Jennifer Agus, an interior designer in New York City, and a mom of a picky 4-year old herself, offers up these five tips when designing your child’s room:

5. Lastly. allow for storage, storage and more storage! Parents are generally so consumed by the aesthetic that they don’t take into consideration how much storage space children need, especially as they get older and their  clothes get bigger. Purchase items that can grow with them such as a bench at foot of the bed.  Also, build lots of cubbies in the closet.

ABOUT JENNIFER AGUS:

Jennifer Agus is the principal and creative energy behind Agus Interiors. The design firm handles mainly residential projects, overseeing the plans from start to finish. The inherent appreciation and understanding of design, style and space can be seen in all of her designs. 

For nearly seven years, Jennifer has dressed residences and vacation homes in New York City, Long Island, The Hamptons, Connecticut, and New Jersey. In 2010, Jennifer was invited to display her original designs at a Showhouse in New York City, teaming up with some of the world’s most prominent fashion designers and interior designers. In Long Island, she created a Chanukah room for the Holiday Showhouse at the historic Orchard Hill mansion. 

Jennifer began her career with Ralph Lauren, where she spent six years on a wide-range of design projects, including the development of showrooms and store displays including department stores. She gained valuable experience developing budgets when she tracked American and European furniture shopping trips in the antiques division. Her exposure to the high-design concept stores, showrooms and offices honed her design skills and enticed her to get a Master’s degree in Interior Design from Pratt Institute in New York City. Jennifer also studied art history and architecture for several months in Paris and Copenhagen. As an undergraduate, Jennifer received her B.S. in Finance and International Business from New York University. 

Henrietta Spencer-Churchill’s childhood at Blenheim Palace and the English countryside inspired her career as an interior designer — the houses she designs and renovates look right out of Downton Abbey, yet her fabulously functional interiors are tailored to her very current 21st century clientele. That same sense and sensibility shine in her new 62-piece furniture collection: quality is king yet practicality reigns, and every elegant etagere and ottoman is crafted by Maitland-Smith’s artisans.

Fittingly, many of Lady Henrietta’s 18th century-inspired pieces are both historically accurate and scaled for a range of today’s residential interiors.

To see select pieces from the collection, visit Matiland-Smith Pinterest page:
http://pinterest.com/maitlandsmith/henrietta-spencer-churchill-for-maitland-smith.

LOCATION:
Blake Hotel
555 S. McDowell Street
Charlotte

SCHEDULE:
Saturday May 5
9 am – 6 pm – Trunk Show open

11 am and 3 pm – Chair making demonstration with a Thos. Moser craftsman

Sunday, May 6
9 am – 6 pm – Trunk Show open
11 am and 3 pm – Chair making demonstration with a Thos. Moser craftsman

MORE INFO: For more information, please contact the Thos. Moser Customer Care Center at 800-708-9045 or SalesInfo@ThosMoser.com.

What they discovered, as many do when they move to the South, is that the charm some of Charlotte’s neighborhoods provide can be irresistible. Finding minimalist style in an old charming area however, can present a challenge.

Thankfully, the couple found the perfect Georgian style home in Myers Park that just begged for Rasnick’s creative eye and the result is nothing short of an impeccable use of minimalist style. We just had to explore this house, and this designer, further.

UH: You come from progressive San Francisco – what drew you to this traditional home and neighborhood in Charlotte?
Homeowners: Originally, we thought about a center city apartment close to work, but nothing was meeting our needs in a home. We fell in love with Myers Park – great location, enchanting streets, beautifully maintained yards and homes, and its magnificent tree canopy. We wanted an older home with character that we could renovate.

UH: Tell us about your San Francisco (SF) residence and how it influenced the design of your home in Charlotte.
Homeowners: Our home in SF was a large urban industrial loft with 20-foot ceilings. We loved our wide-open floor plan and wanted to create that same sense of openness in our Charlotte home.

UH: What did the house look like when you found it?
Homeowners: The house was really lovely; great curb appeal with perfect proportions typical of 1920s Georgian architecture. It was simple, symmetrical and unadorned with all brick construction, a screened porch and the original detached two-car garage. Interiors were period appropriate with intimate rooms, great moldings and
panel detail.

UH: Tells us about the renovation process.
Homeowners: We knew we wanted to open up the downstairs and fortunately there were no structural barriers to prevent that. We widened and heightened all existing doorways to give a more soaring quality to all the rooms. We converted the side porch to a sunroom, took out a full bath off the family room and added a wall of French doors that opened onto a new colonnaded back porch. We added a mudroom off of the new kitchen and created a powder room under the staircase by combining a closet with the back of the butler’s pantry. We also added a second master suite.

UH: How long did the remodel take place?
Homeowners: It took just over a year to complete and we couldn’t live in it for the first 10 months. We replaced all the wood floors on the first floor, built interior closet systems and reconfigured the center hall staircase. We balanced and re-hung all the old doors and replaced all the brass hardware.

UH: How do you create minimalist style without the house looking cold?
Homeowners: Most of our furniture and lighting is contemporary and the minimal styling of it is a perfect counterweight to the more substantial period details of the house – tall baseboards, crown moldings, panel doors and ornate staircase accents. Warmth is added with rich stained floors, vibrant art and textured rugs.

UH: How have you used art to decorate?
Homeowners: All the art is original. For us, art is a preeminent consideration when looking for a new home. I think art is what anchors your home – no matter where you move to – it remains the one true constant. It makes your house comfortable in the most important way.

Homeowners:Tell us about the master bath.
UH: We designed the new master suite at the top of the stairs around a double-sided gas fireplace. The fireplace was built in Canada and is distinguished by a 36-inch narrow ribbon of fire. I wanted to enjoy the fire both from the bathroom and the bedroom, so I designed a deep, Japanese soaking tub with a wide deck and angled back for comfort that faces the fireplace cabinet. I also designed the bedroomside maple fireplace cabinet.

UH: What are your favorite local design resources?
Homeowners: My local go-to stores are places like Mrs. Howard, Luxe, BD Jeffries, Metro, Design Within Reach, Stark Carpet, Cotswold Marketplace and the DOMA Gallery.

Resources
www.bdjeffries.com
www.cotswoldmarketplace.com
www.dwr.com
www.luxehomecouture.com
www.mrshowardpersonalshopper.com
www.starkcarpet.com
Steven Rasnick Interior Design

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We asked Eric Ennis, designer at The Furniture Connector in Charlotte, to give us the rundown on one of his most recently designed client spaces. Here, he explains why this space works so well and outlines some of the key design elements he used to create it.
“When any client approaches me to create a design for them, I always ask what the overall goal and feel for the room will be. Betsy Mapes in Charlotte wanted to create a music room that she and her family could enjoy and utilize to create music together.

She wanted a Mid-Century Modern style mixed in with her family’s more traditional pieces. This room works well because of the balance between old and new. One of the main focal points of the room is her family’s piano, which we paired with a modern wood mirror by Global Views provided by The Furniture Connector. The wood tones from the mirror complement the piano and allow all of the other pieces of furniture to stand out independently.

Betsy wanted to infuse the room with history, so we created a photo wall filled with photos from multiple generations and of family treasures. The darker wall color really allowed a centerpiece like this to pop. Keeping the lines of the upholstery clean while having a Mid-Century undertone allows everything to work happily together.”

Resources
www.thefurnitureconnector.com

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