With definitions for need-to-know design terms and expert advice from 15 local professionals, this guide makes creating a home you love as easy as ABC
DESIGNERS ON…
the one piece of advice they tell everyone to follow
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State of Inspiration: Amelia Ray Art
“Find Your Cloud” by Amelia Ray Art
20” x 24” acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas
By day, Amelia Ray Ferguson works as a nurse practitioner specializing in spine surgeries where the majority of her time is spent in the operating room. When the pandemic began, elective surgeries were put on hold for weeks that turned into months; other than providing telemedicine from home and a few visits to the clinic here and there, she soon felt restless. “I’m such a busy body and needed something to do with my time. So I started painting,” she says.
During Amelia’s first few painting sessions upstairs in a spare bedroom-turned-studio, with a fresh brush in hand and the meandering tunes of a jam band playing in the background, she wasn’t sure what might come of her creations. All she knew is it felt right to put paint to canvas. “I just started putting happy colors down. We were all in such a crazy, uncertain time in life, and I thought, how can I make something that brings joy to other people?”
Amelia’s sense of optimism still shines through her work more than two years later. In “Find Your Cloud,” cotton candy pink and bright periwinkle peek through the fog of baby blues. While her paintings rarely veer from the abstract, she finds inspiration in the landscape around her. She and her husband, Doug, take frequent trips to the Little Red River to visit his mom, and here she snaps pictures for reminders she can return to in the studio. “I take a lot of photos out there, then zoom in on a detail to find a color I love, and that’s what I try to recreate.” See more of Amelia’s work and find out about upcoming shows on Instagram (@ameliaray_art).
Portrait courtesy of Amelia Ray Ferguson
Outside In
In Searcy, designer Meridith Ranouil creates a warm, contemporary family home that blurs the boundary between interior and exterior
After connecting with Kirk and Kristen Smith through a past client, interior designer Meridith Ranouil began working with the couple before they broke ground on their new build in Searcy. While the plans had already been drawn, Meridith was able to consult with builder Jackie Stevens of Stevens Custom Homes to finalize layout and select materials. Together, they customized every element of the home. “I had so much fun working with Jackie,” Meridith says. “He and I really worked hand in hand. I think that contributed to this house feeling so comfortable and warm and really making sense.”
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Lovingly Refreshed
For Melissa Hall Simmons, redecorating her former Fayetteville home for new owners was a joyful collaboration
As interior designer Melissa Hall Simmons prepared to put her Fayetteville home on the market, her real estate agent called and asked to show the house to a prospective couple the next day. The couple quickly made an offer and then asked Melissa to help them redecorate, which she says was “the most wonderful opportunity ever.” Melissa designed the house herself from the ground up and called it home for nearly a decade, making her involvement in its new form that much more meaningful. “I actually drew the plans for this house when I was 25, and I fully designed every detail of it,” she says. “It was my first project. It’s what started my business. I was so excited to pass it on to this couple who loves it as much as I do.”
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Dream Come True
A Benton couple builds a comfortable, elegant waterfront home with the help of Providence Design’s Mona Thompson Phelan
Abigail Otwell enjoyed watching the sunset from the lot her new home is situated on years before she ever lived on it. At the time, the undeveloped property on Benton’s Hurricane Lake was not far from the residence she shared with her husband, Taylor, and their children, James and Birdy. Upon learning it was for sale, they knew straightaway the site would be the perfect spot for their new home.
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Test Kitchen
Self-taught home chef Marquis Brown finds joy in cooking for others
When Marquis Brown was young he was intimidated by the kitchen, often viewing it as the domain of his mother and grandmother. “The kitchen just had such a female-dominated presence in our family,” he says. But that hesitance didn’t last forever. The 30-year-old (who’s an architect by trade) eventually taught himself how to cook, starting with breakfast foods and making meals for friends and family. “I love food so I figured, why not learn how to make it?” he says. “Seeing my mom and grandmother prepare food was an inspiration. They were feeding their family and there’s a lot of gratitude that comes from that.”
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Serene Sanctuary
Designer Marie Jeffery transforms an outdated primary suite into a calming retreat
When Fayetteville-based designer Marie Jeffery’s good friends reached out to her to update their primary bed and bathroom, Marie focused first on function, considering how to improve upon the suite’s original design. “It was the funniest layout,” she recalls. “The bathroom is enormous, and the ceiling is really tall, so there was a lot of unused space.”
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Magenta Magic
Pantone calls its 2023 Color of the Year, Viva Magenta, an ‘unconventional shade for an unconventional time.’ Here’s how to incorporate the hue into your home
Designer Andrea Brooks’s El Dorado home as featured in the April 2012 issue of At Home in Arkansas. Photo by Nancy Nolan
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Made You Look
Currently trending: Modern takes on an eye-catching ancient symbol
Glitter snow globe. Bear Hill Interiors, Little Rock, bearhillinteriors.com
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2022 Holiday Gift Guide
Thirty-seven local gifts sure to bring joy to every person on your shopping list | A special At Home in Arkansas promotion
Photo by Bailey Dougan
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