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Pro Spotlight: 3 Tips for a Design That Feels Like Home
An interior designer in Prince George’s County shares ideas on giving your home a stylish and personal look
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Who: Lynda Griffin of Creative Interior Designs by Lynda
Where: Upper Marlboro, Maryland
In her own words: “We want to create an atmosphere in your home that sets the tone for your family’s lifestyle.”
Your home should be a place that’s warm and inviting. “My purpose is to give life to rooms that lack the spirit of a home,” says interior designer Lynda Griffin, owner of Creative Interior Designs by Lynda in Upper Marlboro. Griffin blends complementary colors, timeless furnishings and decor with personality to give every room a wow factor that defines the spaces and makes them your own.
Where: Upper Marlboro, Maryland
In her own words: “We want to create an atmosphere in your home that sets the tone for your family’s lifestyle.”
Your home should be a place that’s warm and inviting. “My purpose is to give life to rooms that lack the spirit of a home,” says interior designer Lynda Griffin, owner of Creative Interior Designs by Lynda in Upper Marlboro. Griffin blends complementary colors, timeless furnishings and decor with personality to give every room a wow factor that defines the spaces and makes them your own.
Lifelong love. Griffin’s love of interior design goes back to her childhood, thanks to her interior decorator mother. “She had a beautiful way of putting things together. She shared them with us and I picked up the bug,” Griffin says. After earning degrees in criminal justice and sociology and working as a certified paralegal, she decided interior design should be in her future. Now a certified interior designer, Griffin started her company in 2004. She’s also an adjunct professor teaching design at a local university.
Collaborative process. Griffin approaches every design as a collaboration with the homeowners. “It’s their home and their space, so we listen to their concerns and preferences,” she says. Griffin also takes steps to help ensure the homeowners can live in their home despite the project disruptions that will inevitably ensue. “We want them to be comfortable with the design and the process,” she says.
Looking for ways to bring personal style to your own home? Griffin has some tips below.
Looking for ways to bring personal style to your own home? Griffin has some tips below.
1. Personalize Your Design
Customize your space to fit its intended use. These homeowners wanted to have a place for entertaining in the basement of their newly built home in Bowie without adding a second full kitchen. “They didn’t want to duplicate what they already had,” Griffin says.
Griffin created what she calls a “concierge kitchen,” designed to make entertaining easier without taking over the room. “Like a concierge at a hotel, it takes on the small tasks to make things go smoothly,” she says. Griffin added a wall of cabinets to house a microwave-convection oven for heating up snacks, popping popcorn or baking cookies, along with a refrigerator for drinks and plenty of storage. The island can seat eight and provides a landing spot for trays of fruit, crackers and cheese, and other goodies. “We pared it down to what they really needed,” Griffin says.
Customize your space to fit its intended use. These homeowners wanted to have a place for entertaining in the basement of their newly built home in Bowie without adding a second full kitchen. “They didn’t want to duplicate what they already had,” Griffin says.
Griffin created what she calls a “concierge kitchen,” designed to make entertaining easier without taking over the room. “Like a concierge at a hotel, it takes on the small tasks to make things go smoothly,” she says. Griffin added a wall of cabinets to house a microwave-convection oven for heating up snacks, popping popcorn or baking cookies, along with a refrigerator for drinks and plenty of storage. The island can seat eight and provides a landing spot for trays of fruit, crackers and cheese, and other goodies. “We pared it down to what they really needed,” Griffin says.
2. Add Your Own Touches
Add one-of-a-kind details to make a space uniquely your own. This Hyattsville kitchen was closed off and dingy. “My client wanted to give her mother a functional and beautiful space,” Griffin says. “Her mother’s first request was a window she could look out of.”
Griffin took the room back to the studs and started over. In the process, she removed seven layers of flooring, three layers of wallcovering and a bricked-over door with an electrical outlet in the middle of it. The new kitchen now stands out thanks to the patterned backsplash, which the homeowner immediately put on her must-have list when she saw it. Griffin also removed a secondary exterior door and installed a large window overlooking the backyard in its place, adding a desk beneath it. The final touch was an adjustable chair. “My client’s mother said that was the icing on the cake for her,” Griffin says.
See more of this project
Add one-of-a-kind details to make a space uniquely your own. This Hyattsville kitchen was closed off and dingy. “My client wanted to give her mother a functional and beautiful space,” Griffin says. “Her mother’s first request was a window she could look out of.”
Griffin took the room back to the studs and started over. In the process, she removed seven layers of flooring, three layers of wallcovering and a bricked-over door with an electrical outlet in the middle of it. The new kitchen now stands out thanks to the patterned backsplash, which the homeowner immediately put on her must-have list when she saw it. Griffin also removed a secondary exterior door and installed a large window overlooking the backyard in its place, adding a desk beneath it. The final touch was an adjustable chair. “My client’s mother said that was the icing on the cake for her,” Griffin says.
See more of this project
3. Bring In Some Personality
Blend a variety of colors and textures to add interest. Griffin set off the white walls of this Odenton home’s informal living room with a palette of ivory, taupe and orange for a contemporary feel. “The homeowners wanted an open, airy space that felt refreshing,” she says.
Griffin paired the modern feel of the design with accents such as natural wood, rustic wood, leather and metal. She used the same approach for the foyer that leads into the room. “The design should lead you somewhere,” she says of the overall look. “It’s the flow that pulls you into the final destination.”
See more of this project
More: For more information on Lynda Griffin and examples of her work, visit Creative Interior Designs by Lynda’s Houzz profile.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
Blend a variety of colors and textures to add interest. Griffin set off the white walls of this Odenton home’s informal living room with a palette of ivory, taupe and orange for a contemporary feel. “The homeowners wanted an open, airy space that felt refreshing,” she says.
Griffin paired the modern feel of the design with accents such as natural wood, rustic wood, leather and metal. She used the same approach for the foyer that leads into the room. “The design should lead you somewhere,” she says of the overall look. “It’s the flow that pulls you into the final destination.”
See more of this project
More: For more information on Lynda Griffin and examples of her work, visit Creative Interior Designs by Lynda’s Houzz profile.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
Lynda Griffin provides luxury but practical design services for every home and residential property from concept... Read More