine shoot at a moment’s notice. The ideal answer is to dedicate four different rooms to all of the various needs, but the reality is that we have one room to work with. In these instances, our approach is to Clear Out and Curate.
CLEAR OUT
This first step is critical. We take inventory of what we are working with and strip away what we don’t need .. We’re left with the foundation to which we add everything else. So that foundation has to be solid and support the people who use the space. This kind of addition by subtraction requires a level of ruthless inquiry — purging the things we don’t need, don’t love, don’t know what to do with or somehow don’t “fit”.
CURATE
Once we are rid of the visual noise, we can creatively curate what remains: organizing, grouping, repurposing, and rearranging to make a little more space for what is to come and what’s possible.
How many of us, after putting away the holiday décor, felt a need to purge, tidy, organize or deep clean? There is something in us that understands the condition of our exterior space greatly impacts our interior state.
We are feeling those same urges here in our design studio and shop. Too often I also fall prey to thinking that making my space beautiful means adding new and improved fixtures or decorative elements. But the secret to beautiful design is in the editing of details. We are starting small with what we have, making sure we have a foundation that supports what we need, and then we’ll see how small changes and additions let our environment take new shape in very intentional ways.
My hope is that shaping my environment with this approach will inspire me to clear out and curate other parts of my life – activities, expectations, relationships and obligations – to create a stable foundation for what is to come and what’s possible in 2023.
-Stevie
January Event
Join us on Thursday, January 26th at 6:30pm at 221 East Clay St. to discuss the intersection of design and organization with Kristin Ziegler from Minima Organizing. Embrace the urge to clear out and curate with the ruthless eye of a designer! We’ll serve mocktails from Point 5, Richmond’s first non-alcoholic bottle shop and toast the New Year!
Project Spotlight
Out with the old and in with the new! This week, RiverWest Contractors started demoing a fan house kitchen to make way for a new space that we designed to meet the unique needs of their family, be a great spot for entertaining and reflect their fun and funky style. Here is a sneak peek of the renderings we created for our clients. Follow us on Instagram @flourishspaces to watch our progress!
Color Crush
Maybe it’s the dark days of winter but we’ve been repeatedly drawn to the soft and light glow of Benjamin Moore’s Head Over Heels. It is the best non-pink blush we’ve set eyes on. It pairs well with Terracotta and is the perfect compliment to a deep blue. We used it most recently with this combo and it is anything but girlie!
Can’t Stop Thinking About
The Pura Smart Diffuser. A well designed space considers all of the senses and this device is sure to delight the sense of smell. We recently outfitted our shop with these tiny, sleek devices a month ago and there still isn’t a day that goes by without one of our team members declaring how great our space smells. The smart nature of the device means you can control the scent output and when it is active from your phone. This is perhaps our teammate, Berry’s, favorite feature so that she’s not "wasting it on my boyfriend when I'm not around!"
Spotted in the Wild
Looking for a cozy place to pass a cold January night? Check out our Jackson Ward neighbors at Restaurant Adarra. Chef Randall Doetzer dishes up mouth-watering, Basque-inspired small plates that will warm the tummy but the interiors will warm the soul! Designed by Ronny and Tayne Renmark, the space oozes warmth. The multiple lighting sources illuminate the bar and art (courtesy of Ronny’s talented paint brush) and enhance the warm palette of terracotta which compliments the earthy textures found in the brick, wood and leather. It somehow manages to be intimate, comfortable and elegant at the same time. Trust me, you’ll want to spend the rest of January in this space.
Photography: Eileen Mellon
New ShoWroom hours:
We are continuing our Fresh Start to include the way we do business with all of you. Our Showroom, the Flourish Collective, is now open 5 days a week! Tuesday to Friday 11 am to 6 pm and Saturdays 11 am to 4 pm. We invite you to stop in to see the updates we have made to create a destination for home interiors, a place where we all can flourish.