FURNISHINGS | inspired designers
CLOTH & KIND
ROOM PHOTO BY BETH SINGER
WHO: Tami Ramsay, far left, and Krista Nye Nicholas, design@clothandkind.com, clothandkind.com
CLOTH & KIND is a nationally recognized residential and commercial interior design firm led by principals Nicholas and Ramsay. It has offices in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Athens, Ga. The Detroit Home Design Award-winners are celebrated for their collaborative approach to the design process, and for their ability to create spaces with history and heart as well as story and substance. Each project is layered with a meticulous mix of one-of-a-kind finds and a heavy dose of unique and custom textiles, curated art, and intriguing furnishings.
FABRIC INSPIRATION: Early on in the creative exploration phase of the dining room in the Ann Arbor home shown here, the pair showed clients B Gregory and Ramona Thompson Katie Leede’s Weeping Willows in Sky fabric. “They fell as in love with it as we were,” Nicholas says. From there, the designers decided to “paper back the ethereal linen fabric and swath the walls in it,” setting the tone for the space as a whole.
A-1 ANTIQUES: Antique china in built-in hutches and an antique rug make the space sing. “At first, our clients wanted to get rid of this rug and start fresh, as they’d been living with it for many years and had grown tired of it,” Nicholas says. The designers convinced their clients to keep the show-stopping rug in the dining room and, after seeing the completed project, the couple is very happy with the results. “It adds a layer of depth and dimension that a brand new rug wouldn’t have been able to accomplish,” Nicholas says.
 Eva arm chair by Alexa Hampton for Hickory Chair Furniture Co., starting at $2,004, Henredon Interior Design Showroom, Michigan Design Center, Troy, michigandesign.com |
 AERIN Culloden table lamp, $420, Circa Lighting, circalighting.com |
 Farrow & Ball paints Top: Stone Blue (for inside cabinets). Bottom: Borrowed Light, farrow-ball.com |
DESIGNER NICHOLAS ON HOW TO ADD ANTIQUES
• Use items that embody your family’s past, instantly creating a sense of history.
• Have fun! Look for offbeat or odd antiquities.
• If you love it, it will work (we promise). Don’t stress about matching or coordinating; antiques and more current pieces work beautifully together. Design isn’t serious work — it’s meant to make you and the people you share the space with immensely happy. Pure and simple.
MARGEAUX INTERIORS
ROOM PHOTO BY KEITH EMMERICH
WHO: Margaret Skinner, 248-593-9774, margeauxinteriors.com
Margaret Skinner, left, principal interior designer at Birmingham-based Margeaux Interiors Inc., is an allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), as well as a licensed builder. Margeaux Interiors Inc. was established in 1998 as a design studio offering design and building services to clients with a variety of project scopes, budgets, and design preferences. The goal of this Detroit Home Design Award-winning firm is to create an aesthetically pleasing environment that also offers function, creativity, and sophistication. The studio’s designers strive to incorporate sustainable and recycled products in each project, and to use local artisans, suppliers, and trades as much as possible.
MOTOWN INSPIRATION: When creating this vignette for the Michigan Design Center, Skinner started with a Detroit theme and incorporated a variety of antiques, vintage, and modern pieces that were sourced locally (or had ties to Detroit), giving the space a vintage yet modern look. “I wanted to evoke a space for relaxing and inspiration — 1920s glam mixed with a destruction of Detroit, then leading (to today’s) rebirth,” the designer says.
A-1 ANTIQUES: Skinner mixed a small Macassar (rosewood) table with a black leather top from the Jacques Garcia Collection and a walnut console from Judy Frankel Antiques in Troy into the design of the space. In addition, she combined vintage apartment doors — replete with their numbers — sourced from Architectural Salvage Warehouse in Detroit.
 Thomas Pheasant Collection oval sofa in Baker fabric, $9,148, Baker Furniture, Michigan Design Center, michigandesign.com |
 Arches of Michigan Central Station and Lee Plaza Piano photographs, $1,299/ea., keithemmerich.com |
 Thomas Pheasant Collection Jewell mirror, $5,725, Baker Furniture, Michigan Design Center, Troy, michigandesign.com |
 Jacques Garcia Le Lion stand, $2,460, Baker Furniture, Michigan Design Center, Troy, michigandesign.com |
DESIGNER SKINNER ON HOW TO ADD ANTIQUES
• Pick pieces that speak to your personality.
•Try not to go overboard with one time period, finish, or texture. Less is always more!
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