When I signed up for my ‘mastermind’ group with Tobi Fairley, I was excited to learn there would be 2 members in my session from Texas, one from Dallas and one from Houston.  We’ve just had our 3rd session and I am going to share with you some of the wonderful work by Denise McGaha, from Denise McGaha Interiors in Dallas, TX.

Denise is an amazing business woman and designer.  No matter what is going on, she is always chic and put together.  Here is a photo of our group last week in Little Rock:

I am second on the left looking slightly exhausted, while there is Denise in the middle with her stylish pose.

Denise started her firm over 10 years ago, after working for Neiman Marcus and helping to launch their online division.  She has a natural sense of what is stylish and has a certain level of taste which comes from working with luxury goods.

You can see her website here:

http://denisemcgaha.com/

Denise just did an amazing space in Dallas at the “Home of Tomorrow Designs” in the state fair.  Her home was the “renovated home”, if you happened to attend.

I just love this room!  The wood wall adds so much character to the space.  The wood is reclaimed barn wood from Ohio.

The light fixtures really make the room, as does the art and accessories.  Much of the lighting is from one of our favorite manufacturers, Currey & Co.  Look closely and see if you can pick up on a theme in the space (hint, hint: shapes).

Many of the furnishings came from Hickory Chair, a lovely high end upholstery and case goods line.

During this time frame, Hickory Chair launched a partnership with Hable Construction and she was lucky enough to work with Katherine Hable in selecting various fabrics for the furniture, pillows and draperies.

You can barely see this orange popping up on the sofa in the form of pillows.

This dot pattern is used on the window treatments and additional pillows.

Here are a few other photos from the event:

Notice the interesting wall décor here.  Denise was on a budget for the space, so she made an interesting display out of shears she picked up and basic white frames.  A fun and unique way to fill some open wall space affordably.

Off the living room was the kitchen and it will make you say ‘wow’:

My first thought when I saw this was Missoni- and it turns out Denise was inspired by their use of chevrons, color and pattern.  The bright, yellow stove is an Italian Bertazonni which was painted in Ferrari yellow from the Ferrari factory!

Here is another interesting trick- Denise used fabric as a backsplash and protected it with glass.  Talk about low commitment.  If you are afraid to put a backsplash tile up you think my be trendy, here is a very creative way around that problem.  For those of you thinking that ‘backsplash’ looks familiar, here it is:

If you like pattern and color, you may recognize this as one of Trina Turk’s prints.  Here is another view of the kitchen, I love the appliances.  You can see the detail of the chevron floor tile better here.

The master bathroom uses reclaimed wood on the countertops and mirror frames.

Here is another creative aspect- look at the horizontal bands of paint which morph into tile once reaching the glass enclosure.  Great way to allow your eye to continue throughout the space and make the area appear larger!

You can read a little more about the showhome here: http://www.candysdirt.com/2011/10/05/state-fairs-house-future-ready-today/

I feel like the showhome was a little more rustic than Denise’s typical work, which you can see from these photos:

However, I think this just shows Denise’s talent as she is able to easily transition from one style into another realm and still have the rooms look fabulous and maintain ‘couture’ level of detail.  I encourage you to check out Denise’s website and blog to learn more about her practice, particularly if you live in the Dallas area.

I found researching Denise’s approach to using materials creatively a great inspiration to challenge myself to think outside of the box for my design projects!

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